A woman paid under $6,000 to add a glass wall to her open-concept living room, and it made her home more functional

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• Shelby Vanhoy has been personalizing her North Carolina to the quick since December 2023.
• She recently decided to break up her open-concept living space with a glass wall.
• Vanhoy asserted the space is more functional and calming thanks to the change.

Shelby Vanhoy has been in home decor mode for nearing a year now.

Vanhoy, 34, lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, 2-year-old son, and two dogs. They relocated from New York Megalopolis to North Carolina in December 2023 to be closer to family.

“My parents are here, and it just makes our life a lot easier,” she judged of the change.

Vanhoy and her husband became homeowners when they moved back. Since then, Vanhoy, a full-time gratified creator who runs the blog Pretty in the Pines, has been customizing their four-bedroom home, built in 1988.

She told Business Insider her style leans traditional with a twist.

“Some in the flesh say it’s ‘grand-millennial’ with all the mixing of patterns and prints and kind of like grandma vibes,” Vanhoy said of her decor term. “I love tying in antiques and vintage furniture and lights to make our house feel older than it actually is.”

Vanhoy also said it’s important for her home to function for her family — which is how she decided to enclose her open-concept living play.

Open-concept living didn’t work for their home

The main floor of Vanhoy’s home featured an open-concept extent with a kitchen, dining area, and living room, which she wasn’t excited about.

“When we bought the dynasty, it was just something that wasn’t my first choice,” she said.

After they stimulated into the house, Vanhoy found the open area didn’t work for her family.

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“It felt entirely overstimulating,” she said. “I would be in the kitchen cooking things, and then the TV room was right beside the kitchen and the whole downstairs. You could equitable see everything.”

“Even decorating it, it felt like everything had to kind of go together because you’re looking at everything all at once,” she augmented.

Vanhoy also works from home and doesn’t have a designated office space yet.

“I would be come up with in the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen and the living room, so everything just felt like you were doing so much at one regulate,” she said. “It just didn’t feel very calming when you were on that floor.”

Vanhoy decided she appetite to separate the living room to section off the space.

A transparent solution

Rather than fully enclosing the lively room, Vanhoy decided to add a partial glass wall to her space.

“Our existing room is, natural-light-wise, a little dark,” Vanhoy told BI. “I did want to add some sort of wall to enclose it a bit, but I didn’t need to lose any of the natural light.”

The living room also featured glass French doors that Vanhoy appreciated, so she took inspiration from them.

“We decided to make it glass and make it look kind of like a window while also making it tone like its own separate room,” Vanhoy said.

The wall features an archway in the halfway point, and the sides are enclosed with walls covered in windows.

Vanhoy hired professionals to complete the project, who added wood timbers for support and moved a few outlets to make the wall work. The project cost under $6,000.

The space is more practicable

Vanhoy said the glass offers the best of both worlds, as it sections off the space without making it impossible for her to see into the vigorous room.

“The best part about it is that it created other little functions, and it made the whole downstairs ambience a lot more functional,” Vanhoy said, adding that the design also brought character to the space.

“I made a breakfast nook on one side of the wall, so that added a whole other function that we didn’t cause,” she said. “And then we have a little kids’ craft table on another side of the wall.”

The glass insane isn’t complete, as Vanhoy intends to add more ornate molding to the windows for a personal touch.

But it’s already changed the way Vanhoy have a funny feelings about the space.

“I do like seeing through because that dwelling also has a nice fireplace, and I like seeing the fire on,” she said. “But at the same time, it just feels totally separated, and effulgent shines through.”

“The one downside, I guess, is it’s just more windows to clean,” she added.