A $150 Makeover Transformed a Beige Living Room Corner (The Whole Room Is Stunning!)
Even if you rent, there are tons of ways to infuse your personality into a home, and Sonja Baez’s living room showcases exactly that. She left the walls mostly off-white, but she found plenty of ways to add color, starting with the fireplace, where she spray-painted a brass fireplace screen she found at a garage sale light blue (Dunn-Edwards’ Tinted Ice).
The overall style of the living room is “Mid-Mod Mexiclectic.”
Sonja and her husband, Vince, who has roots in Mexico, “love the warmth, brightness, and textures from Mexico and bring that into every room,” Sonja says, adding that their home is now “Mid-Mod Mexiclectic.” In her living room, that means a mix of secondhand, handmade, and mainstream that all comes together for a personalized look.
The cream leather Natuzzi sectional was a Facebook Marketplace find, the rocking chair is from Crate & Barrel Outlet, the storage coffee tables are from Wayfair, and the rug is from Amazon.
There are two capiz shell details: One is framed from World Market, and the other is a vintage piece Sonja found at Long Beach Flea Market.
There’s a DIY wood slat wall.
In the corner to the left of the dramatic chandelier, there’s a DIY accent wall to balance things out. “We got the inspiration from a Thai restaurant near our house that did a slat wall, and my husband really liked it,” Sonja says, adding that they wanted something “really budget-friendly in that area.”
First Sonja and Vince painted the corner black, then they purchased wood slats from Lowe’s and stained them with a light, natural stain. They used a nail gun with small finishing nails to attach the slats, “so it’ll be easy to remove if or when we move,” Sonja says. To get the spacing right, they used a level and the slats themselves as a guide.
“In some areas it’s a little off because the wood itself wasn’t perfectly straight, but with the artwork and plants to finish it off, no one can tell,” Sonja adds. They hung the artwork between the slats with screws because the slats aren’t mounted with anything heavy-duty. Sonja estimates the accent wall cost about $150 because they used leftover paint for the project.
Plus, there’s clever plant storage.
In the same corner as the slat wall, there’s a clever shower-caddy hack. Sonja used a vertical shower caddy as a plant stand, and she screwed it to the ceiling for sturdiness.
She added a UV light on a timer to help the plants grow — the corner doesn’t get much natural light — and she chose plants that only need watering about every two weeks. “It’s not the easiest to squeeze back there, but I love the look, so it’s worth the effort,” she says.
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