Flipped That Room: The List

It took about a week to convert the dining room into a study. As you know, we got rid of the cantaloupe color. The existing chair rail and crown molding were stained colonial maple. I had to sand them down. We painted them with a primer that adheres to glossy surfaces. We used the same primer for the walls. After several coats of primer, we painted the trim Ultra White satin finish from Valspar. We painted the walls Pony Tail satin finish from Olympic Paints.

Since we need to use the room for a guest room when mom-in-law visits, we needed either a sleeper sofa or a futon. We selected a futon because we have allergies. There’s no fabric on the futon except the mattress, which is encased in a good mattress cover under the futon cover.

We kept the same carpet, which is about 5 years old, but will likely change that next year to a hard wood floor. For now it looks great.

We selected a dark espresso finish wood for the desk because we felt it would make the trim pop out. The corner stands were the leftovers from a a gazebo we bought last summer that was destroyed during a bad storm. Although there are no shelves on them, we found some to fit them which will be installed next week. We’re still shopping for the perfect coffee table (or trunk), bookshelf and ceiling lighting. We considered a corner armoire, but ditched the idea when we discovered that the thermostat would have to be moved to accommodate an armoire.

I reused the mirrors, picture and a clock. More than likely we’ll hang another couple pictures and a wall shelf. But, it takes time to find exactly what we want, because often we don’t know what we want until we stumble across it. But, the room looks great as it is.

Here’s our shopping list:

Primer – $18.00

Valspar Premium Interior Satin Ultra White - $23.00

Olympic Premium Latex Interior Satin Pony Tail – $22.00

Plastic to put down on the floor - $5.00

Paintbrushes - $5.00

Rollers - $10.00

White roman blind – around $35.00 (on sale)

White tabbed cotton window panels from JC Penney’s - $40.00 (on sale)

Futon from Mattress Mart - $350.00

Upgraded futon mattress from Mattress Mart - $400.00

Futon cover from Bed Bath and Beyond – $40.00

Desk from World Market - $200.00