Published: September 16, 2010, By Abbe Fenimore

Progress

I recently received pictures from a client showing the progress of their living room mini-remodel. I am so excited to share them because with a few affordable changes, this living room moved from 1970-2010! The living room was dark and there was a horrible glare in the room most of the day. The family spends most of their time here so it needed to feel bright, cozy and be a great place to read a book.

We hired a professional to paint and cover the brick around the fireplace.  Even though we “just painted”, the wood paneling did not give up easily. They sanded, and sanded and primed and then painted. The entire process took about 7-10 days and did created a mess but it was totally worth the end result!

BEFORE: Wood paneling can really make a room feel dark and dated. This room has a great layout but the details needed to be refined and the fire place needed to be the focal point. The brick was the other issue in the room, my clients were ready to see it go!

AFTER: The room is instantly updated and now has the modern feel my client was looking for. The rich leather furniture no longer gets lost in the room.

BEFORE: If this picture doesn’t get the point across, I don’t know what else to show you! Look how bad the glare is in this room.

AFTER:  OK, so these were taken at night, but you get the point. I love how the shutters are now a beautiful feature in the room.

BEFORE: The fireplace is the biggest change in the room.  The dark brick did not work for the new modern feel that my clients were after. It was time to update this area and really make it the focal point of the room.

AFTER: We covered the brick with sheetrock and used a stunning Marazzi marble around the firebox and on the hearth. I LOVE the way this fireplace turned out!  It looks like a shade or two warmer would make a great accent on the fireplace and will really finish off this space.