Home Make-Over: Living Room

It all started when the washer gave up the ghost in early November. We had bought it used long ago, and it served us well for many years. But one day it began to make a loud clunking sound and the agitator quit. We ordered a new washer and dryer from Lowe's and, since there was a little extra money in the kitty (and the store gave us some cash back when the appliances went on sale on Veteran's Day!) we were able to get new blinds and paint for the kitchen and dining room/family room too.

We've lived here for over nine years and have been unable to do much upgrading. But by now things were looking pretty dowdy. What did we want to do, and where to start? Our minds were reeling. Perhaps we could change out the floor covering throughout the house and even purchase new living room furniture!

We spent much of December considering our options. And we painted the kitchen. We were overwhelmed with so many possibilities for flooring -- we leaned toward wood floors throughout the downstairs -- but we finally decided on carpet in the living room and new vinyl in the rest of the main floor. We stopped by Remnant King on Rucker in Everett and Midge spent a lot of time with us, sending us home with several samples. John came out to measure and brought along additional samples. He measured the kitchen and dining room floors and the kitchen countertops as well, and he's keeping it on file for a later date.

Now, you don't just go with the first place you find, so we had Lowe's come out too, and we stopped by another carpet store to get an estimate. In the end, the bid from Remnant King was so close to Lowe's bid, and with a higher quality carpet and pad, that we were happy to give them our business.

When we walked into the Home Center in Stanwood we were greeted by a lovely young man named Ryan who was attentive to our needs and a great asset to the store. He's only 20, but he's been working in the showroom for several years, and he also makes deliveries. We ordered a sofa, love seat, chair and three tables from them.

The carpet was installed on December 28 -- so much for Christmas decorating! -- and the furniture came the following day.

We loved our new look! It was a total re-make of our living room. Out with the dingy grey, stained carpet, in with the plush brown flecky one. Out with the blue plaid sofa and the black loveseat with too many pillows and the tables that were way out of style. Move that piano out of the living room to the dining room and bring in a book case and a credenza. Switch the furniture from the outside walls to a cozy conversation area.

But it wasn't too long till we realized that the sofa set did not fit our bodies. And the chemicals in the carpet and furniture were gassing off and causing us to feel ill.

The furniture store was willing to work with us. They let us exchange our sofa set for a new sofa, and we found a great swivel chair that we loved at Hanson's Furniture in Mt Vernon. We sped up the off-gassing process. Just last week we completed our make-over when we purchased new pillows for the sofa and shades to update our lamps.

Through this past five months I've learned quite a lot about what's involved in a make-over. On Wednesday I'll give you some tips that might make the process easier for you. For now, I'm happy to show you how the new living room looks.

Why don't you come in and have a look!