Duvet Inspiration Take II

Evidently I was right about my other choices.  J felt that the daisy styled print, although he liked it, would suffer the same fate as the duvet we currently have - cat.hair.mania.  The second swirly print just didnt do it for him and he ended up saying that it looked "too much like rope" which is apparently a bad thing.

I was back to square one.  Waverly recently released their new spring line of fabrics but I went to see it yesterday at Joann's and it was just too Eastery for lack of a better term.  The yellows were too bright, even for us, and there just wasnt a lot of depth to the design.  We would tire of it quickly.

I perused fabric.com a bit and found the new home collection from Ty Pennington, the carpenter turned interior designer.  He has some potentially interesting patterns that are ever so slightly asian inspired.  Online the collection looks like it has spice/persimmon colors along with either taupe or grey.  Depending on what the samples end up looking like in person, they may match the navy curtains well as orange and navy are always a great pairing.  I have ordered samples of the following fabrics to see for my own eyes what the colors really are.

Charcoal Blossom

Honeycomb Spice



Persimmon Lace



Taupe Lace







Tudor Taupe



Wave Spice





Kimono Spice



Tudor Spice





The thing is, even though they are from the same collection its difficult to be certain that all the colors will match or, while the prominent color may match, if the accent colors do as well. 



My idea is to make a duvet out of one of the more plain colors and then have the underside have hints of color.  For example, if the top of the duvet was Kimono Spice and the underside was Charcoal Blossom, it would add some interest to bedding that would otherwise be somewhat monotonous. 



The other option is to go for something grey and white, like this for example.

Waverly Cross Section in Charcoal



I think the white, gray, and navy would make for a timeless and elegant combination.  There wouldnt be too much excitement going on colorwise, but it would be a very relaxing room.



New Duvet?

When we purchased the new house J and I finally put our Crate and Barrel gift card that we received as a gift at our wedding to use.  We bought a beautiful duvet that was very outside our design comfort zone but promised to bring some class and panache to the new house.  Well, I have to say, we love the duvet.  It washes well, isnt too wrinkly and it has the most amazing shades of blue.

It also, much to our dismay, shows e.v.e.r.y cat hair.  Its especially bad this time of year when our three little ones are shedding their winter coats. 

J and I arent really blue people.  I own a few blue sweaters and J has a few blue shirts, but if you were to ask us our favorite colors I dont think either of us would come up with blue.  My inclination is to ditch the blue color scheme altogether but seeing as I already spent time and money on those great navy curtains, I really want to find a replacement duvet that incorporates the navy color without having it be the dominant color and, hense, reducing the prominence of our cat hair issue.  I havent been able to find any suitable duvets at Overstock or West Elm which typically have affordable bedding solutions so I began scouring my new favorite website, Fabric.com.  I found two potential fabric patterns.

This one by Amy Butler is daring and has a sight Asian influence, but its also a bit...neon.  Unfortunately, requesting a sample of this fabric from fabric.com isnt an option.  I may be able to find it elsewhere for a sample, but I am not even certain J would go for it and it may still be too dark to correct the original problem.

The second option is a nautical theme by Robert Allen.  Its polyester which may actually act to repel some of the fur but I am not sure if its too yacht-y.  White, navy, and tan are pretty neutral colors so I am hoping that I can down play the boating theme by not incorporating any nautical accessories into the bedroom. 

Personally I am leaning towards 1) new drapes or 2) the Amy Butler print.  Its big and bold and bright and offers a lot more decorating options than the nautical Robert Allen print which is a bit more tame and safe. 

Why cant it ever be easy?

I just want a threshold piece of wood between the bathroom and the hallway.  Thats all I want.

The piece came off shortly after we moved in.  The prior owners had done a odd piece of mix-and-match to get the wood piece to fit and it had broken off - surprise, surprise!  Now, there is a gaping hole that collects kitty litter and other bits of dust and nastiness between the crappy laminate of the hall way and the crappier tile of the bathroom. 

About two months ago, back when the piece broken off, I thought we had purchased screws long enough to make the repair but evidently we pickup screws that we just long enough to keep the minor project from being completed.  Two months later and nothing had been screwed in.  Nothing was fixed.  No progress had been made on this simple fucking project. 

So, I took it upon myself to get the damned thing done this morning only to find that the screws we had bought for the job were too long and were cheap to boot.  Now I have a stripped screw, a bruised ego, AND and incomplete project.

So I ask you, why cant anything be fucking simple???

Internet Marketing Genious

I think its google's fault.  Recently I have been shopping for things for the house online - imagine that!  I

almost never find what I am looking for but most of the time I am just shopping for ideas rather than tangible items.  Evidently the powers that be at google have been taking notice of my window shopping tendencies and have placed appropriate ads in the google reader screen at the bottom of each feed. 

Before now, the ads have not even warranted a second glace - that is until I saw this little gem.  Is it not the most fabulous drawer pull you have ever laid eyes on?!  Its angular and sparkly without being over the top.  Its a bit edgy and completely unique.  How did google know that this would be the handle I would love above all others? 

Seriously though, there are four drawers with absolutely no pulls in the guest bathroom and a cabinet that you have to pry open with your finger nails.  These are a perfect solution.  They work especially well given that I am looking to make a shower curtain for the bathroom with this striped Waverly fabric that matches the curtain in the guest bedroom.  The stripes in the curtain will be mimicked in the handles!  The handles are a bit pricey but its not preventative.  At $9 a pop thats only $36 for new drawer pulls and $12 for the larger handle for the cabinet. 

I am still working on what to paint the cabinets with in the bathroom.  The walls will eventually be grey Porpoise by Behr but the floor is tile has both tan and grey swirls in it.  The grout is a tan color (and probably needs to be redone) and the counter top is in decent shape and is a solid white-ish color.  I am thinking of using the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit as seen here: http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/

I think the Pure White color with the glaze would add a bit of interest to the natural oak cabinets without clashing with the counter top, floor, or wall color and also will not be too matchy matchy.  I still have to swing by Home Depot for a sample or two to make sure thats the color I want, but the kit is supposed to be easy to use, damned near impossible to screw up, and its blogger approved!  Its also Rustoleum brand so you know the product is going to be durable.

We did end up priming both bedrooms and the hall way last weekend with help of the FIL so stay tuned for before and aftter pics in the near future.

No More Projects

It has been suggested, by J, that I not purchase any more project pieces of furniture until we get some of the current house projects out of the way.  For instance, we still need to paint the entry, hall, both bathrooms, and both bedrooms.  I need to complete the curtains that I started the other day for the Master Bedroom and start the curtain for the guest bedroom once the fabric arrives (its beautiful and I got it 40% off at Joann.com with free shipping).  I will also need to strip or repaint the buffet and repaint the cute bedside table I bought for the guest room. 

Thats not THAT many projects!  Ha!

I would like to add one more project to the mix.  I want an old 5-panel door and I want to replace the panels with mirrors and hang it on the wall in the dining room over the buffet.  I am not sure if J will go for it or how to even replace the panels with mirrors, but I figure even if it doesnt end up in the dining room, it would make an interesting piece some place in the house.

The picture above is the inspiration I am drawing from.  They ended up putting pictures in place of the panels and hung it on the wall as I would like to do.  The bold color is a great touch but I think semi-gloss white paint bordering the mirrors would make something slightly country a bit more elegant.  Imagine the image below rotated and hung on the wall rather than on hinges...

Watching the Paint Dry

Well, we arent so much watching the paint dry as waiting for the paint to dry, but you get the picture.  J put the cabinet doors back on last week and the kitchen has been completely transformed - completely.  I put the final coat of paint on the drawers this weekend and we are giving them a few days to cure before sitting them back in their respective locations.

I would have taken some pictures of the almost completed project, but the contents of the drawers are sitting out all over the kitchen.  Needlesstosay, I want my kitchen and dining room space back.  I dont want to find my kitties lounging on my silverware any longer and I am looking forward to eating at the dining room table every now and then instead of in front of the TV. 

After the drawers are back in place, there are a few others things that need to be taken care of in the area before it can truly be considered complete.  First, I need to get the curtains up on the windows.  Once I get the master bedroom curtains done, I will be repurposing a long sheer from Target into two custom kitchen curtains.  Second, we are looking for a buffet for the dining room area as well as a new kitchen table.  The one we have from Jonathan's parents has varnish that melts every time it gets the slightest bit warm out and it has a leaf that isnt the same color as the rest of the table.  Ideally the buffet wont stick out from the wall too far, contains storage, and will serve as a depository for our bills and netflix dvds.  We would like our dining room table to seat 6 and have the potential to seat 8 or 10 with additional leaves.  I have yet to find one in a style I like so the search is still on. 

This is the photo of a buffet we may be picking up courtesy of craigslist.  It is solid wood, all the drawers work, and its 6 feet long but only 18 inches deep so it would work great in the space.  Its also only $50 which makes up for the fact that its painted barn red - paint is something we can work with!

Furniture Wish List

With the kitchen walls and most of the trim painted, we are taking a bit of a breather before launching into the massive and certainly paintful process of painting all our kitchen cabinets.  My Dad had the nerve to ask "Are you going to paint the inside?"  Um, hell no!  No one needs to see the inside...the doors will be shut.  We want the project to take one weekend not one entire month!

In the meantime I have been doing a bit of craigslist shopping with no luck what so ever.  Somewhere in the last few months or so I have developed a fondness for mid-century furniture pieces. I am not certain if my love for danish modern is shared by J, but we will soon find out if I can find a piece that is both affordable and stylish. 

We are looking for a coffee table for the living room and also a low credenza for our flat screen.  Here are a few items I think might fit the bill though I have an inkling that the style may have never made it to Indiana!

I have to admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the first credenza.  I was hoping that we could get something similar made to hide our washer/dryer but I dont know what we'll end up with just yet.  Personally, I think the elevated furniture makes the room look larger and I find myself drawn to raised dressers for the bedroom as well.

Isnt this just gorgeous?

And this one - I am not too certain its practical and I am fairly certain J would totally hate it - is completely wonderful and my sweaters would look perfect in it!

I know some of you are thinking about how you chucked a coffee table just like that one about 25 years ago or how you couldnt wait to get a dresser with fancy metal nobs or pulls rather than the plain front danish models.  I find the clean lines of scandinavian furniture pleasing and am not a fan of cabinet hardware, probably because there is so much ugly stuff out there, so these pieces are just what I am looking for.

Maybe something like this is next???