Sa-weet

Okay, so I've decided that it would be very nice to do a giveaway.  No, I don't have any sponsors or anything crazy like that, but I do have some awesome fabric sitting around and you know I've been making pillows like a crazy person (you know, for that pillow party...I'm seriously going to try it).  

So, first things first.  I need to pick a fabric to use.  In order to vote, comment on this post with your fabric choice.  If you don't like any of them, oh well.  You can make your own pillow :)

I will tally votes at the end of the week.  I don't know why I'm so excited to give something away, but I'm pretty pumped!  By the way, you can vote every day if you want.  Why not?  Basically, I'm just making a pillow for a friend :)

May the best fabric win!

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Long Time, No Post

Hey, everyone!!  It's been a whole week since I've posted, but I have been super busy and, well, this isn't priority numero uno.  

After I posted last week, I decided that I am going to go for the painted door :)  At this point, I'm on my fourth coral.  You know, too light, too dark, too much of a blue undertone, too red...  I'm hoping this last one is a keeper.  I think it's going to be kind of drastic, but it is only paint and I can change it back if I don't like it.  

I've also been moving stuff around my house that has needed to be moved since we moved in a year ago.  It's crazy how long it takes to get settled.  Maybe this house will be done in twenty or thirty years, but probably not.

The other day, I decided to move my breakfast room table around a little.  I changed out the chairs with some that I picked up a while ago.  I decided to change the burlap seats to KWID Imperial Trellis and Waverly Spot On (which might be my favorite fabric...which is saying a lot for me).  The change isn't drastic, but it's a little more cheerful to look at :)

Also, I have been making new pillows with reckless abandon.  I love buying fabric and love the tedium of sewing at the end of the day with a beer in my hand :)  I'm thinking I might put them in a local consignment shop because they're so damn cute (I think) or maybe have a pillow party (you know, like tupperware, but pillows).  Or maybe I'll just give pillows away to people who read my blog :)  

As a little no kidding aside, I bought a a sewing machine a few years ago and it never really worked right so I went out and bought another one that still didn't work perfectly.  Long story short, I read the manual a couple of years too late and had been putting my needle in backwards.  Seriously, what an idiot (now with two working sewing machines)!

Imperial Trellis

As has been established a couple of times, I like fabric.  I have a collection of random fabric that I've picked up at random places and may or my not use someday.  For some crazy reason, fabric makes me happy.  I love to shop for it and I like to just pick up a pretty yard here or there.

Well, the other day I was looking on Pinterest (like every day) and I noticed that one of the people that I follow had pinned several pictures of rooms that had Schumacher's Imperial Trellis wallpaper (I'm sure the poster of those pics knows exactly who she is, I just don't presume to think that anyone else would want their name posted online in my blog :).  Anywho, I recognized the print immediately and had actually used a piece of the fabric in Lilly's room a month or so ago.

Of course it turns out that the fabric is relatively expensive and I cut a good size chunk out of my yardish piece to make "super cheap" art for Lilly's room...welcome to my life.  I also turned the fabric sideways because I thought it looked better in the frame that way.

Well, here's how it's supposed to look.  By the way, I loved the wall paper and priced it out just to see.  hahahahahahahahahaha (I think you get the point).  My tiny (and I really do mean tiny with lots of doorways and very little wall space) back entry hall would cost something crazy like $1500 to paper in this print.  Um, no thanks, but it sure looks purdy :)

 Pinterest

Pinterest

Anyway, I have big plans for the remainder of the fabric since I'm pretty much going pink and green in my living room.

I hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Here's to a great 2012, y'all!


By the way, I think I fixed the comment stuff.  Several people have told me that they weren't allowed to comment becuase they couldn't sign in.

Zigga Zig Aaahhh

So, hopefully someone got the Spice Girls reference :)

As anyone who's been on the Internet knows, zig zag stuff is EVERYWHERE! It crazy how it has seriously taken over the house decorating universe. I actually like the print, despite the fact that its everywhere you look.

I'm sure you all remember the Missoni for Target craziness. I ended up getting a couple of things, including this box in my dining room. I tend to stack things to get height and interest, so this worked well for me. Also, on a side note, I tried to edit this photo for a good thirty minutes and it still looks like poo poo and you can see me in the mirror :).

Here are some pictures of ziggy zaggy things that I found on Pinterest. What do you think? Cute or just over it?

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/11/zigzag-fullen-bar.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ikeahacker+%28ikeahacker%29

http://chinoiseriechic.blogspot.com/

http://www.babybedding.com/ideas/gray-zig-zag-with-turq-and-cheddar

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=20659470&color=004&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=A_FURN_RUGS

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=20661310&itemdescription=true&navAction=jump&color=004&selectedProductSize=false

If you're interested in where to find this ubiquitous print, I would recommend Premiere Prints for inexpensive, good-looking fabric. They have several colors and a couple of different zig zag widths. For bedding, Urban Outfitters currently has a really cheap option. For rugs, I would also look at Urban Outfitters, West Elm, or Johnathan Adler (obviously depending on your price point).

PS...I would heart comments so I know someone is reading this. Also, let me know if you're on the hunt for something. I can likely tell you where to find it at any price point (from realistic to make me drool kind of stuff).

Fabric Art

As I've established (and reiterated), I like stuff on my walls...Not too much stuff, but at least some stuff :)

As I have slowly been decorating Lilly's room, one of the things that I have had some trouble with is deciding what kind of stuff should go on her walls. I painted stripes behind her bed (which I still LOVE and would highly recommend to anyone considering it) mostly because I didn't want to hang anything over her bed. I know I'm weird, but I probably wouldn't sleep at night if there were something hanging over her precious head (literally :).

On another one of Lilly's walls, I decided to use framed fabric as art. I filled Ikea (don't you love that place) frames with fabric that I have used throughout her room. It was a cheap ($15 frame + fabric remnants) and super easy (maybe 5 minutes each) craft project and I think it turned out pretty well.

Also, here are some good looking examples of framed fabric that I found on Pinterest. Obviously these people take much, much better pictures than I do!

http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com/2011/03/dyi-framed-fabric-focal-point.html

http://www.elementsofstyleblog.com/2010/01/trend-spotting-yellow.html

http://www.chiccheapnursery.com/2011/real-rooms/fun-fresh-and-makes-me-blush-real-nursery-spotlight/

Let me know if you give this a try!

Upholstered Ottoman & Coffee Table

In the past day, I've gotten a couple of emails and texts about the ottoman so I wanted to do a follow up post about it.

I first turned a table into an ottoman a couple of years ago when I found out I was pregnant with Lilly. I decided that the weird coffee table that I had on my sun porch in Charlotte had too many corners and, thus, was too dangerous for a soon to be born baby. Of course, I could have put the table away, but what fun would that have been :)

I found fabric and a reasonably priced upholster in Charlotte and he did an awesome job! I think it cost about $125, which is way less than buying a nice upholstered ottoman and I got to choose my fabric.

I use this one as a coffee table in my living room.

Before

After

Since I had such good luck the first time around, I did it again when I moved to Burlington. Several years ago, I got a super old, $10 yard sale table that had a glass top. I used it for awhile until I found something I liked more. It stayed in our storage shed in Charlotte and we moved it back to Burlington last year. During the move, the glass top broke (likely because I'm a horrible packer). I had a wood top made so now it's super sturdy.

Underneath the skirt :)

I think this is a cheap way to get a good looking, custom piece of furniture. Just make sure that the table is sturdy because people tend to sit on them and baby monkeys tend to climb on them!

It's Play Time!

When we moved into our home last year, we decided to make the sun room Lilly's playroom. The room is situated between Jeff's office and the den so it's great to be able to watch Lilly and get a little work done at the same time. Also, the room is surrounded by windows so it's super bright and cheerful feeling (although you can't really tell because it was nasty and rainy today when I took the pictures).

The room is stark white. It bothered me for a few months and I considered painting the walls. However, at this point, I'm glad that I haven't touched the paint, although I might eventually paint the ceiling light blue (maybe...).

I didn't have any furniture for this room when we moved in, but Jeff's parents were getting rid of a twenty year old sofa about that time. The sofa was not at all my style (think patterned burgundy), but it was super comfortable and had good lines. I found fabric that I liked and had the piece re-upholstered. Also, I took an old coffee table and had it upholstered to make the ottoman. The table used to have a glass top that broke when we moved so I had a contractor friend make a wood top so now it's a super solid piece of furniture to sit/jump on.

The fabrics I chose are both strong patterns, but I think they go together fine because of the matching colors. Also, I had the cording done in the same green fabric on both pieces. I decided to go with a contrasting cord on the pieces because it seemed a little more playful to me and, well, it's the playroom :) I put indoor/outdoor fabric on the ottoman which is great because it's already been colored :)

The room still needs a little more child height storage, but I'll get to that eventually.

Pillows, Pillows Everywhere

Although my husband would very strongly disagree, I am a firm believer that you can't have too many pillows thrown around your house.

I am pretty much a TERRIBLE seamstress, but I am able to sew a straight enough line to make throw pillows. Most of the pillows that I've made are knife edge pillows with an envelope closure, but I have recently been working on zippers and fringe. It's kind of ridiculous how difficult it is to get a zipper sewn on just right (at least for me and my non-sewing self).

I generally stick to neutral colored upholstery on big pieces of furniture and use throw pillows and accent chairs for some color & a little je ne sais quoi.

After getting home from our family beach adventure this past weekend, I went to the Loomcraft outlet and had really good luck with fabric for new pillows. I picked up some Trina Turk for Schumacher, Duralee and Bruschwig & Fils fabric. Now all I have to do is make them :)

Gorgeous Georges (Le Manach, that is)

So, I'm the kind of girl that LOVES a deal! During the last several years, I have had many great consignment store and TJ Maxx finds (in my opinion). Recently, however, I made have made one of my best second hand finds, and it was an accident.

During a shopping trip to Bella's House here in Burlington last fall, my sister talked me into getting a set of six ikat print curtain panels and two cornices. I wasn't as in love with them as she was, but I liked them and I was in serious need of stuff to fill my new house. Since everything was only $75, they came home with me.

Since I have gotten the curtains home, they've moved to two or three rooms in my house looking for the perfect home. During the most recent move to my dining room, I pulled out the hem of one of the curtains to see if I could extend the length. Well, here is where I made my great discovery!

It turns out that the fabric used for these curtains was hand printed by a French design house called Georges Le Manach and the fabric retails for about $200-$250 per yard!!! So, I paid about less than $10 per panel and the fabric alone for each panel cost $600-$750 :)

All in, I paid $75 for curtains that cost about $5000 to have custom made. Super Score!!!

...and yes, the trim in my breakfast room is blue, but not for long!