Or should I say Reading Room Makeover? Because that’s all we’ve done in here since its completion! I LOVE reading in here! It’s such a vibe, and it’s been such a process. Lol. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know we started this room by having gorgeous millwork installed:
Before…
Let me get to the after, and then we’ll discuss:
After…
Before…
After…
Soooo, here’s what happened. After we had the millwork professionally installed, I decided to save money and try staining the walls myself. BIG MISTAKE. I had no idea what I was doing, and it just looked awful; blotchy and uneven. So then I had someone come in and sand it down so I could then have it professionally stained instead. But here’s the thing- he didn’t sand it all the way- he just sanded a layer off. I paid him for his time and decided to go with someone else; someone who was willing (and capable) of sanding it all the way down. So now I’m in a waiting game for this new person to come and fix the walls, but the truth is, once I brought everything into the room and it looked “finished,” the walls really grew on me. Lol. I mean, the main wall with the art looked the worst, so I decided to cover it with fabric. This was something I saw quite a bit of at High Point Market when I was there in October, and was waiting for the opportunity to try it. Sometimes mistakes lead to creative solutions- ones that you almost like better than the original plan. It really softens the room and adds an unexpected layer. One might say it’s wasteful to have paid to installed millwork only to cover it, but 1) this is a temporary solution and 2) even if we keep it, re-staining the walls is just going to be more money, so what’s the difference? Lol. I don’t know, we’ll see. But with the gorgeous new bookshelves occupying the other big wall, and the window wall being mostly window, the walls just aren’t bothering me much. I think the imperfection is kind of charming:)
One last difference? I painted the beams and added “bobbin trim” using styrofoam half spheres! I cannot tell you how happy I am with this! I know people were freaking out about using styrofoam. Lol. Trust me, wood would be preferred, but I was going the more economical route. I found these for around $20 for a pack of 20! It was really hard to find wood ones in the larger four inch size I wanted to use, and when I did on Etsy, they were over $20 EACH. So yes, styrofoam it was! And it worked like a charm! I just glued them on with this. Only use a dime size! The glue expands and you don’t want it seeping out the sides! I taped them overnight to make sure they were secure. Then after I pulled the tape off, I touched up any spots I missed painting. So any little white spots you see below, have been touched up and it looks fantastic.
I want to highlight and give a big shoutout to the sponsors who made this fab room possible!
Ming Console Table is from Layla Grace (Get 10% off using code: HANEEN10, now through June 28th, 2026!)
Bristowe Bookshelves are from Hooker
Whitford Chairs are from Lulu & Georgia
Mini coffee table is from Lulu & Georgia (this will actually get moved to in between the chairs, and I have this table on the way to use as a coffee table)
Olive green Kirby bench is from Perigold
Shop the room…
What do you think about the layout? Would you ever try four chairs instead of a sofa and two chairs? I think it really lends itself to conversation, and there’s actually more seating than before since we now have the long bench in the window. It’s been so nice! Thank you for following along. Let me know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
