Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Roman Shade No Sew Slipcover Secret

 
A pale blue silk roman shade hangs in my bedroom alcove.
I have a little secret to share:  
this roman shade used to be in a darker blue cotton paisley fabric by Waverly.
I had it custom made for this room 4 years ago.
Roman shades are labor intensive and so the cost is high in a workroom.
Did you know it costs more for a roman shade 
than for a pair of floor length draperies?
I wanted to keep the roman but I didn't want to pay 
my workroom to fabricate a new one,
 or even make a new one myself (!), since this one was functioning perfectly fine. 
Here is a no-sew trick you can use to update your romans.Remove the roman shade from the mounting bracket and lay it flat.
Lay out the new fabric to cover it and give yourself several inches on all sides.
Here is the aqua silk I wanted for my new bedroom makeover.
 Cut your new piece of fabric and iron it.
 Fold over side and bottom hems and use some Stitch Witchery 
bonding tape to hold your hems in place.
Insert the bonding tape and iron...Hot glue the side hem of the new fabric to the existing roman shade edge.
You can see the little roman shade rings and cord.
 I rest my glue gun on a piece of cardboard.
Lay the roman over a table or an ironing board to 
make sure the cover fabric is fitting properly
 as you attach the side hems with the glue gun.
You will attach the top of the fabric to the 
Roman mounting board with staples, right over the old fabric.
  
Just looks like a flat piece of fabric here, but there is a roman shade underneath.
A light line of hot glue affixes the face fabric to the shade.
The new fabric should be slightly larger than the old fabric when it is finished.
The shade is sideways here..the rings all end at the bottom of the shade.
It is all glued around the edges. A pretty piece of trim is added at the bottom of the shade for a little bling.
This is optional. You can add fringe or leave it plain.Now the shade is ready to be popped back into the mounting brackets.
This is a quick fix to perk up an outdated look and it operates perfectly!
These treatments are not washable anyway, so using glue isn't an issue.
I don't like the folds of my romans to go up in perfect lines.
I like them messy and crunchy looking,
 however if you want them to pull up in straight tailored folds it does that too.
When I close my roman at night I see the pretty trim at the bottom.
Voila!
A shade with a secret past.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Bedroom Window Seat



My window seat!
Progress in the bedroom continues with the window seat getting completed.
I used a pale aqua matelasse coverlet for my cushion and skirt.
Matelasse is french for "to quilt, to pad"
 which is fabric woven with two warps
so a puckering and quilted effect is achieved.
The large border edging of the coverlet is what I used to upholster a pleated skirt
on the board platform that the cushion rests upon.
It was heavy to work with, 
but I thought it would be ideal for future machine washings.
A pattern with a finished edge makes this ideal for the skirt.
I stapled the skirt right onto the platform under the cushion.
A silk roman shade in aqua blue is paired with a small tablecloth
that I cut in half to use as a cafe curtain that swags across the bottom half.
I tacked this chantilly lace "cafe" on both edges for a simple and sweet effect.
This is one of the old table cloths I found at a consignment shop in NH.
Lots of ruffles on the white pillows make this an ethereal sitting spot.
The blue on the bench is the palest of shades. 
A small occasional table I painted white holds 
an old lamp on a marble base for intimate lighting.
This table may get an antique glaze someday.
My romantic window seat~
the perfect solution for this narrow dormer alcove.

linking to 
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sketch Giveaway Winners

Thank you to all the bloggers who are following my blog
 and entered my sketch giveaway.
I decided to choose 4 bloggers instead of one.
The winners are:

Sissie of Sissie's Shabby Cottage
The Lamp Tramp
Maryann of mariondee-designs
Kat from California

Please send me your photo and your mailing address so 
I can get started sketching!
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Monday, January 17, 2011

My Vanity Table



My vanity table with it's marble top!
Calcutta marble, soft pretty white with touches of grey.
The top was made with a one inch overhang so I could install
 the pencil pleated skirt underneath for a flush fit.
I have clear push pins holding it in place right now.
It is the perfect solution for this long alcove in our master bathroom.
All of my makeup that used to sit on my bathroom countertop is over here now.
Everything in its place. 
I used odd pieces of silverplate and pretty containers to organize my things.
A bookcase is now used in the bathroom to hold more of my things.

Soaps, lotions, and mementos fill the shelves.
There is an outlet for cable in the wall that I hate looking at...
hence the ladder and tulle....it has disappeared!
 A lot of fun jewelry sits on the top shelf. 
Its pretty to look at it.
The old blue bottle came off the wall of my New Hampshire property.
My son Justin gave me this crown on mother's day several years ago.
It is the first time I saw sheet music used for a decorative purpose.
This was way before I joined blogland. 
I made a linen swag with shabby ruffle to adorn this window.
Tons of ruffles cascade around the window frame.
It complements the floor length panel over the tub.
All the soft misty blues look so pretty against the taupe walls and floor.
A little marble top gives this spot the glamour I wanted.
linking to 
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Friday, January 14, 2011

Broken Marble

Gorgeous Marble!
Look at this stunning dressing room!
source: Things That Inspire Blog
I went to a granite yard Tuesday and they had one remnant piece of Calcutta marble.
I was in luck!
 The price was right and it would be ready in 72 hours.
The stone guy called today and told me my marble vanity top broke!
It had a scratch and he was trying to do his best to fix it.....
Just like this sink top above, my dear vanity top is broken.
Boo Hoo.
They only deal in granite and it was a fluke that he even had a piece of
lovely white Calcutta marble. He said he has another piece of marble but
it is more yellow. I don't want yellow  marble.
He said he has grey granite with white. I don't want grey granite with white either.
Mr. Maison Decor and I are headed over to pick up our template.
I'll look at the "yellow" marble.
 We will likely head over to another stone guy that I just
found on the web that says he has marble.
While I was excited to install my vanity top today, 
it looks like it will have to wait.
In the meantime I'll leave you with some lovely marble images.
 Love the floor, the bath caddy, the green walls, the beadboard and the marble top!
Elegance. This is all about the tub.
Vintage mirror, bath caddy here as well, and a pretty marble vanity with crystal knobs.
One more look...
Don't you just love this curved piece of marble on thevanity table? 
The huge magnifier mirror and the supplemental marble top table?
The window treatment and the sconces...
 The lush floral arrangement...
and the mirrored closet doors...
 I want it all!


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