A Couple of Projects plus Outdoor Fabrics

My head has been swimming with ideas on what to write about next...outdoor inspiration pictures, decorating with plants, wainscoting and paneling, highlighting a great new artist I just discovered, or showing you who helps me out behind the scenes...the list keeps going.  Just wish there was more time in a day!  Well, one of my New Years resolutions was to complete some projects around the house and it looks like a couple of these projects are officially underway and I couldn't wait to share.

Project #1 - Dining Room Drapery Treatment

I recently designed a treatment for my dining room window and selected a fabric for the valance and panels.  I was torn for a bit on whether to install a shade under the valance or select a second fabric for a second set of panels that would traverse to the center.   Both the shade and the panels would provide some privacy or at least give the impression of privacy from inside the house.  I finally decided on the panels because I like the idea of using more layers and fabric in a room that currently has a lot of hard surfaces.  I think shades have a bit more of a casual feel and decided I wanted a more elegant look.  It was not the cheapest option but a solution that we will enjoy for many years to come.

I chose this Schumacher linen fabric for the valance and stationary panels.  It will bring in color and pattern to the room plus a touch of my favorite color...blue.

The traversing panels will be a super sheer linen by Pindler.  Once pleated it will provide a little privacy but I didn't want the fabric to be solid so it wouldn't make the space seem smaller when closed.

I think the fabric goes well with my furniture and chandelier.

Here's the window the drapery will go on.  You can see the window has lots of horizontal and vertical lines so the last thing I wanted to do was add another piece of hardware above the window adding another vertical line.  Instead I'll have a inverted box pleat valance that starts at the top of the ceiling and covers the top moulding of the window.  This should help make the ceiling look a bit taller too.

It should be installed in 4-5 weeks.  

Project #2 - Outdoor pillows

I have not been enjoying Maryland's cold weather at all!  So it's been fun to think about warmer weather things such as designing cushions for my outdoor furniture.    Over the summer we stained our house green.  We used Cabot stain that was custom colored to look like "Urban Nature" by Benjamin Moore.   The window trim was painted in an off white color to match the new windows we had installed.

We bought our Brown Jordan outdoor furniture (table, chairs and the glider below) 8 years ago and it looks as good today as it did then.

So I picked 2 outdoor fabrics that look nice with our house color, outdoor furniture, and go with the look and feel of our home.  I really like them both but they have a completely different look.  This one is by Fabricut.  It's preppy with a seaside feel.   It coordinates well with the colors inside my house maybe even a little too well.  It's definitely the safer option of the two.

This fabric is by Robert Allen with a funky fun pattern with my favorite two colors.

Decisions, decisions.   

Now is a great time to think about your outside space!  If you get started now it will be done in time to enjoy it on that first beautiful spring day.   Below are some great outdoor fabrics I discovered while looking for mine.  If you click on the images below you can get a much better look at the fabric.  Enjoy!

 Please contact me if you would like help making your home beautiful!  Also, I'll be running specials on outdoor furniture so it's a good time to start thinking about it.