Art Project

Have you ever looked at something and thought, “Why did I ever like that ?” That’s what I’ve been thinking about the art over the bed so I decided to change it. It had five wooden pieces with Asian inspired paintings on it.

I painted over those with a dark gray then modge podged some of our wedding photos on top.

The first piece was too skinny for a photo so I used a piece of scrapbook paper on it.

Before shot of the frame………….

Ahhhh, much better !

Don’t you think ?

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Christmas Mantel

For all the fabric lovers and fabric hoarders, this is a great way to use scraps to make holiday crafts that coordinate with your home. Last year I made some fabric Christmas trees and stockings and there is a link to some great instructions on that post.

The smaller ones are made from empty spools of thread and the larger ones are made from pellon from the workroom.

I wanted to bring in some non traditional colors so I used a fun fringe on the stockings.

 

 

 

Next year I’m thinking about a mantle scarf. This one is really

pretty but I’ll probably attach a fringe to the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            Source: thatsmyletter.blogspot.com via Janet on Pinterest

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet Zoe !

I’m linking to My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia’s Party

 Ten June and Southern Hospitality and Stories of A to Z come have a look around and get some ideas.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Painted Interior Door

I finally painted the interior side of my front door, it’s BM Midnight 2131.  It took one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint.

I’m loving the way it looks with the staircase.

Now, I officially have a Halloween door….. orange and black !

Here’s a before of the white door……….

Now to paint the foyer and family room….. SW is having a 40% off sale starting November 4th, no more procrastinating !

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.
I’ll be linking to these parties:
BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday
The DIY Showoff
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Fall Mantel

Last year was the first time that I decorated my mantel for fall and was so surprised when BHG included it in their Halloween mantel collection.

This year I decided to put my spooky trees up there.

I added the skeleton in the tree and spray painted my green pumpkin with chrome paint.

A fellow blogger made this printable to share and I can’t remember who it was ! Let me know if it was you………

I got a little excited when I saw how it matched my roman shades !

I wanted to paint the frame black but to my horror I was all out. My son was just glad I painted something a color other than white.

I’ll be linking to these Fall parties……..

Fall Crafts link party

The DIY Showoff link party

Transformation Thursday

Bamboo Bar Stools

I must have liked these bar stools at some point because I bought them and intended to recover the seats in another fabric but it has taken me a while to get to it. 

Well, I finally found a fabric that I really like when I made new roman shades for the kitchen. It’s from Greenhouse and reminds me of a suzani print. Here they are covered in their new fabric…….

I know, the fabric is gorgeous and the palm trees have to go ! One way to get rid of them is to paint the whole chair. I’ve seen a lot of painted bamboo and I am a big fan. I love these lime green ones by Jonathan Adler………….

The red bamboo chair in Lonny is nice too……

But the flame orange on these chairs from Firstdibs is what I’m LOVING !

Did you know that most people either love or hate the color orange.  It stimulates appetites and encourages socialization. Sounds perfect for my kitchen !
Remember, my front door is orange (caramel latte, BM)

So, what do you think, would you paint them ?
I’m linking to Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday and
Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now
Be sure to enter my giveaway for a Shabby Apple dress !

Fabric Photo Friday #2

I’ve been seeing fabric trays all over lately so I decided to experiment with making some.  This one was made with a scrap of fabric, mod podge and an old baking tray from the kitchen cabinet.

I covered the bottom with mod podge, put the fabric on and then just worked each corner and wrapped the fabric to the back.  Then apply another coat of mod podge on top and let dry.

It will be all white but don’t worry, it will dry clear.  It’s really messy and reminded a lot of kindergarten !

Here he is all finished……

I’ve always had a thing for monkeys but lately I’ve been into elephants !

What about you….. What animals are making their way into your décor ?

I’ll be linking to BNOP’s party.

How To Install A Runner on Stairs

Yesterday I posted before photos and talked about how we replaced the treads and prepared them for the runner.

I wanted about 5” of tread showing on each side of the runner so I needed it to be 25” wide and it’s hard to find that size so I bought carpet and had it cut into strips and bound in black down the sides.  It took 5 pieces that were each 6’ long. 

My Dad did all the hard work and I was the pad cutter, pattern matcher and staple refiller, oh and lunch lady.  He put carpet tack strips about 1/2” from the back of the step and then stapled the pad in place.  Both were cut 2” narrower than the runner.

Then there was a whole lot of stapling, jamming the carpet behind the strip with a tool that looks like an axe head on a handle, and stretching, pulling and more stapling.  All while making sure the pattern was staying straight.

Since the staircase turns there are two funky shaped stairs that I kept calling pie shaped but I’ve never had pie shaped like that !  We were able to fudge the first one to make it meet the next one where it should.  

The next step was more difficult because it had to be custom shaped on the right side.  Luckily I had some extra carpet that we cut in the exact shape and took back to the awesome carpet guy and he bound those edges.    I thought we could do it with our 25” strips but I also almost failed geometry.  Between the two of us we figured out how to get the pattern just right.  

The view from upstairs looking down……..





The carpet I chose was a Stanton wool and was on close out for 75% off, the pattern was just what I had in mind.  It has a loop pile and will hold up under the high traffic that these will get.

Thanks Dad, you did a great job !

Linking to ...... Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Stair Renovation

After seeing so many great stair renovations around blogland, like Kate’s at Centsational Girl and Rhoda’s at Southern Hospitality, I was inspired to do mine.  My awesome Dad volunteered to help me with the project, he actually did all the hard work and I was his helper. 

Day One began with ripping out the dirty carpet, and I do mean dirty…. you should have seen the dust that flew out of it !

We were almost positive that I didn’t have nice wood treads underneath and sure enough……….. they were ugly ! 

That required a trip to Lowe’s to purchase wood treads and my Dad cut them all to fit. We just filled the risers with wood filler and sanded to get them smooth instead of replacing them.

After they were all cut I took them upstairs and painted about 8” on each side.  First, I primed them with black primer and then one coat of black BM pearl finish.  They were both left over from when I painted the handrails.

On day two I painted the risers white and then we attached each step with liquid nails and a couple of screws. 

Then I was off to find carpet for the runner.  Here’s a sneak peak of where we left off yesterday. LOVE !

Tomorrow I will post the after photos and explain how we installed the runner. 

Top Projects of 2010

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is hosting a party to celebrate and highlight our accomplishments from 2010.  It’s fun to look back and see all the progress we have made in our homes.
My master bedroom draperies received an update this year with the addition of banding and new hardware and a roman shade with blackout lining.

The guest room had the biggest transformation with projects like a new roman shade…………….

A headboard with silver nail heads and a sunburst mirror made with an automotive mirror …………

And the show stopper, my Henredon buffet redo with custom spin art records ……………

The year started with a new color for the front door, caramel latte by BM …..

And ended with a new gallery wall art project……………

I’m going to include my favorite project at BG Custom Windows, this is really hard but I’m picking the king size upholstered bed because I love a challenge and I love how it turned out

My client’s living room was one of my favorite rooms……

Looking ahead to 2011……… my top project is going to be redoing my stairs like Rhoda.  My Dad has so awesomely agreed to help me, thanks Dad.
Wishing you a happy, healthy, beautiful new year !