Yummy Ruffles

I am one step closer to "finishing" my master bedroom makeover. Whew! It sure has taken a long time- and I am still not done. The project has taken on a life of it's own. I started with a very specific look in mind......and it has morphed into something almost entirely different. But I am loving it!

I have been on the search for curtains for the master bedroom. As you remember from my last post, I had several beautiful, vintage panels that I loved and wanted to use. Unfortunately, the thermal lining was a mess and after putting many hours and many failed attempts at pulling that lining off.......I gave up. I.do.not.have.the.time. Nope. So I moved on.

I had in my mind what I wanted for the windows but had a hard time finding it. Do you do that? Get something specific in your head as to what you want and then nothing else will do? I am that way. After searching high and low with nothing matching what I had envisioned I decided I would just make my own curtains!!!

Here they are in all of their finished, yummy glory...

Oh! I am so happy with how they turned out!

They are exactly what I had hoped and more.

I love that they give us privacy but still look wispy and light when the sun shines through them.

I did not have a pattern. I guess you could say it's a Heather Original. Hah! I just thought out how I was going to make them and really took my time. Lots and lots of time. I have about 8 hours in these babies, and some of that time was spent figuring out the process. I have to work around kids nap schedules and other stuff so it wasn't like I got to just sit and sew straight through from start to finish. I think that actually added to the excitement. It was like getting to a good part of a great novel and then having to put it down for a bit. Anticipation!!!

The time spent was so well worth it. I adore my new curtains. I keep looking at them and I smile every time. I love waking up in the morning to see the sun streaming through them and how the ruffles seem to make the light bounce across the room. I love watching the breeze gently blow the curtains in a way that reminds me of my mother's and grandmother's curtains growing up. And they look amazing with the "look" that I am trying to accomplish in our room.

I have decided to start making and selling these curtains!!! Well, not my pair! They are now available for sale in our Etsy shop: 2Sisters1Love. Link at the sidebar.

So, what do you think? Have you completed a project lately? Please share!

Blessings,

Heather:)

A Dilema & A Dandy

A few months ago one of Marc's employees, and friend, lost his mother. Marc has been helping "M" with his mother's house, moving his brother, etc. M told Marc to come to the house and see if there was anything he would like to have. One evening Marc and I drove up and went through the house. We picked some vintage toys for Kyle's room, a platter and some curtains. I saw these curtains hanging on the windows and fell in lurve with 'em! As soon as I saw them I knew they would be perfect for our master bedroom.

We brought them home, shook them out and stuck 'em right in the washing machine to soak in oxyclean. After 40 some years of hanging on the windows, and the last few years collecting dust when "M's" mom had been ill, these girls needed some attention. They cleaned up beautifully!!!

They don't photograph well....or I just haven't figured out the proper settings yet. Sorry. Just look at the pattern- beautiful roses with tiny butterflies floating around....

Here is my dilemma: The back of the drapes have that rubber, thermal lining. After hanging on the windows for years and years they had gotten a bit of sun rot/damage. Soaking them in the Oxyclean seemed to make it worse. Or perhaps just putting the brittle fabric in water made it worse- I don't know. This is what the back looks like.....

The fabric on the front looks great but the rubber, thermal stuff on the back is a mess! It is all over the back of each panel. When the panels were still wet I started peeling more off but they start drying and then don't peel so well and I was afraid of damaging the fabric on front. I could keep spraying them and peeling, spraying and peeling- but seriously? There are 6 panels!!! That is going to take A LOT of time. So I am begging- if anyone knows a good way to remove this rubber/thermal backing from curtains, PLEASE let me know! I want to save these curtains, ladies, so I need your help!!! If you don't know- ask your friends, your family, the old lady across the street. I am begging you. If anyone comes up with the solution for removal- I will send you something special. Vintage linens perhaps? Hmmm.......a prize. Yes, that's what I shall do. A surprise prize!

Now, on to my "dandy" of the day. A couple of months back I found some chairs on Craigs list that made my heart go pitter pat. But alas, they were way beyond my budget. Today I was, once again, perusing Craigs list (sorry honey) for some kind of cabinet I could use for my milk glass collection when I came across an ad. It was the same chairs I had seen a couple of months ago but for a MUCH lower price! I was so excited! I called the woman who had them for sale. We talked for awhile, and she ended up knocking more money off!

I needed to call Marc but I had to have a plan first. My husband has a rule "One in- One out" which is my hubby's lingo means: you have to make the money before you can spend the money. So, I grabbed my camera, snapped some pictures of the three living room chairs I currently had in the room and listed them on Craigslist. I decided I would wait until Marc came home from work before asking him about the chairs. That way he could see them and love them as much as I did and want to go pick them up right away without another thought! Right? Hah!

Less than a half hour after I listed my chairs on Craigslist, people started calling and emailing with interest. Like LOTS of people. I was really excited then. When Marc got home I told him about the chairs that I wanted. He remembered that these were the same ones I had seen before and wanted! And before he could say anything else I told him I already had the other chairs listed and pretty much sold. So, he agreed to go get my new chairs. Woohoo!!!

So, what do you think? (Please ignore the cords in the background- we're working on that)

Aren't they perfect?? I really, really love these chairs. If you can really love a chair that is- but you know what I mean! They are from Arhaus (sigh) and covered in the most cottage-y cute fabric. Perfect addition to our living room.

The only thing I wasn't diggin' was the upholstered legs.

So I decided to rip 'em off and see what was under there. I grabbed my trusty screwdriver and went to work pulling out the 572gazillion staples.

And Voila! Solid wood that I will be staining to match my end tables. Yay!

But for now they look way better than they did.

Here they are sitting side by side. Swoon....

My living room is getting closer to completion. One baby step at a time.

Blessings,

Heather:)

I Heart Craigslist

I heart Craigslist. I really do. I have been wanting (pining for, drooling over) the Arhaus iron bed for over ten years now. Seriously. I lurve this bed. But with the high price tag...I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money when there are always other necessities that need our money more.

A couple of weeks ago I was searching Craigslist for a captains bed for Kyle and came across an ad "Arhaus Iron Bed Cheap-Moving, Must Sell". I clicked on the ad and there it was. My Arhaus iron bed. Cheap. They were selling it as a set with the mattress and box spring. I called the woman, offered her even less than they were asking and told her I just wanted the frame- no mattress and springs. She accepted the offer. Then, I called Marc. We had recently sold our bed frame because we were going to do an upholstered headboard. Marc knows of my love for this bed so all he asked me was "when do I go pick it up?" I LOVE my husband! He is so good to me.

The only difference is that I always thought I had wanted the black finish on the bed and this was the antique white. Marc and I decided that we would just paint it. No problemo. When he went to pick it up he called me and said "We're not painting this- it's awesome as is." And it was! After running the idea by my ever-so-talented design consultant- LeAnn, it was agreed. No painting the bed!

It has the most amazing, antique looking paint finish on it. It truly looks like it is 100 years old. Leave it to those amazing folks at Arhaus- genius I tell ya!

Pay no attention to the stuff under the bed. I have since made a bed skirt!

This bed makes me smile every time I walk into our room now. It was worth the wait! I still can not believe I found it on Craigslist. I have never seen one on there before. And for less than a fifth of what I would have paid at the store- I got my dream bed. Thank You Craigslist. You totally rock.

Sorry for the blurry, dark pictures. I need to take more pictures during the day. ;)

Also, did you notice the ruffled duvet at the foot of the bed? I scored that for a song on eBay! It was one of those "best offer" listings. I put in an offer and got it! I was so excited. It is Pottery Barn and made from the softest linen you have ever felt!

The master bedroom redo is coming along nicely, just not as quickly as I would like. I think it's a good thing that it is taking awhile. I am following through with my plan and waiting for things I love instead of settling for the first thing I see. The room has taken a slightly different direction than what I started out with and I am happy about that. I am making it our own and not something straight from a magazine. With more Craigslist items, and some recent yard sale scores on artwork and accessories, it is just about done. All that I have left to do is paint the walls, figure out window treatments, buy new sheets (and add crochet trim to them), and pillows to fill some dreamy shams I found. I can't wait to show you pictures! For now, though, all of that is still on hold.

Bella is still sick. We have been fighting this fever for a week now. The antibiotics don't seem to be working at all. The fever will go away for a day and be back with avengance the next. I have been on "seizure watch" five days out of the last 7. Tonight included. I spoke to Bella's pediatrician today and they want to see her in the office tomorrow. They will be doing testing tomorrow to try and figure out what is going on with Bella.

I ended up at my doctor's office last Saturday with a diagnosis of a virus, sinus infection and pneumonia. I knew it was coming. I had been feeling under the weather but brushed it off because Bella was so sick. It finally caught up with me and knocked me down. I am beyond exhausted and ready to lose my mind trying to figure out this wacky fever of Bella's. I have to give Bella Tylenol or Motrin every three hours to try and keep the fever down. The lack of sleep has really taken it's toll. Not that I would sleep anyways. I am worried sick about her. Tonight when I tucked her in she said her prayer: "Dear God, pwease make my feber go away so I can go to the pwayground. Amen."

Sigh.

I pray we get answers tomorrow.

Thank You all for your prayers, thoughts and concerns for Bella. They mean so much to us.

Blessings,

Heather:)

Kyle's Curtains

We have been working on a little redo of Kyle's room. His bedroom has always been an.... "issue" with me. It always looked as though it were a thrown together, hodge-podge, side note kind of room. Probably because it always has been. Boy's rooms are hard for me. I don't know why. The room was lacking adequate storage, matching furniture, a personality. It is very hard to bottle Kyle's personality and poor it into the room! So, we have been working on his room little by little. One project I tackled was his window treatments. He has had these tab top curtains in his room for a couple of years now. He picked them out himself. Although they were nice they always looked sloppy and were just too long. So, in order to save money and keep the curtains that he liked, I changed them up a bit.

I started with the tab top curtains.

I cut about two feet off of the top and then cut that fabric to sew ties. The hem in the bottom of the curtains made a perfect rod pocket. I sewed a hem along the cut edge, sewed my ties to the front and back and then covered the seam with white buttons. Kyle loved the buttons and I loved the extra umph they gave the window treatments. This is what they look like now...

Kyle absolutely loves his new window treatments. They look a lot better! They are just long enough to hit the window sill when the ties are loosened. They can still be pulled back like typical curtains if we want, too! In order to hang them inside the window frame I just used an adjustable spring loaded shower curtain rod!! It works perfectly and you wouldn't know it by looking.

The other night I went into Kyle's room and found his curtains like this...

Upon closer inspection this is what I found...

He had used his toy wrenches for tie-backs!! Very creative! My funny little man. :)

Love it.

I plan on sharing more pictures of Kyle's room soon. We added some great storage and got him a new bed. Still lots to do! He is loving his room and spending a lot more time in there. That makes me feel so good.

I am still working on my bedroom and making great progress! I am so excited to see it transforming. It has been a slow process (for me) but a very enjoyable as well. I can't wait to show you pictures!! Next post!! Hopefully it won't be two weeks before the next post. ;) LOL

Blessings,

~Heather:)

Inspired & Determined

I find inspiration everywhere. Magazines, catalogs, the Internet, nature, hotels and restaurants. I have a folder in my picture file titled "Decorating" and every time I see something that inspires me I save it to my folder. I look back at it often- especially when I am wanting to do a project. Unfortunately, I don't always save the source of where I find these pictures. I so wish I did! I would love to give credit where credit is due, so if any of you own these rooms or know where they came from please let me know.

Lately I have been really pondering what to do in the master bedroom. I started decorating the master bedroom over two years ago. Guess what- it's not done. Nope. Not at all. In fact, I never even really got started. I ordered bedding and sent it back. I bought curtains and returned them. I got frustrated and gave up. Just call me the inferior decorator. Yep. That would be me. I am so afraid of making a mistake in that room that I don't even try. One of my big issues the last couple of years is that I felt like I was finally coming into my style so I was hesitant to make choices. Now I realize, I HAVE found my style, and I have found the confidence to once again start the master bedroom. Another problem is that I didn't have a plan. Or a vision of what I wanted the room to look like. I would buy bedding and then be stumped, or pick out curtains and then get confused trying to get the rest of the room to "come together" in my head. But without a clear vision everything got blurred. I sat down with a piece of paper and wrote down everything I could think of:

1.) How the room needed to function
2.) What I/We wanted to feel when we were in the room
3.) Elements I wanted to incorporate into the room
4.) Fabrics I liked- look, feel, etc.

Once I had my list I started looking through my decorating inspiration folder and picked out all of the pictures that "spoke" to me. I noticed that out of all of the pictures, and my notes, that they all shared a common thread. Hmm. Imagine that. Now I have a plan.

Our master bedroom also has to serve as a home office. The problem is I don't want it to look all "office-y"..............I don't want to see the computer or the printer or bills that need to be paid or filed. I want to disguise that stuff as much as possible. I want the bedroom to be soothing, romantic, fairly monotone, and have sort of a vintage feel. I want it to be comfortable, crisp and airy.

Here are just a few pictures that have me inspired and determined to make this room a reality. Finally.
The perfect duvet...

Loving these gorgeous sheets from Pottery Barn. I think I can get this same look by adding some crochet trim to my existing white sheets.

The detail on this dresser...........swoon

Candles. Lots and lots of candles.

Built in cabinets and shelves to hide the office "stuff"

I heart these slipcovers

Ahhhhh........... a centerpiece for the bed

I love this room by Linda Woodrum. Iron beds.....vintage romance

Monotone, window seat, chandelier...

This window seat looks like a perfect spot for a good book and some hot tea. Oh the hours I could waste away here..........

White linens

My dresser is almost the same as this one. I just need to paint it black and distress it like this one. What a great look.

So, there you have it. A sneak peek into my plan. I can't wait to get started on it!

Where do you find your inspiration?

Blessings,

~Heather:)

Twinkle

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

What a wonderful way to spend a weekend...

My parents gave Kyle this nativity for his first Christmas. It is one of my favorite decorations for the Christmas season. I love the little faces.

Glad to see Skarloey was able to bring Bob to see Baby Jesus!! Perhaps Joseph called Bob to work on the manger?? LOL!!

Our beautiful tree...

I love this angel. So simple and elegant.

Hello me!

The stockings were hung...

Kyle and I made the swag for the mirror the other day. The snowmen collection is another favorite holiday decoration/s of mine. They were all handmade by my sister.

More snowmen and Kyle's first Nutcracker...

A simple swag over the door and snowflakes hanging from the sconces.

Even Bella's dollhouse got some Christmas cheer!

Miss Cali is fascinated with the tree. In particular- the lights. She keeps saying "Wahh" (wow)

The centerpiece that Kyle and Bella made...........

I love the twinkle of Christmas lights. This weekend we put up the tree and some other Christmas decorations. I am more excited about Christmas this year than I have been for a loooooooong time. I don't know why. I am just filled with the spirit this year and all of the wonder and excitement that goes along with it.

We had so much fun decorating. The kids enjoyed it. And despite Marc being on call all weekend it was a very relaxing couple of days. We haven't had one of those for a long time. It was way overdue.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!!

Blessings,

Heather:)