Saturday, November 15, 2014

Creativity

Creativeness is not normally a word I would use to describe myself -- really, its never been part of my vocab.  A lot of ideas I have are pretty much stolen from somewhere else.

However a good friend of mine was over here the other day and said, "Wow, you're so creative!  How do you come up with all these ideas?"

And I just don't really know.  I know I see a picture of something I like, and well, I want to make it!  I think it really helps that I have a husband who can fix/make just about anything!  :)  And now that I found a seamstress - possibilities are endless! :)

For instance, I saw this picture on pinterest and fell in love.  For those of you who don't know much about pinterest, I suggest you try it.  I'm not really into the 'new thing' -- I don't tweet, I just learned about instagram -- I'm just NOT on the up and coming.  And I'm okay with that.



I would never go with that floral print however, I just love the feel of these curtains.   They feel romantic.  They feel voluptuous.  They are apparently called a balloon curtain.  (scroll to the bottom of that page)

And I found this print at JoAnn's.  Its parisian -- and it has blue butterflies, a pink mannequin-type-thing -- its just great!  


These curtains are going in my closet - yes, I am so fortunate to have such a closet in a 1930's home!  (someone had some money back then!)




That is a sample of the fabric.  We'll definitely put some backing on them.  And no - I don't really use the closet for much - its actually extremely cold in there!  And now I need to get in touch with Elcy and see how much fabric I need for these - they do look like they will take a bit of fabric.  Measured the window - its 36" long by 8 feet wide!  Whew! :)

At any rate, just wanted to share with you my thought process and encourage you all that you can do whatever you dream up!  In my case, you just have to be patient - it may take a while!  (I presume I will have these installed sometime in February or March!) 

Happy saturday-at-home ya'll!

Much love,

Heather

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Linens and Things

I have some exciting news!  (bahaha, its exciting to me at least!)

MY CURTAINS ARE FINISHED!

Elcy - a friend of a friend - made them for me.  Simple, rod pocket, 106" panels.  Nothing special -- other than they are upholstery fabric (so thick and heavy) AND the lining I picked was the heaviest I could find.  (yes, the windows are HUGE and they SUCK out our heated/cooled air in winter and summer!  I'm embarrased to share how high our first gas bill was!!)  I bought the fabric 3 months ago, yowzers.  

Here are my bare windows and the stack of curtains!   (pardon the mess, EVERYWHERE, I have kids, its excusable right?)

 

Elcy did a fantastic job.  I contemplated making them myself, but I am SO thankful I found her and so happy with what she did.  Pittsburghers -- I have her number and she'd be happy to help you! She used to make curtains/drapes for her friend's clients -- her friend, the interior designer.

Here is the finished product:


 

Still need to get different sheers and of course, after I get them up --- I'm wanting to change the wall color and where the rod is hung.  Lesson learned:  HANG the rods when you have your CURTAINS. 

On another note  ---     I NEED YOUR HELP  ----

making a decision.  I have made far too many already, and have another one that I would LOVE your advice on.

I have decided I am going to have this fabric made into 'London shades' in my living room.  I actually already bought the fabric!  (Elcy will be ready for them in January!  At least I really hope!)  Below is an example of the fabric and that particular type of shade.  Elcy knew exactly what a London shade is (new to me!  I just saw this pic and loved it!)  Here is the fabric I have, and what a 'London shade' is:

 

The main reason I am doing that shade, is I don't want it to cover ALL the woodwork.

At any rate - I'm going to put a shade behind it to cover the whole window.  A pull-down blind/shade thing.  I bought a bunch of them from Lowe's and I narrowed it down to 2.  I need your help deciding between the two.

Here is shade #1:
 

This is shade #2:

 

What would you choose?

Here are the two shades with the fabric.  Shade #2 is on left, #1 on right.



 

Two totally different vibes I think.  

THANK YOU for your help!  Yes, I know, I am very fortunate to be making these silly decisions, very fortunate.  My prayers go to those who have much more difficult decision all the time, truly they do.

Much, much love -

Heather