Living Room Remodel in Dallas, TX

The living room gets the least attention in most remodel budgets and the most use. It is where the TV, the fireplace, the toys and the guests all compete for one wall, and in many Dallas houses it still has the layout and lighting of the decade it was built.

What a Living Room Remodel in Dallas Can Include

A family room project with us is assembled from these pieces:

• Built-ins: cabinets and shelving around the fireplace or TV, window seats and storage benches.
• Fireplace wall: painted, limewashed or refaced brick with a new mantel shelf.
• Lighting: recessed lights on dimmers, sconces, switched outlets for lamps, wired by licensed electricians.
• Flooring: refinished original oak, new engineered hardwood, luxury vinyl plank or tile, matched to adjoining rooms.
• Walls and ceilings: paneling removal, texture removal after testing, new trim and paint.
• Layout fixes: filling a sunken den, removing a dated wet bar, or widening an opening to the kitchen.

Before work starts you get built-in elevations, a lighting layout, a list of every finish and a price broken out by item. Most living rooms use two or three of these pieces; few need all six, and the scope says which ones stay as they are.

Planning the Family Room Around How You Use It

The best layout starts with the furniture, not the walls. We ask where the sofa goes, where the TV should sit, where people walk through and where the kids' things end up, then design the room around those answers.

Outlets and switches follow the plan. A sofa floating in the middle of a room on a slab needs a floor outlet, which means cutting a small trench in the concrete, so it is decided early. If the kitchen is being remodeled at the same time, the two rooms are designed together; when a bathroom is also on the list, a combined kitchen and bath remodel plan can include the living room in the same schedule.

Living Room Built-Ins and Media Room Remodel Details

Built-ins give a living room storage and a focal point at once. The most common spot is on both sides of the fireplace: closed cabinets below for clutter, open shelves above for books and objects.

For a media wall, the cabinetry hides the equipment and the wiring. We plan a conduit path so cables can be changed later, ventilation for any equipment closed inside a cabinet, and a recessed box behind the TV for power and signal. In-wall power for the TV is electrical work for a TDLR-licensed electrician, not an extension cord in the wall.

Can You Update a Dated Brick Fireplace?

Yes, and it is the single change that does most for a living room. Painting or limewashing sound brick is the lightest touch. Covering it with large-format tile, thin stone or plaster changes the room more, and a new mantel and hearth finish the job.

Before any of that, a wood-burning fireplace should have its chimney and firebox inspected. Code also limits how close a wood mantel may sit to the firebox, which shapes the mantel height and depth. If you want gas logs or an insert, the gas line is work for a plumber licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Inside Dallas, the permit for a gas line or new circuits is filed by a city-registered contractor, and suburbs such as Garland and Mesquite run their own inspection offices.

Which Lighting Works Best in a Family Room?

Layered lighting works best: general light from dimmable recessed fixtures, accent light from sconces or shelf lighting, and task light from lamps on switched outlets.

Placement matters more than fixture count. We keep recessed lights off the TV screen to avoid glare, light the built-ins from within, and put each layer on its own dimmer. In single-story ranch houses with an attic overhead, slim LED fixtures rated for insulation contact can go in through small ceiling cuts.

Den Remodel and Living Room Flooring in Older Dallas Homes

Dens in 1960s and 1970s Dallas houses can carry features that date them: a sunken floor, dark wood paneling, a beamed ceiling or a corner wet bar. Each can be kept and refreshed or removed. A sunken den on a slab can be raised with a framed subfloor or leveling fill so one floor runs into the kitchen. Paneling may be nailed over drywall or straight to the studs, so we look behind it before planning the walls. Owners of houses from that era should also read about mid-century home remodels, which covers original plumbing, wiring and lead-safe rules.

For the floor itself, original oak under carpet can often be refinished. New floors over a slab are usually engineered hardwood or luxury vinyl plank, since both tolerate the seasonal movement of expansive clay. To weigh the two, see hardwood versus LVP for Dallas homes.

How a Living Room Remodel Runs

1. Room visit. We study the space, how your family uses it and which rooms open onto it.
2. Design and selections. Built-in elevations, a lighting plan, fireplace materials, flooring and paint, priced line by line.
3. Permits when needed. New circuits and gas lines need permits; most cosmetic work does not.
4. Prep and demolition. Furniture moves out, floors and doorways are protected, and old finishes are removed.
5. Build. Electrical rough-in and inspection, then built-ins, fireplace work, flooring, trim and paint.
6. Handover. Doors and dimmers get adjusted with you in the room, and any last items are cleared.

What Drives the Cost of a Living Room Remodel?

Built-ins and flooring are usually the largest items. Custom cabinetry costs more than ready-made units, and flooring cost rises when it must run into adjoining rooms. Fireplace work ranges from paint to full refacing. New lighting depends on attic access and how many circuits are added, and raising a sunken floor adds framing or fill.

Three less obvious variables also move the number. Removing paneling can expose walls that need patching or new drywall before paint. A floor outlet for a floating sofa means trenching the slab. And older homes add steps: pre-1978 paint brings EPA lead-safe practices, and textured ceilings should be tested before anyone scrapes them.

We serve living room projects across Dallas from Lake Highlands. Garland and Mesquite have many 1960s to 1980s brick homes with original dens, about 20 to 25 minutes away, and Duncanville on I-20 has a similar housing stock.