Studio/Office

I just finished the curtains for this room tonight. I like the fabric very much. It's a home dec fabric, so a nice weight for curtians...I got the last they had at Walmart. Too bad, because this room is right off the dining room, and I wouldn't mind having some matching curtains in the dining room. I'm loving this little room now that I'm getting it into usable shape. It's very cozy!

 This room was used as a bedroom by the last owner of the house. It has a closet and a bathroom. Right through that door is the downstairs bathroom....great for cleaning out paint brushes! I use this room as a dressing room and a studio/office. Behind where I stood to take this picture is a couple of big bookshelves full of art supplies and office supplies...and books! Maybe I'll get a pic of that tomorrow.

Refashioned 1950s Curtains

 I took the two huge barkcloth panels and made 4 smaller panels from them, and hung them from rings like I've been doing in the rest of the house. When I hung them this way, it made them apron length without rehemming, and that suits me!

 I like them. I'm still seeing a bit too much of that house next door, but I have a plan that I hope will cure that problem. The colors in this picture are much more accurate than that night time photo at the top. I sent them off to the cleaners to get washed and pressed...so if the fabric holds up, I'll have one more room of windows done!

This naughty little bird was not in the Christmas box, but in some other box I unpacked yesterday. So I stuck him up there, and he looks like he likes it better than being stuck in a box until Christmas!

Vintage Barkcloth

I bought these 1950s barkcloth curtains, and I was going to resell them at the shop. But then I brought them home from the shop and pinned them up at the windows. The color of the flowers is the same as my living room curtains, and they look pretty nice. So I'm seeing if I can remake them for the little bay window in the dining room. I'm lucky they were long enough to be apron length curtains.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to hang them with the rings showing more (as they are in this picture), or with the hooks through the rings, which makes them hang a bit higher and hides the rods. That might be good because, as you can see, the rods are not custom bent for this bay..they are just 3 rods hung at the same height. I really like the looks of the rings showing though, so I'm thinking I will go that way. I'll deal with the rods somehow. These curtains were such a good bargain that I might even look for others, so I can change out the look at the holidays or during the summer...mabye something lighter for summer.

Splish, Splash...

So, as  much as I loooove a bath, I've been putting off trying this one out. Mostly because I didn't have a two dollar stopper (duh),  but also because I usually soak at night, and I have just not been comfortable enough at night to relax in the tub. So I had a day off and tried it out...niiiice. Now I'm ready to get this room shaped up. I wonder why they ever went to the kind of tubs I grew up with, when these old clawfoot tubs are sooo much more comfortable. I guess at some point, some designer decided that it would be great if bathtubs were super uncomfortable? Crazy!

I found that little stool this summer, at a resale shop in Michigan for a couple of bucks. Works great and folds up and out of the way the rest of the time.

I have this cool slip. It's vintage...it was my mom's. Hehe. Sorry Mom! And then I wore it under some of her 50/60's skirts, retro style, when I was in high school and college. It's still lovely, and I think it's going to become a curtain! Stay tuned....

Finished Kitchen Curtains

 These were so easy and fast to do that I'm going to try to find some ready made curtains for the dining room too. All I had to do was cut and hem. I made all the curtains at the old house when we moved there...roman shades and all...talk about a lot of measuring! This was a cinch compared to that.

 Today I finished the curtians over the sink. I think my favorite part of the kitchen is the rug.

Yes, I'm pretty happy about having a bit of privacy...living in a fishbowl is not for me.

Kitchen Curtains

 The light streams into the kitchen in the mornings, which is great, because I need that to wake me up! However, I also need a little privacy.

Mom told me about these curtains in the clearance aisle at Walmart. I think they are going to work great. They are the insulating kind, so maybe they will help keep the house warmer this winter. I also got rods and rings for the dining room and kitchen while I was at Walmart. I love using rings like these. They are so easy to open and close, and you don't have to fuss with arranging gathers everytime you close them.

 Here I've hung them and pinned them up to the length I want. I want these sill length because I plan on having these windows open fairly often. I don't like how apron length ones get pulled into the open window in the breeze and the bottom of the curtain gets dirty.

 All done! Starting with ready made curtains makes it all go so much faster! Just one measurement, and hem!

 Here they are open this morning. They are almost all the way off the glass, which lets in a lot of light.

 Oops. It's a long span over the sink so there's a center support. I tried to put it in the center, but because of the light, I couldn't get the drill in there, and then I hit something so hard the bit broke off. ugh. Finally, I decided close is good enough, and moved it a little left of center and down a bit. Oh well, that's what they make spackle for. Hemming these is one of tonight's projects.

I got this embroidered valance at an auction in a box of vintage linens. I used it at the old house, and it fits fine here too. That screen door has got to go. It's very beat up and grungy, and completely hides the pretty old door underneath.