Striped Curtains DIY

I was looking for wide striped curtains when I came across this great DIY for painting stripes on curtains.  Wary from my unsuccessful attempt at stripe painting (here), I decided to sew my stripes together instead.  I sewed 2 full-length gray and white striped panels (1 shown below) for a total of $30.

Finished Curtain

A better picture of the colors

Little E was SO proud of finding a giant green egg :)

To all who celebrate, Happy Easter!

Adventures in Home Improvement

We're halfway finished with the home improvement portion of the house process!  I am happy to report that the rooms are painted (all bedrooms, entry, den, dining room, and living room - though I will say we cheated and only did accent walls in some areas), the dated shower door has been removed (it was much simpler than I thought - this great tutorial made it seem easy), and am partially finished with installing new closet rods / shelving in the closets.

Items left on the docket are:

• Lighting - very few rooms have overhead lighting and I'm not a big fan of lamps (they tend to break in our presence as errant stuffed animals go flying and clumsy people [me] make them topple).
• Headboards - pondering DIY'ing some.  I'll probably start by making a twin size for Little E and see how it goes before I tackle our king.
• Curtains / bedding / accent pillows - I'm most excited about sewing these up!  Trying to find "it" fabrics right now.
• Bathroom remodel (later and will most definitely be done professionally) - all the upstairs bathrooms need new flooring / fixtures / bath tiles / countertops.  I'm in love with the look of glass tiles like this 

The striped entry turned out...um...with very "human" stripes.  That is to say, they are rather imperfect.  If you look at it from afar AND you squint, they look pretty decent.  The Frog Tape was not my friend.  Far from the clean, crisp edges I expected, I got  giant blobs of paint where it had seeped under the tape.  I can't say this is entirely the tape's fault, because 1) we're not exactly super handy and 2) our walls are textured and I'm guessing it couldn't seal properly because of this.  I tried touching up the blobs, but made it worse somehow.  I'm giving up for the moment and will come back to it.  For now, we'll just squint at it.

Imperfect stripes (sigh)

Master Bedroom w/ Paisley Drapery

I think the paisley is so pretty, but I'm not sure how best to work it in.  I was originally planning on matching the curtains to accent pillows, but I don't think I can find a match to the existing drapes.  Would you redo or work with it?

A better representation of the gray in the master bedroom

Have a great week!

Hello Abode & Upcoming Home DIYs

We closed on our house late last week and are now starting the process of making it ours.  First up, paint - the easiest and most inexpensive transformation.  Our house is currently all white.  To my husband's dismay, we will be painting almost every single room.  Unfortunately for him, half of the rooms have vaulted ceilings.  I say "unfortunately for him" because at a full foot shorter than him, I'd have to teeter on the the highest rungs to be of any effect and that's just plain terrifying to me.

Our new dining room / living room area

Question - we have a pretty sizable entertainment center for the living room that we have no idea where to place.  There are only 3 walls in the living room.  1 is a wall full of windows, 2 is a wall of windows and a fireplace, and 3 has a giant cutout to the dining room.  

None are optimal, but which is least jarring?

We set out to paint a striped accent wall and the living room a slate gray with blue undertones.  As the paint dried, it became more apparent that it was a distinct blue.  Oops, would have been smarter to swatch it.

Stripes in Progress (used this tutorial)

Don't worry, we're not finished.  The Frog Tape is still up and we'll be adding another coat today.

For upcoming projects, I will be sewing curtains, accent pillows, and maybe some bedspreads after the basics are completed.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Accessory Deals & Finds on eBay

As we prepare to re-enter the realms of home ownership, I've dramatically cut down on my spending.  For the last 3 months, my credit card bills have not exceeded $50.  At the height of my shopping craze (pre-kids and living in the super affordable midwest), I would easily spend up to $300 a month on clothes alone.

Rather than quit cold turkey, I like to indulge myself in little shopping treats on a monthly basis.  Lately, I've been scouring eBay when insomnia rears its ugly head.  All of these are under $20 with free shipping, and I would caution not to expect fantastic quality. For me personally, it satiates some kind of inner shopping demon for a small price at a low frequency.

Map Scarf, $16.99 

This was my treat for April and should be arriving in a couple of weeks.  I have an affinity for all kinds of map prints and ordered this scarf in blue.

This brings me to map phone cases.  I had considered purchasing one of these, but have yet to pull the trigger:

From left to right: $3.19, $9.99, $9.99

For jewelry, I've been eyeing the following:

From left to right: $19.73, $17.85, $18

Happy shopping!