Light and bright -- and green! -- in a top-floor family room : Annie Elliott Design

Who says a family room has to be in a basement, Gentle Readers? Not us!

The third floor of a fantastic, longtime client’s house was underused. It had become the repository for toys and books the kids had outgrown and furniture that had been replaced.

We decided to transform the room into a jaw-droppingly gorgeous, cheerful, multi-use space. And as luck would have it, this client’s favorite color is GREEN! (See “fantastic,” above.)

Here is the space before.

Before picture of unorganized family room — NO judgment, because, let’s be honest, we all have/or have had spaces like this

And here is the space after.

Bright green Phillip Jeffries grasscloth is the star of the show, but it doesn’t make the room feel closed-in or dark. We only have the grasscloth on 3 walls, for one thing, and a skylight FLOODS the room with sunshine during the day. The sunlight, a mix of painted and wood furniture, and crisp white upholstery makes the room feel…lighthearted. (All of the “after” pictures are by Stacy Zarin Goldberg, by the way.)

We decided to divide the L-shaped space into 3 zones. The first, above, is the grown-up lounging, TV-watching area. (There is a wonderful, informal media room in the basement, so we could go a little fancier up here.)

The second is a homework or crafts area with a large table and chairs. It’s great for wrapping presents, too. The table gives you a nice large surface for spreading out.

Dining table with green grasscloth — Nice big table!

The third zone is a reading nook in the bay window. What better use for this little space?

Replacing the wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood flooring was critical. That — and a wonderfully wide, open staircase — REALLY make the third floor feel like a natural part of the house.

Family room with white furniture — You can catch part of the art wall in this picture

We went through a few design revisions; we originally considered a chaise and drapes in the reading nook, for example, and at one point we were going to wallpaper the backs of the bookcases. Other than that, though, we stuck pretty close to the original plan.

Computer rendering of green room with built-in bookcases and bay window — We had envisioned a chaise…

Green and blue reading nook with striped sofa — …but it wasn’t exactly a compromise to switch to a loveseat!

Computer rendering of a green family room with bookcases and white sofa — The view as you come up the stairs

Such a comfy, happy space, don’t you think?

Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, with offices in St. Michaels, Maryland and Middlebury, Vermont. Our style? Where classic and modern hang out and drink gin.

Light and bright — and green! — in a top-floor family room