When we first moved into our house, the living room was the biggest and darkest room in the entire place. It had hunter green carpet, dark paneling, dark brick fireplace with a black woodstove.
When we realized we wouldn’t be moving for a very long time, I decided to add some permanence and decorate beyond just pale-colored paint on our walls and nerdy posters. We pulled out the carpet and added some cheap laminate and painted the paneling, but after a few years that got boring.
When I realized we weren’t going to sell forever, I decided to go more daring, and alter the colors and make the house shine. Here’s how I turned my boring living space into a family-friendly living room straight out of a nerd’s fever dream.
Get your foot snuggles on with these nerdy, light-up, and heated slippers
For cold, dreary nights, you need a solid pair o' slips. And when you can look chic geeky as hell at the same time, even... Read more
I sold the woodstove and painted the fireplace white, which completely lightened the room. Since there is no flue, I decided the fireplace was nonfunctioning. I painted the inside of it with fireproof paint, and I put my first nerdy thing in there — a painting of fire with the word “Incendio” which is a fire spell from Harry Potter.
When I painted the paneling, I wanted it to be bright and cheery, so I came up with the idea of painting the walls red, orange, and yellow, and the little grooves in the paneling I painted in opposite colors. If it is orange, I painted the grooves red and yellow, it it was yellow, it was red and orange, etc. It took FOREVER. And I used a ketchup bottle.
I painted my furniture to coordinate with the curtains. I have a blue coffee table, purple bench, white banquette table with blue oilcloth and I reupholstered our rocking chair with rainbow striped fabric.
I spraypainted my pea-green vinyl couch white with SO many cans of paint. And yes, usually my power tools ARE laying all over the house when I am in the middle of a project.)
For Christmas last year my husband and I used pallet and scrap wood to build our two sons (now six and four) a treehouse in the living room. It has been a great source of adventures over the past year.
Underneath it I have a table that I Mod Podged Star Wars pictures on top. The boys usually can do art under there and keep their crayons and paper there.
But the main focus in our living room is the TARDIS TV cabinet. A friend helped me paint our cabinet blue, and then I built a box on the top of it, and added the sign and wired the lighting so that it flashes! It really made having our Doctor Who premiere party in the Fall so much easier to decorate for, and the boys really love it too.
What I like best about my living room is that it is MINE. No one else I know has a Star Wars, Doctor Who, Harry Potter rainbow living room!
This is the most beautiful living room that I have EVER seen! I have always hated houses with wood paneling and now I wouldn’t settle for a house without it.
*blush* thank you so much! I loathed the paneling for the longest time, now I have no idea what my living room would look like without it (I certainly wouldn’t have pinstriped it!)
Oh! Oh! Oh! The “before” photo totally looks like my living room. :: schemes ::
The painted vinyl couch is blowing my very mind. Wouldn’t the paint just peel off?
it’s held up pretty well in the past year, but there are a few places that need ” touch ups” either because we used it too soon or because it didn’t stay. it’s a specific paint for vinyl! you get it in automotive stores like Autozone 🙂 cleans up better than a slipcover for SURE.
I am so jealous of your treehouse. Now I want an indoor treehouse for myself!
you should build one! it was fun! If I can build it anyone can 🙂
It would be great to get a tutorial for it!
I don’t know that I can put together one – but I looked at this frame here on her blog
http://cheerfulhome.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/project-playroom-building-a-reading-loft-fort-indoor-treehouse-the-building-begins/ and that sort of helped. I used what I had on hand mostly – 2x4s instead of 4×4 etc and then added the boards :/
This is so freaking awesome!!!!! The TARDIS TV cabinet is my favorite part. Ugh so much love.
thank you 🙂
Yay for small towns in NC!!
I’m not a fan of any of these shows/movies but this is one friggin’ awesome redo!
thank you very much 🙂
do you live in NC ? I live in Mebane!
I’m outside of Rocky Mount on the east side. No one has usually heard of my actual town (does that make it a hipster town?) so I have to use local places as references. 🙂
I guess I really can’t claim small town when we have an outlet mall :/
I second the “yay for small NC towns”! We’re moving to a small NC town away from Charlotte next month!
Even if this wasn’t going to be your home forever & ever, I have to think that the right buyer would see this super cool redo as a positive. We’re renting right now, so I’ve got to figure out ways to customize my new rental such that it can be this awesome and still get my deposit back.
Seriously awesome. I especially love the painted paneling!
thank you! it was SO much work but I really love how it turned out 🙂
I saw your room on Flickr and asked to move in. 🙂 I still want to! It’s amazeballs.
you still can, but I really need someone to clean it 😉
Amazing! I love the whole room. I have an old fireplace and once I remove the useless oil heater from it and clean it up I’m thinking that an Incendio painting would be perfect! Did you buy that one or did you paint it yourself?
I did it myself! I traced out the letters on contact paper and cut them out. Painted the whole canvas black and then just painted over it with the fire (white yellow red and orange – I didn’t wait for them to dry so they blended well) and then when it finally dried I peeled the letters off!
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh my dog. This is incredible. I love the dangling rainbow mobile thing you have hanging from your light/fan (sorry – I can’t tell from the photo!) – what’s this made out of? I’d really like to recreate one for myself x
I went to Hobby Lobby and bought these acrylic beads when they were on sale – they were in the jewelry aisle. I strung them on clear string with knots to keep them spaced and then tied them to my fan 🙂 you could tie them to an embroidery hoop!
Genius – thank you!! I even have a spare embroidery hoop that I bought for some long-forgotten project a while ago. Will put it to good use now! x
Good luck!!
Absolutely none of these films/TV is of interest to me, and I would never do my home up like this, but I still think it is fabulous. A terrific and very imaginative makeover, and it makes such a great change to see someone putting into their home what they actually want, rather than keeping everything beige and mediocre for resale. I applaud you on every level.
Thank you so much!!
Oh my gosh. This is the best room of any house I have ever seen. This is also the most compelling reason to buy a house I have ever seen. You are amazing!
Thank you!!!!
I want to build that fort for me.
This is the most amazing living room I have EVER seen! Congrats an all that awesome that is you and your family.
Thank you!!!!
ZOMG, I friggin heart the indoor treehouse so much! That is aweseome. I want one of my own. *Bows down*
Thanks!!!
Wow, this is amazing! The Incendio painting in the fireplace is the cutest thing ever. All the colours! I had no idea wood paneling could look so cool.
thank you! I have no idea what I would do if this room didn’t have the paneling!
and thank you for your kind words about the painting 🙂
That’s cute. My son keeps going on and on about Dr. Who, which I have yet to check out, but I’ll definitely send this his way.
this is what happens when you start watching Doctor Who
http://globalgeeknews.com/2011/09/20/what-happens-when-you-start-watching-doctor-who-comic/
and thanks 🙂
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This is AMAZING. Seriously, I think we’d be best friends, haha. 🙂
thank you! Where do you live :p