I am in love with this DIY living area transformation! After living in one bedroom with our kids for 6+ months, it is so nice to finally let them have their own space.
What did the living area look like before the transformation?
My husband and I bought a cabin on 7 acres of land at the beginning of 2021. Although this cabin was super unique, it also had a lot of cosmetic and functional issues going on.
One of those issues was the only bedroom was divided by a desk and French doors. There was absolutely no privacy and we knew we needed to build a wall if we were going to hold off on a new addition for any length of time.
The first thing we did was have my dad come look at it. He is a carpenter by pure talent and I knew he would know what steps we would need to take.
After he made his measurements, we starting ripping everything out. This part was a lot of fun but the mess was ginormous!
We also decided we wanted to take down the small loft in our living area as well and use the wood that was there to help build our wall.
We used a local lumber yard for our wall studs.
The lumber that built the frame of the wall was bought at our local lumber yard. Lumber prices had gone up exponentially since the pandemic so we decided to just do untreated lumber since it would be in the dry. This saved us around $100 just in lumber!
Once we got the wall framed in, we framed a space for a single 32 inch door. A solid door, I might add.
After all of the framing was up, we started in the bedroom and added new outlets for both sides of the wall. Then we started using the planks that were once in our loft to create a shiplap wall in the bedroom.
I love the way the wall turned out for now. I haven’t done anymore work in the bedroom yet so the wall as is, will do for now.
A few weeks later, my dad measured everything again then went and picked up all of the materials for sheetrock and a door.
He helped me cut the sheetrock panels to fit and also helped me frame in the door. Once he was finished with that, I was on my own.
I was left on my own to finish the living area transformation.
I had to learn how to mud the sheetrock! I’ve heard horror stories about mudding yourself and I didn’t want to have to redo anything so I started watching YouTube videos.
The videos of course made it seem super simple so I got started.
I found the process to be somewhat relaxing and fun. I took my time and finished the last coat of mud after 3 days. Don’t ask me for a tutorial though. I’m not that good.
Once the final coat was completely dried, I began sanding the mudded areas. I thought I was doing really well until we got the paint on. Once the paint had dried I could see lots of ripples where I hadn’t sanded correctly.
I decided to try to mud on top of the paint. It was easier to see where I needed to blend it more. It may seem crazy but it actually worked! We now have a smooth wall.
Choosing the right paint color for this living area transformation was pretty simple.
Our cabin is pretty dark because it has so much wood. There’s wood walls, floors and ceilings. I knew I wanted to brighten the place up so I went with Vanillan by Sherwin Williams.
I also had already painted my gallery wall and upper kitchen cabinets this same color. By painting it all the same color, it created a cohesive look to the connected walls.
The light color really brightened up the space and helped show off the beautiful wooden ceilings.
I painted the door a semi gloss in a bright white color. It made the door look clean and crisp next to the creamy vanilla color.
Choosing the right decor to complete the living area transformation.
I saved the baskets from my basket wall at our previous home. I love the simplicity of baskets but also the dimension and texture they add.
The baskets I had left in storage were enough for two groups of four. I added a macrame piece I created a couple years back in the middle.
These pieces really brought everything together without over doing it.
Watch the whole transformation here.
What do you think about this living area transformation?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Do you like the way it turned out? Would you do something different?
Pin it for inspiration!
