Home makeover: Living room, one-hour valences, and the end of the story.

I am finally ready to post the last room in the house that suffered through a makeover! Good thing because I'm getting burnt out on these posts. Here is the living room. Nothing much about this room but it's comfortable and cozy.

(I blacked our name out in these pictures for privacy's sake)

 

 

I don't love this beigey-yellow color but we weren't about to tackle twenty-foot ceilings so it had to stay. If I could paint the room it would probably be a cream or cream-gray. The color isn't too bad.

 

 

I know gliders are typically reserved for baby rooms but they are more comfortable to me than armchairs so I figured, why not put it in the living room? Almost all of our furniture is hand-me-down or consigned, so we don't sweat if things get spilled or dropped since we have zero attachment to this furniture.  I'm not the kind of person to get frustrated at Anna when she has an accident anyway: my mom used to label me as the dog's personal chef because of all the food I dropped on the floor.

 

 

 

This is my favorite thing in the house. I wanted the main focus of the room to be something that emphasized our family's priorities, but I'm old fashioned and didn't want to put a big picture of us on the wall as the focal point. This wood sign is a constant reminder of the things we hold most important in life. Each word was carefully thought out. We got this idea from a fellow blogger.

 

We ditched our coffee table because I like the extra open space and it wasn't a necessary piece of furniture.

 

 

 

 

I chose to use the bookcase to display favorite family photos instead of the wall. Our wedding album and family albums are also kept here, plus some of Anna's toys. In the three bins are books, and the basket holds Legos.

 

 

 

I found this ottoman at a consignment store. I love it because it is solid wood with a ton of storage space. It holds all our games and cards.

 

 

 

The house has this random corner nook-thing that I couldn't figure out. My mom gave us this corner shelf to make some sense of it.

I did move some of Anna's toys to take these pictures. I know many people like to keep certain rooms toy-free, but I prefer to have some toys throughout the house. Not a million toys but a few special things in each room for the girls to enjoy. We keep it minimal. I don't mind that toys are around because they are a sign that life is being lived. It helps that we choose toys that are quality and nice to look at rather than piles of plastic. 

 

 

How to make a one-hour valence

I wanted some sort of curtain on these windows but long curtains didn't make sense in the space. I did not want to block any natural light with shades or valences that hung down. I decided to try my hand at making some pseudo-valences that would hit at the very top of the window without blocking any of the window itself. It was fairly easy and inexpensive.


First I used masking tape to mark off the section of the window I wanted the valence to cover. Then I measured it:

I purchased one sheet of drywall insulation from Lowes which we cut to size with an exacto knife. I cut my fabric about three inches longer on each side, and staple-gunned the fabric to the insulation:

The corners are the trickiest:

I put two pieces of heavy-duty Velcro strips from Lowes on either side of the board.

I placed the boards on the wall using the Velcro and voila! Done. They don't block any light whatsoever, but the windows still look finished. I would recommend using an upholstery fabric for this rather than a light cotton. I used a less expensive fabric myself because I wanted to get 'er done and didn't have the time to peruse, but a more expensive, dimensional fabric would look better, and I can always change the fabric up down the line.