Let the Decorating Begin!

Since I have more time than money, I spent the last couple of days shopping around for good deals on home decor. Of course, new stuff is in order since Jeff spent the last two weeks painting the entire upstairs. When I returned from a trip to visit family, I found a house that felt clean and new - a blank slate just waiting for the finishing touches. (Well, more than that since I plan to paint the cabinets, but that's a story for another time.)

Today's project revolved around window treatments. Thursday, when Jeff and I found a nice comforter set  on sale at Target, I thought I'd have to order valances for the bedroom from Penney's. However, this morning as I started putting away the bed skirt (which we never use because our bed is too tall), I realized I could make window toppers out of the material. (Hooray!) So, I commenced cutting off the white liner fabric used to hold a dust ruffle in place between the mattress and box springs. Once the liner was gone, I had three strips of fabric that perfectly match the new bed linens. It was a little thin for my taste, so I sewed them all together and then doubled the fabric and sewed it across the top. Once that was done, I only had to cut the length in half and hem the raw edges before hanging.

Since I doubled the fabric, I didn't have enough to make a third valance for the bathroom, but I did find some nice (plain) valances on sale to coordinate with the new color scheme. Of course, it took forever (and I do mean at least an hour) to press all the wrinkles out of those puppies. Then, I found Jeff's handy dandy electric screwdriver (hooray for power tools) and hung the rod. In addition to those valances, I picked up drapery panels for the sliding door on sale today as well (They, too, were long on wrinkles - and I really hate to iron.); however since Penney's didn't have a door panel for the large window on the back door, I've decided to dye the one I have. (Wish me luck!)

All in all, the day has been productive, and I'm already planning tomorrow's projects. (I picked up a gallon of chocolate brown paint for some accent walls; the fireplace is on my agenda, and I'm spray painting some chairs if I have the time.) Stay tuned for more decorating updates!



Here's the new comforter set.



I picked up a pair of rugs for the bedside at T.J. Max Home Store. They are silky smooth!

This is one of the valances I made from the bed skirt.



These are the valances I managed to hang all by myself!
(Jeff doesn't usually allow me to play with his power tools!)



The archway looked a little plain.



So, I put some scroll work stickers around it. (They were on sale at JoAnne's!)
Tomorrow, the bedroom side of the arch will get a coat of chocolate
brown paint to coordinate.