• Renovate your family room to fit your personality.meeting room image by terex from Fotolia.com
  
  Family rooms serve as the main hub for activity in many homes. A renovation to this high-traffic room makes it more functional and attractive whether you're enjoying family time or entertaining guests. The personality of your family and the activities you enjoy should influence the design details of your family room renovation.
  
  

Functional Areas

• Divide your room into fuctional areas to provide space for all of your family activities. To determine this, make a list of the different activities you usually enjoy in your family room. This might include playing games, reading, watching television, doing homework or working on craft projects. Look around the room and choose the best location for each of these activities. Some functional areas might overlap. For example, you might place a big table to the side of the room for playing games, studying or making crafts.
  
  

Themes

• A theme for the family room helps guide the design process. Choose a theme that the entire family can enjoy. For a more casual look, your favorite sports team and colors may be an option. Other themes or decorating styles that work for a family room include a beach look, a Southwest theme or a modern style with bright colors and clean lines. Choose accessories and other decorating elements based on your theme or decorating style.
  
  

Walls

• The theme and color scheme for a room impacts the paint color selection for the walls. As a general rule, lighter colors make a room feel open and larger while darker colors close in a room. Experiment with different colors of paint before choosing a color. Get some paint samples from your local hardware store and paint a few small sections of your wall. See which color works best in your room. Besides paint, you can add personality to your family room walls with a mural, wallpaper or removable wall stickers.
  
  

Flooring

• Flooring is an important consideration since family rooms typically receive a lot of wear and tear and many times family members end up sitting on the floor. A durable carpet is a good option because it's soft and comfortable. Carpet tiles are becoming popular for busy family rooms. They come in a variety of colors and patterns. Carpet tiles are easy to replace if you get a spill on one of the squares. Laminate flooring is another option that adds warmth to a room. It is durable and easy to clean. If you choose hardwood flooring, an area rug can soften the room and provide a comfortable spot to sit.
  
  

Lighting

• If the current family room light fixture is not longer stylish or functional, replace it with a new fixture. Choose an overhead light that offers a lot of general illumination for the room. Track lighting or recessed lighting allows you to spread out the light throughout the room. Add task lighting in the different functional areas of the room. A pendant light over a game table or lamps on side tables are two common task lighting options for family rooms.