#DecorlandDIY Challenge Reveal

It’s been a long few weeks of DIY to get to this point.
I always think it’s going to be quick & easy – ha!

About a month ago I first posted about the Decorland DIY Challenge which myself, Vicki from I Want That
and Karen from Lovilee were chosen by Decorland to take part in – a one window makeover to transform a space in our homes, using Decorland products. We each got to choose products from their website and then the rest was up to us to DIY.
I chose their Bass Wood Venetian Blind in Pecan, as I had a very specific look in mind – I had my heart set on painting the surrounding walls black and I needed something that was going to make the area a feature, as well as blend in with the existing wooden floors. So I got down to some serious pinning.

Our first hurdle was whether to paint the window frames black too – they were white.
The decision was made for us though when we discovered they were riddled with borer – gotta love old Durban houses – and they had to be removed, so once that was done, we sanded and then painted right up to the actual window panes and will hopefully replace these with black aluminium in time.

When you’re on a tight budget, but have pinterest board visions, you really do have to box clever!
Especially when you start off looking like this – remember the hideous before pic, with makeshift grey curtains for privacy:

I wanted the walls to be matte black with no sheen on them, so we used Duram Roof Paint – yes roof paint. They have turned out beautifully!
And when I say “we used”, I mean I watched and supervised and had my mister do the painting ;)

The easiest part was hanging the blinds!
They were custom made so the measurements had been given to Decorland to make up – I was a bit nervous as this is a bay window, so the blinds have to butt up against each other in the corners – but my measurements were spot on and they fitted perfectly.
They went up in less than an hour – holes drilled into the wood frames at the top of the windows and then the brackets which are supplied are affixed there. Then the blind is just clicked into position and a clip strip attached to the front of that, to match the blind – and voila!
They’re super easy to take down too with one click – a really easy mechanism.

I then got to decorating the space. I had intended on covering the couch in front of this area, but try find someone to do that at this time of the year! I also cannot make up my mind what to cover it in, so the couch has been moved out of this room and I now actually love the feel of the space much better.
I’ve kept my Weylandts table in the recess and then styled the area around it with items to give some pops of colour – no clutter.

I was very spoiled for my birthday recently and was given a magnificent Victoria Verbaan print – New York is Rock ‘n Roll – which is framed in white and then some of her prints which I ordered online a while ago, were secretly framed for me as another present and I’ve hung these on either side of the bay window.
I’ve always loved the look of a fiddle leaf fig tree in a natural basket and it looks hot against a black wall don’t you think!?

So now standing back to admire the whole space I am super chuffed with how it turned out! The blinds are amazing and their colour works exactly as I had hoped with the black walls. The sunlight that comes through them when they are slightly open is beautiful and makes the area a favourite to work at.

And despite the amount of time it took to makeover the whole space what with a few hurdles, it’s amazing how much just these few changes have made to the space and how different the blinds make the window look – bye bye grotty curtains!

WIN YOUR OWN WINDOW MAKEOVER FROM DECORLAND:
Now thanks to Decorland YOU can also win your own window makeover.
3 winners will be chosen to win a R5000 makeover from Decorland – all you have to do is upload a picture of the window you want to makeover and tell them why it needs a refresh here.
Winners will be announced on 15th January 2016 – how’s that for a fabulous way to start off the new year!

Thanks to Decorland for this awesome challenge – I loved every second and absolutely love my new space.
Make sure to keep an eye out on I Want That and Lovilee for their transformations too – can’t wait to see them.
You can also follow the challenge on social media under the hashtag #DecorlandDIY – there are some before and during pics on instagram under that hashtag.