Great Room Makeover

• The walls in both rooms are painted a rich barn red. The built-in bookshelves are painted a soft maize hue.
  
• The spindles between the two rooms are removed and columns made out of 1x8 pine boards and molding take their place. Burke adds a wider shelf to accommodate the width of the new columns.
  
• The spindles are reused as small curtain rods with the addition of store-bought screw-on finials. The curtains are placed on the outside of the bay window in the living room and also on the outside of the dining room's picture window.
  
• A salvage-store desk unit is placed inside the alcove in the dining room.The chair is a garage-sale find that's been updated with paint and decoupaged wallpaper cutouts for color.
  
• The homeowners' cream-colored leather furniture is brought up from the downstairs family room and arranged in the new living space.
  
• The homeowners' hutch is repurposed into an entertainment center for the children's area. Wallpaper taped to the back of the glass door inserts hides the TV.
  
• The old coffee table is turned into a bench seat with an upholstered cushion. The fabric skirt creates storage space underneath.
  
• A button-covered chandelier is added in the dining room for a whimsical look.
  
• A craft table suitable for children is created out of a card table, plywood and a paper tablecloth.
  
• A throw is made out of fabric and fringe to coordinate with new pillow covers.

Steps:

1. Cut down the legs on a card table to a height appropriate for your child (cover the rough edges with rubber leg caps). Stitch fabric tubes to hide the metal legs.
   
2. Attach a piece of plywood cut to size and decoupage a paper tablecloth to the top. Seal with three coats of polyurethane.
   
3. Cut wood pieces to frame the table (use a jig saw to create a curvy shape if desired) and attach, leaving a lip that'll prevent art supplies from rolling off the table.

Itemized Design Elements

$81 - paint (Hirshfield's: Heavy-duty Wash & Wear II - #8215D, #88909310)
$18 - shelves
$34 - columns
$65 - window treatment
$64 - curtains
$65 - desk unit (re-use it center)
$6 - chair (garage sale)
$21 - craft table (The Home Depot: rubber leg caps - #39003091265)
$18 - stools (garage sale)
$28 - bench (fabric: outlet)
$20 - button-covered ceiling fixture (Michaels: buttons - #16318904022, #78117210071; wire earring hoops - #1631839581)
$33 - prints
$16 - floral arrangement (Michaels)
$6 - pillow covers
$20 - throw