Rainy day project

If you sew and have some extra fabric laying around, here is a quick and easy, rainy day project for you this weekend (since apparently there is a Noreaster up in these parts).

Recovereing a lamp shade:

We basically have a lightbulb in the ceiling of our walk-through closet, so a LOOONG time ago, I put a lamp shade over it until I find exactly what I want for that space.  However, I was never fond of the shade.  It was a paper shade and I actually ripped off the top layer so that you won't be able to see the design under the fabric.  You could also spray paint it white, but I didn't want to take the time to do that. 

All I did was measure the size of the shade around.  It was about 28 and a half inches, so I cut it at 29 to leave room for a half inch seam.  

I then sewed the 2 ends together ( right sides to each other) to make a tube out of the fabric.

Then,  I just turned the tube inside out, and slipped it onto the shade.  It was a tight fit, but that is how you want it, you don't want it to be loose. 

I then used decoupage glue and just glued the edges to the inside.  This worked well because I could do a coat under and then I did 2 coats over top of the fabric to really hold it down.  I also cut slits in the fabric to wrap it around where the wires are.

 

Voilla!  A brand new shade

And here it is in the closet.

 

Hope you have a good weekend despite the bad weather!!

Adding color to the bedroom

I love the color on the walls in our bedroom, and although I loved our all white bedding in the summer, I have been wanting to add more color now that the weather has changed.  I was looking at all of the pillow covers I have and I came across this one that used to sit on our living room chair last fall.  

I realized how much I like this golden yellow with the pale blue walls in the bedroom.  So, I looked at the other Amy Butler prints that had this same color in it and liked this one because it had gray in it and just a little bit of light blue to connect with the walls.  

I found this gray quilt at TJ Maxx months ago and have been checking on it periodically when I would go in.  The packaging it was in was open and it looked a little messy which is why I think it has sat on the shelf for so long.  When it was still there today, after not checking on it in a few weeks, I just decided to buy it.  It is exactly what I wanted and I don't think I could have beat the price - $40 for a King size.  I kept on the white quilt underneath.  

And, here it is all put together.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same in the bedroom.  

Although, I did find this vase shoved in the back of a closet and realized how well it matched the new fabric.   

Fall

It is officially fall around here.  The air conditioners are out of the windows and the air is crisp outside.  We have been enjoying the cooler weather with walks at Valley Forge and around the neighborhood while leaves and acorns crunch under our feet. 

 I have never really been that into decorating for fall but I figure I should put in more of an effort.  One thing that I have been eyeing up are the mercury glass pumpkins that Pottery Barn had.  However, they sold out quickly and were a little expensive for a 6 inch size.  So, last week I stopped by Home Goods specifically looking for one.  And, long and behold, there was just ONE, sitting on the shelf amongst the other autumn decorations.  So, of course, I knew it was meant for me.  I quickly swooped it up and now it sits in the center of our dining room table.  

Of course we wil be purchasing some real live orange pumpkins for carving this year, but I was telling my mom that I would really like a white pumpkin for our indoor decor.  I was saying that I have only ever seen the mini pumpkins in white and I have never seen a larger pumpkin in white.  Well, the other day my mom called me to inform me that Genuardi's had them for only $4 each.  So, I had her pick me up one.  I hope it stays alive until Thanksgiving.  

As for now, I don't have any other indoor decorations.  I have a couple other DIY ideas that I may or may not get around to.  I do plan on decorating the front of the house with pumpkins and mums that I will hopefully have time to do this weekend. 

What about you guys, do you decorate for fall?  Have any fun ideas to share? 

Living Room

So, I thought I would walk through our living room with you a little bit.  This is the room that we spend most of our time in and I realized that this room has changed the least since we moved in (except of course for the pillow covers).  I think that is because we thought about the layout of this room A LOT when we moved in.  With the front door leading right into the room and there not being a ton of wall space, we must have moved furniture around in this room dozens of time to see what works best.  In fact, I have to admit, once in a while we get something into our head and try to rearrange the furniture again but it never works and we always go back to how it is.  

One of the biggest things that made the furniture placement work is this shelving.  We had a tv stand from IKEA in our apartment that we really liked, but we couldn't make it work in this room.   I had seen similar shelving like this in a domino magazine and found these units at IKEA for only $70 each.  So, we pushed 2 of them together.  An added plus is it offers great storage.  In the middle of each unit we took out one of the shelves so we could fit the tivo/dvd player and the record player.  

The "art" hanging above the unit on the wall we got on clearance at this great store near my parents house when they were going out of business, right before we moved in.  We were just commenting the other night how much we love this piece and are so glad we got it.   It adds great texture and looks so great on that wall.  I have to tell you that Rob picked it out.  He has such great taste, don't you think?

One thing we quickly realized about this room was that bulky furniture wouldn't work.  Rob really liked Danish Modern chairs and he found this original on ebay.  I loved it and thought it would be great in between the windows.  

The stool next to the chair we got at my favorite store in downtown Phoenixville, Hipster Home.  It seems like now you can find these stools everywhere, but supporting local business is always a plus!  And it is a solid piece of furniture- I even sit on it some times.   I used to always have a vase on it, but now that Aiden is active it is bare and acts more like a side table when using the chair.  

So, these side tables are what I am excited to brag about.  Once we got all the other furniture in the room, I was dying for end tables for the sides of the sofa.  I was browsing Craigslist one day while at work and found these tables for $20- FOR BOTH!!  The people were moving and were just trying to get rid of everything as quickly as possible.  In fact, when we got to the house to pick them up there about 5 other people picking up stuff.  They are basically in perfect condition, fit my mid-century modern decor and to this day we still love them.  The lamps atop them are from West Elm.  

You already know our sofa is from Crate and Barrel and I have a love-hate relationship with it.  I would never recommend buying it, but I love the look and recently have not been too frustrated with it.  Although I will probably get it cleaned this winter some time.  You also know about the ottoman which has really been the only major change in this room over the past 2 years.  It is from Urban Outfitters and it is great.  

A couple other small things I thought I would explain....

The frames above the sofa were put up shortly after moving in as well and have not changed.  I love how they look and have gotten many compliments about them.  Rob laid them all out on the floor before putting them on the wall to see what arrangement would work best.  

And lastly, I got this West Elm clock at the Pottery Barn Outlet and I am pretty sure it was no more that $5, if that.  Sure, it has no numbers and people often say "I can't read that clock", but it looks good.  As long as you have an idea about what hour it is, you can usually tell the minutes.  

To conclude, I just want to mention that I think the reason this room is pretty much the same since moving in is because we really put a lot of thought into the pieces of furniture and were able to mix investment pieces with some less expensive things.  

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room and that you feel inspired!

Living with Kids

Children bring a lot of change with them when they come into your home.  It is somewhat gradual, since at first all they do is sleep.   But, eventually you can't help but change things because they start crawling, walking, running, climbing, etc.  I expect things to change in our home even more so as Aiden gets bigger, however, I do refuse to give up good design because of it.  I don't feel that just because I have a child I need to sacrifice good design.  

So, I put together some photos of real homes with real children living in them...just to prove that it can be done, and it makes me realize that perhaps children encourage more creative design. 

A space of my own

I don't consider myself a crafty person, but I do desire to have a little space of my own where I can sew, or wrap a gift.  Of course I will never have a whole room devoted to only that...

But, perhaps some day I will have a small corner...

or a closet...

The one thing I know is that it will need to be organized with lots of labeled boxes and containers.  I love these numbered jars from Anthropolgie.  

Hope you have a happy weekend!

A Forever Home

I've been thinking a lot recently about our home.   Rob and I have been talking about living in this house forever and ways that we can make that a reality down the road with more children.  We love this house for many reasons, but most of all, it has become our home.  

When I think about moving, it makes my stomach turn-the packing, leaving this place where we brought Aiden home to, leaving Rob's garden.  The potential of moving in 5, 10, or however many years, determines my decisions on a project.  For example, changing the light fixtures in the hallway.  It puts a voice in the back of my head that says- "you are just going to move eventually, so why put the time, money, and energy into that?".  

Making this our forever home, kills that voice in the back of my head and takes away the guilty feeling that maybe someday I will paint the shutters and trim on the outside of the house black instead of the brick red they are now because, ultimately, that is what I want.  

Of course, most of the bigger renovation-type plans- an addition onto the second floor, making the 3rd floor into a master suite, adding a mudroom and half bath on the first floor, are all things that wouldn't happen for a long time. But, having a "forever home" mindset has changed the way I look at our home and taken away my guilty feelings on making some smaller changes around here.