Groovy Family Room

Host Joan Steffend and designer Cy Winship combine mid-century cool and a sense of humor to create a living room for under $500.

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Banquettes–$102
An expansive seating area is created by building banquettes in the corner of the room. The banquettes are constructed from hollow-core doors, then covered in thin sheets of white melamine board for a crisp, clean contemporary look. The base cushions are the homeowner’s old mattresses and the back cushions are made from a discarded futon. The slipcovers are crafted from vintage Herculon fabric; orange for the base cushions and blue for the back cushions. The slipcovers are secured to the cushions with pins and a drawstring for easy removal.

melamine: Home Depot
Hurculon fabric: Do-It-Yourself Upholstery Supply

Wall Art–$31
The artwork hung over the banquettes is made from brightly-colored contact paper and plastic foam installation boards. The paper is glued to the boards, then the boards are adhered together in a fun geometric pattern. A discarded panel from an office cubical is covered in an orange Hurculon fabric and hung in the corner to add definition to the seating area.

pink foam installation: Home Depot

Hanging Room Divider–$60
To help define the seating area room dividers in a pop-retro style are hung around the space. The hanging dividers are made from white PVC plumbing pipes to match the white banquettes. The PVC pipes are cut to size and threaded onto clothes-line wire, then hung from the ceiling.

PVC pipes: Crestline available at Home Depot

Floor Planter–$70
A planter covered in white melamine is built to sit on the floor underneath the hanging room divider. Because this groovy room is a basement without natural light the greenery for the planter is a low-maintenance plastic.

melamine: Home Depot

Light Fixture–$36
A mid-century pendant light found in the garbage was given new life by replacing the shell with some wire and clear plastic tubing.

plastic tubing: Samar – Gardner Hardware

White Weave Wall Hanging–$0
A dimensional wall hanging for the brick wall is fashioned from discarded vertical blind slats. The slats are weaved together then secured with screws.

Bar Area–$16
Behind the homeowner’s bar hangs a large mirror. To give the mirror a funky retro look two circles are cut into a white melamine board and hung in front of the mirror. To keep the look consistent two pieces of the same melamine board are added to the front of the bar.

melamine: Home Depot

Check out another great decorating project made from PVC >>.

Stemware Holder–$0
Two hanging wine glass racks are made for the bar area. A channel is cut length-wise into a piece of leftover PVC pipe then hung from the ceiling with the channel facing down. The stems of the glasses slide right into place.

PVC pipes: Crestline available at Home Depot

Ottoman–$9
New upholstery and some new legs made from leftover PVC pipe revive a second-hand find.

Floor Pillows–$33
Large lounge pillows are scattered on the floor to provide more seating and to give the space a cool 1960s look.

Coffee Table–$60
To create a multi-level coffee table the legs of four small tables were cut at different heights. The four square tables were then fastened together and placed in the seating area.