Last week we showed how we settled the kitchen using furniture and pieces we already owned. This week we’re sharing the upstairs space, which has quickly become one of our favorite rooms because it gets light from windows on all four sides and offers greenery-filled views nearly everywhere you look.
We decided to keep this room as one large shared family area rather than splitting it into bedrooms and a bathroom. It functions beautifully as a family room and workspace: a place to relax, work, do homework, and hang out together without having to run up or down stairs in the middle of the night. The light-filled layout, plus the adjacent deck, makes the upstairs feel like a central hub for the whole family.
That large double window with a transom sits centered on the main wall and helped define two distinct zones: a living area on the right, anchored by an 8×10 rug and a 93″ sofa, and an office/art area on the left with a long shared desk. The scale of the furniture makes it clear this room is generous—each zone feels roomy and purposeful without crowding the other.
We furnished the room almost entirely with items we already owned. The only new pieces were a couple of chairs for the office, some storage baskets, and a new TV. Most of the furniture came from other rooms in our previous house—sofa from the old living room, rug from our son’s bedroom, and the wall-mounted bookshelf from our beach house living room—yet they all came together naturally here.
The workspace side hosts a long desk that doubles as an art table for the kids and a work desk for us. We reused two Ikea drawer bases, iron legs, and a marble-look countertop to create a practical, durable surface for drawing, homework, and computer work. This condensed version of the kids’ old art room has been surprisingly effective—even during remote learning and heavy craft sessions.
We also made one small modification to the white console under the TV by adding a bottom shelf of plywood for storage. That gave us room for felt baskets that corral board games and other items we use often on the deck after dinner. Practical tweaks like this make the space work hard without a big budget.
One functional upgrade we had to accept: a mini-split HVAC unit mounted high on the wall. We resisted the look at first, but four HVAC pros recommended it for consistent comfort in a room with windows on all sides. Practicality won out and now the space is comfortable year-round.
We splurged on a Frame TV so it reads like art when it’s not in use, though we often leave it off because the art mode doesn’t always look as good in person as it does in photos. Still, the TV location dictated the layout: it was the only wall that avoided overlapping windows and allowed comfortable seating orientation without blocking light.
Access to the upstairs deck influenced furniture placement as well. The couch creates a nice corridor to the door, and although the rug overlaps the threshold a bit, it isn’t a problem. The shallow wall bookcase in that pathway surprised us by working perfectly—no bumps or mishaps—because its depth is minimal and it makes use of an otherwise awkward sliver of wall.
On the workspace side there’s still plenty of breathing room. We could add a second rug or more seating later, but for now we prefer to live with the layout and see how our needs evolve before buying more items. That approach keeps us from filling space just for the sake of it and helps this beach house feel purposeful and comfortable.
After moving and downsizing from a larger home, we pared down papers and digitized files, so the grown-up desk needs less storage than it used to. We tucked the printer under a drawer base and keep scanning to our phone when necessary, which keeps the workspace tidy and efficient.
All told, the upstairs living area feels welcoming, practical, and adaptable. It’s not set in stone—we’ll tweak and evolve it over time—but it already supports daily life, work, and play in a way that makes the whole house feel more useful without feeling cluttered.
Now excuse me while I go gaze out the windows for a little while. Or maybe it’s laptop time on the deck—either way, this upstairs family room is serving us well.