New Lighting and Chairs

My sister replaced her chandelier in her kitchen nook.



Isn't it beautiful? I especially love the round bulbs at the top.

Shall we look at the previous owner's decor?

The dark walls and ornate chairs are not my sister's style by any means. She first stripped the wall paper and painted the walls a bright teal.

Then came a pedestal antique white table.

Adding the new chandelier and new chairs gives the space a chabby chic coastal feel. Next up will be to paint the oak cabinets an antique white, perhaps add molding around the bottom windows to correspond with the top plantation shudders and finish the space with a new rug and seat cushions. A long way to go, but when it is done, it will look completely different than what it originally was. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Pleated Curtains

I was finally able to work on my sister's curtains this past weekend. Here is the fun and whimsical fabric she picked out.

What was difficult was deciding upon what kind of curtains to make. The least expensive type of curtain to make is the one you slip the rod right through. We wanted a more formal look since the curtains were for the dining and living room so we decided to not go this route.

The next option were using rings. It was okay, but we wanted to take the curtains up a notch by adding pleats.

The finished product would be pleated curtains.

They are my favorite kind of curtain to have, but my least favorite to make because they take longer and cost more. Here is how we made them. Measure your window. The final measurement was 102." Therefore, we cut the lining 106" to have a three inch hem on the bottom and a one inch hem on the top.

Start by hemming the lining 3 inches.

Pin and Sew.

Cut the fabric one inch longer as your lining will be 1 inch shorter on the inside. Therefore, we measured out 107". Hem 3 inches up from the bottom once again.

Pin the lining to the fabric (right sides together). You will want the lining to be at least an inch shorter in width than the fabric. Our fabric was 54 inches while our lining was 50 inches in width. This assures you will not see the lining once it is hung. It gives it a more finished look.

Once sewn together, flip right side out.

Do you see how the fabric has a once inch overage all around the curtain?

Next, it is time to make the pleats. There are two types of pleating tapes you can buy. You can purchase the string pull or the pleating hooks type. I wanted the string pull, but unfortunately, they were sold out. Therefore, my sister went ahead and purchased the pleating hooks tape which will require an additional purchase of pleating hooks.

Fold down the top of the curtains to finished size and place the pleating tape on top of the folded fabric. MAKE sure the tape is positioned so that the opening of the grooves are on the bottom. If you sew it upside down, the hooks will not be able to be slid through and you will have to redo it.

There are sewing guides on the tape so that you do not sew into the grooves. Once sewn, now is the time to iron everything down. This will give it the finished look. Afterward, slide the prongs of the hooks into the opening of the pleating tape.

Pull them through to make the pleats.

Evenly space the hooks along the width of the curtains.

You are now done. You can either use the pleating hooks to hang the curtains or attach decorator rings to the curtains at the pleats to hang.

Here is the finished look.

I love how it turned out. It goes beautifully with the gray walls and couch.



Let's look at the before picture.



Now the after picture.

Still not quite finished, but slowly coming along.

New Fence

My sister's fence has seen better days so when her neighbor asked her if she wanted to redo the fence, it was a delightful, "Yes!" Here's the before picture. There's an instant "doggy door" at the bottom.

A close up reveals a fence that looks even worse.

Now for the new fence.

This eight foot, board on board with cap fence reaches the the roof and moving the gate to line up with the neighbor next door adds greater privacy for the bedrooms.

Isn't it pretty?

Hopefully, I still have many more years before I have to think about replacing my fence, but this is certainly what I was thinking of for myself.

New Paint!

My sister's house is slowly coming along. Two more rooms are painted now. The dining and formal living room have been changed from this dark army green color...

...to a cool shade of gray.

Along with the color change, the draperies and chandelier will also change. The windows will be dressed with probably vibrant colors and the chandelier will be along the lines of this:

The capiz shells add a little romance while the rectangle shape allows the space to remain modern. As far as the dining table, it will more than likely be built with a bench on one side.

Changing the ceiling color to white definitely makes the room bigger, cheerier and cleaner than the dark khaki ceiling color. I know, I should have waited until the room was clear before nabbing a quick snap shot of the new color.

They decided to not paint all the walls in the room. I wish I snapped a before picture of the adjoining formal living room. Do you see that triangle of white on the top corner of the picture. Originally, it was painted green. Instead of painting it gray to match the color scheme of the original owner, they decided to paint it white. To me, this makes the window more symmetrical. I love the way it turned out. The formal living room will be turned into a more casual place for both the kids and adults to play.

Their Karlstad couch will sit in front of the windows. Their couch is a lighter gray with chrome legs.

A large orange frieze rug like this will adorn the floors to make the space more casual and colorful.

They also decided to paint all the columns the hallway color so that it would disappear. Originally, it was painted green as well. Instead of closing off the space by painting it gray, the decided to have it blend it with the rest, making it feel more open. I know I should waited until the floor was clean to take a snapshot.

Now that the spaces are painted, it's time to shop and put the rooms together. It may be a while before the rooms will be complete since the couch they want for the family room is out of stock so the couch that is supposed to be in this space is being used in the family room for seating. Stay tuned to find out how the rooms turn out.

House Progress

I mentioned a couple of months ago that my sister just bought a new house. They have been working feverishly to make it there own. I thought I would post their milestones. There have been eons of painting and wall paper removals.

First up, is the living room. It was a really dark and gloomy room since the entire space, even the ceiling was painted with dark colors. The only reason it looks bright in this picture is because every light is turned on in the middle of the day.

The ceiling was painted with an off white color while the walls were painted with a soft gray. The color change made the room instantly brighter..no lights necessary.

There's a new ceiling fan to replace the builders typical fan and the fireplace was painted black (covering up the brass) for a sleeker, more modern look.

Next up, is the kitchen which had peeling wall paper. Once again, another dark color.

The wall paper was removed and the walls and ceiling were painted. Covering up the dark khaki ceiling is the same off white color and the wall adorns the color teal.

It's definitely a different space...going from traditional to a little more modern.

Continuing with the transformation, the cabinets will be painted a creamy white. I can't wait to see the change.