More Painting Completed: The Living Room

Next up in the long line of rooms to paint this Summer was the living room. The walls and ceiling started out  the same dirty, tan/beige/yellow, dull color. We couldn't wait to paint the ceiling white which really opened up the room. We painted the walls the same fresh, brighter yellow that we used in the entryway and did some major touch-up to the black trim. Overall the transformation wasn't shockingly huge, but the room looks so much brighter and feels so much more open now!

Here's a glimpse of the new living room followed by some before and after breakdowns:

DIY: Curtains

Whilst out shopping for roman shade items, I fell in love with the fabric I posted about here and decided I HAD to have curtains out of it. I found this article which broke down every step and measurement to perfect simplicity. I had no idea making curtains was so easy! After a few short hours of time...
I ended up with the most gorgeous curtains EVER! Even David (who doesn't usually have much to say about things of this nature) keeps commenting on how much he loves them. These curtains flank the windows in the stairwell landing, an area which has not yet been rehabed and painted. As the space isn't finished, I'm not doing a full reveal quite yet. Up against black trim and dull mauve walls--my lovely curtains don't look their full fabulous yet. After painting, they'll POP and I'll share more.

In the daytime:
During the night:
If curtains were babies, I just had twins! I seriously love them.

DIY Resolution #1: Roman Shade

I'm no Martha, but sometimes I pretend I to be.

A variety of greenery provides privacy in our master bathroom throughout most of the year but come Winter, a few neighbors can probably see more than they bargained for. Enter the need for a Roman Shade. I wanted the shade to have a sheer quality without compromising privacy, an organic quality to the pattern sans anything that felt cookie-cutter, white on white, a little sheen and of course, sized appropriately to fit the window of interest. As you may have guessed, I didn't find it. So, I decided to make my own.

I'll spare a detailed write up of the process and just post a photo montage. If you're interested in making a shade, just let me know via comment and I'd be happy to forward links of the sources I used.

In a nutshell:The finished product:
And here is the shade in all its glory—filtering a beautiful glow of morning light. You can see the Winter chill in the air...Total Cost = $24.95
Breakdown: pulley hardware $3.95, cord 79¢, cord rings 30¢, dowels $1.26, Velcro $1.99, backing fabric (muslin) $2.25, shade fabric $11.42, ceiling fan pull (adapted as the cord pull) $2.99

Not too shabby for a custom shade that I absolutely love. This DIY resolution of mine might turn into an obsession. I like getting exactly what I want!