Updating our Living Space for 2020

#AD – This is a collaborative post

So 2019 is rapidly drawing to an end, and before we know it we will be welcoming the start of a brand new year. It’s at about this point in time that among the madness of festive shopping and trips to Father Christmas, I start thinking about resolutions and the things I want to achieve in the fresh new year that follows. This year my resolutions are two fold – not only do the obvious personal cliches of losing weight and exercising more make the hit list (they always do!) but this year, in 2020, I also want to pay more attention to overhauling our living space; updating our surroundings and making the most of the space we like to call home.

We spend a LOT of time in our open plan living room and dining room combined – from family dinners round the table to Netflix boxset marathons, popcorn filled movie nights with the girls and homework sessions after school. It’s the space where we can become ourselves again after a busy day at work, the lounge wear comes on, the uniforms go in the wash and our relaxing evenings begin.

However….lets be realistic here … it needs a bit of work – and for me, the first easy fix is to update our curtains and blinds.

The room is pretty much the way it was when we moved in – despite being a large space, the room appears dark and dull, with dark thick curtains at the front of the room, and “make do” badly fitting curtains at the other. We struggled to find something that worked for our oddly shaped bay window, and as such currently have non tailored curtains in four separate pieces to try and block out the light as required. They get pulled and tugged on by the girls, don’t overlap, and quite frankly, they’re not fit for purpose.

Window dressings aside, the room looks dark and cluttered with a distinct lack of storage, and it currently screams less chic and more creche. Not quite the look I was aiming for!

Here how I plan to overhaul our living space for 2020 (and some pics of the vibe I am aiming for!):

Made to measure curtains or blinds

First things first, and something that I think will have a huge impact on our living space, is to invest in some high quality made to measure curtains for our rear bay window rather than making do with ones designed for more traditional dimensions.

At the moment we can’t decide between curtains or blinds, however I am leaning more towards the option of blinds, with the ability to quickly and easily block out the light or create some privacy, whilst maintaining some flexibility to create a small amount of light as required. The lighter weight fabrics also create a nice warm glow in a room during the early evening, which can also help create a really homely touch to the room.

Couture Living offer the ability to measure your space at home, order online and fit yourself. You can even use their 3D visualiser tool to experiment with the range of curtains, blinds, fabrics and finishes on offer.

Revamping the colour scheme

We currently have some very dark fabric colours within our living space, with brown leather sofas and wooden furniture. At the front window we have dark full length heavy set blackout curtains, which whilst certainly do the job when the sun is too bright, combined with our existing furnishings can also make the room appear dark and dull, blocking out natural daylight even when they are drawn back.

Moving away from the heavy dark curtains, I would like to bring in some lighter colours and fabrics to create a lighter more airy natural feel. I really love some of the modern geometric and striped patterns, and may order a few samples first so I can find one we both agree on!

Storage Storage Storage

With the girls getting that bit older, it’s time to get some of those toys back in their own rooms and retain some adult space. I’m going to look into some wall based box storage to make the use of the height as well as the floor space, and encourage the girls to tidy up as they go (the latter may be wishful thinking!)

It’s all too easy with young children to end up with a large proportion of the room allocated to playtime, however, it’s important to remember that this is the place where Mike and I like to chill out too – and doing so without having to stand on Lego would be a real positive!

I’d love to hear about your interior resolutions this year – what plans do you have for updating your home in 2020?