Every Friday night at our house is Pizza + Family Movie night. After a long week of work and school, every one just wants to veg out. The rules are nobody cooks, we immediately put on our PJs, and head upstairs to our newly furnished Media Room – or as the twins call it, our “Movie Theater”.
This room is on the second floor of our house and was BASIC with white walls, beige carpet, and one window. Most people paint their Media Room a dark wall color, but I wanted a dark color AND texture. I was going for 1930s glamour – think velvet, gold, fur blankets, and a bar cart. This room needed to feel luxe but be done on a budget, here’s how we did it!
When you’re trying to define a color palette for a space, I always recommend looking to a piece of art as your touchstone. It doesn’t have to be the biggest, most dominant piece in the space – but it can guide your decor decision making. My husband loves Star Wars. I was in Round Top in early 2020 and found an original movie poster of Return of the Jedi. It was in poor shape but I paid to have it restored and framed for his birthday. This poster became the main art piece for the room and inspired the color palette.
We decided to get the largest sofa possible to fill up the space (ours is from Living Spaces). Embracing scale helps sell that the space was always meant to be a movie watching haven, not a boring bedroom. Also, we’re talking maximum comfort here for everyone to spread out with their own pillows and blanket.
Now, let’s talk texture. My whole idea for this room was to wrap it in velvet…but upholstering and installing wall panels would be costly and a more permanent installation than I was willing to embrace. So, I thought – why not curtains? They don’t have to just go over windows, we can hang them over walls….and that’s when I decided to buy a ton of these velvet curtain panels and rods from Amazon to wrap my walls in 1930s texture. Two other reasons I love this install, the curtains really bring your eye up (drawing attention to our light fixture) and it creates this amazing cocoon feeling when you’re snuggled on the couch.
My velvet pillows and faux fur blankets all came from IKEA. These textiles offer such a rich and sophisticated color palette that I can’t believe it was inspired by a Star Wars poster. This is what marriage looks like, people!
The bar cart was a critical purchase because I wanted it to have some special design elements. I love the large circle geometry in this one we bought from Hayneedle, as well as the deco-inspired spider web etchings on the glass shelves. I styled the cart with our decanters (also from Amazon and lead free), some art work from a local artist, and a few other small finds.
Our whole family is so grateful to have this space to escape to. I forgot to mention that we have one last rule, no phones and no toys allowed in the Media Room on Friday night. We’re in that room to watch something as family – that means NO distractions from our precious time together.
Cheers, y’all. – Stacy
The Stacy Strategy 