Jarle Sollie Knudsen and Live Tørnblom had taken over the house, which was built in the 80s, for Tid for hjem. Time had stood still here for 30 years.
The living room was long and narrow – a full 12 metres. The couple were at a loss when it came to figuring out how to refurbish and furnish the difficult room.
AFTER: New fireplace and many different zones. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
BEFORE: Worn surfaces and elements of pine. Photo: Pandora Film/TV 2
AFTER: The walls, ceiling and pine details have been painted light, and the floor and end wall have been given light oak materials. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
In a short week, Time for Home and designer Jon Eliasson completely transformed the room into a surprisingly functional space, with a contemporary feel.
Here are the tricks you should know
- Divide the room into several zones. In this case: Dining area at one end, fireplace and flexible small furniture in the middle, and sofa section at the other end.
- Use colors to define the zones. Here, the dining area was painted in a darker shade than the rest of the room. This applied to walls, ceilings, window frames and mouldings.
- Feel free to make a transparent room divider. Time for home built a glass wall with a large opening in the middle, between the dining room and the living room. This gives a feeling of separation, while at the same time light can flood in freely and the large sense of space is retained.
ZONES: Glass wall and different colors on the walls and ceiling provide division. The dining area was painted in a darker color than the rest of the room. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
- Make sure that larger elements feel like part of the room. In this case, there was a huge fireplace that seemed like a lonely monument in the room. This was demolished and rebuilt in a shape that matched the rest of the room. A low continuous bench next to the fireplace connects it to the rest of the room.
NEW FIREPLACE: Lovely with bench and fireplace that are connected. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
- Consider using a higher gloss level on the ceiling. Designer Jon has several times used glossy paint for the ceiling. He says this gives the impression of greater ceiling height, since light is reflected in the glossier paint.
Read what was used of materials, products and furniture here.
Simple DIY elements – how to do it
Much of the homeowners’ own furniture was used in the new living room, but something new was also made by Tid for hjem. Rune made small tables according to the “zero-waste” principle, and Kjersti sewed cushions and square poufs.
MAKE IT YOURSELF: Pouf and small table for the slightly handy. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
See how you can make the trendy table in the video below.
See the sewing trick you should know to make puffs in the video below.
Made a change after the renovation
The couple is very satisfied with the result, after Time for Home visited. They still felt compelled to make one change.
– After a lot of thinking, we finally came to the conclusion that we had to move the TV from the TV room upstairs, down into the living room. It is now placed on the wall above the fireplace bench and it works well, says Jarle Sollie Knudsen a few months after they moved back in.
Otherwise, he says that everything is as it was after the renovation, and that the room works well both on a daily basis and when you have guests.
CAN frolic: When the family has had visitors, it has been nice to be able to frolic in several departments. Photo: Per Olav Sølvberg
– If there are larger family visits here, it is great to have several departments. Then some may be at the table, and others in the sofa section, but we are still together, he concludes.
See Time for home every Tuesday from 20:00 on TV 2 Direkte, and whenever you want TV 2 Play.
