Here's a peek at how the room is coming along.

The dark brown trim on the beams, moldings and stairs is painted in Benjamin Moore's French Press AF-170. The light walls are Benjamin Moore's Cosmopolitan CSP-100.

Semerjian's original plan for the room shows some of the furniture choices from Design Within Reach. (Read more about the shopping and selection process here.) In addition to the design services and furniture, the makeover includes carpentry, a new ceiling, recessed lighting, painting, removing a sink in the room (formerly a kitchen) and closing up the plumbing.

Living in a construction zone is not fun, but the couple has found ways to adapt. Pucul is great at turning negatives into positives. "My husband went to the library, where you can buy a bag of used books for $5, and he's now on his second bag," she says. "We've been reading a lot. The radio, CD player and DVD player have been disconnected for the past couple of months, so we have had more conversations. I've tried cleaning the rest of the house, but the sawdust and plaster dust finds its way upstairs almost every day, so I've given up cleaning until the work is done — that's a good thing."

At one point during construction, Carl found a way to enjoy his favorite TV-watching spot, which has a new wall-mounted plasma TV and a comfortable lawn chair that can stand up to drywall dust. "Our only other TV is in the bedroom, so some nights we're in bed by 8 or 9 o'clock," Pucul says.

Demolition included removing the drop ceiling and the carpet. This brought back memories for Pucul, who grew up in this house. "After taking out the carpet, we were left with the linoleum from the time when that room was our family kitchen," she says.

"In 1964 my mom won an electric stove and told my father the new stove was going in the living room on the second floor," she recalls, "so that was how our kitchen got moved upstairs and the old kitchen became the family room. Seeing that linoleum brought back a lot of good memories ... but I have to say, the hardwood floor looks a lot better."

Semerjian's plans include a white painted tongue and groove ceiling and recessed lighting. "The original ceiling was half acoustic tile, and the other half was wood-grained paneling that looked very outdated," she says. "Instead of removing it, I decided to add it to the other portion of the ceiling, removing the acoustic tile."

"Since the house is in the country and the furniture is so modern, the tongue and groove ceiling brought a country element into the space. It helps tie the room together," Semerjian says. "Painting the paneling white updated the space and added dimension and interest to the ceiling."

Ceiling paint: White Dove OC-17, Benjamin Moore

"I love the look of dark molding and trim," Semerjian continues. "I chose the dark paint to help tie the ceiling and the floors together, since we decided to choose a beautiful dark walnut floor."

"I wasn't sure about the color scheme at first but trusted Ani's judgment," Pucul says, "and she has been spot on!"

The flooring is an engineered wood by Mohawk. It is the Queenstown (a 5-inch-wide plank) in Hickory Antique. Since this space is a basement, Semerjian chose engineered floors for their stability and resistance to moisture. "We decided to go with the dark floor because it is so much more rich and elegant, and I love the look of wide plank flooring."

The firebox had been ordered before Semerjian came onboard, so she's working on a design for a surround to bring it into the new scheme of the room.

Semerjian took advantage of the space under the stairs to create open shelves for media equipment.

The owners enjoy seeing progress almost daily. "We've come a long way," Pucul says.

Our next post will be the big reveal. I can't wait to see this dream living room all done!

More: See the first installment of this makeover