Sunday, October 31, 2010

From tablecloth to a "needed bed skirt"



I switch tables out like you would not believe. I must have owned about nine or ten during my lifetime. My current house is the only place I have lived that offered a separate room off the kitchen as a dining room. I used it as such for years, but always gravitated to the small table in the kitchen, or perhaps the small bistro table on the screened porch (off the kitchen). Our dining room was used mostly as a "pass through" to get to the short hall and bathroom, so a few years ago,Carl and I decided late one night to do some rearranging and get rid of the dining room atmosphere all together. It has worked quite well, for now I have a small TV room that tends to be our favorite spot. The windows face west and even on severely COLD days, the room receives plenty of sunshine to warm you. So, after all this explaining, I arrive at the reason for today's post. I was rummaging through my huge collection of tablecloths and found this really pretty, white with small blue scallops and cut-out work. Needing another fresh cottage look in our guest room, I removed about twelve inches from the center and still have the CENTER of the tablecloth to make a nice pillow sham. I had sufficient length to do several pleats which compliment the bed skirt. Careful planning and cutting is my only expense to this recent project. One of the photos shows a small view of my recent slipcovered rocker.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A cast-away chair gets new life



This old rocker has been around my sister's place for years; we traded a chair a few years ago and in the swap, I acquired this one. It was painted white a couple of years ago and nothing else done to it. It has sat outside in the elements for over a year and you can see from the BEFORE PHOTO - painting was done without any taping, so I decided yesterday to start a slipcover from a nice piece of Waverly fabric. I'm so.............glad I remembered to wash FIRST in hot water and dry because it shrank quite a bit. This little gem will come upstairs now and enjoy a corner in my guest bedroom. You gotta love this fabric in ANY color.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Autumn greetings from my front porch to yours


Sorry I've been out of touch for a while - too much going on and just couldn't get in the groove to blog. But I'm back today - Happy Friday also. My son just completed a makeover of my front porch. Removing a "not so good brick job from years ago", marks and scuffs from deck boards to original concrete substance was quite a feat, but it looks great. Our small 8x12 porch took 25 bags of concrete mix - I could not believe it. I look forward to this new smooth finish for many years. Enjoy the pillows from a previous post - I thought they would look great on the two chairs, flanking the small round table displaying an antique crochet piece. I made the large fall arrangement from my stash of stuff in the basement. Not a penny was spent on this autumn look. You gotta love any project that doesn't cost money.