Beverly Hills, Michigan | Living Room Transformation
Sometimes a space just doesn't feel quite right, even when everything about it looks good on paper. That was the case with this Beverly Hills home. The dining area was beautiful, well-proportioned, and full of natural light. But it wasn't working. The layout didn't match how this household actually lived, and the space felt disconnected from the rest of the home.
We wanted to convert the dining area into a formal living room. A space for gathering, for music, for the kind of unhurried evenings that a dining room rarely supports. What they didn't yet have was a vision for how to make it feel anchored — intentional rather than just rearranged.
The Solution
We designed a custom built-in wall centered around an arched niche — a structural and aesthetic decision that gave the room an immediate focal point and a sense of permanence. The arch draws the eye in and creates a contained, purposeful space within the larger room, housing a turntable setup against a marble tile backsplash that adds warmth and texture behind the equipment.
Flanking the arch are open shelving niches on both sides — proportioned to hold ceramics, art objects, and everyday items without feeling cluttered. The shelving balances the weight of the arch and gives the room a symmetry that feels considered rather than coincidental.
The entire built-in was finished in custom microcement — our signature specialty and one of the most requested finishes we apply throughout Oakland County homes. Microcement is hand-applied in thin layers and sealed to a matte finish, creating a surface with depth, texture, and subtle variation that paint or wallpaper simply cannot replicate. No two microcement applications are the same, which is what makes each one feel genuinely handcrafted.
Record Storage Details
We collect records and that collection needed a real home. We designed custom roll-out cabinetry at the base of the built-in specifically sized for vinyl storage, with record dividers drilled directly into the pull-out drawer. The result is a hidden, functional storage system that opens to reveal an organized, accessible collection right beneath the turntable — designed for the way this family actually uses the space.
This is what we mean by designed with intention. The storage isn't an afterthought. It's built into the architecture of the room, invisible when closed and completely purposeful when open.
The Result
What was once a dining area that didn't quite fit became a formal living room that feels like the heart of the home. The arched built-in gives the space a sense of identity it didn't have before — a room with a point of view. The microcement finish brings warmth and texture that softens the clean lines of the millwork. And the record storage makes the space genuinely theirs.
This project is a good example of something we believe deeply at Costello & Co: the most impactful transformations aren't always the largest ones. Sometimes the right built-in, finished with the right material, in exactly the right spot, changes everything about how a home feels.
Project Details
Location: Beverly Hills, Michigan
Project Type: Living Room Transformation, Custom Built-Ins, Microcement Finishing
Services: Custom Millwork, Microcement Application, Custom Cabinetry, Design-Build
Photography: Shelby Dubin Photography
