One Room Challenge: pelmet fail

In last week's moodboard, I had plans for putting up a pelmet with a greek key detail.  I love the greek key detailing on these window treatments below, and figured I could easily do something similar.

Source: marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

via Little Green Notebook

I thought that a simple white pelmet with some colorful ribbon would be the right idea, especially since I felt that the prior window treatments were too busy and competed with the gallery of picture ledges.  I used this tutorial to make the pelmet, which is fairly easy and cheap, seeing as it is foam board duct-taped together with fabric stapled to the back.

It appears I was wrong.  I am not happy with the way the pelmet came out.  It is too much white, and the ribbon trim is distracting.  Please forgive the dark pictures, I cannot figure out aperture and I find this room really hard to photograph in the afternoon.

The squares appear to be different sizes, but I assure you, I spent much time measuring them and they are the same size.  I will admit that one square is further in than the other.

My first mistake was using a ribbon that was too wide.  I originally planned to do a square in all four corners, but in laying out the ribbon I could tell that a twelve-inch pelmet was too small for the medium size grosgrain ribbon I had on hand.

My second mistake was using a plain white fabric.  The walls and trim are white, and the white pelmet is barely visible as a window treatment.

Are you getting the sense that I am already falling behind on the One Room Challenge of completing an entire room in six weeks?  I think I am about to be voted off the island.

See everyone else's progress:

Saved by Suzy
Dutch.British.Love
Trapped in North Jersey
Nicole Scott Designs
Kim Macumber Interiors
Rue de Emily
The Pink Pagoda
refresheddesigns
Nana Moon Shop
Taylor Morgan Design
Insideways
My Crafty Home Life
House Four
Living Savvy
(A Lifestyle Thing)

One Room Challenge

When Linda of My Crafty Home Life invited me to join in a blog challenge of redoing a room in my home, I thought, hmm, I have just the room!  My dining room has never really felt right.  Yes, I know I just finished it like three months ago.  I did it wrong. Now I'm redoing it.

It currently looks like this:

There's two problems with this room.  First, this room is always cluttered.  The overall sense in this room is one of "stuff".  The curtains feel crowded.  The picture ledges, although one of my favorite things in the room, also contribute to the sense of "stuff".  I took the curtains down this weekend, and already the room feels more open.

The other major problem in the room is the color scheme.  I tried to make it "coordinate" with the rest of the downstairs.  And it does.  But I think I'd rather it coordinated differently.  Although I love the pale Gossamer blue on the back door, on the china cabinet it just seems....meh. It has no punch, no verve, no get-up-and-go. Bo-ring.  I stepped out of my comfort zone of jewel tones...and I got something I don't particularly like. I don't hate it, but I don't look at it and think ooh! either.

Last problem: we are moving when our lease is up in June, so I am reluctant to do anything in this room that is not free or can't come with us. My budget is miniscule, except for the hardware I splurged on from Anthropologie for the china cabinet.

Here's my moodboard.  If you remember my old moodboard for this space when we first moved in, you might think this is a bit redundant, and I probably should have followed it the first time around.

The Richloom Lucy Eden fabric will be covering up the glass in the china cabinet.  The china cabinet will be painted a deep, cobalt blue.  The mother of pearl and gold knobs from Anthropologie will replace the long skinny hardware, although the drawer pulls will be staying.

For the windows, I took down the curtains, and will be putting up pelmets with a greek key trim.  I have some white fabric left over from another project, and red ribbon, so this project should be inexpensive.

I have a brown chair that will be getting a makeover, probably in yellow.

I plan to make some silhouettes, and an as-yet-undetermined piece of art for over the sideboard, perhaps something like this colorful woodblock piece.

Follow along for the next six weeks as I and fourteen other bloggers complete a one room makeover.  Check out all the other rooms:
Saved by Suzy
Dutch.British.Love
Trapped in North Jersey
Nicole Scott Designs
Kim Macumber Interiors
Rue de Emily
The Pink Pagoda
refresheddesigns
Nana Moon Shop
Taylor Morgan Design
Insideways
My Crafty Home Life
House Four
Living Savvy
(A Lifestyle Thing)