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Great Before And After Two Story Living Room Makeover

I am LOVING this low budget DIY Home Living Room Makeover. Check out the must see before & after renovation pics of our traditional home with pops of color & light walls.

I LOVE this Two Story Living Room Makeover

Welcome, welcome. I’m back with another big reveal on a room makeover in our house. And, I’m so excited about how great this Living Room renovation turned out!

This Living Room Makeover has been a 7 week long Marathon of some pretty big DIY projects. BUT, I was able to do this renovation on a pretty low budget because almost all of it was DIY.

This renovation started with renting scaffolding that I practically lived on for a full week. Painting 20′ high walls is about as fun as it sounds. But the light paint color on the walls turned out amazing!

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
Painting the walls and ceiling in this room with 20′ high walls took a week. BUT, I saved about $1000 doing it myself.

And, I even painted all of the crown molding and ceiling while I was out there. I went with an Eggshell paint sheen on the ceilings.

Check out my post on the Best Paint Sheen on Ceilings to see more examples of why I absolutely LOVE eggshell sheen on ceilings.

Then I got busy building side tables, ottomans, and more while some contractors remodeled our fireplace. That new shiplap is such an upgrade, right?!

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
I LOVE adding Pops of Color on furniture while keeping the walls light and bright.

Before we get to the rest of the before and after photos, here’s some budget-friendly tips to help you do your own DIY Home Living Room Makeover.

How Do You Transform a Boring Living Room?

Here’s some of my favorite tips to fix a boring Living Room. You don’t need to do all of these. Just pick a few you like to liven up a boring Living Room.

Clear out the beige and tan colors. I used to buy everything beige because beige matches everything, right? But, then I had a room full of beige furniture, carpet, and walls.

Give the walls and trim a fresh coat of paint. Using an off-white or white paint color on walls is the cheapest and easiest way to get rid of an outdated paint color.

Rethink your furniture layout. A furniture layout change can make a room feel fresh and new. Changing all of the furniture in our Living Room to face the windows was a huge improvement over the old layout.

Tour our cozy Modern Farmhouse, Traditional Living Room with this look at our fun & colorful Living Room Christmas Decorations, this year. Full of pops of Red, Blue, and Green! #AbbottsAtHome #ChristmasIdeas #ChristmasDecorations #ChristmasDecor #ChristmasLivingRoom
Picking larger than normal décor and wall art has been a game changer for me. Rooms don’t feel as cluttered and decorating seems easier!

Add new furniture pieces. Replace 1 or 2 large furniture pieces, if you can afford it. Or, save money by swapping pieces of furniture with another room. You can even reupholster chairs and couches. Or, paint furniture with amazing colors!

Rethink the plants and home décor. I like to clear all of these out of a room before slowly adding in a few pieces. I almost always think larger home décor pieces look better than smaller.

Change your wall art. Changing the wall art can also change the look and feel of a boring Living Room. I recommend larger pieces of wall art too. Usually, 1 big piece of wall art looks better than 3 small pieces.

Add stylish rugs. I switch out rugs in my rooms every 3 years or so, to keep the room feeling fresh. Check out my picks for the 17 Best Area Rugs on a Budget to see some great options.

Add colorful curtains. Just like rugs, curtains can be replaced every 3 to 5 years to keep your Living Room feeling up-to-date. Don’t forget, curtains look best when they’re floor to ceiling length and hung wide.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
Looking for an easy DIY Home Living Room Makeover tip for a boring room? Add colorful curtains and rugs!!

You can see more ideas and details about the 14 Best Ways to Renovate A Living Room on a Budget in another post.

Before and After DIY Home Living Room Makeover

OK, guys! Now that you’ve seen some of my favorite ways to update an Old Fashioned Living Room, let’s get to those before and after pics.

Fireplace and Paint Updates

Here’s a look at where this room started, last month. It was boring and blah, but worked well as a safe play space for babies. Now that my boys are getting older, it was time to add style to this room!

These ORC Living Room Makeover Plans are so fresh and light. Includes bright Blues and light Cream Walls with accents of pale pinks and green. #AbbottsAtHome #LivingRoom #BlueFurniture #MakeoverPlans

I removed the coffee table after one too many close calls when my boys were toddlers. AND, I had all of the furniture pushed as far back as possible to give the boys plenty of room to play with toys.

It was time to rearrange that furniture to give it more of an updated, grown-up feel. I also wanted to lighten up the colors in this room.

With all of that beige and smoky blue paint, it felt sort of dark in this room, despite that 6 HUGE windows.

Tour our cozy Modern Farmhouse, Traditional Living Room with this look at our fun & colorful Living Room Christmas Decorations, this year. Full of pops of Red, Blue, and Green! #AbbottsAtHome #ChristmasIdeas #ChristmasDecorations #ChristmasDecor #ChristmasLivingRoom
You can see more of my Fun Colorful Living Room Christmas Decorations by clicking that link.

Look at how much lighter and brighter the room feels after switching to an off white paint color on the walls. That boring beige look to the room is completely gone now.

The one update in this room that I hired out was that Shiplap Fireplace Makeover. The old trim only went half way up that 20′ high wall. It always felt out of scale. Taking the shiplap 5′ higher looks so much better!

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
We installed that fan a couple years ago. In Texas, fans are a necessity. I went with this model because the wood color is very natural looking and the blades are nice and thick.

Look at the way color pops against those off white walls too! You can see the same amazing difference that white walls make in my 2 Story Foyer Makeover and in my Family Room Makeover On A Budget!

Blocking Off the Room with a Couch

This next before and after blows my mind, guys! I thought that keeping this area between the hallway and the Living Room open helped the room feel bigger.

BUT, I was wrong. Moving the couch into this space somehow made the Living Room seem bigger. Now the space is better defined.

These ORC Living Room Makeover Plans are so fresh and light. Includes bright Blues and light Cream Walls with accents of pale pinks and green. #AbbottsAtHome #LivingRoom #BlueFurniture #MakeoverPlans

And, I have a great view of our backyard, and the DIY Swing Set I just built, from the couch now.

Look at how light and bright this room looks now. I just LOVE it. And, it was mostly paint that turned this boring, old fashioned living room into an updated traditional Living Room with pops of color!

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
Bam! Right? The light walls make those gorgeous pillars and all that millwork shine.
These ORC Living Room Makeover Plans are so fresh and light. Includes bright Blues and light Cream Walls with accents of pale pinks and green. #AbbottsAtHome #LivingRoom #BlueFurniture #MakeoverPlans
Replacing 3 smaller photos with 1 large canvas print makes so much more sense on a large wall. UPDATE: Check out how beautiful this home office makeover looks today.

The whole Living Room just feels more grown up but still livable and fun. I don’t even mind that beige couch as much, now. After removing it’s matching chair, beige doesn’t dominate the room anymore.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
I built that red DIY Kids Desk and 2 DIY Pedestal Side Tables for this Living Room renovation. Building furniture is another great way to DIY and save money.

Light Walls Help Colors POP!

I just can’t get over the change here. I have been slowly painting a lot of the rooms in this house Behr’s Sandstone Cove. It is really making everything feel light and fresh.

And how about that amazing barn art above the wing chair. The colors are perfect. So glad I found it. Target has some beautiful wall art, lately. The cow head art and brass lamp are from Target too.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
This view of our newly renovated Living Room, from the kitchen, makes me want to pinch myself.

Those light walls (Behr’s Sandstone Cove) act as the perfect backdrop for colorful furniture. And, yes, I did eat every bit of that cheese as soon as I wrapped up this photo shoot.

More Furniture Layout Changes and Updates

I mentioned above that the original furniture layout was mostly designed around making a nice, safe play space for babies and toddlers.

And, of course, the location of the cable jack determined where our TV went.

These ORC Living Room Makeover Plans are so fresh and light. Includes bright Blues and light Cream Walls with accents of pale pinks and green. #AbbottsAtHome #LivingRoom #BlueFurniture #MakeoverPlans

BUT, thanks to how great streaming TV is now, we were able to get rid of cable and move that TV above the fireplace, without any wiring changes. And, we’re saving over $100 a month after that switch!

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse

DIY Upholstery Projects Add New Color

I reupholstered that blue velvet wingback chair as part of this room makeover too! You can find some of my favorite tips to reupholster a chair in another post.

I have a full build tutorial for that DIY Upholstered Ottoman on this blog too. It’s great having a foot stool for that wing chair now. And, it’s big enough it can be used as extra seating and for games too.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
I love finally having a grown up, stylish room to enjoy while the kids are at school. Of course, 2-tiers of cookie goodness and hot tea is the perfect way to celebrate having finished this DIY Home Living Room makeover.

You can see more of the before photos in this post. Now, I have more photos of my favorite details in this Living Room.

Favorite Furniture Builds from this Living Room

Since I went for off white walls and the carpet was already a light beige, I went for colorful furniture and home décor choices. Mostly, I went for jewel tones, like teal green, royal blue, and candy apple red!

I shared the full build tutorial for this DIY Console Table Build in a recent post. How amazing is that paint color?! You can see the steps I used to paint it in the post Easy DIY Teal Furniture Paint Makeover.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
This Console Table looks great behind the couch. And, it’s a convenient spot for my coffee.

It’s from the Magnolia Homes by Kilz paint line. The color is called Weekend, I used an Eggshell sheen. I love this paint line, it’s acrylic based but dries fast, like a chalk paint.

That teal paint color works great with those sleek brass handles too.

You can see the back of the DIY Kids Desk with Storage Drawers I built for my son, in the next picture. I used a DecoArt paint on this desk that doesn’t seem to be sold anymore.

But, Country Chic’s Poppy color looks pretty similar. You can see the steps I used to paint this desk in the post Easy DIY Red Painted Furniture Makeover.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse

Seriously, guys. I never thought I was a cow art kind of girl. Sure, they’re generally cute, but they never grabbed me. But this cow stopped me mid-stride in Target. I had to buy it.

If you like cow art too, check out these cow art options on Amazon too. That galvanized steel and brass house is another current fav. I like to put a fun string of LED lights in the bottom of it.

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse

Cheap Side Tables and Paint Updates

Here’s a better look at the DIY Side Table I designed and built for this room. I needed something small with a round top for this spot. And, I built 2 of these pedestal tables for just $50 each. 🙂

I added extra texture to the pedestal base of that table by dry brushing one color over another. Check out How to Paint Furniture for Beginners for tips on getting started.

Or, 25 Step by Step Beginner Furniture Painting Tutorials to see some great furniture painting tutorials beginners can do.

What do you think?? I hope you’re getting some useful ideas to do your own DIY Home Living Room Makeover on a budget!

RECOMMENDED: 15 Free or Cheap Ways To Update A Living Room: Great Free and Low Budget Ideas!

A Few More Photos

A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
This low DIY upholstered ottoman works great as a place to do puzzles, read books, and as a little coffee table for all of those movie night snacks.
A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
Couldn’t resist adding the October Issue of Better Homes and Gardens to this reveal. They featured my DIY Mudroom in that issue. Still pinching myself. Check out the Better Homes & Gardens photo shoot details here.
A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
This plant and that sweet peacock are the perfect combo on one side of the fireplace mantel.
A colorful Modern Farmhouse Living Room Makeover, I love! It's fun, beautiful, and stylish. Full of living room decor and design ideas JoAnna Gaines would approve. :) #AbbottsAtHome #ModernFarmhouse #TraditionalHome #LivingRoom #Farmhouse
And, on the right side, I have this beautiful set of vases from a couple we knew in Egypt.

DIY Projects and Posts from this DIY Living Room Renovation

More Home DIY Projects For You!

I LOVE this tutorial for How to Install this Simple DIY Coffered Ceiling Design.

Try this Simple DIY Coffered Ceiling Design I used to give my Dining Room ceiling a beautiful new look. Includes lots of pictures and a how to video. DIY Ceiling Design Ideas. DIY Ceiling Makeover Ideas.

These before and after Master Bathroom Makeover pictures. I couldn’t be happier about this makeover!

White marble master bathroom with blue cabinets and light walls.

Check out How to Paint Built In Bookshelves and Cabinets for steps to give yours a makeover.

Grey Blue Built In Entertainment Center in a Family Room.

You should see the great before and after pictures on my Beautiful DIY Vaulted Ceiling Makeover too.

Here's a peek at the rooms I've never really shown you. And, the story behind why I haven't done their room reveals yet. A couple just need a few finishing touches. Like our master bedroom. But, they're all full of Traditional Home Room Makeover Ideas. #AbbottsAtHome #MasterBedroom #BedroomIdeas #FarmhouseStyle #TraditionalHome #MasterBedroomIdeas #VaultedCeiling

And, check out how to stain a front door without removing it.


Feeling inspired? Now you know my tips for a DIY Home Living Room Makeover. Let me know if you have questions.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.

April J Harris

Monday 26th of November 2018

What a beautiful room, and what a gorgeous transformation! I love the pops of dark blue, and the fireplace. Sharing on the H&S Facebook page later today. Thank you for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Stephanie

Monday 26th of November 2018

Thanks so much, April!

Christine @ Rustic-Refined.com

Sunday 18th of November 2018

I am seriously in love with your living room. You did a tremendous job!

Stephanie

Sunday 25th of November 2018

Thanks so much, Christine!!

Habiba

Friday 16th of November 2018

Stephanie, you really deserve to rest! What you did to that room in those weeks is simply amazing! As you've build almost all of that furniture, I am sure hubby will treat you with a new sofa soon. Keep on reminding him of the fact that you've created the perfect surroundings for this darlin gleather couch. Enjoy the cookies!

Stephanie

Friday 16th of November 2018

Aw, thanks Habiba. You are so kind. Since I know you're a constantly busy DIY'er too, that's an even nicer compliment. :)

Thehomeicreate

Saturday 10th of November 2018

Stephanie what a wonderful makeover! I cannot believe that you actually painted with those two-story height ceilings! And your DIY projects are also so impressive. Great makeover and congrats on your magazine feature!

Stephanie

Saturday 10th of November 2018

Thanks so much! :)

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