Believe it or not, many of the houses we see still have the dreaded wood paneling. Maybe that’s your house, but you have never had the time or money to deal with it. Want to know our little secret? White paint, it’s as simple and easy as that! The fresh coat of paint not only makes the room seem brighter and more inviting, but the wood paneling can actually add texture to an all while space.

In addition to painting over the wood paneling, we took down the boxy overhead lights and replaced them with recessed lights, giving the space a much cleaner and modern look.

The family room portion of this remodel was fairly simple, consisting primarily of lighting changes and a little painting – but over the right, everything changed.

Previously, this space was dark, dreary, and unfinished.  It served as the laundry room, mechanical room, storage, and space for a toilet.  Yes, you read that right, a lonely, standalone toilet.

We knew we wanted to add more square footage downstairs, and make this a great area for entertaining, but honestly we were kind of stumped.  We had to include the washer and dryer in this new area, and it seemed kind of strange to have the family room open to the laundry room.

We ended up hiding the washer & dryer in a custom cabinet (that when it’s closed, looks like a fridge).  Then, we added cabinets and counters that functions as a wet bar, complete with a sink that can be used for laundry OR for entertaining.

Lastly, we added a wall, doorway and an additional sink, which allowed us to create a powder room downstairs.  Adios random lonely toilet, hello perfect little entertaining level.