Merry Christmas!  This year my Christmas decor involved a complete Living Room Makeover.

You see, my walls have been needing painted for a couple or 5 years.  I bought paint back in JANUARY and was pretty determined to get my walls all painted – ALL of them.  Living Room, Dining Room, Stairway, Bathroom, Kitchen.  I probably would have skipped my work room cause it’s just too full of stuff to consider painting.  Plus it hasn’t been nearly as long since it was painted.  The rest of the rooms – way past time to freshen the paint.
But as time went by I kept busy with my business, my family, and the multitudes of little things that go along with living life!  And the paint languished in the basement, gathering dust and doing  nothing to make my house look better.

Do you remember my 12ft shelf my living room has boasted ever since we remodeled the room?

I loved styling it for Christmas – here it is a couple years ago.

But as the years rolled by I became a bit disenchanted with that huge shelf.  It WAS great for displaying lots of decor.  It WAS what I had specifically asked for when we remodeled the room.  And it WAS sort of a big deal to get made and hung there.  But as with all decor, I was tired of it.  So I decided it needed to go.  Now not later.

Here is a look at the shelf just before I deconstructed it.  Over the years I came to realize that there was just too much space between the shelf and the couch.  It was hard to photograph the room and make it look right.  And the more I looked at it the more it bothered me.  In this photo I was attempting to see what it would look like to mount this old window under the shelf to fill in some of that space, but ended up not really caring for that look either.  I knew it would just be a decor ‘bandaid’ anyway because I had already decided the fate of the shelf – it WAS coming down at some point.

I discussed it with my 13yo a bit and even called my husband to see if the shelf were glued to the wall or just attached with screws.  I’m sure he rolled his eyes, knowing what was going to be taking place and what he would find when he got home 😀

It took some effort, but I did get that shelf off the wall and out of the house.  The shelf was constructed in several different pieces so we just dismantled it one piece at a time.  The screws that held the shelf brackets on didn’t want to come loose but I persuaded them.  Once the shelf was gone, I had to dig out the drywall compound of course – to fill in nail holes (and one hole I managed to put in the wall trying to pry the shelf loose. (insert eye-roll)

So on the day I decided to get going on Christmas decor I detoured a bit and took down that shelf

The wall eventually will be getting a new look – shiplap or pallet wood or something.  I just think that huge wall needs the texture.  So I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to get the wall finished perfectly.  Instead, I gave it a bit of time to dry and then broke out the paint.  The whole room got a coat of paint.  It will need another coat when time allows and when we have the wall the way we want it and the baseboard installed (yes, we are still without baseboard in this room)

We even pulled the piano away from the wall to paint that wall too.  We cleaned behind the piano good before painting 😀  I waited on my hubby to get home from work for that part – old pianos are HEAVY and I don’t think I could have moved it on my own if my life had depended on it.

The room feels so much better now that the walls are nice and white again.  I’m sure most people wouldn’t notice, but I live here and see it every day.  I did notice!  Now I am ready for the dining room to be repainted too but it’s going to be a big project.  Lots of doorways and trim to paint and the windows are going to need some new window treatments.  I have not decided what I want to do for those.

I sit and drink my coffee in my living room most mornings.  Saturdays are my fav – when I can have coffee on the couch with my hubby!

We had Christmas early this year with my family – my sister and her family live in Kansas and so does my brother.  It suited my sister and her family better to come at Thanksgiving this year instead of Christmas, so we just celebrated Christmas early.  Which was kinda fun because we got to give and receive gifts early!  

My tree this year took a bit of time.  I put it all together and then decided I didn’t like it and took it all back apart.  Then it sat there with no ornaments on it for a few days because we were busy with family and I wasn’t finding the time to go get the stuff I needed to get it looking like I wanted it to look.

I ordered some feather boas, bought some more at JoAnns and also put together  some duster cleaner things from the Dollar Tree to use to fill in the bare spaces.  These vintage trees are fun and pretty but they just are not made like the trees today.  

I think next year I’m buying a flocked tree and giving that a go.  I really wish I had the space to set up at least 3 trees – I love to decorate them and always have more ideas than one tree can hold.  

This scroll.  It arrived in the mail just a day or two before I did my photo shoot.

I had hung the old window in the center space of the wall and hung a wreath on the window.  But when this scroll arrived it was obvious immediately that front and center was the only spot for this.  I bought the scroll from Cottonwood Shanty after seeing it on Instagram.

Peace on Earth is one of my Christmas Word Art pillows and can be found for sale in my shop.

Black and Red buffalo check is trending again and I love it!  It’s such a traditional, classic print and it’s fun when those timeless prints become a trend 🙂

My youngest daughter asked ‘why does our wrapping paper have to all be the same?’  So I added this gold foil with the deer antlers.  I’m  not sure that really satisfied her – she likes every package wrapped in a different paper I think, but I like this look and since it’s my house she has to let me do what I want some of the time – right?!

The car with the tree pillow is by my friend Lucy at Craftberry Bush.  You can purchase her pillows here.

This old ladder has been hanging out on my porch for a few years now.  It came from my Grandpa’s shop and I’ve been wanting to hang it from the porch ceiling.  Hubby says the porch ceiling needs redone first.  I had the idea this Christmas to bring it inside and hang some blankets on it.  We had to shorten it a bit to make it fit but only by one rung.  I love that we are actually using it now instead of it just laying on the porch.

Wood horse from last year – I gave him a coat of paint and distressed him a bit this past summer and never got around to showing you.  He looks much more like he belongs now that he’s white instead of brown and red.

The old window did find a home for now.  It worked in well with my white nativity and pom-pom wreath.

Before I took the photos of my living room, I spent a couple days making slipcovers for my wingbacks.  No more dirty yellow chairs!  I know some of you thought they were cute – but in reality they were dirty and worn and not that pretty in person.  I wanted to have them reupholstered but that did not work out so I made myself get them slip covered.  So nice to have it finally done!

This stove is a corn burner and we no longer use it since we installed our furnace.  I have been pushing to get the thing removed so I can use the space for something we would use – like a recliner or bigger couch or something!  But it’s still sitting here so I topped it with my wire tree and blown glass ornaments and stacked presents around it.  Maybe next year it will be gone and I can set up the tree in this corner instead!

I hope your holiday preparations are going well and that your Christmas is warm and blessed!

Jill