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 molding around windows, but alas, our window sill only goes beyond the window about an inch. So to get the look I really want, I'd have to tear those out, and that's just not happenin'.

The solution? The molding I've used all over this room is just the right fit to trim out the window and match up with the window sill:

I painted the trim and the drywall around the window all glossy white, giving the illusion that it's all molding:

It's all an illuuuuuuusion. I like illuuuuuusions. They are cheap and easy.

Next step: More of my beloved bamboo shades. I am on a mission to change all of our two inch blinds to these. I don't know why, but they just scream natural and warmth to me, two things that have me at hello.

Bamboo roman shades are so easy to install it's just silly. You mark where the brackets go, install them, then tighten the wing nuts and there. you. go. (Use anchors if you don't hit studs though!!):

Oh...I was already in love after these two steps. The "window casing" makes such a difference, to me anyway:

Uhhh yeah, by the way, I really can't reach out and touch our neighbors, I swear. It looks like I can in this pics, but I promise, no touching going on.

The final step: Fabric!! I just need fabric to finish off a room. Since the dark paint color adds so much drama, I wanted the drapes to be light and airy. I found a fabric I ADORE (at Joann's) and hung it like I showed you here:

It makes them look pleated, every time. ;)

I quite literally took the fabric off the roll, cut it in half and then hung them. They puddle on the floor just a bit:

I pretty much ALWAYS put lining in my drapes, but these are so lovely on their own, I don't think I'm going to. I didn't even hem them (*real* decorators all over the world are passing out right now). But I did use my hemming tape to hem up the bottom, just so they were finished there.

This take minutes peeps -- I took video to show you how easy it is:

I did the bottom of each drape in about five minutes. You can probably hear my stories on the TV in the background. And excuse the spray paint on my hands and the sweatpants. I didn't dress up for y'all. ;)

I am loving the white drapes on the chocolate brown walls:

Here's the before:
Here's the after:

And there's that cat again. ;) I'm thinking about shortening the rods just a bit, to make the drapes pleat more.

Just some paint touch ups to do, then the two biggies -- I want to recover the chairs desperately. I did the seats years ago but would love to do the whole chair. That's another post for another day. I am also DYING to extend our hard floors into this room. I mean, DY.ING. I'm hoping we can swing it soon, and have a friend help me install them. DYING.

Next up -- I'll show you the ceiling (ooooo!) and the hutch redo.

A DIY fall wreath.

Well hellooooo there! Hope you had a great weekend! First of all -- I want to announce the winner of the fall goodies!! April in CT -- you are the winner, so e-mail me and I'll get the items out to you this week!

I still haven't heard back from a couple previous winners -- the Bomobob art winner is Erin from Home is Where the Heart is and The Sheet Boutique pillow winner is Julianne Hendrickson. E-mail me soon so I can get you in touch with Bob and Cara!

Okay dokay...so I highlighted this wreath from BHG on my Crackbook page the other day:
I just fell in love with it and decided it. must. be. mine. Well...a slightly different version must. be. mine. I couldn't find the rectangle shape, of course. Then, I wanted a large circle, but the only place I've found those is at The Flower Factory, and that's a 45 minute drive for me...sooooooo, a small circle it was.

I am not a patient person, have I mentioned that? Hmmm?

I got my foam wreath at Joann's for $3-something (coupon). I spray painted it black, just a bit. I only did this so if I didn't get every little part covered with leaves, the white wouldn't be peeking out. (It's face down in this picture.):

I took my kitty:I mean, my LEAVES:

The cats must find themselves into every shot possible. Yet again, I just purchased garland and snipped the leaves off. This one was $6. I got some beady things to stick in after but didn't end up needing them, so this whole project was less than $10. Score!!

I just started covering the foam here and there, using the hot glue gun:

You need to work fast -- the glue will melt the foam just a bit, and you'll need something to hold down the leaves while they adhere. Don't use your fingers. Just trust me on this.

I just filled and filled and filled...

I covered as much of the foam as possible to make it as fluffy as possible. Fluffy wreaths are a good thing. The garland had a few beady things already on it, so I just snipped those off and glued them in.

It wasn't big enough for the spot I made it for, gah. But it was PERFECT hanging in front of our family room mirror:

I made sure to cover all the sides, even the back. Stink eye sister was the one who pointed out that -- DOY, you could totally see the foam on the unfinished back when it was hanging in front of a mirror.

These pictures kinda suck, because I forgot to take pics today...took them when it was getting dark -- sorry about that. Bad blogger!! I'll try to replace them tomorrow.

I really love it in this spot -- and yes, you can still see yourself right through the middle of the wreath:

That is, if you are exactly 5 foot, 9 1/2 inches tall. ;)

P.S. If you purchased a consult and have sent your pics, I have listed everyone in order on the bottom left side of my site. (Only your first initial and first couple letters of your last name are there.)If you have sent your pics and info, and don't see your initials, please let me know!

P.P.S. I am honored to have been chosen for the last Before and After Project of 2009 over at One Project Closer! If you haven't seen enough of my beadboard kitchen island, go over and take a look. ;)

P.P.S.S.P.S. I forgot to mention that I wrote a guest post at my friend Rhoda's place (Southern Hospitality) last week about my corner fireplace. Go take a look here!

How I accessorize.

ACK! I'm so thrilled at your response about my centerpiece! Yippee, I'm so glad you love it as much as I do! :) I love that WalMart and Target are going to sell out of mirrors this weekend. ;)

Awhile back when I showed you my Ballard Designs shelves, I promised to show you how I accessorize. I struggle with filling spaces with stuff. I usually like the end result, but it takes much running around/fluffing/rearranging. There are a few basics I know work when accessorizing that I wanted to share with you. Cause you are my Squee-zays.

You may have heard the odd number suggestion -- that is using one, three, five, seven, etc. of items. For some reason it just appeals more to the eye. That's what "they" say anyway. Sometimes I listen to "they," sometimes I tell them to shut it. I happen to agree on this one:
My homemade sofa table in our living room is our living room is one arrangement I really like. You'll notice the three finials (Goodwill/Hob Lob finds, spray painted black). I like the little cabinet in the middle because it gives the table something weighty to hold it's own in the middle.

Balance is something else I think helps big time -- when you have something tall on one side, even it out with something tall on the other:
The lamp on the left is up on books to mimic the tall rattan vase to the right of the sofa (that you can't really see here) and balance that area.

The same goes for shapes. The two candlesticks are the same shape as the finials and balance them out on the other side. The large square print on the right needed something to balance it out, but so I used a smaller ceramic square on the left:

Let's see if I can say "balance" one more time. Umkay...balance. I also lurrrrve easels -- I use them everywhere to bring items up just a bit higher.

I love how the Ballard shelves look right now, but it was a process. This was the start:

I heart leaning frames against each other. I do it all over the place. I knew I wanted that look here, but the mismatched frames weren't doing it for me. The balance (No. 324) on the top shelf was not right, so I moved on to this:

I loved my cut up art much better than the frames -- much simpler but a much bigger impact than the frames. Something was bugging me though -- you may notice, the left side of both shelves were both high. You want the eye to travel up and down when it looks at something like shelves. The way it was, the eye started up and went down on both levels. So I simply flipped everything on the bottom shelf:

My next tip -- use BOOKS! They are FAR-REE!! Take the covers off, and stack em! But don't stack em on the same side of each shelf!! Again, too much weight over on the right -- you KNOW...the BALANCE is all off. Gah.

I put the books on the top shelf under the pitcher instead, and propped up the "art" with an easel:

Add a few sprinkles of fall-y stuff, and you're golden. Yesssssss...

In our office, I have a few treasured items I want to have out, but not a lot of space to put them. One of the shelves on this bookcase is busier than I like, but I tried to even (Ha! I didn't say balance! Dang, yes I did!!) it out by making the other shelves simpler:

Books are key, stacked on each other or upright. Love me some stacked books. Hee. My bookshelf is stacked. Totally.

The large frame has an easel back, and if you don't have room for it to stand up, just lean it! I probably wouldn't put some of these accessories in any other room, just because they wouldn't go. This room is a tad bit more eclectic, so it works. (At least I think it does.)

All it took to make me completely happy was to run the cord down the back of the shelves so the horrible thing was out of my sight:

Whew.

Umkay, after explaining all of this, it sure does sound like all these steps go through my head every time, like some freaky OCD chick, and they so do not. OK, I'm lying, they totally do. But in the span of, like, five seconds, not the 20 minutes it took to write this all down. ;)

One more tip -- take a pic! (Anyone know the insanely annoying cute show that is from?) Take a picture of your space, and it will give you a different outlook on it. I don't know why, but you notice things in a picture you wouldn't otherwise.

To reward all you Squeezies who stayed with me through all of this rambling, I've got a saahweet little giveaway for you! I really mean it, it's little, but saaahweet.

These little white Dollar Store pumpkins were all the rage last fall! I found some a few weeks ago and had to pick up a couple for one of you!

Remembering my "rule of threes" -- I went back for a third this week and they were GONE! Already!! I bet could sell these things for like, FOUR DOLLARS on eBay right now peeps -- they are a hot commodity.

When I went back, I noticed the fun black crows I had grabbed for myself weeks before were pretty much gone too, so I grabbed one for you! He's a little worse for the wear, but he's got one good side:

The little leaf spreaders were at the dollar spot at Tar-jay the other day, and I couldn't resist them (for you).

Just leave a comment here this weekend (till 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday!) and I'll announce the winner Sunday night! Have a great one!

A new dining room centerpiece.

**The night picture has been added. ;)

I have mentioned before that there were many things I didn't love about our dining room before:
One of the biggies was the centerpiece. I don't do centerpieces. I'm OK with the little kitchen table, but big, long-A dining room tables I am totally at a loss for. I always imagine some gorgeous expanse of something...just never knew what that something was.

Then I saw an idea on HGTV a few months ago, and I started gathering up my supplies over time. More on that later....

A few weeks ago while walking through Target, looking at the back to school stuff (and wishing it was fall decor, puhleeze), I saw a $4.50 mirror, and it hit me. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I grabbed the mirror:

It was CHEAP, flimsy, easily breakable. So I carefully pulled off the craptastic frame:

I was left with the flimsy mirror and the paper backing. I left that on, just so I wouldn't have to risk breaking the glass. Or maybe it's that I was lazy. I don't know.

Anyhoo...I found some extra plywood in the garage and went to Lowe's to have it cut down to the size I needed -- one foot by four feet.

I used this handy dandy glue all over the plywood:

And just set the paper-backed mirror down on it. I wiggled it around for a bit, to make the glue smoosh around and adhere, and then turned the whole thing upside down so the weight of the plywood would create a good seal. I did all this on the floor, so everything was level.

Then, I took some of the fab, chunky molding from my Ballard Designs shelves (I swear this stuff is going up all over my house!) and cut it with my precious compound miter saw to fit right over the mirror:

It was a bit too stark for me at first, so to get the distressed look you see above, I used my handheld sander, and scuffed up the edges just a bit:

I wanted the distressing to look like the color of the table, so I took my itty bitty can of walnut stain:

(This little can has lasted foreva.) I used a foam brush and wiped it on the bare wood, then used a wet paper towel to quickly wipe it off. This was the result:

The items I have been gathering for months are simple glass candleholders, in all different sizes:
Most of these I got for $1 and $2 at Goodwill. I think only three I actually purchased at Hobby Lobby, for half off. The most I paid was $10 for the largest one in the middle. It was freaky weird that I ended up with almost exact pairs of sizes over a span of a few months. I didn't plan it that way, but it worked out perfect!

My inspiration was from an HGTV show where they wrapped similar holders with gauzy fabric, and it created such a pretty glow. So I got fabric for just a few bucks in white, and using double-sided tape, I wrapped all of them:

They aren't perfect on one side, but if anyone ever noticed that in person, I'd give them a gold star, for real. Or a cookie. Whatever they'd rather have for being insanely observant. ;)

You'll notice in this picture, even though I had painted it all out, the plywood was really noticeable on the bottom:

I tried to live with it, I did. For about a week, I did! But it looked so unfinished to me, it was giving me the heebies. I struck gold yesterday in the garage when I found extra molding I had used in the room. It was perfect to wrap the whole thing:
Ahhhh, yes. I can stop itching, the hives are gone.

It is beautiful on it's own, but I crave WARM, so luckily this is just the time of year to get that. I added more beady thangs:

Some cutie little smell-good pinecones:

And it's really, really lovely:
Here it is as I peek around the corner:
Can't show you the windows just yet -- that's next. ;) I really adore this. It's simple, it's clean, but it can be dressed up so easily. And this isn't just for the table -- when I was working on it, I held it up to the wall and realized how gorgeous it would be hanging too...I may make another to do just that!

Although it's pretty during the day, it is just stunning at night. I was going to wait to post this so I could take one final picture tonight, but I know how mean that would be, since I've been tweeting about it constantly lately.

And here. you. go:

;)