A New Kind of Family Room

With three teenagers in tow, a Canadian couple keeps the peace (and, sometimes, the quiet) with a barn tailor-made for game nights, guitar sing-alongs, and cousins-by-the-dozen sleepovers.

When their lakeside cottage gets a bit cramped, Emily Griffin and Norman Howe (with children Max, Grace, and Oscar) slide open the gray-green doors (Copley Gray by Benjamin Moore) to the backyard barn.

keeping the peace

NO-FUSS FABRIC

Everything in the barn is essentially indestructible, like our timeworn rugs and sectional slipcovers, says homeowner Emily Griffin. You can enjoy the house more when you aren't worried about stains or breakages. The colorful pillow assortment, including a few made from vintage kilims, pops against the two-story-high whitewashed pine walls. It keeps it light and airy but still feels rustic and charming, she says.

keeping the peace

FUN ON CUE

When the couple started to play around with the barn's design, they knew they wanted a pool table smack dab in the center of the action and drew plans accordingly. But there was one miscue: Instead of a standard 8-foot pool table, Norm found a vintage 12-foot 1950s snooker table on Facebook Marketplace, so they had to make some adjustments, like moving the staircase from the center to the side in order to leave ample playing room. The rework was worth it: There's a game of snooker played almost every day, says Emily.

Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation.