covering the high window

There will be lots of flash photography in this post.

The high window in the dining room, while contributing to the light and airy feel on our first floor, lets in just a bit too much light.  The light streaming into the dining room bounces off the glass table top from about 10 am to 3 pm, searing our retinas with the glare.

that window up there on the right corner

My requirements for this project that it be extremely cheap, and that it not put any more holes in the wall.  Although I am not exactly following the terms of my lease and the "no screws in the wall" clause (ahem), I am trying to keep the holes to a minimum.

My budget for this project was $5.  I immediately blew the budget by renting a ten foot ladder, which cost $22 for twenty-four hours from Home Depot.  In order to get the ladder home on top of my minivan, I had to buy racheting tie-downs, which cost $17.  (Bungees were not strong enough to hold the ladder securely to the top of the car.)

First up, we tried a tension rod (another $1.97!) with a curtain we already owned.

I did not like this at all.  I didn't expect to, honestly, because I knew that the tension rod wouldn't work with the angled part of the window.  That small open strip still let light in onto the table.  Plus it looked stupid.

I brought that down, hunted around for some spray glue, and raided the garage until I found a sheer curtain from Ikea that used to reside in our living room two houses ago.  I was loath to cut up this curtain, because Ikea doesn't make this pattern anymore.  However, since I was already so far over budget, I decided to suck it up and use what I had.

I measured the window and cut the fabric to the appropriate measurements.  I sprayed the back of the fabric with glue, then started smoothing the fabric out with my hands.  This is sort of like putting contact paper down--you will always get bubbles.  I kept pulling up, respraying, and smoothing out the bubbles.  By the end of ten minutes my hands were covered in glue, much like in second grade when you smear Elmer's all over your hand and peel it off like a second skin.  Good thing I wasn't lighting matches.

And the finished product:

The fabric is very sheer, so while it blocks the direct, glaring sunlight, it still lets in a fair amount of light.

Ikea Janette curtains for the dining room

This weekend the Mister was a curtain-hanging machine--he put up curtains in all the bedrooms, which makes me so happy.  There is very little architectural detail in this house--there is no molding on the windows or doors, and every window has ugly vertical blinds.  Curtains cover up the ugliness.

Since we were on a curtain roll, I decided to put up the blue Ikea Stockholm Blad curtains that I discussed in this post.  We went to Ikea, I put the blue curtains in my cart....and then my eye fell on these Janette beauties.

Stop the presses--navy blue, teal, aqua and a citron green curtain?  That incorporates all of the colors I need to work with in the playroom?  And even has teal and aqua like the living room, which the dining room is open to??  And they are less than half the price of the curtains I was originally getting?  I could get six panels of the Janette for just $75, or two panels of the Stockholm Blad for $60?  SIGN ME UP.

Another super exciting development is that Ikea has curtain hardware for going continuously around corners:

That is a flexible piece of silicone that you bend to fit around the corner, and screw in to the curtain rod on either side.  This allows you to hang curtains in the corner.  I can't find the curtain rod online, but it came in regular and extra long sizes (up to 154 inches, which is the one we used).  I bought two extra long rods, five brackets, two finials, and one bendy corner piece, for about $45.  That is ridonkulously cheap.

And here we are with my beautiful new curtains:

Here is the corner:

The sliding door in the playroom remains to be dealt with, as does the high window in the dining room.  I have ideas for both.  The sliding door in the playroom will probably get a valance or a cornice board in a navy ikat fabric.  I may try to glue some sheer fabric to the high window, like I did with the china cabinet in our old house.  However, I need a ladder to deal with that window, which I don't have.  I have zero desire to spend $100+ on a ladder, so I am suffering with the blinding sun glare on the glass tabletop for the moment.

Its coming along nicely, isn't it?

what to do with the playroom?

Let the decorating begin!

Oh wait, I have to finish unpacking.

I have unpacked the playroom.  I was planning on buying a new sofa for the playroom, but the Murray sofa I already have from Room and Board is the perfect size, and the kids have broken the springs on the seat and peed on it anyways, so I decided to stick that sofa in the playroom and buy a new one for the living room.  (The new sofa is supposed to arrive on Sunday, so hopefully I'll post pictures of it then!)

Its still a mess. 

The tv is not centered--we couldn't find a stud anywhere in the middle of the wall, and the Mister drilled many, many holes to find it, so we went with off-center.  That puts paid to my idea of hanging something on either side.  Ideas for decorating around a tv stuck randomly at 3/8ths of the way across on a wall?  I am not really the kind of girl who places art organically, I am more of a rigid grid type person.  This is probably going to drive me nuts the entire time we live here.

The playroom shares space with the dining room--its a long, 20 x 13 room.  One half is the playroom, and the other half is the dining room.  I had hoped to do a banquette in the dining room, but I cannot find a seating solution for an amount of money I want to spend that doesn't involve mounting kitchen cabinets to the wall, and thus I am putting that idea aside for a while.

The nice thing about this space is that it gets great natural light.  The bad thing about this space is that the natural light will sear your eyeballs in the morning, especially where the sunlight comes in through the high window and glares off the glass table top.  I'd like some curtains in here.

I am, however, undecided on what color direction to go here.  And whether I should do curtains? Pelmets?  Roman shades?  What to do with that top window, which doesn't have blinds like the others?

This room is open to the kitchen, which has navy blue tile counters, and the toy storage is contained in bright green bins, so I'd like to work with these colors.  The room is also open to the living room, which will have a brightly colored curtain pattern including red, teal, green and yellow.

I'm partial to the Stockholm Blad curtains from Ikea.  I think cobalt blue and bright green are a fabulous color combo, so the curtains and bins would work nicely with each other. 

We had the green colorway in our playroom in the apartment, so obviously that works as well:

What to do?  And what do I do with that window up top?

dining room banquette

This is the only picture I have of the dining room end of the bonus room/dining room off the kitchen.  If you look closely you can see the light fixture peeking out from either side of the column in the middle of the doorway.  There is a set of windows in the back that you can see in this picture, and another set of windows plus a sliding door on the right side wall.

Its not the biggest space, and around that corner to the left is the playroom space.  I think the best possible use of space would be to make that far corner a banquette.  We have a round dining table we could use, or our long rectangular table.  

The challenge is to do it inexpensively and non-permanently.  There are lots of diy tutorials about building banquettes out of kitchen cabinets.  However, I need a non-permanent option, as this is a rental and I don't want to hang cabinets that will have to be removed in a year.

The average seat height is 18-20 inches, and the average seat depth is 16-18 inches.  What if I used two single Ikea Expedit shelf units, one along each wall?  The Expedit measures 17 inches high by 15 inches deep.  If I built a base for the bottom, that would raise it to over 18 inches.  I could do the same for the back to extend the depth.  Then I just need cushions. I think this could be done fairly inexpensively, and its not permanently affixed to the wall, so that when we move again it would just lift right out.

Here's some banquette inspiration:

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Two things I notice about my inspiration pictures--one, many of these banquettes have shelves with pictures above them (love that! must have been why I pinned them), and two, nearly all of the round table banquettes only fit two chairs around the rest of the table.  

Does anyone have a banquette and care to share how they like it/dislike it?  

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)

dining room picture ledges revealed

If you've been reading for a while, you know that I've been in love with this picture of India Hicks's dining room forever.  We didn't have a place to put a wall of picture ledges in our last house, but here, there are two short walls on either side of the back window in the dining room.

I love the way this came out.  I bought a four large turquoise 17x14 frames from Ikea ($3.99 each) and three Ribba picture ledges ($14.99 each), but other than that, I didn't buy anything for this project.  All of the frames were previously owned, and we re-used the picture ledges that were previously used as book ledges in the kids' room of our old apartment.

 We put up five ledges on each side, 18 inches apart.  Because of the large space between each shelf, I tried to put one extra-large frame, at least 11x14, on each shelf, and fill in with more 8x10s and 5x7s.  I did not have any 17x14 pictures, however, and didn't want to spend a lot of money on expensive mats.  Instead, I put some of the kids' art in the bigger frames.  It adds some nice color and the kids love seeing their artwork displayed.

Princess loves to stand in front of the pictures and tell me who is in each picture, and she tells stories about each picture, which is the cutest thing ever.  Every few days I like to rotate some new pictures down to the bottom two shelves where she can see them.

This room is coming along nicely.  I have a few things that are still in need of paint--the china cabinet, a different chandelier, and the art for over the sideboard.  But its slowly coming together, and I love that this back wall is what I see when I sit on my sofa in the living room.

weird-size art for the dining room

I'm searching for art to hang over my sideboard in the dining room.

 The sideboard sits under a window, and the space between would be suitable for a piece that is approximately 20x40. I'd like a single, large piece of art in that space, as I feel there are lots of small collections on the first floor (especially in the dining room, which I haven't posted about yet). Twenty by forty is not exactly a common size, and I'm reluctant to invest lots of money into weird-size art that may not have a place in our next house.

I came across this picture on 20x200, and it has totally captured my imagination. Sadly, it doesn't come in the right size, and even if it did, its way out of my price range.

Think I could DIY something like this? I have learned making that attractive art is way harder than you think it should be.

to paint or not to paint

I found this chandelier at a consignment store for $25.  Its not the pagoda chandelier or turquoise beaded chandelier of my dreams, but I think I can make it work.

I am, however, debating whether to paint it before putting it up.  It looks sort of silver in the pictures, but in real life it is a dull, greenish brass.  Not a warm, goldish brass, but a dull, ugly, yucky brass.

Do I Rub-n-Buff it to a warmer brass?  Do I paint it?  Everything in this room is white, brown or blue.  That all seems very predictable.  Red?  Leave it alone and live with dull brass?  (Even the dull brass is better than the ugliness currently in there.)

new china cabinet project

I found this china cabinet on craigslist, and we picked it up this weekend.

It is VIBRANTLY green.  Very, very, very green.

Like, really green.

You know, if I had gotten those Ikea curtains instead of making shower curtain ones, I wouldn't have to paint this at all.  But then I'd be staring at an explosion of green.

I have a few plans for this piece, once my sprained neck lets me off the sofa.

I don't have pretty china to display--I want doors that are solid and don't allow people to see all the junk I need to store inside.  I have mismatched holiday serving ware and pots and pans and craft supplies that are are going to live in this hutch, and they aren't pretty like a nice collection of milk glass. Thus, I'd like to switch out the glass panels for mirrors.   The doors should be relatively easy to do, I just need to pop out the nailed-in trim that is holding the glass in.  The glass panels on the side is a bit more difficult but I'm hoping I can make it work.  Perhaps I might starch some fabric or cover the sides with a pretty fabric. Alternatively I could silverleaf all the windows.

I also want to paint the entire piece.  That green, while certainly eyecatching, doesn't really go with the rest of the room.  The Benjamin Moore Bella Blue that I used on the antique secretary would go really well with the room, but I think I might want to go a bit lighter blue.  I pulled up the Bella Blue paint chip and looked at the colors immediately above it:

The Ocean City blue or the Paradiso are what I'd like to try.  When I'm feeling better I'll go get some paint samples and see what looks good.

productive weekend, and curtains

I had a very productive weekend.....but I didn't get much FINISHED that I could blog about.  The Mister and I built our new bed, and attached the headboard, and hung curtain rods, but I only got two of four curtains made, so I don't want to spoil the big reveal by showing just half the room.  Here's a glimpse.

I also dithered all weekend about what curtains to put in the dining room.  Originally, my moodboard included this Richloom Lucy Eden fabric for curtains, which I LOVE, and I had previously dithered about whether to get expensive curtains or cheap ones and had sort of talked myself into getting the expensive ones.  But last week I sat down, priced out the whole thing, and its over $700.  Which, for my forever house, I would be more comfortable with.  This, however, is not the forever house.  This house is not even the five year house.  So I decided that I would have to do cheaper. MUCH cheaper.

I pulled out the pair of Ikea Stockholm Blad curtains from our old playroom and put them up.  They look pretty good in the room. I like them with the black sideboard and red lamps (it reminds me of one of my favorite little boy's room). They fit the budget, since I'd only need two more sets.

But.

I felt it really did not flow well with the living room.  While the dining room is a separate room, it shares a wide doorway to the living room, and the vibrant greens and reds of the dining room felt kind of clashy with the muted blues and browns of the living room.  Back to the drawing board.

Funny enough, the Ikea Blad curtain comes in a grey and brown version that would work well in the room, for a price I can afford.....but I wanted something a bit more colorful.  So I kept looking.

I didn't find any ready-made curtains that I wanted.  So I got creative.  I'm happy with the price (less than $150 for six panels!)....but....I still have to make five more of them.  I'll leave you with a sneak peek.

Hopefully I will get all these curtains done by the end of the week.  I can't wait to share; I'm really happy with the way everything is coming out.

my dining room, take 2

We plan to stay in this house for two years, maybe three, then buy our own house. This house is temporary.  This is not my forever house.  I'm trying to spend money with that in mind--what I would do if this were MY house is not always the same as what I might do for this rental.

So, my first moodboard (haha, see the foreshadowing here?) for the dining room looked like this:

When I viewed the house the first time, it had this lovely, simple colonial-style chandelier in brass (see #3 on the moodboard). It didn't look very contemporary; in fact it looked as if it had been in the house since 1979.  I assumed it came with the house.

On moving day, we found this beauty installed in the dining room, and she's missing two glass panels:

Ugh.

So that's out of the moodboard.  While I consider this skank chandelier hideously ugly, I am reluctant to a) buy another chandelier and b) pay someone to install it and c) pay someone to reinstall the skank chandelier when we leave.  I might someday; it may bother me so much down the road that I absolutely must change it....but that day is not today.

I am still looking for a nice china cabinet to refinish, but I'm also rethinking my choice of curtains.  While I LOVE the Richloom Lucy Eden fabric, its $19 a yard, and I need six panels, so that makes the curtains a significant investment. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm looking for curtains that are less than $35 per panel, ready made, with a large scale floral.

 I'm contemplating just getting some of the Ikea Stockholm Blad curtains in green. I already have two of them, they still go with the majority of the board, and I like them well enough that I will definitely reuse them down the line.

The other possibility is the Tree of Life panel from World Market.  Its large scale floral, the pinks and blues and green would play well with the living room....but I'm sort of put off by the split pea soup-colored  background.  I really wish I could go see these in person, but the nearest World Market is about 300 miles from here.

On the other hand, if I amortize the cost of the curtains I love over two years, they are pennies per day! And I've tried to stop buying stuff that I "like" but don't "love".  I'm trying to buy only things that I really WANT, not junky stuff to fill the space. (I'm having a really difficult time picking curtains for my master bedroom based on this principle, too.)

I think I may have just talked myself into getting the expensive ones.

Sarah's dining room moodboard

I've drawn up a moodboard for Sarah's dining room.  She has a dark stained table and chairs....and that's about it.  I don't have a place for my large Marimekko kaiku birch print in the next house, so I'm giving it to her for the moment, and that is the inspiration for this room.

Her dining set has dark chairs that match the table.  For some contrast we'll paint the chairs.  I'd like to paint them citron, Sarah prefers turquoise.  

Breezy white curtains will go on either side of sliding doors leading to the backyard. 

The unfinished wood of the Ikea sideboard is a nice complement to the cool aqua walls.  Under the sideboard these two ikat baskets can hold table linens and other supplies.  Over the sideboard will be a round white mirror.  The one in the board is a discontinued one from Ballard, but I'm hopeful that we can thrift one inexpensively.

On top of the sideboard I put this wire mouse from CB2, because its whimsical, and Sarah has forbidden me to put birds in her house.  So, 2 foot high rats instead!