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Quick Before And After Fall Living Room Makeover

September 21, 2021

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My living room has always felt like winter room.

The massive stone fireplace and beams on the ceiling resemble a mountain lodge more than a seaside retreat.

Not exactly a great match for a summer loving gal.

Fall living room with stone fireplace and beams on ceiling

And yet this room, that fireplace and those beams are precisely what grabbed my heart the minute I walked through the front door.

It was love at first sight.

Of course, even love has its limits. Especially after several long, cold, gray months on this island.

By the time spring rolls around, I'm ready to leave the lodge and summer the place up.

For example, this summer, I replaced the drapes with lace panels, removed most of the dark red pillows and added a freshly painted fireplace screen.

The room was a little lighter, a little brighter.

And frankly, a little uncomfortable looking. It does not wear summer well.

The elements in this room are bold and they demand bold accents. 

Or maybe it's just me that demands the drama. 

All I know is that when the warm weather fades, it's time to get cozy in here again.

Last fall, I did this by replacing my long worn, red beaded valances. They'd graced these windows for almost two decades.

However, time took its toll and they were literally starting to shred.

So I purchased $24 worth of floral fabric and some ball fringe and made new curtains. The long panels were a dramatic change from the toppers that had always framed the windows.

And I loved the look...until Christmas when I put up ivory velvet panels. Another dramatic change.

Elegant, serene and with all those trees and white lights, a bit magical.

Ivory Velvet Panels In Living Room at Christmas

But something was just not right when I put the floral panels back up after the holidays. The room needed more weight and structure.

I could feel it in my gut.

And I knew immediately that the room called for the same checks I had in the kitchen.

Or a variation of them anyway.

You may recall that I bought lace panels and cut them so they'd act as an accent coupled with the checks.

Layering Curtain Panels With Lace

Well it literally took me all summer, but I finally got around to making my vision a reality.

And I'm smitten.

It was definitely the right call.

Red Cottagecore Living Room with checked curtain panels

In the end, I just moved the kitchen panels in here.

I'm going to use the same material and my old pattern to make new ones in kitchen with some fun trim.

When I made the kitchen curtains, I just wanted accent side panels. 

That was another room where I'd only had valances and the idea of heavy panels blocking the light bothered me.

However, as I lived with them, I realized they needed to be a bit fuller.

Since the living room panels were going to be paired with lace, the thinner dimensions were perfect.

Unfortunately, that means the kitchen will look a little empty until I get behind the machine again.

That's ok. I can hang out in my cozy, colorful living.

With my new yard sale lamp and my decoupaged pig.

Lemons In A Wooden Bowl

Dressed in lemons, squeezing out the very last drops of summer.

At least until this weekend when I'll finally break out the pumpkins.

Begrudgingly admitting that it's really fall.

Red Checked Curtains in Living Room

And let the room get comfortable again.

Ahhh.

Do you have any winter rooms?

ROOM RESOURCES LISTED HERE

Kim Signature


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  1. I have always loved your room. It has always looked cozy and inviting.

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    1. Thank you so much, Betty! I love this room, too. I don't spend enough time in it during the summer.

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  2. Your living room looks beautiful! I love your couches they look so crisp!

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    1. Thanks Susan! The couches are crisp...they've held up really well. I've been very impressed with them.

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  3. I love your living room! That fireplace and the beams are amazing!

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    1. Thanks so much, Penny. Those are the features we fell in love with the moment we walked through the door.

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  4. Love the new look!! It looks inviting now and cheerful not dull and drab! Enjoy!

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    1. Thanks so much, Lou Ann!! Inviting is such a wonderful compliment. Love it!!

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  5. Love them and the lace is perfect. I can't wait to see the kitchen. I'm smitten with the throw pillow on the couch.

    I would have fallen in love with this room too.

    Pinned

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    1. Thanks so much, Cindy! I love those pillows. I found them at Pier 1 before they closed. I bought three originally and can you believe I returned one?? I could kick myself now...so short sighted.

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  6. Beautiful and so cozy, Kim! I have those same checks in my shower curtain.
    Brenda

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    1. Thanks so much, Brenda. I love your shower curtain...

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  7. I love how you can change the look of the LR with a quick change of your curtains. I LOVE the look of red and white checks with the lace curtains Kim. Happy Fall!

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    1. Thanks Julie! It's a very different look for me, but I love it, too. Happy Fall my friend!!

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  8. I love your living room. I love the red and white theme. Great job!

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    1. Thanks so much, Rebecca!! I could see this one in my head for a long time. I just had to get my act together and make it happen. I really appreciate the comment. I hope you have a fabulous weekend and comment again!

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  9. Oh, Kim, I am a sucker for buffalo check patterns and, like you, am also smitten by your red checked curtains! They are gorgeous! Just wait till you do Christmas in there! Kapow!

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    1. Thanks Kim...and kapow indeed!! I already have sugar plums dancing in my head thinking about this room and these curtains!! Haha!! Great minds think alike. Must be the name. 😉

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  10. Kim I have always loved your sweet rooms in your seaside cottage. The white slipcovered sofas and the pretty panels on the windows. Your pillows on the white couches really pop. Your room is so bright and pretty and inviting. With Fall on our tails I can see this room so pretty for fall and oh boy when Christmas comes this room is going to be spectacular. Happy Wednesday. Have a great rest of the week. xoxo Kris

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    1. Thank you, Kris! Those couches really do anchor the room and they're so versatile I can do some much around them. This fabric really speaks to me. I like the color and the structure. They soften the blow of winter just a bit and yes, they'll make fall and Christmas decorating much more fun!! Happy weekend!! xxoo

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  11. Very cozy and inviting, Kim and you know I'm swooning over the red.

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    1. Thanks Marie! It's always fun to have red loving friends. 🥰

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  12. Kim, embrace the cooler months in your living room! It always looks beautiful in the fall and winter! You are my inspiration!

    In one house, I had a winter room (my bedroom, with periwinkle walls, so not the rrreeed/gree/white version), a fall room (light mossy green walls - or split pea soup, as you wish, a desk/dresser set in rustic yellow bamboo, and orange leaves, complete with a fall scene as my computer desktop picture) summer and spring in the public room, subject to change with the seasons.
    The Fall room was my favorite.

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    1. Thank you so much, Nancy! Your words always make me smile. The fall room does sound beautiful. Something all those colors together, just divine!!

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  13. Every version looks beautiful, Kim. Right now, I'm in 'Vertical Blind Land' of a rental. My husband asked if I was going to put up curtains the other day. My answer? " Good question! " LOL

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    1. Thank you, Ann! Oh gosh, I can picture it now, all those vertical blinds. They're very functional, no doubt, but I'd be aching for curtains. Then again, I'm obsessed!

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  14. It is fun to look back at all of the changes. All were very pretty and it is fun to have different ones to swap out. Sometimes it seems that there is nothing wrong with your choices, but you just need some change to freshen things up. My mom rearranges her furniture every couple of weeks. She likes each of the new positions until it is time to do it again. She has those little sliders that go under the furniture and she leaves them in place so that they are ready for next week when she decides that something different is needed.

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    1. It’s funny, Lorri. There are some rooms in my house where I haven’t changed a thing for years. However, in others, I make swaps like this frequently. It just makes me smile, so I can totally relate to your mom and her sliders. I saw a meme the other day that hit home. It said there is no woman more determined than the one who needs to move furniture on her own! Haha!

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    2. I love that meme. I am going to see if I can come up with some way to use that sentiment. Maybe a couch pillow? My dad, who rarely drank and never to excess, used to tell people that he didn't dare come home all drunked up because he would trip over furniture that was in a different spot. I think it was an embellished version of one time when he got up in the middle of the night and hurried to the kitchen to answer the phone and tripped over an ottoman that was in a different spot than when he went to bed.

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    3. A couch pillow sounds great! I bet your mom would get a kick out of it. I think your dad's sentiment is a common one. I wrote a post a few years ago about how I decorate in the middle of the night and there were a lot of comments just like his.

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  15. This is beautiful!!!! I have several winter rooms.....not too practical in Texas!! We do feel comfy and cozy in them, so I don't have many complaints.
    I will be dragging out my reds this week...
    ....... channeling you! :-)
    Blessings, J

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    1. Bring on the red, J!! I just know your rooms are cozy and warm all year long. And thank you, for the kind words. Happy Fall and Blessings!!

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  16. You are the curtain and the check queen! And it looks great!
    I love it.

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    1. Thank you, Mari! What a very wonderful title. I'll take it!!

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  17. BEAUTIFUL.. it is so Home Sweet Home.. that is what I see and I know I would feel if I came to visit.
    Carla

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    1. What a lovely compliment, Carla! And a visit sounds wonderful...🤞

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  18. You nailed it. You know what I think makes a big impact? The white curtain rods. I may try that.

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    1. Thanks so much, Susan! Yes, those white curtain rods were a must. I just wanted them to fade away. I've been thinking about doing the same in the kitchen. Thinking...Enjoy the weekend my friend.

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  19. The new curtains look so nice! I can feel the room oozing coziness! Makes one almost - ALMOST - look forward to cooler weather!

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    1. Right there with you, Amy…lost in the land of ALMOST when it comes to fall…😉

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  20. I have always loved your Living room and the cozy look of it Kim! And that fireplace would have definitely been the selling point for me too!! When I first got married, our living room was decorated in Fall colors which i love...I had a rust velvet sofa ( how I loved that sofa) and gold velvet swivel chair rockers!! To me, the Living Room always looked cozy!! Stay safe, happy and healthy!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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    1. Those fall colors are my weakness, Debbie!! And thank you for the lovely comment. Hugs!

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