Interior Design

It seems our living room has made some dramatic changes every year since Ben and I got married in 2006.

When I met Ben in 2005, our living room looked like this. Fortunately, we have made some improvements. I moved in (with a love seat and some accessories) and the living room looked like this in 2006.

Ouch. Not much better. We still had the 80’s hand-me-down entertainment center, cow rug, mismatched furniture and a lot of clutter. Oh, and we didn’t have trim around the windows. Ben was recovering from knee surgery, so we also had a total gym upstairs.

2006 became 2007 and we found a black leather couch and love seat set in the paper for $800.00. It wasn’t the best looking, but at least it matched and fit our budget. We repainted the trim white and the upper color became a darker beige. We donated the entertainment center and built cabinets. Ben also cased out the windows, so we had a more finished looking room. But, we were still waiting to build the bookshelves until we got a new flat panel TV.

2008 was a much better year for our living room. That was the year we got model furniture from the builder I worked for. Now we’re getting somewhere. The couch and chair matched, but we still had the rocker. I bought a new rug from Flor. It added some style and warmth. I made some throw pillows to add more color. At the time, the scheme was blue and red.

We got our new TV and finished the bookshelves. What a big difference that made! A few accessories later and we had this:

Ben’s boss gave us a little desk. Nothing great, but it works. We finally got some framed pictures on the walls, too. Notice I said some.

Fast forward to 2009 when we bought two side chairs and side tables from Target. We moved some furniture around and changed up the color scheme to blue and green. I sewed a few pillow covers and made some artwork to add more color.

Green and white books, silver picture frames, candles and new artwork and photos revamped the entertainment center. I also switched out the door hardware for a more modern feel.

That’s where our living room is now. What is going to happen in 2010?

We’re back to show how we transformed our master bedroom. Yeah, it’s much better now.

Ben ripped out the old carpet and installed the Pergo floor shortly after he bought the house. So, we ripped out the Pergo flooring (we both hated the hollow sound it made when we walked on it). We came up with a simple 12 inch grid pattern for the trim and added it to the walls using MDF. We also added crown moulding above the doors and windows. Ben had the brilliant idea to add recessed rope lighting (on a dimmer) inside the crown. AMAZING! Then we sprayed all of the trim the same white that we used in the other bedrooms. (Behr’s Vermont Cream color matched in Wal-Mart’s Colorplace brand).

Then we painted the room Behr’s Squirrel. I loved it, Ben hated it. Soooo, we painted the walls a lighter version of Squirrel:

Yeah, neither of us liked that one. Maybe a pale blue? NOPE! It was baby blue! Ben wanted red. I HATE red bedrooms (or rooms in general), but I was sick of painting. We agreed that the bedroom could be red if Ben painted. The red didn’t stay long. We finally agreed (and LIKED!) Restoration Hardware’s Bay Laurel paint color.

Then we got down to business! Installing 3/4 inch thick, solid red oak flooring to match the rest of the house. Here’s an action shot:

Yes, that is my talented husband. After the floors were installed, we filled all the holes and joints.

Here is what the room looked like at that stage:

Then Ben sanded the floors with a rented sander. Feel the power.

We coated the floor with Waterlox Original Sealer. We chose an oil finish to allow touch ups to be made. Here’s the after shot!

So, that’s how we (Ben and a very pregnant Amanda) installed our red oak floors in our master bedroom. The floors really enhance the bedroom and tie it in with the rest of the house.