Our living room needed a little TLC, so we took it on for this month’s $100 Room Challenge. Ready for our farmhouse living room reveal?
It’s time for another $100 Room Challenge reveal!!! Very briefly (in case you’re just joining in), the $100 Room Challenge involves taking one room and giving it a complete makeover, in one month’s time, with $100. Other bloggers have joined in, and it’s been a blast. This month I chose to work on my living room. I was a bit terrified because it’s a large room, and I knew July was going to be busy. But, here we are, reveal day, and I’m happy to say it’s (almost) done.
Let’s start with a “before shot” to see what this room looked like at the beginning of the challenge (and, if we’re honest, what this room still looked like a week ago 🙂 )
And here it is today…
At first glance, there may not appear to be a huge difference as the carpet and furniture remained the same, but let’s really dig in so I can show you everything that was done to update this space to make it feel a little more “us”.
Creating A Farmhouse Living Room on A Budget
Goal 1: Take Down the Outdated Valences
Done. Easiest thing I did. 🙂
Goal 2: Pillow Refresh
My original thought was to buy a pillow cover set to cover my outdated pillows, but in the end, I didn’t love any of the options I found. I am a farmhouse-style girl, and I wanted to remain true to that style, so I made my own! I don’t even sew! About a year ago, I bought some flour sacks from a vintage shop in town. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them, I just thought they were interesting. Well, my pillows just happened to fit perfectly inside, so they became no-sew pillow covers. You can find the tutorial for making these here.
Goal 3: Rug Refresh
If you have been following along, you know that I did, indeed, purchase a new rug. I found it on sale during Amazon’s Prime Day, but once I got it in the room, it didn’t work; it was just too light. Sadly, I don’t have a replacement yet, but I did take the old rug is out. We definitely need a rug in this space, so I’ll keep looking.
Goal 4: Mantel Refresh
In a few of our spaces, my husband has created wood overlays for our wire shelving. (Here in the laundry room and here in our coat closet.) I have always wanted a wood mantel (vs. stone), so I asked if he could create the same concept for the fireplace. He came through and it looks ah-mazing!
Before
After
I also blew my budget at IKEA on knick-knacks to decorate the mantel and hearth (as you may recall, all I had before was the tobacco basket).
Goal 5: Wall Décor
We had some black and white floral prints on our wall (as seen in the before images). I wasn’t sure they aligned with my farmhouse-style vibe, so (with a little inspiration from Pinterest), I made some wall décor out of old windows and Frappuccino bottles 🙂 This is what I came up with and I love it! (Click here for the full tutorial.)
My father-in-law happens to be the owner of his own construction company. One day he was ripping out some old wooden windows from a home he was working on, and my mother-in-law (bless her) knew I’d probably want them (versus sending them to the trash). They’ve been sitting in my garage just waiting for a project, and their time finally came. I broke out the glass and made a little farmhouse wall treatment.
I also love the ever-popular farmhouse signs, but to buy one would blow my budget, so what do we do? Make one… for about $9. Click here for the tutorial.
Goal 6: Curio Cabinet Out or Redo
“Out” is the answer here. I haven’t been able to find exactly what I’m looking for yet, but I’d love to do something like this, from Twelve On Main…
Via Twelve On Main
Goal 7: Fill in Screw Pops and Paint
I spent two days filling in holes and screw pops, and painting this room. I had found a 5 gallon bucket of Agreeable Gray paint at the recycle center a little over a year ago. (You can read about it here.) I also had some paint left over (same color) from the office makeover, so I was able to paint this room for free! (If you follow on Instagram, then you know the biggest dilemma to painting was trying to work around the stone on the fireplace. One follower suggested aluminum foil, and it totally worked!)
Here are some more pictures of this farmhouse living room makeover.
Before
After
I’m thinking of adding one more long, thin sign above those windows to fill the space a bit more, but time got away from me 🙂
Total Budget
As noted above, I was a total slacker until this week. I had bought a rug for $55.99, but decided against using it in this room, so my budget going into this week was still $96.02; having only spent $3.98 on my pillow covers! No worries. I spent it, and here’s the breakdown…
Paint & Supplies: FREE
- Paint: FREE (Already had… Some from the Recycle Center. Some leftover from the office.)
- Paint Supplies (Brushes, Tape, Etc.): FREE (Already had)
Window Wall Décor: $6.95
- Old Chippy Windows: FREE (As noted above, my in-laws gifted these to me versus throwing them in the trash 🙂 )
- Polycrylic: FREE (Already had)
- Chalk Paint: FREE (Already had)
- Painting Supplies: FREE (Already had)
- “Milk” Jars: FREE (These are actually Starbucks Frappuccino bottles that I save… because I use them in projects all the time 🙂 )
- Faux Plant: $2.99 (50% off at Hobby Lobby). I just bought one faux plant and cut it into pieces to put in the jars.
- D-Rings (Pack of 2) x2: $3.96 ($1.98 each)
Love You More Sign: $9.07
- One Piece 2×4 Underlayment: $6.49
- Barn Wood Frame: FREE (Taken from our barn wood stash in the garage)
- Chalk Paint: FREE (Already had)
- Vinyl: FREE (Already had)
- Black Paint: FREE (Already had)
- Paint Supplies (Sponges Brushes): FREE (Already had)
- D Ring Hangers: $2.58
Wood Mantel Overlay: $14.18
- 1 x 4 x 6 Cedar Wood: $4.99
- 1 x 8 x 6 Cedar Wood: $9.19
- Stain: FREE (Already had)
Miscellaneous Décor: $46.92
- Ceramic Planter: $1.99
- Faux Plant: $3.99
- Small Ceramic Pitcher: $9.99
- Larger Ceramic Pitcher: $14.99
- Faux Eucalyptus Stems x4: $15.96 (Already had 3)
Total Spent: $81.10
I can’t even believe we came in $18.80 under budget.
Another $100 Room Challenge done. If you want to take a peek at the other rooms I’ve completed with just $100, check out this page (all rooms are at the bottom). And please check out all the other bloggers participating in this challenge.
Wanna Catch Up?
Week 1 // Week 2 // Week 3 // Week 4
The hanging bottles wrapped in twine are my favorite part! Beautifully displayed!
Thanks Audra! I love all the elements that make up that wall decor: chippy windows, milk bottles, and twine 🙂
Those windows as wall art are so pretty! Love the mantel decor and pillow refresh.
Your fireplace looks soo good! I love all of your farmhouse touches too!!! I had a great time joining in and following along with your makeover.
Thanks Jessica! I was pretty impressed that my husband was able to pull off that mantel… and for less than $15 🙂 It was so fun having you join the challenge this time!
Erin, I love all the DIYs you tackled for the space! That farmhouse-style sign and the flour sacks turned pillow covers are genius. Great work!
Thanks Kate! I was pretty excited when those flour sacks actually fit our pillows 🙂 Otherwise, I don’t know what I would have done 🙂
I really love the paint color choice! It brightened up the room so much. Under budget refresh for the win. Thanks again for putting all of this together.
My pleasure. I absolutely love hosting this challenge! And I agree with you on the paint. So much brighter in the space now 🙂
Under budget and your room looks awesome! I love the wood overlay your husband made for the fireplace and your flour sack pillow covers. Such a great idea!! Thanks for hosting – I can’t wait to join in again!
I absolutely LOVE hosting this challenge, so my pleasure. I agree with you, that wood overlay warmed our fireplace so much, and the pillows might be my favorite thing in here 🙂
Your room looks amazing!!! I am in love with the pillow covers!! Thank you so much for hosting this fabulous challenge!
Thanks Kelly! I think the pillow covers might be my favorite thing in here. I love when you have a vision, and it actually works out the way you envision. It was a pleasure to have you as part of the challenge this round. Love seeing everyone’s rooms come together.
It turned out so great! That mantel looks amazing! Your husband did such an incredible job! And I love the vases and other decor accents your brought in! What a great transformation!
Thanks Morgan! I am SO glad I have a husband that knows how to work with wood, and bless IKEA for having such cute decor items at affordable prices 🙂
Love the farmhouse touches! Who would have guessed you could do it all for only $80. I am sure you could spend the other $20 with another week 😉
I’m hoping I can figure out a ladder shelf situation with my other $20. That would just complete the room, but I didn’t want to just throw something together for the reveal. Rather find what I really want. So happy to have you join the challenge for another round!
Love the signs especially! Such a pretty font.
Thanks Emily!
Your living room looks so good! I love windows as art.
Me too. I used one in my kids’ bathroom as a towel rack as well. They certainly add character 🙂
This room is gorgeous!! You do such a good job with using all sorts of accessories and coming in at $100 (or under!!)! I love the old windows and the pillow covers. Thanks for hosting such a fun challenge!
Thanks Meg! It really is amazing what can be done when you limit your budget. You start getting creative and doing crazy DIYs that somehow work together to create a space. That’s what I love about this challenge. I don’t think most people realize how much can be done with a mere $100 🙂
Its just amazing how your room turned out with simple supplies. Our imagination can work wonders when we budget. The sky is the limit with this challenge. I really have enjoyed meeting you and you are such a wonderful host.
Thanks Maria! This challenge is SO fun to host. I am blown away every time. It is amazing how creative we become when we have to limit our budget 🙂 Thanks for joining the challenge again. Always a pleasure to have you!
Looks good. The mantle is wonderful. Should kept the new rug…it was lovely.
Oh. I still have the rug. I am sure I will use it somewhere… Actually, what I really want to do is rip out the carpet in this room and put down wood flooring. If/when that happens, this rug will definitely be in here 🙂
Great plan!
Love it Erin! The farmhouse touches are beautiful! Can’t wait for the sign tutorial! Great job – and well under budget!
Thanks Kristen! I keep thinking back to week one when we were a little worried about making over our large living rooms with such a limited budget, but we totally did it! I should have the sign tutorial up later this week 🙂
Wow Erin, I don’t even know where to start! I love the pillows you made and the mantel looks perfect. And the wall decor. Gah! I love it all! I’ll be looking out for that pillow tutorial…
Thank you so much! I am loving this new space SO much! I felt like I was floundering around the first few weeks without a clear vision. Then, I just went to my love of farmhouse, and it all came together.
P.S. The pillow tutorial is up today 🙂 https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/diy-no-sew-farmhouse-pillow-covers/
Wow Erin! You are queen of this challenge! Love the creative use of flour sacks as your pillow covers.
The upcycled window frames work perfectly as wall decor for the farmhouse vibe you have. And what a great tip about the foil… Great makeover!
Thank you Carol! I am so glad I reached out to my IG followers for advice. I was about to use painter’s tape, and I’m pretty sure my fireplace would have had Agreeable Gray paint splatters all over it. Thank goodness others are willing to share their brilliance 🙂
Great work Erin!
Thank you!
That’s awesome you came in under budget! Your room is gorgeous!!! It’s so bright and cheerful!
Painting made such a difference in here. So much brighter!
The room looks so bright and airy and I love the mantle. It really warms up the fireplace!
I totally agree about the mantel. I never really like the tile, so this overlay was a perfect solution. It really does warm up the fireplace.
Just painting and removing the rug and valance did a lot for this room. Love the new mantel.
I completely agree. The paint brightened up the room SO much, and getting rid of the burgundy rug and valences helped even more.
Great job!! Do y’all do this every month?? I want to participate, but couldn’t this month. I am hoping I can next time y’all do it.
We actually don’t do them every month, but I am planning one for August. If you’d like to join in, send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll give you all the details 🙂