JUST IN TIME FOR SPRING

Back in the summer I came across this fabulous fabric find.  

I knew right away I wanted to use it for new drapes for our family room. 

The seamstress (my mother) delivered them a few weeks ago. 

I think I'm in love with the new Spring/Summer drapes....

These are the previous Fall/Winter drapes.....

Believe it or not, both fabrics were found on clearance for $4/yard 

and who am I kidding, I love these new window treatments so much,

they will probably stick around all year long.

I love the pinch pleat detail.

I realize we have only had the trampoline sectional for a little over a year, 

but if I play my cards right, it will be on its way out of here very soon. 

Craigs List, here it comes......

I have a few ideas of what I want to replace it with, but that's a whole other post. 

And since I am making a concerted effort to stop and smell the roses,

I picked up these beauties for $4.99/dozen today at the grocery store.

I smile every time I walk past them. 

Did you stop to smell the roses today?

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Savvy Southern Style

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LET THE SUNSHINE IN

After taking the sheers down from our bay window, I was eager to let more light in to our house.

While sitting down for dinner one night, my eyes began to wander 

and they eventually landed on the bamboo blinds hung in our kitchen/dining room window.

This is wat they used to look like this.

And now, after moving them up to hang just beneath the curtain rod....

Such an easy change for a dramatic difference.  

First, it lets it in a ton more light and second, it makes the window appear much larger than it really is. 

Definitely should have corrected this mistake a long time ago.

Who thinks I should add a rug here?

Sorry honey, looks like my wandering eye is at it again.

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BAFFLING BAY WINDOWS

I love a good bay window, but sometimes when it comes to adding window treatments, I'm a bit baffled.  Our bay window sat naked for quite some time while I pondered what to do with it.  I finally decided on drapes and sheers.  I admit, I am not completely loving the sheers, but as you can see, we get a ton of light in this window, especially in the afternoon.  Our rug and furniture would be ruined by the streaming sunlight without these sheers.  So for now, it works.  

One of these days, when I tire of all the color in this room, I would love to go neutral with linen slipcovered love seats, cream panels and bamboo blinds.  This room makes me drool just a bit.  

How gorgeous are those windows?

If I had a window seat, I think this would be a great option.  

I can see myself curling up with a good book and possibly hiding out by closing the curtains 

I adore this casual look.  We just had dinner at some friends' new house on Sunday.  

It's actually a very old home oozing with charm. 

They have a beautiful bay window in the dining room that they want to add treatments to.  

There is a window seat underneath and the windows are leaded glass.  

She is thinking of doing something similar to this.  

They want privacy in the evening, but of course, 

they want to showcase the beautiful leaded glass most of the time.  

She will likely choose a more formal fabric, but I think this style is a great option for them.  

I looking forward to seeing what she decides on.  

Can't believe I didn't smuggle my camera in during our visit.  Next time, I promise.

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Symmetry Sanity

The more I blog, the more issues I realize I have.  I guess I've always known I had these issues, but putting them in writing for the whole world to read makes them seem real.  Okay, maybe the whole world isn't reading my blog (yet), but I'm definitely exposing my flaws.  I've admitted to having an issue with fabric, mirrors, couches, and, well, let's just stop there to save time.  Anyway, another thing I have an issue with is symmetry.  I like things to be symmetrical.  It's not such a bad thing is it? 

When we first looked at our house, before buying it, my husband said "Are you sure you could live there, the front door isn't in the center of the house."  I wish I was making that up, but unfortunately, I'm not.  Obviously, I got over that little issue, but generally in design, I like symmetry.  

Take for instance, this window in my boys' room.  It looks like it's in the middle of the wall, right?  

It's not!  Once we moved the furniture in and I figured this out, I momentarily had a bit of a panic attack. Once I recovered, I went into problem solving mode.  I thought, what are our options?  We can't move the window and we can't move the walls.  Ah ha, we can play a trick on the eye and move the hardware over five inches.  So that's just what we did.  Hey, whatever it takes to keep me sane!

Can't even tell, can you?  Another great tip is to hang your hardware all the way up the ceiling.  It gives the impression of having higher ceilings.

We had this issue in our dining room and our family room and we used a version of this trick in both of those places as well.  No one would ever know the difference, except now I've exposed our secret to the whole world.

What about you, do you like symmetry too, or are you okay with things being a little "off"?

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