Sunday Worship

Shout with joy to the Lord, O earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are his.

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and bless his name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100, NLT

Pillow Talk

Let's have some pillow talk, m'kay pumpkin?

 Not that kind, silly!  BTW - do you remember this movie starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson? 

This is the kind of pillow talk I mean...

  

I gave you a peek of the three 18" square pillows that I made out of embroidered silk, but they just aren't doin' it for me.  The bed needs something else.  All three of these pillows probably won't stay there - I might move two of them over to the chairs in the sitting area.

I know that I'm going to make a large bolster pillow for the bench at the end of the bed that you saw in the before photos of my bedroom.

I'll probably make it out of the striped fabric that you see in this mix of fabrics that I'm using in the bedroom.

So here's what I'm thinking...

I like this pillow arrangement and I love euro shams (those are the large square pillows in the very back), but I don't want to use them on my bed because I don't want to cover up the carved wood detail on the front of my headboard.

I'll be stacking the pillows that we sleep on behind the decorative pillows like what you see in the below pic.  I like the look of having larger square (maybe 20") pillows in front of the king size pillows that are in the pillow shams made with the checked fabric.  If I go that route, I would make the 20" square pillows out of the quilted blue velvet that you can see in the picture above of the fabrics that I'm using.  Then I could stack one of the embroidered silk pillows that I've already made in front of those and possibly make a small bolster pillow to stack in front of that.

 What 'cha think?

A Surprise for Me!

I don't normally post on Tuesdays, but I couldn't resist showing you something that, as a new blogger, was so exciting to me!  You might have noticed this new addition to my sidebar...

 I was catching up on reading some of my favorite blogs last night, when I ran across this at Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing!  I don't want to copy Debbie's blog content so I hope you'll click on the link to go see what I'm talking about!
While you're there, I hope you'll spend some time touring Debbie's blog.  You won't be disappointed!  It's chock full of projects and inspiration.  I'm really enjoying the burlap inspiration that she's posted about the last couple of days.
Thank you, Debbie!  You made this lil' ol' blogger's day!

House Tour - The Office

Our office is located on the main floor of the house and gets quite a bit of use.

It isn't a very big room - roughly 12' x 12'.  The file cabinet and a couple of chairs sit directly across from the front of the desk.  I still want to make a couple of pillows for the chairs.

I've had these chairs for years and had them recovered in one of the the same fabrics that I used in the window treatment.

The window treatment was very simple to make.  It's called the Moroccan Valance and the pattern is available for purchase from M'fay Patterns.

I used the same money saving solution for drapery hardware for this window treatment that I showed you in my master bedroom.

The only difference is that I used a pair of drapery brackets instead of angle irons to mount the pvc pipe that I used for the rod.  I also spray painted the pvc pipe dark brown because there was a chance that you might be able to get a peek of it in between the different pieces that make up the Moroccan Valance.

Here's a straight-on shot of the hutch that sits on top of the credenza, just in case you'd like to get a better look at how I've accessorized it.

I'll leave you with one last shot taken from a different angle.  You might be able to tell that we get a lot of natural light in this room in the afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

Linking up to these fun parties:

Between Naps on the Porch
Addicted 2 Decorating
Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing
Savvy Southern Style
A Creative Princess
No Minimalist Here
House of Hepworths
Tatertos and Jello
Thrifty Decor Chick

Sunday Worship

A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Proverbs 14:1 NIV

My Dilemma

It's been so long since I've said anything about it, I bet y'all think that I stopped working on my master bedroom.  Well - I haven't, it's just that this thing called LIFE has kept me busy the last few weeks.  Between traveling, Vacation Bible School and having both of my grandchildren home from school.....I'm sure you get the idea.  Not complaining at all - in fact I'm very thankful for the blessings that the Lord pours out daily.

Anyway - I have a dilemma in my master bedroom that I'd like your opinions on.  See this wall?

It mocks me.  It has mocked me ever since I've lived in this house.  It needs something on it, but I can't decide if it should be one big thing or multiple things.  All I know for sure is that I definitely don't want to hang a mirror there!  

There's a part of me that would really like to try to diy a large wall canvas.  The problem is, who know's how long that would take for me to complete???

 

I think that I could diy a reasonable facsimile of this one if I changed up the color of the flowers a little.

Or should I go with a grouping of large prints or photos?

Ack!!!  I can't decide!  Here's one more shot of the wall from a slightly different angle.

So tell me, please, what do you think?  Do you like any of these?  Or do you have a different idea all together?

Oh yeah - I know that in the very first pic you could get a glimpse of the pillows that I've made so far.  They're not quite ready to be revealed yet.  So here's another little sneak peak.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Deck Vignettes

All of the cushions and pillows on my deck are well past their prime. :(  They are faded and very tired looking. The wrought iron furniture needs to be repainted too. So...I won't show you my entire deck, but I will show you a couple of vignettes out there that I love.

I can see this little corner of the deck from the kitchen window above the sink.  See that bird feeder?  It is quite the gathering spot so I love to keep a check on it every time I'm at the sink throughout the day. 

See who's peeking out at you...

I freely admit that I have a thing for bunnies.  I've had this thing for a long, long time.  I used to have them everywhere...you know what they say about how bunnies multiply.

I love this little corner of the deck too.  It's a very cozy feeling place to sit.  Yes, I'm showing you some faded cushions and pillows...just imagine this spot with fresh, colorful fabric...then hold that thought til next Summer...it ain't gonna happen this year.

I got this hanging basket at a place in High Point that sells all kinds of, well, of stuff.  I can't think of a better way to describe what they sell.  Everything is outside surrounding this little dilapidated looking building.  I always keep an eye peeled for snakes when I'm wandering around their lot.  Lots of places for them to hide!

It is lined with coco fiber that has been cut to size.

Did you notice this little guy?

I'll leave you with this shot of a flower in the little green pot that sits on top of the table behind the bunny planter.

Pssst!  All of these pictures are the first ones ever taken with.....

Thank you, Mr. Worthing!!!

I'm linking to these fun parties:

Addicted 2 Decorating

Between Naps on the Porch

Savvy Southern Style

Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing

A Stroll Thru Life

No Minimalist Here

Tatertots and Jello
A Creative Princess
Funky Junk Interiors 

1730 Outlet Company

Second up on our tour of featured home decor shops in Chicago is 1730 Outlet Company. It is the outlet store for a major wholesale design house that sells to places like Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel.    

 

Four times each year they completely empty the shelves and replenish all of them with accessories covering all four seasons and the major holidays.  Right now they're stocked with all things Summer. 

Table linens...

Baskets...

Candles...

 

Party supplies...

Rugs...

Wouldn't you just love to shop there around Christmas?

Here's a sampling of the furniture that was there...

They tout themselves as being "Chicago's best kept secret for home decor and contemporary furnishings".  Do you agree?

Sunday Worship

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he had not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

John 3:16 - 18

Skirted Panels

Do you know what a skirted panel is?  My very loose definition is that it's a drapery panel with another fabric attached in some fashion, either at the top of the drapery panel or at the bottom.  When I was filing some pics the other day, I realized that I have loved them for quite some time.  Take a look...  

I made a pair of these inverted pleat panels for the former dining room of my sweet stepdaughter, Mrs. S.

The skirts were made with two different fabrics, tassel fringe and covered buttons.

For you astute readers, you may recognize this space as being in my master bedroom that I'm currently working on (you can see the progress here and here).  I took these down quite some time ago so that I could redo my bedroom, but I still love them.

They originally were plain rod pocket draperies that I took apart and added a contrast fabric and trim to.  The ball fringe trim was taken off of some other window treatments and reused here.  I added goblet pleats and covered buttons.

Skirted panels can be a good way to lengthen existing drapery panels.  I made these for a builders model house that  Bella Designs,  the designers I was working for, designed.  When they were reused in a second model, they needed to be lengthened a little more.  If you look closely, you can see the added length and row of matching trim at the bottom.  Excuse the cord - this room was still a work in progress when I snapped this photo.

You remember these that I recently made for my master bedroom?  They are just simple rod pocket panels with a skirt attached.  I added a contrast band for interest.

I fabricated this same style window treatment for another model home that Bella Designs designed.

I made a pair of these skirted panels for a client who has a two story family room.  Sorry about the fan - it was impossible to get a shot of the entire length of the panels without the fan being a part of it.

I also made a pair of these for my family room.

These panels that are in my living room and dining room technically have a flag pendant as opposed to being considered skirted panels, but I think they're close enough to be included in this grouping.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about one of my favorite styles of window treatment.

I'm linking to these fun parties:
Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing
Addicted 2 Decorating
Savvy Southern Style
Between Naps on the Porch
Skip to My Lou
Tip Junkie
Today's Creative Blog
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Beneath My Heart

A Creative Princess