Living Room Makeover in a Weekend

Giving your living room a fresh new look doesn't have to mean hiring an interior designer and knocking out walls. This living room was a nice size with beautiful natural light but was looking a little worn and dated. We partnered with Chris and Julia Marcum from Chris Loves Julia, to give the space the facelift it needed with a few supplies from the hardware store.

The dark floating flooring replaced dated carpet and snapped into place quickly. A large-scale, custom piece of art above the sofa makes a statement on what was once a blank wall. And we built sturdy two-tone side tables to flank the sofa. In just two days, we made this room a beautiful, inviting space perfect for entertaining or cozying up for a TV marathon.

Add a Floating Floor

Installing a floating laminate floor was a simple project that snapped into place in a few hours. We selected flooring with a dark stain and a hand-scraped finish to mimic the look of real hardwood. This particular product came with the foam underlayment installed on the underside of each plank, which meant we could skip the step of installing sheets of underlayment. With just a few tools, this flooring was a breeze to install on the first day. Once the floor was finished, we installed quarter round trim along the perimeter to cover the expansion gap. Removing the carpet and replacing it with this floating floor was an instant update that gave the room a sophisticated look.

Create Custom Art

Jason Donnelly

Make gallery-worthy art pieces in minutes. Inspired by the swirly lines of an oversize drywall masher (it looks a lot like a potato masher), we created this modern statement piece in less than an hour. We selected a white, charcoal gray, and tan color scheme and used the masher to stamp the paint on the 3x4-foot canvas. The high-contrast palette was ideal for the modern farmhouse look we wanted. While the canvas dried, we painted wood trim pieces for the frame. Once the paint on all the elements was dry, we nailed the wood trim around the perimeter of the canvas to finish the work of art.

Build Modern Farmhouse Side Tables

We used affordable stock lumber to build custom two-tone end tables in the living room. We used 2x2 poplar pieces to build a modern box base, then painted it a crisp white. The top was made from 2x4s cut to length and stained a light gray. Assembled with some wood screws and a few dabs of glue, these one-of-a-kind side tables were easy to build in just a few hours. The pair of tables flank the sofa and accomplish the modern farmhouse style we wanted.