Rev Up Your Living Room

Thanks to beamed ceilings, stuccoed walls, and a cozy fireplace, what was once a garage became a perfect family pit stop.

Replacing your garage with extra living area is a great way to take advantage of space. When Tulsa homeowners Robert and Jill Thomas transformed their garage into a living room, they made sure that no surface-ceilings, walls, or floors-would ever be associated with parked cars again.

Instead of building the living room floor flush with the adjacent kitchen, architects Stephen Turner and Jeremy Perkins used the existing concrete slab and covered it with flagstone. "This way, you step down into the room, creating a great way to usher you forward," says Jeremy. By vaulting the ceiling with a patchwork of exposed beams, the architects achieved even more volume and height. Surrounded by stuccoed walls and warmed by a flickering fireplace, this inviting room is certainly a far cry from its modest beginnings. -ROBERT MARTIN

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jan 2008
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