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And the fun begins. . . again.
Got a bunch of swatches in on Monday for home decor projects. I'm doing drapes and valances for the den, drapes, sheers and valances for the master bedroom/bathroom and just valances for the kitchen (though those are going to be Mexican blankets so no swatches there).
For the den, I found a taupe dupioni that looks fabulous with the swatch of brown microsuede that we're having a loveseat and armchair custom made in (we have a sofa in a brown/black pebbly sort of print and needed to match it with any new furniture). Unfortunately, I do have a budget to consider and $17/yd isn't within it. So, I've opted to get a bolt of some beautiful linen/rayon blend fabric from Dharma and dye it a similar color. It'll cost me less than half as much (the linen/rayon fabric is $6 something a yard if you buy a 17 yard bolt and it doesn't need to be lined like the dupioni does). And since I'll have plenty of extra fabric, I can make some throw pillows and just have a stash of undyed linen/rayon laying around for a rainy day.
For the master bedroom, I am going to splurge on a dupioni, but not the original one I wanted (which was another of the $17/yd ones). Instead I found an $11/yd color that is similar (a chocolate brown, though it's called chutney brown, "you can really taste the chutney"). Looking at it, I don't think I'll miss the turquoise cross weave in the more expensive one at all. I've cut way back on the yardage I'll need on it because I've decided not to use it for the valance, just the drapes. Instead, for the valance, I'm thinking of doing a scarf sort of thing with a sari. I'm watching a few lovely ones on ebay right now. If that doesn't work, there's a lovely brown and blue Indian looking print cotton fabric on fabric.com that would match perfectly and is only $7/yd. I also found a lovely poly crinkle chiffon in turquoise for sheers that's only $3/yd at Denver Fabrics. Since I ordered $6 worth of swatches there, I can put that toward my purchase and basically consider two yards already paid for. I'll definitely have to get lining fabric for those drapes and dye for the lining as well. But we have nice dark blinds in the bedroom now, so there's no hurry on all that. I can do it gradually. The den, however, we decided to go with bamboo blinds to play up the tropical feel of the room. Unfortunately, they only offer moderate privacy at night, so that room is a priority.
I'm also doing new cushions for the four chairs at our kitchen table (bright yellow vinyl isn't going to cut it anymore). For those, I got a bunch of brightly colored dupioni swatches and have decided on a lime, a bright orange/red cross dye, a turquoise and a purple/fuchsia cross dye. Three of the four are the expensive dupioni from fabric.com and the other is their cheaper, "promotionally priced" dupioni. Since I need so little of each color though, I can get away with paying $17/yd for 3 cushions and $11/yd for one. Then the Mexican blankets, along with a set of four matching placemats will run me about $50.
Chris thinks this all sounds expensive, so I have to keep reminding him of the cost of store bought drapes. He was thinking like $100 for two rooms (a total of two 70"x72" windows and four 35"x72" windows). It's going to cost roughly $100 just for the den.
I'm just excited to get back to something resembling one of my hobbies.
For the den, I found a taupe dupioni that looks fabulous with the swatch of brown microsuede that we're having a loveseat and armchair custom made in (we have a sofa in a brown/black pebbly sort of print and needed to match it with any new furniture). Unfortunately, I do have a budget to consider and $17/yd isn't within it. So, I've opted to get a bolt of some beautiful linen/rayon blend fabric from Dharma and dye it a similar color. It'll cost me less than half as much (the linen/rayon fabric is $6 something a yard if you buy a 17 yard bolt and it doesn't need to be lined like the dupioni does). And since I'll have plenty of extra fabric, I can make some throw pillows and just have a stash of undyed linen/rayon laying around for a rainy day.
For the master bedroom, I am going to splurge on a dupioni, but not the original one I wanted (which was another of the $17/yd ones). Instead I found an $11/yd color that is similar (a chocolate brown, though it's called chutney brown, "you can really taste the chutney"). Looking at it, I don't think I'll miss the turquoise cross weave in the more expensive one at all. I've cut way back on the yardage I'll need on it because I've decided not to use it for the valance, just the drapes. Instead, for the valance, I'm thinking of doing a scarf sort of thing with a sari. I'm watching a few lovely ones on ebay right now. If that doesn't work, there's a lovely brown and blue Indian looking print cotton fabric on fabric.com that would match perfectly and is only $7/yd. I also found a lovely poly crinkle chiffon in turquoise for sheers that's only $3/yd at Denver Fabrics. Since I ordered $6 worth of swatches there, I can put that toward my purchase and basically consider two yards already paid for. I'll definitely have to get lining fabric for those drapes and dye for the lining as well. But we have nice dark blinds in the bedroom now, so there's no hurry on all that. I can do it gradually. The den, however, we decided to go with bamboo blinds to play up the tropical feel of the room. Unfortunately, they only offer moderate privacy at night, so that room is a priority.
I'm also doing new cushions for the four chairs at our kitchen table (bright yellow vinyl isn't going to cut it anymore). For those, I got a bunch of brightly colored dupioni swatches and have decided on a lime, a bright orange/red cross dye, a turquoise and a purple/fuchsia cross dye. Three of the four are the expensive dupioni from fabric.com and the other is their cheaper, "promotionally priced" dupioni. Since I need so little of each color though, I can get away with paying $17/yd for 3 cushions and $11/yd for one. Then the Mexican blankets, along with a set of four matching placemats will run me about $50.
Chris thinks this all sounds expensive, so I have to keep reminding him of the cost of store bought drapes. He was thinking like $100 for two rooms (a total of two 70"x72" windows and four 35"x72" windows). It's going to cost roughly $100 just for the den.
I'm just excited to get back to something resembling one of my hobbies.