Hide a Roller Shade

There is a roller shade mounted inside the window of my son's bedroom... the roller shade is not exactly what I'd call stylish.... would you?

But this?  Yes, a little more stylish (the green part...)...

I added a fabric-covered-board to hide the roller shade.  We need the shade to keep the room dark at night, but I want to be able to roll it up and not have to look at it during the day.  So, I cut a wooden board to fit inside the window, then covered the board with the curtain fabric, Lexington Olive.

This is the board I purchased from a home improvement store... it only needed a minor trim on one end to fit inside the window...

Once the board was cut to size, I cut a piece of the curtain fabric to cover the board.... about one inch longer than each side of the board.

 

Then I turned the fabric right-side down and placed the board on top of the fabric, folded over one edge and stapled the fabric to the board.  I started stapling in the middle and worked toward the ends...

Then I stapled the opposite side, pulling tight as I moved from the middle to the ends...

Next, I folded over the corners (just like wrapping a present), pulled it tight and stapled again...

The fabric is now stapled all around the board!!!  If you're working on this project and you turn the board over and the fabric is gaped or not wrapped tight enough, no big deal.... turn the board over again, pull out a few staples and staple again).....

Since this board is going to be mounted inside the window (side of the house for me), I wanted to make the back look pretty from the outside (and so my HOA wouldn't drive by and see a board hanging from the window.... I'd probably get fined).  So on to the next step...

I cut a piece of white fabric a half inch longer on all sides than the board...

I could have glued the white fabric to the board, but I decided to staple it with my staple gun (feels more secure to me).  I wanted the staples to blend in with the fabric, so I went outside and spray-painted them white...

After the paint was dry, I took them inside and began stapling.  I placed the white fabric on the back of the board and folded a half inch of fabric under on all sides as I moved along to staple each corner.

Once all the corners were stapled, I went back and stapled along all the edges... the backside of the board eventually looked like this...

And the white staples blend in, for the most part...

I turned the board over and it looked like this...

Then I mounted the board inside the window frame using L brackets...

Much better, much more stylish.  The roller shade is still there.... just hiding!

And this is what is looks like from the outside window... that's the roller shade and the fabric-covered-board....

Pretty good... all white so there shouldn't by any fines coming my way :).

Linking up to Tip Junkie and Hope Studios.

Boy's Striped Pillow

I've been searching for fabric to recover or replace the oblong pillow on my son's bed.... something colorful, definitely with some blue.  I ordered fabric a few weeks ago, but when it arrived and I laid it on his bed I didn't think it looked right... so, the search continued.

Earlier this week, the kids and I ran a few errands and Target was one of our stops.  We only had to get laundry detergent and soap, but why is it that every time I walk in Target I end up walking through the home aisles?  Do you get side-tracked in that amazing store too?  They've got some great marketing techniques with all those enticing products on the end of each aisle.... it gets me every time.  This time I landed in the boy's bedding aisle.... look what I came home with!!!

A blue and white striped sheet set for $15!  The blue is like a cobalt blue, which is why I like them so much (they're much brighter than a navy color).  I thought the flat sheet could be used to make a fabulous pillow for the bed and the fitted sheet and pillow case could be used as a back-up to his dinosaur sheets.

Here's the new striped pillow on his bed...

Remember, I'm an amateur with the sewing machine so these are nothing fancy.... just a straight stitch with an envelope closure in the back.

I love the color that the pillow brings to the room.  And now that the pillow search has come to an end, the bedroom is almost done.... I'm about the sew the curtains and the room will be finished (then I can move on to decorate the girl's bedroom).

If you're interested in sewing pillows using a machine, Janell at Isabella and Max Rooms has a great tutorial.  If you're looking for a no-sew option, Kate at Censational Girl has another great tutorial.

Colorful Welcome

A few months ago, I painted an outdoor rug that welcomes guests when they enter through our back door.  Now that it's well past the beginning of spring, it's time to spruce up the rug on my front porch... this welcome rug from Target fits the space on my tiny, front porch, but lacks a colorful welcome...

I bet most people step right over the rug without even realizing it's there... so it's time to change all that.  Pink is usually my 'go to' color and this rug seems like it's screaming for a little pink.  So, while the kids we're riding their bikes up and down the driveway, I gathered the rug, a small angled paint brush and pink craft paint...

I plopped in the grass and decided to paint the large, faded stripe that's behind the 'Welcome' text with a pink color, Apple Barrel Raspberry.  I dipped the brush in paint, just enough to lightly coat the brush, then positioned the brush on the rug to line up on the edge of the text and brushed toward the center.  Then I jabbed the brush bristles in between the rug strands to make it pink all the way to the bottom.  Sounds so harsh, but really... it's kinda like coloring (except painting) inside the lines.

And here's the new rug....

Welcome spring and welcome to my house!

One thing... after I bought the rug (and painted it) I read the online reviews.... I know, kinda backwards.  Well, the reviews aren't very good (ouch).... I've never had a problem with my rug shedding or fraying, but it's probably in part to the fact that it rests on a covered porch, sheltered from the wind, rain and sun.  And we use the back door as our main entrance, so the only people that really step foot on the rug are the UPS and FedEx guys (and my two-year old, who loves ringing the doorbell).  My learning experience: read reviews prior to purchase.

Linking up to Centsational Girl, It's A Hodge Podge Life, Skip To My Lou, Today's Creative Blog, Coastal Charm, Domestically Speaking, The Lettered Cottage, Savvy Southern Style and Between Naps on the Porch.

Fireplace Inspiration

My fireplace has had random items perched on the mantel throughout the past few weeks, like here and here.  I put something up, take it down, put something else up.... and, hmmm... still not right. 

I recently came across a photo of a fireplace that I love... mantel and all...

House & Garden

House & Garden

I love the look... the black fireplace surrounded by all white, the large gilded mirror resting on the mantel, the over-sized vase filled with greenery, the colorful rug, the list goes on....

I think I'll be taking a trip to Goodwill soon in hope to bring home a few things to spice up my own mantel.

Gallery in Living Room

My living room feels a little more like home today....

Recently, I added a brass floor lamp (my latest garage sale find) to the room, and in the process I hung some art on the wall above one of the end tables.  After looking at the new arrangement for a few days, I decided to add more art on the wall.  I've been wanting to create another gallery wall (using all these frames) ever since I finished my my son's bedroom wall and the living room was the perfect spot!

Before I show more of the new gallery, I'll back up for those of you who just joined us.... here's how the living room wall first looked when we purchased the house ....

Then the walls were painted, here and here, then we moved in and I decorated...

The brass floor lamp and picture frames above the trunk were eventually added on the right-hand side of the couch.  And now.... a wall with more art and frames...

First, I hung empty frames.  Then the kids and I sat down with large sheets of paper, paint brushes and a few bottles of paint to create artwork that would fit inside the frames.  I chose the paint colors (metallic gold, green, blue and pink) and let the kids go at it.

There was a lot of paint brush shaking and splattering to get all those swirls.  I think my kitchen was covered in more paint than the kids, but I love having their artwork displayed (they love it too).  The kids especially love to initial their work... they take real pride in their creations.

Once the art work was added, I thought the left side of the couch needed some type of end table.  I've been trying to sell a stack of four blonde-colored, TV folding tables on Craigslist with no luck, but now I'm glad.... I grabbed one table and placed it next to the couch (perfect fit!), then I painted the table legs black, threw a scrap ticking stripe fabric on top, frayed the edges, placed a few things on top of the table... and.... the new look...

Here's a few extras of the gallery...

Here's one last close-up of the gallery (what we see looking into the living room from the kitchen)...

That's the living room progress as of today.  By the way, anyone interested in three folding TV trays?

Linking up to House of Hepworths, Paisley Passions, Remodelaholic, It's A Hodge Podge Life and Skip To My Lou.

Spray Painted Chairs

I'm back in the playroom putting the finishing touches on a few things.... I'm in the process of trying to bring the window-side of the room together.  You might remember the 'missing chairs' when I was deciding between curtain fabric... the chairs were outside waiting for a little makeover.  Woohoo for spray-paint! 

I spray-painted the chairs an off-white color, heirloom white by RustOleum (same color as my recently painted candlesticks).  The two smaller kid chairs were already in the room (they were originally green and white, seen here), then I added two larger chairs (black end chairs from my dining room, seen here).  A few inches were sawed off the bottom legs of the large chairs (thanks husband) to accommodate little legs, then they all got a few coats of RustOleum's Heirloom White!

Here's the look before with random chairs (which sometimes I like, just not in this case)....

And now, with matching colors...

If you've been following along, you might have noticed the curtains are hanging.  Yup, they're up, although only temporary.... the fabric came in the mail over the weekend, I cut it in half, hung the frayed edges and now have a lot of sewing to do before they are hung for good.  Once they're done, I'll give a better angled photo so you can see, but for how here's the playroom progress....

I'm lovin' the look of all those chairs in one color, much better!  And my advice for spray-painting?  Patience.... keep your arm steadily moving while your spraying and spray lots of thin coats for even coverage.  Paint is like a little bit of magic!

Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick.