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Washed Out to Knockout — See a Smart Living Room Makeover

Soaring stonework and nifty custom storage take a spacious living room in Washington from bland to beautiful

Vanessa Brunner April 1, 2013

Houzz Contributor

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When Houzzer Lana Carlene became fed up with her house, which she called a "big, bland, beige box," she decided to do something about its lack of character — one room at a time. She began her coup in the living room, where an expansive fireplace wall screamed for attention. In less than two weeks of construction time, she had the black granite from around the fireplace stripped, natural stone installed all the way to the ceiling and a smart new storage system packed in. Here's how she did it.

Project at a Glance
What: Living room makeover
Location: Maple Valley, Washington
Duration: About two months of planning; 12 days of in-house construction
Budget: $12,000

Installation done by Powell Custom Homes & Renovations

Before Photo

BEFORE: Carlene had moved from a much smaller condo into the 2,000-square-foot home. Her numerous small furniture pieces were making the spacious living room feel cramped, and they felt out of balance.

AFTER: A clever storage system and ceiling-reaching stonework now surround the fireplace.

Mounting the TV above the fireplace would've set the screen too high for comfortable viewing from the sectional, so Carlene had it hung at eye level to one side and the components put in a cabinet underneath. Cables running through a Smurf tube in the wall connect the components to the screen. And she made sure to leave enough room for a larger TV in the future.

Before Photo

BEFORE: The small TV stand was crammed into one corner and packed with entertainment equipment, furthering the clutter problem. Carlene knew the spacious wall could be used for storage. "I wanted something more unified," she said. "The thought of not needing a separate entertainment unit and shelving for storage was appealing."

She put various paint swatches on the wall until she found the right color.

Carlene spent hours on Houzz looking at photos of living rooms with fireplaces, eventually settling on a combination system that would span the entire wall. Once she found the right storage design and wall color, the room was emptied and prepared for painting and installation.

At first she tried a light blue, Behr's Cloudy Day. She also had the black granite on the fireplace surround replaced with natural stone to add texture and to work with the existing mantel. "The existing mantel is a really nice, chunky Craftsman look, so I wanted to just enhance that feel," she says.

She had the stone extended to the ceiling for height and texture.

AFTER: Symmetrical shelves take advantage of the extensive wall space and accommodate art. Carlene changed the wall color to a warm gray (Benjamin Moore's Cinder) for a more dramatic background for her artwork and accessories.

Stone: Cronin, Desert Gold

Once the TV components were set up, Carlene removed the center doors on this cabinet and put in perforated metal panels for extra ventilation.

What was once cramped and cluttered is now warm and inviting. Just ask Carlene's dog, Ricky.

Show us: Do you have before and after photos of a project to share? Upload them in the Comments or in the Houzz Discussions section, and your project could be included in a featured ideabook!

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Comments (81)

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Paula Fenerty

looks great! How much did the stone cost? Did you install yourself?

Like September 6, 2017 at 12:50PM

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Jennifer Walton

Looks great! Are there any problems with remote control(s) to devices behind the metal panel cabinets?

1 Like January 4, 2019 at 5:58PM

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Darren Boor

interested in doing something like this. it's tough with a fireplace flush to the wall like that. I'm considering doing more of an upper kitchen cabinet mounted lower cabinet height so it's not so deep. are those just kitchen cabinets?

Like March 26, 2019 at 6:07PM