I Remodeled My Living Room by Covering it in Plywood

In this episode I'm giving my family the Living Room makeover they deserve with a complete renovation - Head to www.squarespac... to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOUREYES
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ABOUT THIS VIDEO:
Our living room was in desperate need of some TLC. For the past several years we've been using it for storage and as a photo wall for our growing business. My family has put up with it, and been nice about it...but in this episode I'm finally making good on my promise to give them the Living Room makeover remodel they deserve. In this video we'll cover demolition, interior design, making custom built-in cabinets, making a fireplace focal wall, installing baseboards and trim, and more.
#homerenovation #remodel #fireplacewall
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[@clydedecker765]

The "L" shaped bookcase/couch arrangement is a winner for the space. BIG fan of ALL of your design work.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks Clyde

[@diamondperidot]

I agree with Clyde Decker. The L-shaped bookcase/ couch would be amazing.

[@jackstrutz]

+1!! So long as that walk way doesn't feel constricted.

[@woogaloo]

"How's it Made" clip and the NES and NES Classic just give me even more reason to like y'all! You guys are really funny together and do amazing work.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks Matthew. I'll be honest. That one was very close to hitting the cutting room floor. Glad we left it in.

[@MatthewEncina]

Love the idea of the L-bookshelf behind the couch. Hope you move forward with that. Thanks for sharing your process!

[@hansdietrich83]

"1/16 below 44 1/4" my metric brain is crying

[@mjd4124]

This is exactly how I use my tape measure, and I'm an engineer

[@johnford7624]

the author does like to from scratch, shaping and trimming wood from large blocks into fine finished products. kzbin.infoUgkxD-QRFQz730FJEh4f9BYSf-nkIMIC9hL_ as another reviewer mentioned, most projects require a lot of high-dollar equipment that most of us dont have the room or budget for. But, knowing how to do these things, even if we wont be able to practice the full stack project, is still great.

[@butwhytho4858]

I actually liked the old fireplace more… the brick just needed to be painted black or white… I even liked that warm blue. Don’t usually like blue, but it felt like a nice denim color!

[@korffy10]

'because we don't have a SQUARE SPACE in our living room'...segue missed there

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Damnit...I so would have used that

[@lennartlennartson33]

The apology to your wife is more than relatable. You guys are truly inspiring in several ways. The existence of this channel sure didn't make any of my future career decisions easier but that sure is something positive. Thank you from Cologne! And please don't ever lose your little weird moments

[@bbasmdc]

You do amazing work, sir. Fabulous result, and very well presented. You also make me grateful I live in a country with the metric system :-) One suggestion for anyone thinking of doing something like this. In your project the TV cable installation "is what it is and ever shall be". In other words if you upgrade the TV in the future you have to think about taking all the panels down, creating a new cable installation etc. When you plan an installation like this, think about installing cable ducting and bringing it out at a service panel. The routing of the duct should be as straight as possible - ideally with no sharp corners. If you have the option, make the ducting as wide as you can fit in there to be as future proof as possible. I actually used PVC plumbing pipe in a stud wall with 45 degree push on connectors to keep the route through the duct as smooth as possible. Thread some string through the duct so that, in future, you can use the string to pull through a new cable bundle (along with another length of string). Let's use TV signals as an example. If you installed a 1080p TV back in the day then you'd be happy with an HDMI 1 cable. But if you upgrade to 4k or 8k in the future you'll need HDMI 2, or even newer types of cables.

[@TimberBiscuitWoodworks]

The living room is looking good Chris! I like the bevel around the brick trick. It really makes for clean lines. Great job guys!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@markquinlan3595]

Beautiful work Chris. Even as a “ non modern” person for the most part, this work is exceptional and we love it. As always your content and delivery was spot on. When I think of you and your work, exceptional is the word best suited. Nice to be a part of your ride and thank you so much for sharing and for the time and effort you put into providing such “ exceptional” content. God Bless you and yours.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks Mark...really appreciate the kind words :)

[@jonboy8181]

I like brick, I think bricking that whole wall in a stacked pattern would have fit the vintage of the house, in a modern look, in case grown-ups want to live there one day! It reminds me of a walk in closet that Justin Bieber would have when he was 17. It’s the shoes. Done well though. Love the L shape design wrapping the couch, very cool.

[@JBLewis]

At the end when you were talking about how you might build the sub structure differently for the co-planar-ness, I was also thinking that it would be an opportunity to ensure that the color behind the seams was consistent. I don't know if it would really make a difference, but I kept thinking that I would want to give the substructure a coat of near-black paint to make those seams go dark. I don't know, maybe it wouldn't make any difference, maybe it'd be a bad idea.

[@29lookingood]

I like that idea 👍🏾💙

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

We thought about doing that...but honestly the seams are so tight you can't even see whats behind them unless you get straigt on from really close with one eye. Basically...you need to be trying to see it. And even then, it's very hard. So the coat of black wouldn't hurt...but could be a nice little safety net. Especially if you end up with a wider gap somewhere.

[@briannekueny7019]

@@Foureyes.Furniture @ScottBrownCarpentry did an amazing feature wall like this a few years ago

[@martendschrage]

Love the "How it's Made" sketch! I watched it all the time.

[@nathancamp6883]

It's interesting to watch the rebirth of 70s wood paneling.

[@ModernBuilds]

Great title Chris!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks brother

[@ModernBuilds]

Alright! Just finished the video, this is a certified banger!! Fireplace surround is so sick and the edit is off the chain

[@Sewcialitecrew]

So accurate lol 👍👍👍

[@gavinhillery3130]

I'm upset that the original title was changed.

[@HomewithMelody]

Ahh birch plywood is such a dream. I love how this wall turned out Chris! Leaving it "unfinished" I think is great, I am a big fan of the natural birch plywood look (both our sofa and desk I've finished with clear waterbased polyurethane only 👌). That L shape bookcase idea is really good, can't wait to see what you decide on.

[@claytondavis9325]

It's nice to see Chris fixing up his old shop. I especially loved the How It's Made section. I also want to see a youtube maker-centric remake of Gilligan's Island now.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Spoiler...we get off the island in the first episode with an artisanal raft, made of palm trees with a drift wood inlay

[@claytondavis9325]

@@Foureyes.Furniture Great, now we just need to cast it. Jimmy Diresta as the Skipper, Ben as the Professor, who else?

[@Pedrofuacatino]

I am Angolan and I live in Angola, I am learning a lot from your channel, I intend to open my carpentry shop, I have no experience, but your videos give me a lot of information, I like your works.

[@TerryPullen]

When mounting panels to sleepers attached to an existing wall, shim the sleepers flat using string pulled tight across the face of the sleepers as you install them. That way your panels will be easier to install.

[@mchaisso]

In the next year I'm redoing a similarly aged fireplace in an "homage to fireplaces" style -- close off the fireplace with CBU (since fireplaces shouldn't be used in LA basin), tile over the whole area, and add a white oak bumpout mantle. This adds a flush decoration over the dark void of the fireplace, but keeps some of the form.

[@aic53]

Like a glorified plywood foyer. With a fire place. Aaand a dining table. Nice.

[@christiansantos7164]

I did something similar, but with the gap between panels at 1/4” and wood at the seam sanded smooth and painted black to create a contrast. I love the look of birch plywood and prefer working with it over working with drywall. Cheers, Chris!

[@2ridiculous41]

I just found your channel today and came across this video on the very day I had been thinking of covering a wall with plywood.

[@Javier_Is_My_Name]

Ive seen a lot of walls built like this in commercial spaces. They use metal french cleats, screw them to the wall using shims to get everything perfect, and then screw the other side of the cleat to the plywood. This leaves no visible screw holes on the outside

[@lorismith8887]

I like the simple ness of the panels on your fireplace wall without the frames. Embrace it! I love your future plans with the L-shape bookcase the wraps around your sofa. For what it’s worth!

[@donnygrahambuilds]

Nicely done guys! Really cool to see guys who normally work with such fine detail on individual pieces tackle the headaches of the always less than square older homes. Excited to see what this space becomes in the coming months!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Much appreciated!

[@dinkyshopYT]

Nice look. Surprised no one talked about how wood panels are normally done/ hung in construction by using panel Z-clips. (Concealed hanging fastener.) That wd also use the leveling (co-planar) back reveal strips you mentioned toward the end.

[@CobaltCatalyst]

100% agree that rotating the couch 90° would be a better fit for the space.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

More ammo for my case...I love it :)

[@dannyross]

This made me miss the old garage. You inspired a lot of people from that garage! The project look so great, man!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Right on! Hopefully I'm inspiring them from the workshop too

[@dannyross]

@@Foureyes.Furniture For Sure!

[@dansarfert3585]

You're a weird fella Chris. That's how I got hooked on your channel about 4 years ago. And I like the remodel.

[@theneedlessmage6826]

Great work, guys! Love the clean look. One small tip for scribing to the uneven ceiling is to cut a bevel on the inside edge. You'll never see it from the front, but that way there's less material to remove with a sander/plane to get it to meet flush.

[@njabulonxumalo6532]

Love the "How It's Made" cut away 😂

[@Left2writeone]

Love it! Suggestion...angle couch parallel to tv and fireplace. Better to show off L book case and room will feel less blocky and as if it were planned that way.

[@joshevenson7604]

Seeing your guys work in your driveway makes me think about the days when you still worked out of your garage. It was cool to see! Have you checked out Scott Brown Carpentry's videos about plywood walls/ceilings? I really like his approach, which uses minimal nails and glue.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I haven't...I'll check it out

[@joshevenson7604]

@@Foureyes.Furniture kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3Osc6GMf5Kcl8k Cheers! Great work

[@luizweber7752]

Watching this video made me feel a little bit more comfortable... I thought only here in Brazil we had to face out of plumb walls!!!

[@Adolar]

Love the overall vibe, really nice job. I learned a lot too! I do wish you had hidden those wires coming out of the floor. One unsolicited recommendation I have is to make sure your fireplace is airtight. You can lose a lot of heating/cooling money out of a leaky chimney and if you aren't going to burn anything in there, might as well seal it up semi-permanently.

[@jhonnyliu2495]

Lol at the "look at my shoe part"

[@chaichantheshiba5902]

the fireplace mantel moulding is beautiful compared to the bare plywood "design", you should've incorporated it

[@adrianzaharia8885]

I saw a while ago plywood on a wall. Each plywood piece had all the edges cut at 45* betweeen them and those edges were painted black(just the edges). It looked cool! But your work looks great!

[@MattMcConaha]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who reads something like "a 16th below a quarter" instead of 3/16.

[@ardobkin]

Love the remodeling and looking forward to seeing you do more remodeling. We have all the faith in you that you may not have in yourself yet!!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I'll take all the faith I can get Adam :)

[@robertkolbe3751]

I like the shelf for your colorful room fragrance collection :)

[@jasonanker3120]

Really great video. The contrast between making in a controlled environment vs. installing in an imperfect one and all the complications that arise was very well done.

[@lucyblazebright6339]

Otto is the ultimate star of this vid 😂

[@dannyoktim9628]

Like you included the cost of the remodel and what you learned not to do, found it easy to respect you as a person and craftsman. Highest respects.

[@gthiesfeld]

You were talking about moving the furniture away from the wall and build some bookcases around it. My wife just bought an interior decorating book from 1965 called Decoration USA. It talks about how they would move the furniture away from the walls and surround them with credenzas and bookshelves to create smaller spaces inside larger rooms. She wants to do something similar in our house. Anyway, the room looks great! Good job guys!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Yeah...see...that book knows what it's talking about :) I know I've seen lots of houses built in the 60s where they would actually have almost like... a pit in the middle of the room, that kind of forced you into doing this exact thing.

[@thomasharlin123]

If I'm making something like this myself, do the playing cards need to be Minecraft-themed to get the right spacing?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Yes...and preferably minecraft uno

[@dieselWillie421]

One idea on the plywood and keeping it complainer. Attaching the furing strips like you said. Then put a dado on the end of plywood panel. Slide a washer down the grove made by the ends of plywood butted up and drive the screw through the hole in the washer between the gap on the plywood. Hides the screw and keeps an even reveille.

[@gregthorne4292]

I think the plywood wall looks great with no mantel. And I agree with your furniture placement. MCM furniture wants to float in the middle of the room, rather than anchored to a wall.

[@taemarrollins8248]

never judge a book by its cover, you've got some fire sneakers in your collection!!

[@kevinf3641]

Love how it turned out. I did something similar about a year ago and my wife loved the result. But how you convinced your wife to keep your sneakers on the shelves instead of modern baskets and exotic plants, was probably the biggest part of the build.

[@ceekloss5705]

Love it. I think adding a white frame to the tv would make it pop even when the tv is off. Keep up the great work. Herman Miller chairs in any space add style and comfort.

[@aragorn4]

Awesome project and beautiful results. Only thing I would add or think about is that if you are planning on using that fireplace and since you haven't yet is to be sure and get a professional to clean it to prevent any possible fire hazard.

[@tylerhuttosmith]

The behind the scenes/trim portion was fun to see. Beautiful work as always

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Glad you enjoyed it. Appreciate it :)

[@garagemonkeysan]

Great film, always cinematic. Engaging story telling. Wall looks awesome love the aesthetics, clean and minimal. Now the shoe display... Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Much appreciated!

[@01dirtmonkey]

A white frame on that tv would look good.

[@HyperactiveNeuron]

I love it. This gives me some ideas for my mom's house. She hates her fireplace and also never uses it. The problem is around and above the fireplace are brick panels that go all the way up to the ceiling and she has a false hearth. It's a mess.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

That does sound like a mess. I'm picturing a Pioneer Chicken interior...if you're familiar with those.

[@nicodemuscg]

It reminds me of an modernized version of Fraiser's Apartment.

[@AJB2K3]

Love the "How its made" take!

[@vedroelcitra]

Guys, I love how informative and helpful information you shared in this video! It truly encourages me that you can save up a lot when you do it yourself, and it's not super difficult as well

[@kawabus]

Looks great. "...and look my shoes" -cracked me up :)

[@daytonclissold4256]

Great vid as always with plenty of takeaways to think about. Your comment about pre-lining the joints with ply to help with alignment got me thinking.. if you mounted the front panels on french cleats, you could access the cables etc. and future proof the whole wall in case ypu wanted to add lights or something later. You'd need a gap at the top to allow the cleat to drop in but the ply behind would leave a nice feature. Just a thought... keep it up - love your work!

[@ALLWORKNOPLAYnetwork]

Like your sneaker set up (show case). Nice job

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks Victor :)

[@averagejoesworkshop]

Dude, I loved “How It’s Made” and you nailed the talking points!! 😄

[@mellymel1100]

Your cabinets and fireplace backing looks amazing!

[@hyd..]

Wasn’t expecting to see chunky dunkys, union 4’s and J Balvin 1’s but they make the room look better

[@ChrisBrown-dz9sz]

Scott Brown Carpentry channel has a few plywood walls they've built with some good tips in creating a black substructure negative space. A cool detail.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I'll check it out.

[@justinjones9255]

Ya, that’s a good video. No visible fasteners and they used rebates w rattle can black to make the edges black allowing the panels to simple butt each other.

[@alanr745]

Birch ply walls are the way to go. Nice work, gents.

[@williamellis8993]

The remodel looks great, Chris. You should thank your wife not just for putting up with you during the remodel but just for putting up with you period (lol). Just like I do with mine. Take care. Bill

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

she knew what she was getting into when she said "I do" :)

[@crzyworm623]

Love that TV for the art feature, I put one in my bedroom for the same reasons. (not a fan of the 5.99 month, thats getting old) I also didn't like to find out that the included cable is not in-wall rated, and the In-wall rated cable that is hard to find is over 100$ and as thick as a 12 ga extension cord. Made the install super difficult and is no longer 100% flush with the wall. Nice job on the updated living room, really enjoy your content. Thanks.

[@ffanddcondragh2911]

My wife has never said "Don't hurt yourself" to me. But the phrase Play Nice has been used more than once.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

haha...she doesn't normally...so it kinda scared me

[@djdahv]

2 of my absolute favs, a dope sneaker collection and a dope D.I.Y. project!!

[@SpencleyDesignCo]

I've been so stoked waiting for this one! This is incredible work!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks man...definitely different than furniture. But a nice change of pace

[@SpencleyDesignCo]

@@Foureyes.Furniture as a viewer, it’s exciting to see all of the opportunities that this creates!

[@enjoyingwoodworking691]

Chris What's the limit of your abilities? amazing.

[@jimgardner5129]

You are sooooo lucky - a pair of Eames LCWs gifted to you. Your aunt and uncle rock!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

definitely....they had them and weren't using them and I was like "I'll take them!!!!"

[@siobhanroberts8627]

Beautiful job and I’m going to bet your wife might think it was worth the wait. Just stunning. You are so creative and skilled. 💪🏽👍💫

[@ArturoMendezC]

Buena idea para ocultar cables o modulos

[@marcusjay8103]

This turned out really nicely my man! Congratulations 👌totally changed the place up.

[@chrisestill8825]

Any time plywood is used on a wall instead of drywall is a winner for me

[@felixfromnebraska8648]

Very nice DIY project, Chris. I really like the plywood panel look. Very clean, and it has an expression all of its own. I look forward to the finishing aspects. I'm sure you have many ideas in mind. Now, as to the shoes in the living room, on display. My wife would have already told me to move them to the workshop so "I" could enjoy them more. Her, not so much. Thanks for sharing. Felix

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks 👍 I just keep reminding everybody that they are art.

[@stefanitadio6236]

Focused on the wrong thing - that lime green door is killer! Nice fireplace remodel. Also love your dining room furniture.

[@coffeefortwosolly]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 loved the idea of the wrap round shelves behind the sofa too! 🙋🏻‍♀️🇬🇧💕jane

[@sebastianbecher8927]

Just a thought - I like how the plywood wall has turned out, but instead of using that existing wall, how insane or easy would it be to extend the actual room in the direction of the fire place/diagonal wall and make it more into a fully rectangular room? That may well have been on your mind already and it would change the price cap significantly … but it may also add resale value and give more design options? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@PrinceCbass]

I am in the process of renovating an entryway and stairwell. I will be using whitewashed plywood for everything....sliding doors, walls, and ceilings. Unfortunately it is a 115 year old stone house and the walls are nowhere close to smooth, flat, plumb or square. I will also be using 20mm thick Styrofoam insulation behind the plywood for moisture barrier, sound dampening as well as insulating the cold stone which is the unheated garage wall. The space is really chopped up so the challenge of making clean seams and straight lines will be enormous. The foundation of the plywood will likely take me much longer than installing the plywood panels.

[@heyitsthatdude17]

Looks great Chris. My personal input is that instead of a bevel on the plywood edges meeting the fireplace, I would have gone with a rabbet that allowed the plywood to overhang the brick by 1/4" or something. I think it would work better than beveling in allowing you create clean edges around the bricking. Great video, looking forward to more.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Good call...that would have worked too. I think it would have ended up the same. We needed it to barely overhang for firecode reasons. And we were still able to leave a flat spot on our bevel.

[@heyitsthatdude17]

@@Foureyes.Furniture Great input, I havent done much house stuff so I never think about things like code

[@emilolguin3087]

Great look. For a cleaner look, I would have covered the brick with granite, say, Black Galaxy. Same principle...large rectangles of stone glued to the vertical planes. For the hearth, you can make a cap with the top and 3 sides already glued together; then just glue it in place. It would have complimented the clean look and given you square edges for the plywood.

[@ericnoland6466]

Might want to come up with a modern mantle of some sort of the fireplace puts out decent heat. It will deflect the heat away from TV. The heat may shorten life of TV.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I would...except we don't actually use the fire place :)

[@CharmingNewSociety]

I dig the look of the plywood panel wall. Not so keen on the aesthetic of leaving it raw though. Is that a "thing" or just your own thing? Without some kind of light stain or finish, to my eye, it looks like a project you haven't gotten around to completing.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks Jacky...it actually has a water based polyurethane on it. It's a fairly low gloss sheen and doesn't change the color of the wood much to keep it light.

[@keithreay]

Just found your channel. I’ve subscribed, and now you’ve got a cheerleader in your corner.

[@spleerfloof]

You might consider putting a bunch of candles inside the fireplace. I’m picturing something in the 4 inch diameter range, white, arranged at different heights. And considering the youngest member of your family, I think those realistic flickering LED candles that come on with a built-in timer or via remote would be a good call :)

[@bikergirl2000]

I have worked in 110 year old houses and one built in 1760. I feel your pain on the 'out of squareness'. For what it's worth, I think the couch away from the wall is the better layout.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks...I appreciate it...and I feel for you working in those old houses :)

[@bikergirl2000]

@@Foureyes.Furniture I has it's cool moments. Removing crappy plasterboard and finding a 250+ year old oak beam.

[@joeruss1834]

That L shaped option looks super cozy. Instead of a mantle, a mounted soundbar could fill the space and really improve the sound of the tv.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Something to consider. I'm not against that :)

[@G8Thunder]

That's great looking. I really want to do plywood as a finish wall in the front of my garage.

[@williamingalls7473]

I LOVE the idea of the L shaped book shelve unit.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks!

[@nicka99]

for plywood panel walls you should check out scott brown carpentry

[@JoiIsakYT]

You can try applying some tiles over the fireplace to fix the brick look. You already painted it white so it wouldn't be hard to transition to it.

[@kellcomnet]

Happy wife, happy life...Thank you for taking us home with you.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Always!

[@heywheredidyougetthatchees2682]

I love the design, but I wish you would've done stucco to smooth out the brick.

[@szylofone]

The L-shape arrangement looks awesome! I think a sectional would have fit that space pretty well too - same idea of creating an L-shape. You did a great job reconfiguring that room to have multiple focal points and two semi-independent but very useable spaces.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks...appreciate that. it's definitely still a work in progress...but I'm happy with the way it's shaping up and feel like the ideas will work.