Progress on the Sunroom and a Roll-Up Shade Hack

Projects move at a snails pace around here. I don't know how others do it...put their mind to something, start a house project, then finish it that same week.  That never happens here.
Anyway, some progress, however little, has been made.  First up I thought I'd show you a quick little sewing project of how I customized an Ikea Roll-up shade.

The shade is a plain white cotton twill called Emmie, and was 12.99.  All I did was measure the space between the button holes. Then cut my pretty yellow floral fabric to size, adding a half inch seam allowance on all sides, turn back the 1/2 inch and press. Then pinned in place, sewed around the edges, and called the door done. Easy peasy.

Next I moved on to the bench. I found the linen bins at Target.  Then made a long bench cushion in linen to match.

The 3 inch high density foam is crazy expensive and wasn't in the budget for this penny-saving make over, so I used a full size egg-crate mattress topper that I found on sale. I cut it into 3 long pieces and stacked them for my cushion.  It doesn't lay as smooth as a single piece of hi-dens, but for a $50-$60 price difference, I'm ok with that.
I once again employed the nifty little trick at whipstitch for continuous bias tape to make my piping, and found a long 48" zipper in my stash for the back closure.

And the cute red poppy fabric (by Joel Dewberry) was made into an accent pillow.
On the other side of the room I added some wall flowers to the brick . Not sure if I'll keep all of them up yet. I'm going to live with them for awhile and then decide if I need to edit.

And lastly, I brought in the antique chest from the other room and accessorised with some of my yellow pottery pieces, a cute little picture my mom found, and a round mirror (that still needs to be hung).

Well, that's about it for now. Still looking into what can be done to the floor economically, and I'd love to bring in a little table and chair for me to sit in, since Hunny has claimed the wicker bench as her own.  LOL
Have a great week, everyone!

Painting the Sunroom

I started a make over on the sunroom last week.  Its a small 12'x14' room off the kitchen that we've been using as kind of a mudroom. Its the entrance we use most often and where we kick off muddy shoes, grab a jacket and where we keep Hunny confined when we leave the house. Majorly neglected! (the room,  not the dog)

It is lined with yellow pine paneling and has faded rusty orange carpet.  And despite the 9 windows, it always seemed dark and cave-like....NOT my favorite room in the  house. The paneling bugged me the most. Now, I understand there are those who feel natural wood should be left as is, but I'm not one of them.  lol
And I think even the most die-hard wood lovers would have to agree with me in this case. The paneling appears to be pieced together from remnants (different grades, finishes, and colors) and you may also notice in the photos that on some walls its hung vertcally and on others its horizontal. There is also some exposed brick (greyish brown) thrown into the mix.
So, I decided to paint  the room and hopefully brighten the space and mask some of the craziness.

I started by removing the wood blinds, taking down the dust-collecting shelf at the peak, and wiping down the paneling.

Because of the grooves in the paneling and all the cutting in around the windows, I had to paint the entire room with a brush. Fun.  But after a coat of primer and one coat of paint (Behr's paint and primer in one) I was already happier with the room. I decided not to paint the ceiling becasue I just didn't think my neck and shoulders could handle it, although I think it would look lovely in a pale sky blue.

I painted the door in a blue-green color that I already had on hand and plan to use yellow and red as accents in the room.

Although I like the wood blinds, I was craving somingthing a bit lighter for summer.  So I had hubby install curtain wire from Ikea so I could hang sheers.  The wires will be nearly invisible if I later want to take down the sheers and put the blinds back up.

While we were at Ikea, we also picked up an Expedit bookcase and 6 Besta feet and plan to use it as a long storage bench.

There's still some work to do. We have to trim out the gable window and then put up the last curtain wire on the wall. I'm also re-making a roll up window shade for the door and want to make a seat cushion and find storage boxes for the bench.  I would love to change the ugly carpet, but not sure that will happen just yet.  But, its already made a big difference! Its now a bright happy room that goes with the rest of the house, rather than looking like an after-thought.

 

 

Hope to have this finished up soon, so I can show the final reveal.  :)

Living Room Corner

Just wanted to share a quick photo of a corner of the living room that I've been working on.  After selling the Tiny House, I was able to bring the few furniture pieces home that I had been using for staging.  The living room at this house has kind of an awkward L-shaped layout with a large off center fireplace.  This far corner wasn't working for the sofa, so I decided to hang a new light fixture (from Lowes) over a small round dining table.  It can serve as a game table, or intimate dining area for two.  :)

The artwork above the table was a HobbyLobby find and mimics the popular multi-print applique pillow from Anthropologie.
I'm on the hunt now for some items to decorate the mantle for spring. I'll share more photos of the living room when I get it together. 
Have a great week everyone! And I hope its looking more like spring where you are, because here in Ohio, we're still covered in snow!

Summer Deck Photos

I just wanted to share a few pictures of the deck and planters before the blazing heat completely fries the poor flowers.

The hanging baskets were planted with sweet potato vine, new guinea impatiens, and a little yellow trailing flower that I can't remember the name of. They took a hit during the stretch of 100+ degree days we had, but they're starting to perk  up again.

I also have a couple of large planters with multi colored coleus, which I love because they seem to do well where ever I put them.

The new patio furniture came from Target.com and I'm very happy with it.  Its very sturdy, not crazy expensive, and the cushions are thick and well made with piped edges. We also have the chaise...so comfy!  I accented with my bright pink throw pillows that I made for the living room of the tiny house.  The color is perfect for the deck and plays off the beautiful crepe myrtle.

I'd like to get an outdoor rug for the deck, but not sure how well it would hold up. I'd rather not have to carry it in and out all summer. Oh well, Hunny doesn't seem to mind not having one. :)
Thanks for touring the deck with me!  Stay cool and have a great weekend, everyone!

Yellow Pottery Collection

I recently started a collection of yellow pottery to use in my kitchen.  I knew I wanted yellow as an accent color in the room and when I found 3 inexpensive vintage planters at the antique mall in the perfect shade, I knew a collection was born.  :)

I've been able to find several more since that day at flea markets and antique stores. So far, they have all been $10.00 or less!  I love the planter shapes and use them to hold all those little items that seem to appear on our kitchen window sill (extra keys, restuarant gift cards, pocket knife, etc.). 

I also made a new curtain for the window.  It is just a faux roman shade, since there is already a working shade mounted to the window. I know the photos are bad, but its impossible to get decent lighting in this room for pictures.

And this past weekend I braved the 98 degree heat and ventured out to the Lawrenceburg flea market.  No fabric finds this time, but I did score a fantastic old store bread sign from the 1930's.  Its BIG...and in yellow! It will be perfect for the kitchen. It has some rough corners, so I want to make a frame for it, but I'll show you pictures when its finished.
Stay cool everyone and have a great week!

Framing Fabric and Master Bed & Bath Photos

The walls in the master bedroom and bath were still pretty bare, but I couldn't really find any wall art or pictures that I liked. I did, however, have numerous fabrics that looked fabulous with the wall color and originally thought I would be sewing lots and lots of throw pillows.

Instead, I decided to frame some of those pretty fabrics to use on the walls. A lot faster than sewing and it fills the empty space...a win-win!

But first, lets take a look at what this room looked like when we began...


And this is where its at now...(Ikea Pax closet, Olympic's Blue Shamrock paint on the walls) I purchased a couple of Ribba Frames from Ikea and taped squares of fabric to the matting. So easy! In here, I framed one of Amy Butler's fabrics above the chair.

Click here for a previous post to see more photos detailing how we removed the old closet wall and installed the Ikea wardrobes.

I also picked up the new green lamp on the dresser up there at Pier 1.

I made the pillow on the bed using a lovely orange leaf fabric by Vicki Payne. While it was on sale, I bought several more yards to use elsewhere in the room...maybe for a new slipcover for the blue chair. Or possibly to edge the curtain panels.

And in the master bath, I framed a graphic yellow fabric by Premier Prints. I love this fabric and have it in several colorways!
And here is a Before picture of this room. Not a lot of changes in this room, yet. But a new vanity and flooring will happen eventually. For the wall color in the bath I mixed the same Blue Shamrock as the bedroom, with equal parts of white. The room is so small, I wanted something just a touch lighter.

Oh, and the little curtain in the bathroom is about the only thing I've had time to sew lately. I used a fun and colorful Sandi Henderson Meadowsweet print, orange grosgrain ribbon, and the white fabric left over from the bedroom curtains after I hemmed them.

I'm sharing this transformation over at Between Naps on the Porch.

Hope to be able to do more sewing projects soon. Have a great week, everyone!

Master Bedroom and Hall Bath Photos

It has been a very soggy month here in Ohio. Record rain fall has made this one of the wettest months in the past 150 years, so the yard pictures of all of the pretty spring flowers didn't happen. :( Work has been going on at both houses and waiting for a room that is completely finished before showing pictures is just getting ridiculous, so here are a few photos of two of our mostly finished rooms. The master bedroom closets now have their doors and handles. LOVE them! I was amazed at how much I was able to fit in them. I feel so organized!

A picture of what this corner of the room looked like when we bought the house is here in my Flickr.

I think I would like to eventually get white or mirrored nightstands, but these work for now.

The accent color for this room is a red-orange, which is in the art work and the pretty leaf print fabric that I'll be using as a border on the edges of the curtains. The small chair may get a new slipcover, as well.
The hall bath is small and nearly impossible to get decent photos.
The color on the walls is a fresh green called "Summer Field" by Valspar for Laura Ashley Home. The vanity is from Lowes and the shower curtain and pictures are from Kohl's.

That's it for now. Hopefully it will start to dry out around here and I can start planting my annuals. I have lots of hanging baskets and containers to fill this year. :-)

I'm also sharing this on The Shabby Chic Cottage Blog's Transformation Thursday link event. Be sure to pop over to see all of the great projects this week.