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Also be sure to check out the blog post at Royal Design Studio for more info, photos and fun ideas!
Decorating is an on-going thing around here. And I'm definitely a person who changes it up on a regular basis. In fact, moving furniture is sort of a monthly ritual.
I've sewn many curtains over the years, but I think I'm really in love with my newest from my Country Lane group which I'm thinking really lends itself nicely to home decor. First I made these for the family room...
The above are just a width of fabric, and are hung half above and half to the side of the window. I didn't line them because they are simply to frame a group of three windows and don't really serve a functional purpose. But when I finished the next set of curtains, I wished I did, because truly, lining curtains gives them a much more luxurious look and feel.
This next pair is lined and fully reversible. They look just as pretty from the outside. I used 4 different fabrics on them... All from Country Lane (Lattice, Prairie Plaid, Meadow Monarchs and Vintage Lace). You can see the butterflies from the lining through the plaid, and when I put them on the tie backs I can turn them so the lining shows.
As a side note, I referenced Deborah Moebes new book Stitch by Stitch because I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the hem being that it was two-sided. I received an advance copy of it, and Deborah will be stopping by my blog for a chat on September 29th so you'll soon be hearing a lot more about her and her work. Her book, which teaches you to sew step by step, is really helpful even to those of us who have been sewing for a while because it has details in it that sometimes you just don't think of if you haven't done it before.
When I finished with the curtains, I did something I'd been planning to do for a while... with a can of spray paint... You can see them on the back wall of our family room. I'm thinking now that the wall color needs to be yellow or blue. Not ready to decide quite yet, but the sand pebble color definitely has to go. We purchased the two sofas this Spring. The leather on the left is from Crate and Barrel and the white straight ahead is from Pottery Barn. You can see in this photo how the first set of curtains flank the bank of windows. Thinking a version of the curtains should go on the far window. But for now, I better get back to sewing for quilt market which is approaching very quickly!
Before I had kids I dreamed that having them would look like this picture.
I want to say it was about 13 years ago. I saw this picture in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. I drooled over the room and knew I had to decorate a room some day like that for my daughter.
I saved the magazine for years and through a cross-country move. I was going to have that bunny bed. I was obsessed with the bunny bed. And I wanted my daughter to have a room "just like that."
Oh, and by the way, I was just married and not even pregnant at the time. Thankfully, we had a girl. I'm pretty sure a bunny bed would not have sat well with a boy.
So, when Anna was ready for a big bed, I went searching the house for the magazine. I'd looked at it only about three months prior. But it was no where to be found. I needed it to figure out where to get the bed. I was sure my husband threw it out. and this was a major source of discontent around the house for a while.
[Sidebar: now that bunny bed can be found all over the place. But back then... nada, nothing.]
I did finally find a picture of the bed in a BHG book, and found that the designer owned a store called Lacey Ellen in a town ironically half an hour from where I lived which is now closed (irony and more reason for me to believe that bed was meant to be in my house because I'd moved 1000 miles to be in this town). I don't know how, but I finally found out the name of the foundry where the bed was made.
It turned out to be a $900 bed. There was no way we could do that or would do that at the time. So, being the completely stubborn, never take no for an answer kind of girl I am, I called the foundry and begged them to give me a good price on it. The sweet man on the phone took pity on me (I gave him the whole sad story... "I've been saving this article, I wanted even before I knew I was having kids"... you get the idea), and finally got a floor sample for a price that I swore I'd never tell (but it wasn't anywhere close to $900).
Happy dance! Anna gets the bed. I decorate the room completely inspired by this look. In fact I spend about 20 hours painstakingly painting cream and white stripes on the walls which Anna later told me she hated.
Fast forward to today... I walk into this new and incredibly fabulous store in Walnut Creek (Filthy Gorgeous Home)
where I got the most gorgeous tea towel (some of you may remember that I have a penchant for tea towels) and instantly think I know the owner or have met her somewhere.
So, I go home and look at her website and wouldn't you know it... this is the gal that designed that room. She and her brother work together and this is their new store that they own together. I feel like I've met a movie star. Or at least had an Oprah full circle moment.
[Another sidebar: I knew it would happen some day, but booger Anna doesn't want that beautiful bed anymore now that she's almost 12... it's staying for a while. I have to figure out where I can store it for her little girl... muahhahahahahhaha... evil laugh and secret mom revenge on vintage-style- hating-and-I-know-they'll-change-their-minds-when-they're-old-enough-to-know-better daughters.]
In response to an email I received earlier from my beloved fashion site, who I visit daily, BussBuss.
Dear Buss Buss,
If you knew about it a year ago, why didn't you just tell me? You know how I can't resist Brocade in any form. You know how I love romantic themed rooms. You know how I swoon over pink anything. I'm just so upset with you.
I didn't know about Brocade Home until just this minute when I got your very late email. I love you, but you have dissapointed me greatly.
In the future, I would appreciate advance notice on any home store of this nature. You know what I like. Just fill me in next time.
Graciously Yours,
Bari
Last October I mentioned that Connie had brought by Pam Garrison, Amy Hanna and Jenny Doh when they were in town (not to name drop, just as a preamble to this little tale). You may remember??? Anyways, I had just seen a post
on Pam's blog about how she had painted her daughter's room based on some Pottery Barn sheets. In admiration, I mentioned it to Pam, and sweet thing that she is, she offered to to a little doodle on my daughter's wall that I could fill in later.
What we failed to think about was that I hadn't painted the base color on the wall yet. So, when I did finally paint the doodle was going to be gone. So, being who I am, I procrastinated. Partly because there was a little disagreement about color between my 11 year old and I, and partly because I didn't know how I was going to paint the flowers back in. Finally, I decided to just take the bull by the horns and get it done. Anna and I came to an agreement by some miracle of God, and I decided that the doodle was going to have to go to the wayside in order to finish this room up.
So, off I went... Oh, but I failed to mention that in the months that the doodle sat on the wall begging for paint, I gave it a little touch of light pink ... daughter hated it. But that paint was my saving grace. For some reason, the light pink did not want to give up. It held on and showed through our beautiful hot pink. So, Pam's flowers remained, and I was able to fill them in with the green and yes, my dear daughter, some light pink. You'll see it's quite different from Pam's mural... but fun just the same!
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