Español

Your Favorites

Steps on Evolving A Family Room

My Evolving Family Room

Sometimes it’s not about throwing out everything and starting over from scratch to update your look. DIY Blogger Diane Henkler of InMyOwnStyle.com tells Glidden® how she was able to update some older pieces with a couple coats of paint.
Steps on Evolving A Family Room
Of all the rooms in my house, my family room has been the hardest to decorate. It is long and narrow, plus it’s open concept into the kitchen—so there are only three walls in the room and they all have a focal point—fireplace, bank of French doors, and a double wide opening to my Studio office. There is no place for the furniture to go, except the middle of the room. To make this work we had to add an electrical outlet on the floor. This provided a place to plug in the lamps needed behind the sofa and kept the cords from running across the open floor. I was quite happy when we did this—it totally changed the way we used the room.

Fast-forward to a few years ago when I painted the brick around the fireplace white and the TV that used to be in one of the corner cabinets went to my sister when a shiny new flat screen showed up above the fireplace. The look of the brown cabinets was no longer pleasing to my eye. Since I had always wanted them white, I set out to do just that in the hopes that they would blend in with the walls and make the room look bigger. I also just added stone around the fireplace.
 
Before

Before of family room

Before

After of family room

Before

Of all the rooms in my house, my family room has been the hardest to decorate. It is long and narrow, plus it’s open concept into the kitchen—so there are only three walls in the room and they all have a focal point—fireplace, bank of French doors, and a double wide opening to my Studio office. There is no place for the furniture to go, except the middle of the room. To make this work we had to add an electrical outlet on the floor. This provided a place to plug in the lamps needed behind the sofa and kept the cords from running across the open floor. I was quite happy when we did this—it totally changed the way we used the room.

Fast-forward to a few years ago when I painted the brick around the fireplace white and the TV that used to be in one of the corner cabinets went to my sister when a shiny new flat screen showed up above the fireplace. The look of the brown cabinets was no longer pleasing to my eye. Since I had always wanted them white, I set out to do just that in the hopes that they would blend in with the walls and make the room look bigger. I also just added stone around the fireplace.
 
Step 1: I like using a foam roller and a high-quality angled brush when I paint furniture.

Step 2: I always remove all the hardware from the piece of furniture before I start to paint. I mark where each piece goes and then place them in baggies. There is nothing worse after you’re finished painting than not having a cabinet door close correctly because you didn’t place the hinges back in the same spot. Mark the backs of the hardware with a magic marker and then place them in marked bags.

Step 3: I used my tried-and-true furniture painting formula: lightly sand* with a little block hand sander and medium grit sandpaper to remove the shine on the surface, clean up with a tack cloth, and then roll on two light coats of Glidden® Primer, letting each coat dry before applying the next.
 
How I transformed the cabinets: Steps 1-3

Painting supplies

How I transformed the cabinets: Steps 1-3

Furniture hardware in bag

How I transformed the cabinets: Steps 1-3

Sanding block

How I transformed the cabinets: Steps 1-3

Step 1: I like using a foam roller and a high-quality angled brush when I paint furniture.

Step 2: I always remove all the hardware from the piece of furniture before I start to paint. I mark where each piece goes and then place them in baggies. There is nothing worse after you’re finished painting than not having a cabinet door close correctly because you didn’t place the hinges back in the same spot. Mark the backs of the hardware with a magic marker and then place them in marked bags.

Step 3: I used my tried-and-true furniture painting formula: lightly sand* with a little block hand sander and medium grit sandpaper to remove the shine on the surface, clean up with a tack cloth, and then roll on two light coats of Glidden® Primer, letting each coat dry before applying the next.
 
Step 4: I lightly sand in between coats if I see any globs or ridges. Clean off with a tack cloth and then apply two light coats of paint, letting each one dry before applying the next. I usually use low-lustre or semi-gloss paint. For my cabinets I used Glidden® Semi-Gloss in the color Crisp White Shirt. It’s not white-white, just a tad bit warmer. Crisp White Shirt has been discontinued, but Silver Feather is a close match.

Step 5: The cabinets had dentil crown molding along the top. To get into each crevice in the molding, I used a small artist’s paint brush. It fit perfectly into the crevices and made the job easy.

Step 6: I set the cabinet doors on 2 x 4s that I stretched across sawhorses in my basement. This made rolling and brushing on paint much easier.

Step 7: Once everything was primed, painted, and dry, I put the doors back on.

Freshly painted crown molding

Steps 4-7

Step 4: I lightly sand in between coats if I see any globs or ridges. Clean off with a tack cloth and then apply two light coats of paint, letting each one dry before applying the next. I usually use low-lustre or semi-gloss paint. For my cabinets I used Glidden® Semi-Gloss in the color Crisp White Shirt. It’s not white-white, just a tad bit warmer. Crisp White Shirt has been discontinued, but Silver Feather is a close match.

Step 5: The cabinets had dentil crown molding along the top. To get into each crevice in the molding, I used a small artist’s paint brush. It fit perfectly into the crevices and made the job easy.

Step 6: I set the cabinet doors on 2 x 4s that I stretched across sawhorses in my basement. This made rolling and brushing on paint much easier.

Step 7: Once everything was primed, painted, and dry, I put the doors back on.
Now my living room looks so much bigger and brighter—exactly what I wanted to achieve. I still have tweaks to make with the accessories and a new rug, but the major projects are complete. Thanks to the power of paint, it was a very affordable transformation.

As always, please refer to the Product Label, Technical Data Sheet and Safety Data Sheet for safety and detailed application instructions.

Find Your Favorite Paint Colors

*WARNING! If you scrape, sand, or remove old paint, you may release lead dust. LEAD IS TOXIC. EXPOSURE TO LEAD DUST CAN CAUSE SERIOUS ILLNESS, SUCH AS BRAIN DAMAGE, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. PREGNANT WOMEN SHOULD ALSO AVOID EXPOSURE. Wear a NIOSH-approved respirator to control lead exposure. Clean up carefully with a HEPA vacuum and a wet mop. Before you start, find out how to protect yourself and your family by contacting the National Lead Information Hotline at 1-800-424-LEAD or log on to www.epa.gov/lead. 

After

Now my living room looks so much bigger and brighter—exactly what I wanted to achieve. I still have tweaks to make with the accessories and a new rug, but the major projects are complete. Thanks to the power of paint, it was a very affordable transformation.

As always, please refer to the Product Label, Technical Data Sheet and Safety Data Sheet for safety and detailed application instructions.

Find Your Favorite Paint Colors

*WARNING! If you scrape, sand, or remove old paint, you may release lead dust. LEAD IS TOXIC. EXPOSURE TO LEAD DUST CAN CAUSE SERIOUS ILLNESS, SUCH AS BRAIN DAMAGE, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. PREGNANT WOMEN SHOULD ALSO AVOID EXPOSURE. Wear a NIOSH-approved respirator to control lead exposure. Clean up carefully with a HEPA vacuum and a wet mop. Before you start, find out how to protect yourself and your family by contacting the National Lead Information Hotline at 1-800-424-LEAD or log on to www.epa.gov/lead.