If you have wood trim, oak cabinets, a dark living room, or a house that feels a little “stuck,” it’s very tempting to think the answer is paint. Paint the trim. Paint the kitchen. Paint everything and start over.
Renovating isn’t the only answer
That’s exactly where this Chicago couple found themselves. They’d lived in their home for seven years, had one-and-a-half-year-old twins, and their living room still wasn’t working. The furniture was pushed up against the walls, the room felt dark, and with two doorways, small windows and a fireplace, the ideal layout wasn’t obvious.
So naturally, the renovation questions started creeping in: Should we paint all the wood trim? Should we paint the 80s oak kitchen? Is this a $20,000 problem?
Spoiler: it wasn’t.
A glow up
In one day, I gave their living room — and their sunroom — a complete glow-up with decorating. New rugs, better furniture placement, pillows, lamps, art and accessories changed the way the whole house felt. And the best part? The wood trim stayed.
Sneak peek of the living room
A bonus sunroom makeover
Since we were having so much fun with the living room, I couldn’t resist adding the sunroom to the makeover because it’s one of the reasons they bought the house in the first place — and with that beautiful backyard view. It deserved to feel just as inviting as the rest of the home. I removed the furniture from the photo but you can see exactly why this room had so much potential!
See the full transformation for this sweet family in this week’s episode.
Time for your glow up?
How about you? If you’re looking around your house wondering if that big renovation is inevitable, chances are high that a one day transformation will make you so happy you’ll forget all about it and go on that vacation instead! Send me some images of your home here to be considered.
Related posts:
How to Choose Colours that Flatter your Orange Wood Trim
I love this makeover!! Even though it’s sad to cover up the stained glass window with the console, it looks perfect there! Everything looks great and I am glad you are showing people how to style with wood trim or other things that aren’t super trendy.
I really enjoyed watching this segment . Glad you showed that the wood trim and cabinets did not have to be painted and explained why. . Nice choice on rugs too!
I love, love what Maria did with this house. Oh, that she would come to Greenville, South Carolina.
Deb
Thanks for doing a realistic makeover. So glad the oak trim and cabinets stayed.
I did notice one thing in the background when you were talking at the end. You were in front of a wall sconce with a brown cord. Something you might want to consider is painting the cord or using a printable cord cover to help the cord disappear so that it doesn’t detract from your beauty. When I noticed it, I thought of the video line you used about how we don’t notice some things in our house that a visitor might. Thank you for your generous sharing of your talents!
Huge improvement! Looks great. And I love how that beautiful dog followed you all around, wagging his tail and just being a part of it all. Glad to see he also claimed a spot on the couch!
This came out great! The dark living room is so much improved. I would want to swap out the dark coffee table for a visually lighter one that is round/slightly smaller for easier traffic flow.
The sunroom is a great space! I love that the mustard and yellow in the rug made the honey oak furniture look like a choice that fits instead of hand me downs. Though they probably ought to go back to the tile, practically speaking, if it’s a toddler and chick playroom. Love it though.
Love how you showed how to update a house to looks current while keeping all the lovely original wood tones. So beautiful.