Makeover by Monday | Victorian Library & Entry with Painted Checkerboard Floors

Finally done! The recap post for the finale of Season 1 of Makeover By Monday! This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while now because I needed to go search for the shopping links…but then, I realized, most of the decor is vintage or thrifted, which make me so darn happy! I love when I can design a space where so many items are second hand. And the real show stopper for this episode (and what I have been getting all the questions about) is the paint colors. Stunning, right?! All the details are below:

The home that we made over for the last episode of the season was this beautiful Victorian home with absolutely amazing bones! The hardwood floors and wood trim are so pretty, so I didn’t want to paint over any of the wood. However, it was looking really dull against the pea yellow colored walls, so I wanted to focus on choosing colors that would make the woodwork in the entry shine.

When I talked to the owner of the house, Anna, she said she wasn’t afraid of dark colors. She wanted dark and moody colors, and gave me permission to go as dark as I wanted. So I went for it! I picked Sherman Williams Pewter Green for the entry, and WOW! Look at the woodwork now; the paint gave it a whole new life! It looks completely different against the rich green. It pops! And, it looks so lush.

Painted Checkerboard Floors

Then the floors…we have to talk about the floors. The owners have the most beautiful hardwood floors, so I wanted to check with them first before doing the checkerboard floors. They LOVED the idea! This is something I have always wanted to do in a space. This was a really fun project…by fun I mean really tedious. All of the of projects we did in this house could definitely be weekend projects, individually, but when we decided to do them them all in one weekend…it became a little more challenging. Trying to figure out the floors while doing box molding and painting, then trying to not steps on the painted floors… was quite an interesting task. But we got it done, and could not be happier with how it looks.

Mr. Yolo really took this project head-on. We ended up going with a black border all the way around the room to separate this floor from the other rooms. We made diamonds that fit exactly within that border, measured and taped. Then we used Rust-Oleum floor coating in Charcoal Grey to paint the diamonds. We have had a ton of success with Rust-Oleum floor coating in our own homes. We are so excited with how these turned out! And the owners absolutely love them!

The owners had added some box molding in other parts of their home, and I love how much it added to the walls. So we did the same in this entryway. It’s those little details that make this room sing.

On to the library! We decided to take on two rooms in this house, in a three days. This was ambitious, but I would have done more if I could have, because this home is just so beautiful.

The Library Paint

The transformational moment in this second room was when we painted it this dark purple. It gave this room a whole new life! This built-in was created more recently, and I wanted it to feel like it had been there longer. I went bold. The color is Sherman Williams Darkroom. This dark of a paint color was a first for me, but I love how it turned out. To give the walls/trim more dimension, we used satin paint on the walls and semi-gloss on the trim and built-in. The way the light hits the two sheens makes the trim pop, and creates a really beautiful effect.

Then I got to work my styling magic in the built-in with a whole bunch of thrifted items! The settee was a great find from my friend Jen at Anthology Home. The little side table, rug, library ladder and lamp were all thrifted.

Cream City Brick Wall

The Cream City brick wall was another DIY we did in the space, you might remember that we did this in the Loft House a while back, and I love the character it adds to room. I wanted to do something special in this little nook, and my idea behind this wall is to make it look like this was always there, inside the wall. Like they tore away drywall and revealed this. I wanted to use Cream City bricks because they are only found in Milwaukee, made from lime and sulfur in the clay found in the Menomonee Valley which creates a creamy hue. We got the reclaimed bricks from The Brickyard, then cut off the front 1/4 of the brick to create a brick veneer. We then used a powerful adhesive, like Power Grab, to adhere the brick to the wall. After that dried, we used a piping bag to pipe in the grout. I love how it works with the dark color, and lightens up that corner! I added some artwork from her son to tie together the dark colors. It came together to create a sweet little moment in the room.

The fireplace was existing, and the color helped inspire what I picked for paint on the walls. I just adore the tone on tone! We used their kid’s art, and a thrifted mirror. The silhouettes over the piano are photos of their kids, which was a DIY I completed for the them (the step-by-step is in episode 9, make sure to check it out)!

This little peek of the fireplace into the entry makes me so happy! These two spaces work so well together with the dark colors. It’s really a beautiful statement.

Shop the Room

Front Entryway Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Pewter Green
Front Entryway Checkerboard Floor: Rust-Oleum Floor Coating: Charcoal Grey
Library/Music Room Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Dark Room

You can stream Makeover by Monday on the Magnolia Network on discovery+ and the Magnolia app.