Jun 10, 20204 min read

Sew Colorful

Updated: Jun 11, 2020

Not gonna lie, adding the moulding and painting the furniture were HUGE changes to the guest room. I mean, look at this before photo compared with the progress shot!

But it's the details that I really obsess over; they are what complete an outfit and what make a room.

Some of the fabric selections fell instantly into place and others took a little more time to consider. The Thibaut fabric for the body pillow and roman blind accent was the first to be chosen, and a clear winner once I decided the furniture would be Lulworth Blue. Next up, and as easily chosen, was the bold Thibaut floral for the accent pillow. Even with a designer discount, Thibaut is not an inexpensive option, so I used the fabric sparingly. As a matter of fact, the bold floral is from a sample!

Next up to select was a fabric for the bed scarf. This took me a couple of weeks and much deliberation! I really felt I needed to bring a touch of color to the foot of the bed given most of the bedding would be white. In my ORC post from last week, you'll see some of the other fabrics I considered, including a green quilted satin. I'm so glad I finally determined it should be light blue - the bed scarf shouldn't be the focal point of the room, which is what would have happened with the green.

The original plan was to move the hope chest out of the room, but as I started putting the space back together, I realized I actually wanted to keep it under the window for a few reasons. First, and primarily, the overhead light is not centered in the room. This drives me batty, especially since it is off by only 6" and it is off center the wrong direction (not that it needed to be off center). It is 6" closer to the side of the room that requires more walk space due to the ensuite bath and access to the walk-in closet being on that side. Keeping the hope chest fills up the unbalanced floor space. Second, It's nice to have a little extra perch for guests to sit or to place luggage; and third, it just seems to complete the look under the window. But this created a new dilemma.

As you can see in this post, and below, the colors of the hope chest didn't exactly fit with the new design direction. It was pretty much the exact opposite. If the chest was going to stay, it was going to need a makeover, too. Everything about the chest is still in like-new condition, even ndkjg37yearslkajjd later, and since I know it will be moving to a different home in the next eight years, I didn't want to reupholster or paint it. That left me with the option to slipcover it.

I was pretty confident in the fabric direction I wanted to take and sent for four very similar samples - all leopard, all blues. The Iconic Leopard print from Schumacher was hands down the way to go. Again, not an inexpensive fabric, but given the size and prominence of the piece I felt it was important to get it right. I ordered enough for the base slipcover, bed pillow shams, and to cover a cushion on top of the hope chest (not shown).

The beautiful draperies were made by one of my workshops and are a perfect match to the China White walls - just what I was hoping for! I love the elegance and price conscious option of back tab draperies, it's such a classic look. But, funny story on the roman blind :) Back in November, I was on the hunt for a tablecloth for our super-sized dining room table . . . with about a two day window to find something. God must have been looking out for me because, desperate, I happened to remember that our Restore carries bolts and bolts of decor fabric. I walked in and found a bolt with approximately 20-25 yards of textural white fabric that would work just fine for a tablecloth. Are you sitting down? The entire bolt cost me just $4! I cut two tablecloths and still had yards and yards left.

Enter COVID and stay-at-home orders. For weeks I wondered what to do about fabric for the roman blind. I needed white fabric, but not just any fabric. Even with restrictions lifted, I really didn't want to go out to search for fabric, nor did I want to send for samples of whites, which would be limitless. Once again, the Restore fabric came to mind . . . God must really like that fabric! I was afraid it would have too much cool undertone to work, even though I wanted a more white white, but what do you think? I think it was meant to be.

Sewing the rings on, adding the cording, and finished install.

My favorite thing to do is to make a room look high-end but only spend money where it really counts. The Schumacher and Thibaut fabrics were a spurge, but were used judiciously. The bold floral on the pillow, as mentioned, was a sample piece. Of the patterned stripe from Thibaut, I only purchased 1.5 yards, just enough for the body pillow and accent trim along the bottom of the roman blind. I bought a yard of the quilted blue Waverly for the bed scarf, and five yards was purchased of the Schumacher for the shams and hope chest.

Thankfully, I had piping cord on hand, although I would've liked more to do the pillow shams. After trying to order it through JoAnn's for two weeks, I finally gave up. Again I needed white fabric to cover the cording and ended up using what was on hand - this time drapery lining, which worked surprisingly well.

The room is ready for the smaller decor details and I am so glad Ohio has opened up so I can get out to shop for them!

Jami