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.  :)

The Guest Room / Office

We have family coming in from out of town, and since my sewing room is temporarily in the second bedroom, we changed a few things around in the office to make a guest room.

I know I've only shown a few "in-progress" photos of this room, so here's a little recap:

The Before photo (dark mauvey pink carpet, yellow walls and ceiling, and oak trim):

And how it looks now with Orla Kiely inspired wall painting, hardwood floors, Moda's Wonderland fabrics, Ikea furniture, and new crown moldings and trim:

We decided that we really didn't need a desk, since we both use laptops, so the desk was moved to the basement. We did need the file cabinet, though, and were able to find one at Ikea that could double nicely as a side table.

Hubby outfitted the closet with shelves and outlets to hold the printer, cables, phone station, and wi-fi thingy.

The room is quite small, and since we rarely have over-night company, we went with a sofa bed. Again from Ikea, this one opens easily into a queen size bed. And with the addition of a pillowtop mattress pad it is really comfortable!

That's about it for this room. Still trying to get the living room into a workable arrangement. I'm not really happy with it, yet, but I did cozy it up a bit for fall. As soon as I can get some decent pictures, I'll share it with you. :-)

I'll be sharing this room make-over at Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday.

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.

Master Bedroom Ikea Closet

Just a few minor details to finish up and we should be ready to move in! Yea!!!

I know rooms with furniture and accessories are much more fun to look at, but since I don't think I want to show the inside of my closet once its been packed full of clothes, I thought I better show you that now.

The room originally had just one double closet and about 2 feet on either side extended behind the wall, making it a bit awkward to access.

We decided to knock out the wall and install an Ikea Pax system closet.

We bought 3 of the 39" frames and off-set the center unit and trimmed it out with crown molding to give it a custom look.

They only had 2 doors in stock, so we're waiting on the others. I also need to get a few more organizer inserts. But I really like how they seem to make the room look bigger and the ceiling taller...always a plus in a smaller home. :-)

The two bathrooms are also just about finished and I'll show those next.

Have a great week everyone!