Dining Room Curtain Fabrics.

I mentioned in a previous post that I ordered new curtains for the dining room from Pottery Barn. Long story short, after an incorrect order and two replacements that never arrived, I cancelled my order.

So that means that I've resorted to option #2.. have them made! In retrospect, perhaps I should have done that from the start so as to get exactly what I want.

The problem is that I'm so indecisive that I can't choose a fabric! I ordered 3 swatches from my favorite Canadian source, Tonic Living. I'm hoping one of them will work in the room.

Painterly florals are my current love but will I tire of them?

Fleur, Summer

Brooklyn Dove

Or maybe I should play it safe and go with white linen? I do think the room needs some color/pattern.

Tuscany Linen, White

Here is my curtain-less dining room currently. Which ones do you like? Do you have any other suggestions for me?

Hmmm.. decisions, decisions...

Another New Pillow.

It's becoming apparent that I am a bit of a pillow addict. I find it hard to pass up a beautiful pillow when out shopping or a beautiful fabric with pillow potential even more so! Needless to say, I'm that girl who has to have baskets to put your bed pillows in a at night and baskets to hide the pillows from Beaufort while I'm at work (He's a pillow sucker). There are pillows everywhere.

My newest pillow is a beautiful coral pink one that sits with the grey striped ones on the bed. I ordered the fabric from Spoonflower and had it custom made with piping. I love the color and how it ties with the "For Like Ever" print in the room.

A while ago I discovered spoonflower.com, a website that allows you to design your own fabric, upload it, and have it screenprinted onto fabric. I'm not much of a designer myself but you can spend hours pouring through the designs of others until you find one that you like! Believe me, I found several. One artist I like in particular is Domesticate. I emailed her with a few questions and she was more than helpful and very kind.

I bit the bullet and ordered a few meters to try it out. All in all, I'm happy with my order. For $1 you can order a sample of their fabric weights, which I recommend doing first. Shipping cost were reasonable but it  took a few weeks. However, they were upfront about that in their shipping information. I'd order from them again!

A side note.. Barbara of Hodgepodge commented on my Lusting post. Apparently, Rugs USA is now shipping free to Canada! This is new this week and I'm certain is only because they heard me lamenting:) Thanks Barbara!

A $2 Tree Skirt

This year, I searched high and low for an affordable tree skirt. I wanted something simple, in a white or cream. I saw lots of really beautiful ones, but I have a hard time paying $40 or $50 for something I would use for only a couple of weeks.
So, I was browsing through the Dollarama one day and came upon their felt tree skirts. I bought 2 of them and took them home.
One I left intact and the other one I used to make little felted rosettes. I would explain how to do it, but Ellen at Creative Passage offers the best instructions, so you can find them here.
Mine were just cut freehand while watching tv, so they are certainly not all the same size, but I like them that way. I glued them all in a random pattern all over one section of the skirt.

What do you think? Not bad for $2?
Don't mind the bad pictures. I've been playing around with Picasa.. not so successfully:)

 

No-Sew Roman Shades

I wish I could, because it is so great, but I can't take credit for this project idea. Jenny at Little Green Notebook shared this tutorial a while ago on how to make roman shades out of mini blinds, fabric and a little fabric glue. For a girl who can't sew, this project was right up my alley!
At first I was skeptical, until I saw how many people commented on her post with their success stories. I decided to try one out myself.
I made one for my office first. (sorry no pic) It has held up well and no one has suspected that it wasn't sewn.. or at least they haven't told me so!
So, I gave it another go in a bedroom and it turned out great again. I love the finished product.

So, for those of you who were wondering what I had up my sleeve for my favorite fabric from Premier Fabrics, there it is! The bedroom has two windows in it and I used just over a metre for both.
The room finally feels complete. Here is a photo is the room before the shades.

It is kind of an awkward room to photograph because it is an L shade with an alcove. Here is a couple of shots of both windows with the new shades.

Please excuse the old rad, my wrinkly bed and dirty windows! You don't notice these things so much until you take pictures!

Just for fun, here is a picture of the bedroom before paint and wallpaper.

This was an emotional moment for me when we discovered what was under that paper :(

It all turned out okay in the end though!

This project is seriously so easy! Find a window in your home that needs some love and make one! You will thank me.. I mean Jenny:)

My "New" Chair!

I'm so excited! After purchasing an old chair last year, I finally sent it to be reupholstered. And today, I got to pick it up!

Isn't it beautiful!

Remember what it looked like before? Who would have ever chose that fabric? Plus, it was in really bad shape. Kinda gross actually.

I poored over fabric websites and visited fabric stores for the last year looking for the perfect fabric. I am a bit fussy, but my problem was more what would work with the room. I have a geometric print wallpaper, so I didn't want another pattern that would complete with it.

Also, the chair had a channel back which wouldn't allow for any pattern that wasn't random, or else it would love uneven.
I finally picked one that worked well with the other patterns and colors in the room.
What do you think?

The fabric is Waverly Sun N Shade Mimosa Mushroom. It's an indoor/outdoor fabric so it should withstand lots of use!

I am contemplating painting the legs white.. not sure. It feels a bit wild to me since the rest of the room is so soft and serene feeling, but I think it provides a punch that the room needed.

What do you think?

The $16 Bench

What do you get when you have a handy guy and a $16 sheet of plywood?
A new bench for the porch!

He whipped it up one evening with a sheet of plywood and some leftover trim pieces.

It was a little rough, but with some sanding, silicone, plaster and a couple of coats of primer and paint, it now looks like this!

I added a bench seat. The fabric is Waverly Cross-section from fabric.com:

I was inspired by Megan's mudroom bench seat from Honey We're Home. So, I pretty much just followed her directions!
I attached the foam to a piece of plywood using spray adhesive. Then, we wrapped the plywood and foam with cotton batting and stapled on the fabric.

I'll be honest, the seat cost at least twice what the bench cost. The foam itself was $30, and that was a deal because I scored a leftover piece. Why is foam so expensive?
I already had the black baskets and they fit perfectly in the boxes, hiding the shoes that were piling up at the door.
I guess, all in all, the bench cost about $60 and a little bit of work. I think it's cute and it gives a bit of storage!

So, for the porch makeover, I've checked many things off the list:

• Repaint cabinet - done!
• Put in a bench - done!
• Make seat - done!
• Replace trim around new door - done!
• Paint all trim and wainscotting - done!
• Paint walls - next on the agenda.

I hope to post the finished room soon!

I'm linking over to The Shabby Nest!

Fabric Shopping!

My sister and I decided to split the shipping and order some fabrics from fabric.com. I can't wait for it to arrive! Remember when I was swooning over this fabric?

Jamie from isuwannee used it in an upholstery project.



I finally found a place for it. I'll post the project soon:)

I also ordered these fabrics and since I can't sew, it will be interesting to see how my plans for them pan out!

 

Wish me luck!



Dwell @ Fabric.com

I love fabrics. They make me happy. I often buy them, even if I don't have a use for them. Years ago, when I had a passing interest in scrapbooking, I had a similar love affair with patterned paper. I liked shopping for and buying paper more than I actually liked to scrapbook!
I've struggled finding fabrics on PEI that I like. I guess that is why when something catches my eye, I snatch it up. I love graphic prints, flirty florals, and especially geometric prints. Thankfully, I discovered a few months ago that fabric.com ships to Canada! It is very frustrating for us Canadians that most stores in the US won't ship to us :( ahh.. poor me!
The shipping isn't cheap but the cost and selection of fabric mostly makes up for it. This week, I realized that they now carry fabric from Dwell Studio for Robert Allen. This makes me happy, happy, happy.. here are a few samples.

I like this one so much, I'm showing it in 3 different colorways!

And some more fabric goodness for you to enjoy.

Each fabric is only $15.98/yard at fabric.com. Head on over and check it. Just don't buy it all! Leave some for the rest of us.. ie.. me :)