Green Walls Wake Up a Tired Living Room
With a $6,000 budget, this couple rip out carpet and wallpaper to create a colorful, eclectic space to hang out in
About the only positive thing Logan Hinton could say about their 1900 two-story home in Kansas City, Kansas, when she and fiancé Danny Mantyla moved in was that at least it was still standing. “Structurally, it was OK,” Hinton says. “Cosmetically, you could see everything was excruciatingly outdated. There wasn’t even electrical upstairs.”
After. Hinton and Mantyla lucked out and discovered very old Douglas fir boards under the carpet and subfloor.
But refinishing and restoring the floor was much more of a challenge than they expected. “It was really violently rustic,” Hinton says. The couple had to remove tar and spent two days removing about 200 antique 3-inch square-head nails. “We left a few in for character and stability, but there were a lot coming up and causing a hazard,” Hinton says. “However, the marks they left behind help add to the charm of the original floor.”
After sanding the wood three times and adding three coats of polyurethane, they love the stains and big bleached spots from years of sunlight exposure through the windows. It would have been easier to lay something on top, Hinton says, “but this is very unique and interesting. It’s perfectly imperfect.”
Mantyla removed the wall on the right and built a new, more open staircase.
The couple did most of the work themselves but hired out the tedious parts such as hanging drywall and other tasks, mostly to friends and acquaintances who had some experience. “We just threw them some cash or beer and they’d help us along,” Hinton says. She and Mantyla polished their DIY skills through books and YouTube videos of Tom Silva from This Old House. They also gathered feedback from the Houzz community by posting remodeling questions in Design Dilemmas.
But refinishing and restoring the floor was much more of a challenge than they expected. “It was really violently rustic,” Hinton says. The couple had to remove tar and spent two days removing about 200 antique 3-inch square-head nails. “We left a few in for character and stability, but there were a lot coming up and causing a hazard,” Hinton says. “However, the marks they left behind help add to the charm of the original floor.”
After sanding the wood three times and adding three coats of polyurethane, they love the stains and big bleached spots from years of sunlight exposure through the windows. It would have been easier to lay something on top, Hinton says, “but this is very unique and interesting. It’s perfectly imperfect.”
Mantyla removed the wall on the right and built a new, more open staircase.
The couple did most of the work themselves but hired out the tedious parts such as hanging drywall and other tasks, mostly to friends and acquaintances who had some experience. “We just threw them some cash or beer and they’d help us along,” Hinton says. She and Mantyla polished their DIY skills through books and YouTube videos of Tom Silva from This Old House. They also gathered feedback from the Houzz community by posting remodeling questions in Design Dilemmas.
Hinton knew she wanted a jewel tone for the walls and fell in love with Jadite by Sherwin-Williams. “It’s definitely a little risky,” she says. “But it’s a small house and a small room with lots of windows, so I wasn’t worried about it being too dark.” A cool gray on the TV wall helps brighten and balance the green, as do warm gold metal accents.
The couple added new crown molding, baseboards and trim around the windows. They also installed stained walnut box beams to conceal wiring for new lights and a fan that they couldn’t find another way to route. “It was a nice way to hide some of the wiring without having to finish the ceiling,” Hinton says. “It adds some character.”
She wanted to move away from her previous dark gray sofa, and beige wasn’t a good option with two dogs and two cats. “I wanted something brighter and more interesting,” she says. She found a sectional in a warm rust color she likes. “It hides stains and works well with the colors in our existing chair,” she says.
Mantyla created the coffee table by adding hairpin legs to a slab of burl wood the couple found at a garage sale. They put together the gallery wall using work from local artists and family members.
Sofa: Nockeby in Tallmyra Rust, Ikea; side chair: Neyla in Jacquard, World Market; rug: chunky knit wool woven rug in cream by Project 62, Target
What to know before buying a sofa
The couple added new crown molding, baseboards and trim around the windows. They also installed stained walnut box beams to conceal wiring for new lights and a fan that they couldn’t find another way to route. “It was a nice way to hide some of the wiring without having to finish the ceiling,” Hinton says. “It adds some character.”
She wanted to move away from her previous dark gray sofa, and beige wasn’t a good option with two dogs and two cats. “I wanted something brighter and more interesting,” she says. She found a sectional in a warm rust color she likes. “It hides stains and works well with the colors in our existing chair,” she says.
Mantyla created the coffee table by adding hairpin legs to a slab of burl wood the couple found at a garage sale. They put together the gallery wall using work from local artists and family members.
Sofa: Nockeby in Tallmyra Rust, Ikea; side chair: Neyla in Jacquard, World Market; rug: chunky knit wool woven rug in cream by Project 62, Target
What to know before buying a sofa
After. This photo shows the room from the same general direction as the previous photo. The furniture layout was a bit of a challenge for Hinton. The room is long with the front door opening to the middle of it (to the right behind the patterned armchair), with no foyer separating the spaces. She broke the room into two zones, one with a sectional and a chair for watching TV and another with two chairs for reading or hanging out. “It seems to have a nice mishmash flow that works well together,” Hinton says.
The couple spent about $6,000 to update the living room. That included demolition and dumping fees, drywall, electrical, permit, floors, blow-in insulation, tool rentals, lumber, paint, lighting, a little labor, decor and furniture.
Gray wall paint: Argos, Sherwin-Williams; ceiling paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore; trim paint: Unlimited White, Benjamin Moore; gray chairs: Poang in Hillared Anthracite and Birch, Ikea; bookcase: Billy in beige, Ikea; TV stand: Hemnes in white, Ikea; fan: Midori in oil-rubbed bronze, Turn of the Century via Menards
More
Key Measurements for Your Living Room
Divide and Conquer: How to Furnish a Long, Narrow Room
Good Furniture Combos for Tight Living Rooms
Other Resources on Houzz
Get living room ideas
Find a designer
Browse living room products
The couple spent about $6,000 to update the living room. That included demolition and dumping fees, drywall, electrical, permit, floors, blow-in insulation, tool rentals, lumber, paint, lighting, a little labor, decor and furniture.
Gray wall paint: Argos, Sherwin-Williams; ceiling paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore; trim paint: Unlimited White, Benjamin Moore; gray chairs: Poang in Hillared Anthracite and Birch, Ikea; bookcase: Billy in beige, Ikea; TV stand: Hemnes in white, Ikea; fan: Midori in oil-rubbed bronze, Turn of the Century via Menards
More
Key Measurements for Your Living Room
Divide and Conquer: How to Furnish a Long, Narrow Room
Good Furniture Combos for Tight Living Rooms
Other Resources on Houzz
Get living room ideas
Find a designer
Browse living room products
Living Room at a Glance
Who lives here: Logan Hinton, an account specialist at an insurance company, and Danny Mantyla, a webmaster at Kansas Public Radio, plus their two dogs, two cats and bearded dragon
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Size: 276 square feet (26 square meters); 12 by 23 feet
Before. Within 30 seconds of getting the keys to the home, Hinton began ripping up the carpet. “It was thick, nasty carpet,” she says.
She and Mantyla had peeked under a corner of the carpet when looking to buy the house and saw a plywood subfloor that was in bad shape. They crossed their fingers and hoped there was authentic hardwood underneath.
They ripped off all the wallpaper, which was on top of wood paneling that was on top of two more layers of wallpaper. The stairs were walled off and narrow. And white styrofoam ceiling tiles covered ugly ducting that had been installed incorrectly.