A private window

Hey hey laaaaadies! (And men. Hello Dad!) How are you this fine Thursday? Today I’m sharing a super simple project that solved an age-old problem for us. See, we live in a neighborhood. Like, a real, suburban neighborhood with houses next to us. (That gives some people the shivers, I know.) Our bathroom window is one of those that doesn’t open. (And I still don’t understand why. Moisture issues

Outside mount bamboo shades

Hello hello! I’m back today to share a quick DIY project and a couple new tools I’ve started using lately. It’s been Christmas decor 24/7 around here and I gotta be honest, it was great to get something off the DIY list and use a tool for a change. (Insert tool man (woman?) grunt here.) If you’ve read for a while you know I’m a lover of bamboo shades. Over the years I’ve switched over from our

Trimming out the drapes

Well hello! Hope you had a lovely weekend! I got a project done that’s been harassing me for months. Well, not really. It just seemed like the window in the living room that had been nekked forever was mocking me every time I walked by. And the extra fabric I bought six months ago to go on it was yelling at me to JUST GET IT DONE. Sheesh. Chill out already!! Anyway. You might remember when I

Let there be light!

Well HEY! Thanks for all the kind comments on our new floors! I tell you what -- I am more thrilled with them each day. I swear these floors don’t show anything! I so wish I could say I’m the I-want-to-see-the-dirt-so-I-know-when-to-clean type…but I’m just not. Sorry. ;)Anyhoo, I told you the new floors have spurred on some new projects. One in particular I wanted to take care of before they

Covering the (nekked) windows

Remember those nekked kitchen windows? I loved how much light they let into our formerly dark space. I have lived, quite happily, with nothing on those windows for at least six months now. I decided I was going to keep them that way until I found just the right covering, at just the right price, that I loved. If I didn’t find all of the above, they were staying nekked…FOREVA!!! OK, that

COLOR! (in the living room)

First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day my SQUEEZIES! :) Hope you had a great one. I’ve been working on some changes in our living room over the last couple of weeks, and I’m nowhere near close to done, but I just couldn’t wait to show you! I am LOVING how it's turning out -- so excited. I don’t know if it’s the three inches of ice that have finally melted off our driveway (for the first time

Tricky Tricky! (Window treatments)

Howdy! I still haven’t heard from two of the winners of the HomeGoods cards -- Cammy and Stephanie, holla at me! So, remember when I showed you the start of our bedroom redo a couple of months ago? Remember the purple drapes?: Oh my. They were looking pretty sad. They were left over from the room before…and before. :) But obviously it was time for them to go. Then one of my lovely readers

My nekked kitchen windows

Sooo…do you remember that little bitty kitchen project I started ohhhhh…five months ago? With the help of some free Amex points, I was able to take the simple changes I had planned for the space and amp them up just a tad. :) Well, the summer-o-lazy hit, and then the closer we got to fall, the more obsessed I got with decluttering, so the kitchen has had very little DIY action lately. I’m

Bamboo or blinds?

The week after we moved into our house more than six years ago, my awesome Dad came by one day and helped install two-inch faux blinds on pretty much every. single. window. I mean, there’s only so long you can live with sheets over the windows, right?  :) But over the past few years, I have fallen in love with the warmth and texture of bamboo roman shades. And I have now replaced every single

A cozy window nook!

First of all, thanks so much for your idea on the furniture layout! It’s hard to get a feel for the room just with the pics I posted – there are walkways behind both sofas, so for now, they have to stay put. But I am going to add a console table behind the long sofa for sure – I found a perfect table that isn’t too deep and it’s gorg! But for now I’m trying not to spend any cash. ;) One of the

Before and After Party! (A drape redo)

Well hello! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I was busy keeping Kleenex in business with a lovely cold. :) I did get a bit of work done on the basement – I could actually breathe much better down in the cold! It’s going to take quite a bit more time and a ton more work, but I am SO excited about the changes down there. The amount of crap we had has been a bit overwhelming, and getting it out

Rewind: DIY (no sew!) roman shades

Hello! Hope you had a great weekend! This rewind post is about a project I get a ton o’ questions about so I wanted to revisit it. I first showed you my DIY roman shades here and they are one of my all time favorite projects and are SO easy to do it’s just silly. I think it was my friend AnNicole who made me aware of a similar project a couple years ago – and like always I tweaked the project

Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!

So next to the paint, the biggest change in my dining room was the windows. I swear these windows have been through more transformations than all the windows in this house put together. The first step in the redo is something I plan to do in the whole house -- can you guess what it is???? Ah DUH -- it's molding! Our home has no trim around the windows, just window sills: I heart thick, beautiful

The easiest, cheapest, custom drapes EVER.

Have you ever lived with something in your house for years and YEARS, not in love with it, but liking it OK, just fine with it?And then you change one little thing in the room and it sets you off on this roll that is very unbeneficial to the pocket book? That's me.I've been transforming our loft into the toy room and am trying to walk the very fine line between a cozy space for the adults and a

Easy drapery tricks

I've learned a few drapery tricks in the "biz" that I thought I would share with you. The "biz" is veeeeery slow right now, by the way. I mean WAY. SLOW. Darn it -- more time to blog!! Drats.So here we go! If you love the look of the look of pleated drapes -- something like this:You can "train" your drapes to do the same thing! Now this depends on the fabric, and it helps if they are lined and a

Third time is a charm?

I'm on drapery No. 3 in our dining room. And I think I'm finally happy...but not done yet! More about that later. First, another short TOOT on drapery-making on the cheap:Let's review. Hemming tape: (Have you gotten some yet?? I mean, reallllllly...)Put your good side of the fabric against the lining and hem. Do I have to remind you how easy this is??If you are just doing simple drapes, just

Window retreatment tutorial!

So there's a window treatment in our bathroom that has been bugging me for months. (I have lots of little projects that bug me, argh!!) I store-bought this one and it has always bothered me that it was so sheer. I decided to "retreat" this window treatment -- and I took pictures to show you how to do it too!I make most of the window treatments in my home, as I've shown you here. I won't go on and

The easiest window treatments. Ever. Period.

This window treatment is easily the simplest one I've done. You'll need fabric, a rod, ribbon and hemming tape. It will take you 30 minutes, tops. Start by picking out your fabric. You won't even need a full yard for this one, unless you'll want it to be operational (if you want it to cover the window, you'll need more fabric). Make a rod pocket at the top and then hem the sides with the hemming

DIY no sew roman shades

When I say this stuff is easy, I mean it. And this time I REALLY mean it! One of my favorite projects is our faux roman shade window treatments. All you need is fabric you love, hemming tape (that I've mentioned before), a couple cup hooks and a small amount of ribbon.

I'm sharing the steps, including pictures, so you can see how easy it is for yourself!

Step 1: Cut your fabric to the length/

Cover your windows!

OK, on my list of easiest, "thriftiest" ways to decorate your home...window treatments are WAY up there. Problem is, most of the somewhat affordable treatments that you can buy at stores are too short for homes with nine foot ceilings (that a lot of us have now). Even the regular 84" draperies are too short for eight foot ceilings because your drapes should at least hit the floor, if not "puddle"