WIP's~ Fabric Wall Art Maria will Love!

Are you having trouble coming up with inexpensive wall art? My friend, Maria of Colour Me Happy, was hosting a linky party about creative wall art for large spaces that doesn't cost a fortune. I was traveling at the time and noticed some fabric panels on the back of the wall and thought it should be pretty easy to do the same thing at home. It is!

Maria will love this room when I'm done with it! Maria's 'wall art' linky party last year really  inspired this project. She hassuch great ideas for decorating!Her posts about 'color blocking' were also  in my mind at the time I decided on this. 

Yesterday, I wasn’t feeling too cheerful due to a little bit of unavoidable worry over Matthew, of course. But, I finally got the wooden frames built to hang my fabric wall art on. This has been several months in ‘the works’.

 

The whole project took about an hour and was just one of those ‘detours’ from getting ready that happens to us sidetracked types. I saw the boards on the bookshelf while cleaning..and well.. one thing led to another.LoL!

To go with it, I clamped up some fabric I’ve been loving for a possible coordinating curtain topper. It seems to match pretty well. It’s already hemmed on one side. It was a scrap from a friend’s project.

 

I folded some scrap fabric around the ends of some of my office baskets too to see how they ‘looked’. 

Oh..I’m in love with this idea! It’s not done..I’m just playing around. But I have a feeling my office/sewing room is about to look super!

I can’t work on any more today. I want to get things all freshened up, buy groceries for the weekend, diapers, formula (and other fun Grandma things), and I’ve got to pick up an extra playpen. Then there’s baby toys and a high chair to retrieve.

And (Oh Joy!) I also need to plant a hydrangea from my secret sister and I've found the perfect spot with plenty of shade right by the front porch….  Tracie's gonna love this flower--She's probably already heard of it. She has such gorgeous flowers in her garden. Check out her Cottage Flora Thursday linky party for more lovely flowers. Ahh...So much fun! 

So while I’d love to do the tutorial for the fabric wall art today, I’m afraid it will have to wait until next week. But at least some fun home makeover projects are ‘in the works’. :o) 

What are you working on today? Any fun projects? You’re welcome to share them here. I’d love to see what you are up to. :o) 

I’m certain I’ll get a chance to visit this evening. I’m running errands early due to the big storms that are coming in later in the afternoon. Hate to run errands in the rain!  I’m Soooo looking forward to visiting everyone’s blogs this afternoon! 

I’ve missed you all! Thanks again a BUNCH for your kind notes!! You really blessed me more than I can say, and I know that Matthew will love the comments. I’m printing them all out and sending them to him. :o)

PS. I re-posted this as blogger was down for a couple of days. Sorry about that if you are a subscriber. :o)

You, my family, and my church family are just the best!!

Linking with Metamorphasis Monday at BTNOP

and  Raising Homemakers'  Homemaking Link Up

 

The Art of the Romantic Bedroom

Imagine your dream getaway...where would it be? What would your hotel, cabin, or bungalow look like?  The essence of a truly romantic bedroom is found somewhere in this dream of faraway places. In this wonderful place..life is easy and the setting is just a little bit exotic.

In this place there is plenty of time….to read that book you’ve been meaning to read…to relax and do nothing…and to really BE with the one you love..and no one else. At least for those few moments…the every day cares of life cannot intrude.

Too often, we forget that that is what a bedroom is really for. Of all the rooms in your home, this one will be the most personal to you and hubby. How do we make this special ‘getaway’ place?  It doesn’t rely on a large budget..but it does require some imagination and creativity. First, we have to focus on the real purpose of a bedroom.

Rest

The most important ‘function’ of a bedroom is simply rest. We want our beds to be like a cozy nest. The best hotels are experts at providing this. When Dear Hubby and I spent a week at a convention last spring, it really hit home to me just how much he loved the extra pillows (in three states of firmness), white and supple sheets, extra large bath towels and thick comforter. We live on a pretty tight budget, but I started setting aside a little extra each month for more pillows, sheets, and towels. He loved it!

And though Kitty really loves our bedroom, as does Percy our dog, we’ve decided that our bedroom is off limits to pets at night. Studies have shown that pets are the number one cause of lack of sleep . Consider a white noise maker or fan too.

And about children, as much as we loved them, our kids were rarely allowed to sleep with us except the first six weeks of life. Both we and they slept better if we weren’t in the same room. If you have a baby or toddlers..then try a baby monitor. I set it so that I couldn't hear the normal rustle of a restless baby or toddler, but would here a genuine cry. It helped me train the baby to sleep better since I wasn't jumping up to get them at the slightest noise.   Remember no rest = no romance. :o)

Relaxation

It’s so important that your bedroom be relaxing…a ‘getaway’ from the busy-ness and noise of daily life. It’s a great place to read or listen to music. I set up a place for Tim to keep his cello and practice during the day. His music is lovely and I sit and listen and crochet or quilt while he plays. It’s also a perfect place for a cup of tea and your morning devotions too. We both have bibles and devotional books on our bedside tables.

 The bedroom is not, however, a place for desk work or major sewing or craft projects. :o) A room where you have ‘work’ related items is not going to feel at all romantic. Make it easy to keep this room orderly and functional too with things like hat/coat racks, upright butlers, and chairs to sit on while dressing or removing shoes. 

Romance

Decor is the heart of a romantic bedroom.  This room is a great place to splurge a little. What would your ‘dream getaway’ look like?  Your bedroom can be that place… every day.  Our dream vacation getaway would be in a little English bed and breakfast. Our favorite romantic movies are all set in England or France.  Consider lighting, flowers, music, and privacy as these are all helpful in creating a romantic mood.

On the other hand, visual clutter will kill it. Too often, this is the room where things get hidden from view ‘just for now’ when visitors come over. This is a place to get away and recuperate. Don’t use your bedroom as a place to store excess stuff. Get rid of the clutter and keep things picked up so it’s always welcoming.

Privacy

And remember, romance needs privacy. Every other room in the house is available for family and visitors, but this is your ‘special’ place as a couple. It’s fine to share breakfast or a movie with the kids when they are little…but it should be an occasional event..not an every day occurrence. (A lock on the door is a must!)

So what does your dream vacation look like? Is it tropical…country…elegant… modern? Does your bedroom remind you of this lovely place? Rayanne of A Lovely Thought expresses this idea so beautifully here.

Here’s one of my favorite romantic songs which I’m linking up to Natasha’s Sunday Song.

Linking with

My Romantic Home’s Show and Tell Friday

and Raising Homemakers’ Homemaking Link Up
BTNOP Metamorphasis Monday

The Golden Rule of De-Cluttering…

 

The  Golden Rule of De-Cluttering is…

to identify what you need and love,

Store it in the most accessible spot,

Add so-so stuff only if it fits,

and get rid of the rest!

One reason that we avoid and dread the de-cluttering process is that it’s such an unpleasant one. When we open a drawer or closet with the purpose of ‘getting rid of stuff’, we know that we are going to be faced with the painful task of deciding what to put in the throw away pile or the give away box.  It’s no fun saying ‘good-bye’ to things that we love, paid good money for, or that are still quite useful.

And therein lies the problem.  We are focusing on the NEGATIVE aspects of de-cluttering.  We need to focus on the bright side…

When you are getting ready to declutter anything, The question to ask yourself is NOT what should I get rid of…but

What should I KEEP? What do I LOVE?

What do I NEED? 

What can I NOT live without? 

Which clothes would I hate to not have in the closet? Focus on what you truly need to keep and what you love.  Pull those favorite or absolutely essential books, records, CD’s, fabric, movies, dishes, clothes, craft supplies, toys, shoes, desk supplies, bathroom accessories, jewelry etc and put them aside.  Make a pile of your BEST stuff in whatever room you are working.

Remember the 20-80 principle? THIS stuff is the  20%

that you actually love, need, and use.  

Now, pull everything else out and set it aside. Put your treasures and/or your most useful and valuable tools in the BEST SPOTS… Give them EASY ACCESS. 

THEN…when you are ready to de-clutter, look at what’s left. Throw away the junk.  Now, IF and this is a big IF..there is extra space in the drawer or closet, you can put some of the ‘useful but not my favorite’ things in there.  But once the storage space is reasonably full, donate the rest. Stick it in garbage bags and donation boxes.

This week, I de-cluttered my fabric stash. I gathered all of my fabric and piled it on the couch. Then I began pulling out only the fabric that I LOVED…ADORED…or knew would be extremely versatile and useful for future projects.  Rebekah, my daughter, and I made stacks of everything that was white or linen, everything that was dark blue or denim, a stack of dark colored or costume fabrics, and a stack of light colored or bright colored prints--prints we thought were just so pretty we couldn’t bear to part with them.

 

These fabrics we sorted much like we do the laundry. Three drawers now house ‘whites, lights, and bold or dark colors’. We also have one drawer in our IKEA cabinet for unfinished projects that we really do want to finish. We put all this ‘good stuff in the drawers right away.

Some fabric was already ‘ear-marked’ for special projects like a green brocade fabric destined to be made into a Victorian costume for Dicken’s on the Strand, a $30.00 piece of Old English style tapestry, the indoor-outdoor fabric for my porch swing and porch lawn chairs, and many yards of light denim won from Trudy at Sewing with Trudy. All of these large pieces of fabric went in an ‘under the bed bag’ to be pulled out when we have time to do those projects. You could also hang extra large quantities of fabric on coat hangers in the closet.

What about the rest of the fabric? Well, first we culled out some fabric pieces that we thought we  could use sometime in the near future. We didn’t love all of it, but there was room, so in the name of ‘frugality’ we kept and stored some of it.  Of the rest of the fabric,  half of it went into the garbage can (scraps which we refused to save due to lack of storage space) and half of it went into a giveaway bag.  Yes, we gave away some perfectly good fabric and we may possibly regret that but we really didn’t have room for it in those drawers.

The premium here is on space..and ease of living.

I also have a new rule that helps me decide when I have ‘enough’ of anything or ‘too much’.  If the supplies or tools that  I need won’t fit into the room where the activity is being held, then I have to get rid of it or make room for it in the proper room. 

Now..Our cubby hole shelf holds livingroom items especially our movies.
(Wicker shelf has been removed.)

Before...The wicker shelf housed our movies. The cubby hole shelf held my fabric.

In other words..no storing fabric in the living room, tablecloths in the bathroom, appliances in the utility room, games in the bedroom, or  books in the kitchen. If there is overflow, get rid of it.  Now our 12-cubbyhole shelf houses only living room items like games, movies (organized by genre), cassette tapes, grandkids' toys, magazines, and music CD’s.  The fabric (that used to be in those cubbies)  is all gone or moved to the sewing room where it belongs.

Why De-Clutter? The less you OWN...

the less you have to put away, dig through or clean.  

When your home is streamlined, you will find you have more 'free time'..time to live, create,.and enjoy the people in your home. I am thoroughly convinced that we do have ROOM for the things we really need. We just don't have room for the excess..unless we live in a really big house. Even then, why bog your self down with more stuff to have to deal with?

When your possessions are pared down,

you will find that every job you do is easier. 

 Having only the essential cooking supplies, sewing accessories, and school supplies, books, or gardening accessories at hand will save you hours of preparation time and clean up! This is worth taking the plunge.

 

We applied this same principle to the living room with stunning results. Rebekah and I asked ourselves..

What furniture did we absolutely, without a doubt,

have to KEEP in the Living Room to survive?

We came up with this list…

• couch
• upholstered chair
• coffee table
• one end table with lamp
• TV and stand
• piano
• 12 compartment storage shelf
• 2 book cases
• record player and stand

Livingroom before decluttering books and furniture.

What did we get rid of? The doggy-bed/cradle (stored until it can be returned), antique sewing machine, retro-style leather chair (moved to game room), a huge hutch (it replaced a worn wicker shelf that housed fabric in the sewing room), and one wicker shelf.

That’s five pieces of furniture removed
from our small living room!

 Livingroom after…

What did we keep beyond the essentials? The second matching end table. With everything else gone, we could afford to have two end-tables. We could have lived without it, but it didn’t hurt to keep it and was helpful on the other end of the sectional couch.

For the first time in three years, our living room seems truly comfortable! It feels ‘right’.  It looks good--streamlined…stylish...well..more stylish-LOL!  It looks like we had all the space we needed..right from the start.  :o)

  Ahh…NOW we can breath easy!  And our home feels SPACIOUS!

Try applying this Golden Rule in your closet, bathroom cabinet, or desk drawers…and see if it doesn’t work…beautifully!

Linking with My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday

PS. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Getting Things Back in Shape…

I know Ladies, it is almost Monday. We’re supposed to be working in the master bedroom…and bathroom. And, yes, I’ve done some cleaning and organizing especially in the bathroom.  If you are a Flylady fan, then that is this week's zone…but with Christmas over, I’ve done a lot of work all over the house.

 

It’s always kind of refreshing to get the house and especially the living room all back in order after the holidays. I’m celebrating because I only put back HALF the Christmas boxes in storage that I pulled out. Next year, I’ll be all streamlined with my holiday decor which will make the holidays even easier to prepare for. Might as well de-clutter while you’ve got everything pulled out! My motto—never miss an opportunity to purge and clean!

For Christmas this year, one of the things I received was a set of lovely antique kitchen utensils from my friend Laurie. She also gave me the antique spools of thread you see on the little ledges, several years ago. I just can’t wait on the FlyLady schedule (kitchen week)  to share them with you, so here they are! Aren’t they pretty?  It’s amazing that some kitchen gadgets and appliances really do pass the test of time. Of course, some…like these…don’t! Ha!

I must fess up to you all..I bought a new GADGET!!—even worse…it’s a new kitchen appliance! Yipes!!! You can be sure that my daughter and I had quite a soul searching discussion--to buy or not to buy.    I had a credit for a gift that didn’t fit and the only thing I could find was this coffee press.  Since we are so low on counter space, and three of our family members are coffee aficionados', we decided that we’d all enjoy a gorgeous coffee press.  The coffee we made in this pot is SO SMOOTH! And we can make it as strong as we like it too.  

We’ll be able to get rid of two bulky electric appliances—the coffee pot AND the espresso machine. I love how new things are taking a more ‘retro’ swing. They fit right in with my decor.  Plus..there’s something much more ‘feminine’ and pretty about THIS kind of coffee pot. We can set it on the coffee table with our china coffee cups..and it will look very ‘dainty’.  Great for entertaining!

The coffee press will go perfectly with my new kitchen canisters..all stainless steel..and ‘weevil’ proof—a serious consideration in a kitchen out in the country.  Tim just can’t get over  the idea that I would want canisters, totes, and a coffee pot for Christmas…but then..HE’s not a woman is he? But he sure does love the order and cleanliness that results. from my passion. And he's thrilled about my new habit of de-cluttering with empty boxes and bags. (Yes..I did, indeed, fill the box that the coffee pot came in with fabric scraps…and the shopping bag with old clothes. :o)

With some of the Christmas money that I was given by generous family members, I was able to buy ORGANIZERS (and serger thread)!!! I know, I just told you that organizers aren’t the solution to too much stuff only two short posts ago. But, I’ve been de-cluttering and have earned the right to buy a few—yippee!! With the money my husband’s parents gave me for Christmas, I ran straight to Target and bought these lovely fabric collapsible totes. Thank goodness for boring ole’ me, they didn’t have enough of any one color so I bought several of each color that I thought would go with my new couch and dining room table cloth. I thought the design element of mis-matched color blocks was pretty great!

This cubbyhole shelf has been a lifesaver and the bane of my life at the same time. It’s been useful in every room of the house…a home school grand central organizing station (kid’s school books, teacher’s manuals, school supplies, and even curriculum, and it's been used for pending projects, toys, and fabric.  It’s lived in every room in the house at one time or another depending on what I needed.  It first housed my ‘standing to do list’ of sewing projects. For me out of sight really can mean out of mind, which is a bad thing when you are behind on projects. Later I found a different way to organize those sewing projects. 

I now store my fabric, sorted by type, in the 12 cubby shelf and have been for the last four years. The problem with putting it in the sewing room, though, is that it’s also the office and school room and there just isn't room for it--so it had to go in the living room. The problem with that though, is that it just didn’t look nice to have a bunch of fabric on display with my living room decor . I have always had to cover it with a quilt or fabric of some kind to hide what was inside because the fabric didn’t look all that great. But it was always a headache to 'dig' under that blanket, trying not to knock everything holding the quilt in place over. And it looked tacky in my opinion. What a mess! Finally..I have a solution that looks nice for a change. And it's so much more convenient!

Speaking of antiques, my mother gave me several lovely things too…like a cradle, a rocking chair, and some of the kitchen utensils above. I just can’t resist something lovely…that brings back memories of a slower and more ‘natural’ pace of living.

This is a great time of year to get things off to a better start…time for new habits, new organizing solutions…and a new outlook on the year. How about you? Are you starting to feel like life is getting ‘back to normal’?  Any new habits you are trying to establish? Just think--31 days…and it will feel like second nature!

The Color of Fun!

This morning I saw such a fun little linky party hosted by the most inspiring bloggie friend I have, Maria of Color Me Happy, that I just had to join in the fun. It’s so GRAY…DREARY..and WET around here..that this seemed like the perfect fix.

Of course, I can’t be TOO gray…a NEW COUCH is on the way!! It’s too be delivered today this morning!!  Oh happy day..Thank you Lord!  I’m still pinching myself to see if it’s really happening. I really think Maria will approve of the couch. (Crossing my fingers!)

I wish I could have taken her shopping with me, but sigh..she just wasn’t available (due to about 2200 miles of distance-Ha!).  Here’s a sneak peak at the couch… (using my cell phone..Yipes!)  This is from the warehouse at The Dump. Thanks Millicent for a great idea for a place to buy an inexpensive couch!

PS. That cowhide sadly, does NOT come with the couch. I just didn't have an exta $200.00 to get it. Ah..well..maybe next time!

But ..back to her post…She was asking us the question…What Color is Fun?!!  Well, I think these beautiful things from Murdoch’s Bathhouse in Galveston…are just the perfect color of fun! What do you think?

I was shopping with my friend, Gaylan, and snapping photos left and right. I kept telling her THESE ARE THE COLORS!! These are the ones I was telling you about! I’m so uneducated about color..so it was sort of like the blind leading the blind. But the NEW colors for design are happy colors according to Maria. She called them ‘true’ colors.

If you want to join in the fun..just drop by Maria’s and tell her I sent you. :o)  Meanwhile, I’ll be working on a good “let’s get the house together before the holidays” post. (Gee!..got to think of some excuse to post photos of the living room with my new couch in it..right?)

And if you are looking for some great ideas for Christmas, Murdoch’s Bathhouse in Galveston might just be a great place to start!  (If you can't get to Galveston, you might try this online shop.)  Also, visit Gina's The Shabby Chic Cottage for some really lovely nautical gift ideas and home decor.

Happy Homemaking!