Easy Upgrades
Our Sunroom Mini Makeover: Phase Two
We’re back to share phase two of our big sunroom makeover with you guys. After painting the dark daybed white and bringing in our old guest room dresser and mirror for the first phase (which we affectionately refer to as our work-with-what-you-have phase) it was time to add two things to accentuate what we already had going on in the room. Paint and curtain rods. Let’s delve into the paint category first. See, we had been dying to paint the sunroom ceiling an inviting aqua color for a while, especially since it’s a tradition in the south to have a light blue ceiling on your porch (and we figured we’d enjoy the color even more in the sunroom). Here’s what we started with – a ceiling that was the same tan tone as the walls in the sunroom since the day we moved in:
When we’re selecting a paint color, the first step for us is always to tape a few swatches on that plane (in this case the ceiling) so we can look at them in different lighting situations. After staring at them a few mornings, noons, and nights in a row we decided that Tide Pools by Behr was the one we liked best (it was semi bright but not too heavy and there’s no way it would be mistaken for white no matter what the light was like in there). So we grabbed a gallon of it in exterior satin semi-gloss paint (since the sunroom is an indoor/outdoor room that isn’t heated or cooled and we wanted a glossy pool-like effect).
I was actually on baby duty so John did this whole project on his own. All it took was some Frog Tape around the perimeter of the room to keep the wall color from bleeding onto the molding along with a small stepstool, a paint brush (for the edges), and a roller. Note: using a rod extender can ease the strain on your back but John must have been feeling unstoppable so he opted to rely on his long limbs instead.
Here’s the room after two coats of luscious semi-gloss paint (again, we used Tide Pools by Behr). We love the sheen and the pop of color. And the room looks sooooo much bigger and airier since it literally feels like we removed the ceiling and are now looking up at the big blue sky.
Oh and our tip for a nice crisp perimeter would be to remove your painters tape as soon as you finish your last coat of paint (if you used any- I prefer to edge with a brush but since John went it alone he didn’t trust his hands so he taped things off). Removing the tape right away ensures that nothing dries and pulls when you remove the tape, therefore resulting in a cleaner edge. And don’t forget to firmly press your tape down as you apply it since paint can easily bleed and seep if you don’t have a nice tight seal.
But now it’s on to the curtain update that we tackled. This is one of those why-the-heck-did-we-wait-so-long things. Look how crisp and polished they look:
A while back (waaaay back) we mentioned that John had McGuyvered the curtains (Vivan by Ikea by the way) into each corner with some twine and a few nails (scroll up to the first picture in this post to see how they appeared to float in place). But we knew hanging dark streamlined rods around the room would not only add some handsome hardware and tie into the deep color of the door frames, but they would also bring in a ton of function (for example, we can now pull the curtains along the rods, which comes in handy for diffusing light when we’re doing things like shooting Clara’s weekly photo).
All it took were some simple curtain rods from Ikea (these, but we didn’t put the finials on, so they have a much cleaner look). Of course they weren’t long enough for the 20′ length of the room, so we just mounted two of them right next to each other so they’d meet in the middle of the wall to create the look of one continuous rod.
And as for how we made the corners feel uninterrupted, we simply mounted two rods so that they could be extended a bit past the bracket to touch each other and mimic the shape of the corner.
Once we extended them so they touched and pulled the curtain panels along with them, it created a totally seamless corner curtain panel (here you see two curtain panels hanging, one on each rod):
Oh and one last thing on the agenda was to hem those Vivan panels from Ikea, since they were all waaaay too long and sloppy looking on the bottom. See? Messy.
We prefer not to use Ikea’s hem tape (the curtains come with some that’s webbed) so instead we spend a few bucks at Michael’s for the iron on hem tape that we love – which is called Heavy Duty Heat N’ Bond. It’s important first to wash all of your curtains and dry them so you know how much they’ll shrink up (quite a bit usually- be sure to follow the washing and drying instructions). Then hang them on the rod and note what length you’d like to hem them. We like when ours aren’t hugely pooled but they’re not hemmed right above the floor either (so they graze the ground for a nice breezy and casual effect).
So there you have phase two of our three phase sunroom mini-makeover. The greatest thing about our transformation is that so far we’ve only spent around $20 on ceiling paint and $40 on four extra long curtain rods from Ikea since everything else was stuff that we already had lying around.
Of course we still have phase three up ahead, which is definitely going to be the most major change in the room so stay tuned. We can’t wait to spill those beans…
And speaking of phases, are there any mulit-phase projects that you’ve taken on or that you have on your to-do list? Sometimes breaking things down into nice bite-sized portions is a lot easier and less stressful. Do tell!
Psst- Don’t forget to check out our post over on BabyCenter today. We finally figured out the alphabet magnet situation for the magnetic wall that we created for Clara in the office/guest bedroom/playroom. Check it out here!
Leave a comment
Easy Upgrades: Five Things That Make Us Happy
Sometimes it’s the little things that can make any house feel like a happy home. Here are five of our favorite little things that make our days just a little bit sweeter:
1. Our shower radio – it makes it feel more like a mini escape and helps us conserve water because we have a two song limit.
2. Large glass cereal jars – they’re so much more charming than pouring from the box- plus we always know when we’re running low.
3. Fresh flowers and green leafy plants – they purify the air and inject a nice dose of natural texture- plus it’s nice to fill a house with life, both figuratively and literally.
4. Our backyard firepit – when Monday looms there are always melty homemade s’mores on Sunday night to remind us that the weekend isn’t quite over yet.
5. Baskets full of magazines and stacks of hardcover books- they coax us to sit down and relax for a moment and they just make a room feel more lived in and inviting.
So that’s our quick little rundown of five things that bring a smile to our faces (all without breaking the bank). In fact we spent about $12 on number one, around $15 on number two, just $5 to $10 a pop on number three, a mere $28 to build number four, and just a few dollars a month on number five (thanks to subscriptions, which save us mucho bucks off the cover price). What about you guys? Do you have any affordable little upgrades that just seem to make life better at your casa? We’d love to hear five things (or even just one) that make you happy to be home.
The YHL Take On A Few Controversial Issues
We’ll start this post off by saying that when it comes to decorating your house, we believe there are no right answers. Rules are meant to be broken and feathering your nest is definitely one of the most subjective and personal things you’ll ever do. Our mantra has always been “just do what you love” so you end up coming home to a house that makes you smile. But what if you don’t know what you love? Just look at rooms in magazines and online and find out what tickles your fancy and use it as a springboard to take your house to the next level. Or stare at your favorite painting or even a pair of earrings or a pretty invitation and use it as your inspiration – yes you can even design a room around a pattern on a napkin or a pretty soap box like this:
We love reminding people that we have absolutely no background in home improvement or interior design, we’re just two people who learned as we went and slowly updated our house on a budget and shared our progress as we went. And somewhere along the way we amassed enough confidence and on-the-job experience to help other people spruce up their spaces as well. But we definitely have made our fair share of mistakes, and we think those learning experiences have truly made us who we are today. They help us relate to everyone out there who’s also trying to fix up their home on a budget without any formal training- armed only with their wits, some elbow grease, and a lot of bullheaded determination. Oh yeah, we can totally relate to that.
And we have one more rule around here: don’t do something just because we suggest it. When we dish out advice on anything from a recommended paint color to a rug rule, we do it to help get the ball rolling and serve as a starting point. But we never want people to blindly do things just because “John and Sherry said it would work.” Because design is so subjective that there are about 100 ways to skin a cat. So it would just be crazy to robotically follow our suggestions without a bit of thought and consideration to see if they really feel right for you and your home. There’s not one right way to decorate your living room, there are about a hundred different solutions that would look fantastic. And that’s good news because it means you can follow your heart to a result that works for you instead of blindly hunting for the nonexistent one and only “answer” to your decorating dilemma.
BUT (there’s always a but, right?) on the flip side to that coin, we do get asked a few questions that are definitely highly debatable, so here’s our take on those decorating dilemmas. They’re really more like general suggestions that you can consider and apply in a way that makes sense to you or choose to completely ignore. Really it’s all about doing what you love, not what we say!
Controversial Question #1: Can your living room rug be shorter than the length of your sofa? Generally speaking we prefer for the rug to be at least a few inches longer than your sofa on both sides so it feels anchored by the rug instead of top heavy and a bit too bulky. So in smaller rooms with a sofa and a chair arrangement (like our den or living room) we usually recommend a 5 x 8 rug, but in any other seating arrangement (that involves a sofa and a loveseat, a sofa and two chairs next to each other, or a sectional) we always think an 8 x 10 rug works best to define that arrangement and ground everything with ease.
But rules are meant to be broken, so here’s a space (courtesy of the dearly departed Domino magazine) with a rug that’s shorter than the sofa.
See there really are no right answers here, so why not take home three potential rugs and see which one works best for your space (just return the two “losers” when you’re done and you haven’t wasted a cent trying out a few alternatives). Read more general rug rules right here.
Controversial Question #2: Should large upholstered furnishings be covered only in neutral colors so they always feel classic, or can you get more bang for your buck with a brightly colored sofa or a fun patterned chair? We prefer classic upholstery and opt to bring in color with accessories, which is usually the safest way to ensure that you won’t tire of the look of a room and be forced to purchase large items in order to change the look (as opposed to switching out some accessories for a new look on a far smaller budget). For example, a bright abstract turquoise painting above the fireplace and some punchy orange and aqua pillows could totally change up the look of our den in under $100.
But again, rules are meant to be broken. Here’s a space with a bright red sofa that looks amazingly classic and fresh (see more info about this room makeover here):
And here’s a bedroom makeover where we recommended graphic striped chairs that really made the space feel polished and luxe (without breaking the bank since they’re from Target). So sometimes some color or pattern in your furnishings can really make the room.
Controversial Question #3: Do all the frames in a room have to match? Personally, we love that every frame in our house is white so we can switch them out from room to room for an easy change (which has saved us some major moolah over the years since they’re so flexible and easily movable). Check out more framing ideas right here.
But they definitely don’t have to be all the same color throughout your house, or even throughout a room. Here’s a space with a mixed display of frame finishes that looks eclectic, lovely, and collected over time from Apartment Therapy:
So charming! Again it’s really all about what you like and what you have on hand so there’s no perfect answer in this category either.
Controversial Question #4: Do all wood furnishings have to match? No way. We actually believe that falling for the matchy-matchy look is the quickest way to a flat room that looks like you got everything in an afternoon from the same store. Here’s a post with a slew of details and suggestions on that subject, and we really feel that the image from House Beautiful below drives home the fact that layered materials, finishes, and tones can make a space feel dimensional, interesting and effortlessly stylish.
Controversial Question #5: Does all hardware (faucets, door knobs, fixtures, etc) have to match? Nope, definitely not. It can’t hurt if you have a small bathroom or kitchen and painstakingly ensure that every latch, pull, and fixture is the same brushed nickel finish, but we’ve also seen some amazing rooms with layered hardware and fixture choices (like antique brass mixed with silvery finishes). We actually wrote a big post all about this subject so click here for more info. And as an instant example of delectable mixed metals, check out the living room below from Homes & Gardens:
Controversial Question #6: Should all the trim in your house be the same color? Well, we love that all of our trim is a nice crisp white (it keeps our home feeling cohesive and current) but we’ve also seen houses with rich dark wood moldings in some rooms and clean white trim in others- and it looked pretty darn amazing as well. And here’s a lovely English casa with gorgeous raw wood beams that add tons of character and charm:
The bottom line? Do what you love (whether that’s mixing and matching trim throughout the house or keeping it all consistent and cohesive).
Controversial Question #7: Can you put an area rug over wall to wall carpeting? Our opinion: yes, yes, yes! We love rugs over wall to wall carpet. Any seating area that floats in a space (which is often how they look best, even in small rooms) needs something to ground and define just that distinct area. So a rug over a carpet (be it jute, wool, or anything really!) often looks fantastic in every space from a living or family room to a bedroom with a small seating area or a centered bed. Check out this lovely example below from PointClickHome.
In short: Go for it if it makes you happy (and avoid it if you disagree)!
Controversial Question #8: Besides paint, what’s the biggest way to transform a space? We believe that answer is undeniably curtains (as demonstrated by this amazing reader-submitted curtain makeover, which you can learn more about here):
They really can make the room and create a taller, bigger, and more architectural effect. Here’s a post all about picking the perfect window treatments to spruce up your space, so you’re bound to find lots of ideas (don’t forget to check out the comment section for even more solutions).
So that’s our take on a few controversial decorating topics. What do you guys think? Are there any decorating rules that you happily break around your house? Or any that you stick to religiously without any interest in straying? Do tell.
Seven Cheap Ways To Crisp Up A Room
Is it weird that John read my headline in passing and used it as an opportunity for a comedic performance? A few “room-crisping” suggestions from him? 1) Flambé it. 2) Put crunchy noodles on the floor. 3) Starch it.
Funny guy. Anyway, here are seven super affordable and easy ways to freshen up any space. They might seem simple and straightforward, but it’s amazing what a difference these little tweaks can really make. So if you don’t have the energy (or the money) for a full scale room makeover, these might be just the thing to give you a new look in a snap.
1. Paint your trim with crisp white semi-gloss paint. Whether you’re repainting dingy trim or converting it from a wood tone, there’s nothing like sleek white trim to make a space feel dimensional, polished, and fresh- even a hallway! Think of your window, door, and baseboard trim as giant picture frames that can really showcase an area- and we all know that sometimes it’s the frames that make the art.
2. Introduce new outlet covers and wall switchplates. Sometimes you inherit them in pretty bad condition (they could be painted over, faded or dated in color, or even wallpapered- eeks!). So switching out your covers for crisp clean white ones- or even stainless steel beauties if that fits your decor- can instantly make the whole house read as updated and oh so current. Bonus points for painting out the trim on your doors for even more architectural interest!
3. Paint a dingy and dark fireplace glossy white. Yup, more white paint is on the agenda here- but just look at how crisp and lovely it can look. And here’s a handy tutorial.
4. Hang breezy white floor to ceiling curtains. Ok, ok, so they don’t even have to be white- but if you have a flat looking neutral room with a tan sofa and a beige carpet, hanging long billowy white curtains (along with repainting your trim and switching out your outlet covers) will transform your room in ways that you almost won’t believe. And if your color scheme calls for off-white or linen colored curtains instead, as long as you hang them high and wide to frame the view, your room will instantly feel more airy and inviting.
5. Grab three to five punchy new pillows. Sure, safe neutral pillows are nice, but nothing pops like a bit of saturation in the form of plush pillows that really invite you in. And thanks to places like TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Home Goods, Target, and Etsy you can grab pillows for around $6-$12 each. That means thirty beans is all it takes to give your seating area a totally fresh look. If you have a flat looking neutral room like we described above, there really are limitless options for accent colors (turquoise, steel blue, eggplant, amber, cinnamon, celadon, ruby, raspberry, peony pink, persimmon, lemon yellow, lime, etc).
6. Bring in baskets. They’re such an easy way to wrangle things and create a much more polished and organized vibe- even when it comes to kid clutter.
7. Add one more dash of saturated color. You can spotlight a bright piece of art above the mantel or you can get an old mirror on Freecycle or Craigslist and spray paint it the same punchy tone that you introduced to your sofa with those new pillows (lime? raspberry? turquoise? celadon?). Heck, even grabbing a cheap thrift store lamp and spray painting the base or recovering the shade in that playful tone will have the same effect without draining your wallet.
So there you have seven quick and easy ways that you can make a room feel current and fresh (for everyone from potential home buyers to yourself). But we’re positive that we left something out. What small tweaks have you guys tried on for size when it comes to breathing new life into a stale or ho-hum space? Spill it.
All images (except for the curtain pic) from fun and fabulous House Crashings of yore.
