My Favorite Room

The gorgeous blog, The Polohouse, is hosting a fun Favorites on the First party: Your Favorite Room.

I just so happen to love showing my favorite room in the house, the sunroom.  This probably comes to no surprise as I've posted about it enough times!

Come on in....

Our sunroom is used year round.  In the winter we just turn on the underfloor heating, and the fireplace and it's a cozy spot to snuggle up with a cup of tea and a book. The back of the room is a wall of windows, looking out to the horses in the rolling fields beyond (sadly for my 8 year old horse lover, these are the neighbours horses, not ours).

The previous owner of the home (a custom home builder himself) did a fabulous job of adding great features to this room: a paneled, white-washed ceiling, great trim on the walls, stone fireplace, matchstick blinds etc.  I didn't even need to re-paint. 

I've decorated this room with a collection of old and new. Grandma's antique cabinet sits in the corner next to the Ikea loveseat. I love the eclectic mix in this space.

This is the most 'done' room in the house. No more major pieces needed. I'm looking for one last touch: a round rug by my reading chair.

The room is more like two spaces connected by a corridor. On the one side is the fireplace and loveseat, on the other my reading chair.

In the corridor, is a bench where we love to sit here and storm watch. We get the most fantastic lightening storms here.

Thanks for visiting my favorite space!

Linking to The Polohouse, and my Favorite Parties!

A Farmhouse Red Cabinet

The colour of our house has inspired my latest Chalk Paint project.

I fell in love with the colour of our home when I had only seen pictures of it on the mls. It reminded me of a red barn, and I soon came to call it the Red Farmhouse.

My Mom scored this great cabinet for $30 at a garage sale. I knew it was perfect to house my beloved collection of quilting fabrics. The finish was in bad shape, and in need of being refinished or painted.

Before:

I immediately enivisioned a barn red colour for the cabinet, similar to our house. Primer Red ASCP seemed to be a good fit.

After:

I have learned to not get worried when I first apply ASCP. The true colour isn't really obvious until it's dried, and if you use dark wax, it changes again. The Primer Red starts off quite pink, but turned out to be the perfect colour.

I'm not sure that I can squeeze in any more fabric.  Perhaps I should get to all those many, many quilting projects I have planned, and use some of this fabric up =)

I finally found a home for my David Winter cottages. I first bought one in the mid eighties as a Christmas gift for my Mom. I bought her several over the years, and was so proud to be able to save up the money to buy my Mom a special gift. In doing so, these cottages became special to me as well. A few of these are the actual ones I bought my Mom, and a few are others that she found thrifting. She was ready to part with much of her collection, but I wasn't, and now here they are!

I ended up painting one more smaller piece in Primer Red, which I'll show you soon.


This week my 2 eldest daughters start school. Madelyn is in Kindergarten and goes for 2 full days a week. To say I'm excited would be an understatment!! Just think of all the projects I can work on!



Linking to my Favorite Parties!

 

A simple method for making pinch pleat curtains

I love the softness that drapery panels add to a room. I made panels for both my bedroom, and most recently for the breakfast nook. They were so quick and easy, and really complete these rooms.

This is a very simple method for sewing pinch pleat drapes. In my previous home, I had drapery panels professionally made. They did look fabulous, but they were pricey and you really can't tell the difference with the ones I sewed unless you were to look at the back of the panel.

I'll give you a step by step of how I sewed these panels.

Items needed:

*drapery fabric. Measure length needed and add approximately 6 inches for seams and hem. If using dummy panels (ie that don't close), one width of 54" fabric is fine. If you have very wide windows, use 1.5-2 widths together for a fuller look.

*drapery liner. I always line my panels as it is simple and inexpensive to do. I bought my liner online for $2/yard, but many people have blogged about using a cheap bed sheet which would be fine also. The dimensions need to match your drapery fabric.

*pleater tape. I bought mine at Walmart, but any fabric store should carry it.

*pleater hooks.

*drapery weights (optional depending on thickness/weight of fabric)

Step 1

With right sides of one length of drapery fabric and one length of liner together, sew around the top and two sides, leaving a 1/4 " seam allowance. Leave the 4th side (the bottom) open.

Step 2

Turn right side out and press well.

Step 3

-Cut a length of pleater tape to match the width of your fabric (should be 54" if using a single width of fabric)

-pin the pleater tape to the top of the back side of your panel. Make sure that you have positioned the tape correctly with the 'pouch' opening for the hooks along the bottom.

-sew the tape in place, ensuring that you follow the lines so as not to sew the hook pouches shut.

Step 4

-place a tong of each hook into the pleater tape pouch. Skip one pouch between hooks. I used 7 hooks each panel.

It should now look like this on the back

And this on the front

Step 5

-hang your panels

Step 6

-I prefer a hand sewn hem, so the stitching isn't visible on the front. I brought my iron to my window and hemmed them in place.

-turn under approximately 1/2" and iron, then turn under again, to your desired length. Hand stitch, ensuring that you only catch the liner with your needle and thread. If using weights, place one in each corner before sewing the hem closed.

Voila!  Told you it was quick and simple!!

{ps, do you know how hard it is to take pictures of a window with southern exposure, that is always bright and sunny??}

Linking to my Favorite Parties!