The holidays are officially here and what better way to kick them off than a good ol’ fashioned room makeover.
A few weeks ago, Bruno and I traveled to Overland Park, Kansas to make over a Curbly reader’s home, courtesy of Lowe’s. We spent two days with the Dickson family in their sweet, stylish home (Hi, Amber and Lucas!), transforming their living room for the holidays.
To begin, I should say the space had countless beautiful features: lofted ceilings, a natural stone fireplace, and an enviable collection of mid-century furniture. The Dickson’s have great tastes.
In addition to decking out the room for the holidays, we had a few goals in mind as we worked in the space. Amber and Lucas wanted to define the sitting area and make the fireplace a focal point. They also wanted to re-do the blue accent wall at the far end of the room. These were achievable goals for a 36-hour rendezvous, and it was an exciting flurry of a project. Here’s a peek at how it unfolded…
Here’s a look at the room before:
And, here’s a look at the room after we got our hands on it:
We defined the sitting area with a gorgeous gray wool rug that played off the wall color, and grounded and mellowed the entire room. The rug instantly made the space feel larger and made the seating area easy to define.
We moved the sofa and replaced one accent chair with a 9-ft. Christmas tree – holla’ to the holidays! Once the season is over, a chair will easily replace the tree and the sitting area will still feel cohesive. We added a sofa table and a surfboard coffee table, and positioned everything toward the fireplace; because when you have a natural stone fireplace like that, you should look at it all the time.
The week before we arrived, Lucas surprised Amber with an orange womb chair for their 10th wedding anniversary. Little did he know it would be a very happy surprise for us too, and it certainly set the tone for the room.
Initially, our plan was to deck the room in mixed metals. Coppers, silvers, golds, and bronzes are having their moment, and they’re easy to come by in Christmas fixings. Once we met that cozy, orange chair we knew it would be a statement piece, and we decided to play up the copper element and add some oranges here and there.
We spray painted about a dozen glass ornaments orange, and we stenciled the accent wall with a herringbone print in a copper metallic paint. Oh, that accent wall. I could dedicate an ode to it and write a sonnet for it, and a haiku too. Because combined with those tulip chairs, and that DIY ladder (made from copper pipe fittings and a dowel by our super-handy Lowe’s volunteer, Nick) it was all very, very good.
Copper accent wall
You shimmer like a penny
And shine like a jewel
In addition to re-configuring the space, we brought some subtle Christmas cheer to the living room. Given the fact that we were decorating the room well before the holidays, we wanted the decorations to fit the room and look pretty and light, not overwhelming. The mixed-metal palette worked like a charm for this intention. With the exception of some traditional garlands woven in here and there, the room stayed very neutral and airy.
Have a look!
Here are the DIYs we followed for the makeover:
- Forest of Colored Trees (We watered down our acrylic paint for this DIY so the wood grain came through.)
- Copper + Wood Ladder (We recommend making sure your copper fittings match the size of your wooden dowels in the store; plumbing and wood measurements are calculated differently, so a 1-1/4″ dowel will not fit a 1-1/4″ copper fitting, etc.)
Product List
- Area Rug (the description suggests the rug is blue, but – it’s gray)
- Sofa Table
- Surfboard Table
- Low Vase
- Tall Vase
- Tree Vase
- Stacked Candelabra (on coffee table; we spray painted it copper)
- Stockings
- Christmas Tree
- Tree Skirt
- Ornaments (2-toned, gold)
- Ornaments (white)
- Ornaments (silver)
- Ornaments (copper)
- Ornaments (gold)
- Ornaments (champagne and gold pinecones)
- Lighted Christmas Trees (large and small)
- Tree Candles (large and small)
- Nutcrackers
- Branch Tree
- Tree Lanterns
- Garland
- Reindeer (standing) + Reindeer (sitting)
- Glitter Reindeer
- Milk Crate Bins
- StenCilit Stencil (Herringbone Hand Drawn)
- Copper Paint
This makeover was sponsored by Lowe’s. All words and opinions are mine alone. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Curbly.
What an absolute delight this experience was!
Thanks, Bruno and Alicia, for sharing your talent, sense of humor, and all-around charming-ness with our family.
Love this room. The colors give such a serene feel to the room. Great job!
Amber: Right back at you! We loved the opportunity to meet your family and work with your beautiful home! XO
Deb: Thank you! It’s a beautiful, peaceful room.
It turned out absolutely beautiful! Nice work, guys! It was a pleasure to meet and work alongside all of you. Thank you all for the opportunity!