I Have Been Working.....PROMISE!

It may look like I haven't been working much this summer but I truly have! I have several jobs that I have not taken pictures of, so I'll be sure to add those later. Today was a first! I delivered my first curtains to a Law Office in downtown Birmingham. (Thanks to a sweet client who works at the Law Firm...I appreciate it Beckey!) As you can see in the pictures, the office was beautiful to begin with. His taste in furniture is exceptional! He wanted to add a little color to the neutral toned room. I brought him many samples ranging from solid, stripes, chenilles, silks, etc.. He chose this beautiful stripe in chocolate brown, camel, and terracota. I made simple pleated panels that were mounted on existing traverse hardware. He gets plenty of sunshine in the morning through the windows, so I lined the panels with blackout lining as well as a combo innerlining. By doing this, the faux silk drapes have nice body to them. I made a bolster pillow trimmed in a coordinating tassel trim for one of the chairs as well as a square pillow, finished off with a brush trim, for the neutral sofa. The only challenge to this particular job was getting my "Little Giant Ladder" from the parking deck to his office! Nothing like a good workout! On to my next project......

Bedroom Re-Do's

Two of my recent jobs have been master bedroom projects. I have always said if you could choose one room to decorate, it should be the master bedroom. The bedroom is a place you should be able to feel as if you were relaxing in a luxury hotel. Nice linens, beautiful draperies, big fluffy pillows, low lighting.....a place to get away from the stresses of life. I wish I had taken before and after pictures so that you could get the full impact of the makeover...but, I forgot! : (

Project #1

The duvet and shams were purchased "ready made" by my client. We added custom Euro shams, throw pillows, bed skirt and window treatments to complete the look. She chose a palette of browns and blue for her bedroom and bath.

The wall of windows was accented with four panels of blue silk and taupe chenille accented with a beautiful tassel trim. The panels were mounted on one continuous rod across the width of the wall.

We used a rich iridescent blue silk for the gathered bed skirt.

We chose the "Marley" valance by Pate Meadows in the taupe chenille trimmed in the same tassel trim we used on the panels in the bedroom for the Master Bath.

Project#2 (Sweet Surprise)

This makeover was a total surprise given by my neighbor to his wife for her birthday/anniversary. He picked the main fabric from a pile of swatches and I went from there to complete the look.

The beautiful damask fabric was accented by a striped fabric and a chocolate brown silk.

The Euro shams were trimmed in a small rope cording the king shams were accented with a thick multi-color brush fringe.

Long panels of the striped fabric were hung under the crown moulding to give the room a larger appearance. The hardware was purchased from Lowe's Home Improvement.

The Master Bath Window was dressed in a simple valance with a tassel trim accent.

The Claudine valance in the same client's kitchen. I used finials purchased from "At Home" in Homewood instead of a rod to mount the valance on.

The chairs were covered in a coordinating stripe.

I LOVE My Job (if that is what you want to call it!)

I truly love what I do...taking fabric and making it into something beautiful! I am thankful beyond measure that I can stay at home, raise our daughter, be a homemaker and work....all in that order! In addition to all of that, I love to see the smile on a client's face when her/his project is completed and installed.

Here are a few of the projects I installed last week.

Ooh Baby Baby!

Soon the Hatley girls will be snug as a bug in a rug in their sweet nursery. Everyone is anticipating their arrival sometime next month! I had the privilege of adding the final touches with fabric to the nursery. Their beautiful Mother picked out pink and green baby toile with coordinating stripes for the crib skirts, valance and table skirt. I absolutely love the black cribs that Lyla and Avery Kate's parents picked out! A new chapter is about to begin in the Hatley home......a chapter full of laughter, indescribable joy and more love than ever imagine! I can't wait to meet you girl's.

Blessing Others

Most of you know that I work side by side on many projects with a precious friend who is a fantastic Designer, Connie Sandlin ( www .laughterbylakeside.blogspot.com). Our most recent project was like none other that we had done together. She was asked by one of her very dear friend's husband to re-do his Master Bedroom as a surprise for his much deserving wife. He had a budget and told Connie to work her magic.....and that she did! She pulled fabric swatches, paint chips, shopped for decorative items and put her creativity to action! She had a blank slate to work with. She is truly one of the most talented people I know. Once fabric was picked out.....remember, her friend had no idea so Connie had to pick what she thought her friend would like, I began the sewing process. We had a short time to get everything completed and ready for installation during Spring Break. Did I mention that I had a complete hysterectomy during this project???? Even with that obstacle, we managed to finish everything just in time. Connie spent 3 days straight painting, decorating and installing window treatments....I could only help with the "small" stuff since I was only a week out from surgery! Her friend came home to a beautiful master bedroom that she can "retreat" to with her sweet husband. I was truly blessed by being a part of this "surprise" project. Enjoy the pictures.

Pre-Teen Room

As much as I don't want to admit it, we only have 6 more years until our baby girl will go off to college. Ugh...that makes me want to cry just thinking about it! I can tell now that she has hit the "preteen years" that she will do just that....sprout her wings and go off into this world and do something fabulous. Oh, the confidence and determination that child has. In transitioning into the teenage years, she wanted a "older" room. We finished out a room upstairs as well as the bathroom as we had planned when we built our home 3 years ago. This was a project that could not have been done without the help from a few "KEY" people! One of those "KEYS" would have been my sweet Daddy. He completely trimmed the entire bedroom and bathroom. That was a fun day, just me and my Daddy. It reminded me of when I was little and would spend the day in the basement with him while he "tinkered" on anything and everything. I don't think he ever realized how much I loved Saturday's because of that very reason. I guess I was kind of like the boy he never had...but I was a girl! Anyway, he taught me (unknowingly) how to do or fix just about anything! Just ask those who know me well! Where there is a will, there is a way! That's my motto! Back to the room, we hired out most of the other work...carpet, plumbing, marble. I did the basic painting and then my fabulous friend Connie did the accent wall. Check out her blog when you have a chance. http://www.laughterbylakeside.blogspot.com/ She has been given a great talent-designing, decorating, painting, and yes she can sew as well! Once the room was completed we began the decorating process. We purchased furniture from Haverty's. This furniture will carry her through to her adult years. We plan on letting her have it when she moves into her first home. I was not offended when she asked if we could "buy" her bedding instead of me making it! This comes from a child who has had custom bedding for every phase of her life so far. I understood completely! She picked out a bright and eclectic bedding set from http://www.anthropologie.com/ . It totally fits with her personality. The window treatments in the bedroom were purchased from Pottery Barn. http://www.potterybarn.com/ The shelving was purchased at Lowes Home Improvement but has the look of a page out of Pottery Barn's catalog and much more reasonable as far as cost goes. The writing desk came from Target and the chair from Pier 1 Imports. The desk lamp shade was customized by using napkins sewn together that were purchased at Anthropologie. Every preteen needs a display board to tack pictures, notes, accomplishments, reminders, etc. on to. I picked up an open frame at Hobby Lobby and covered foam board/cork with napkins that were sewn together as well from Anthropologie.

This was a fun project! Maggie enjoyed being a part of the "design" process. I think she did a great job!

Sweet Clients

I love meeting new clients! I am amazed when I try and trace the connections from client to client. Most of my clients are friends of a friend and so on. One day I am going to sit down and figure out all of the connections that exist between all of my clients. Pretty cool. I am blessed to have met so many people through the 10 plus years I have been sewing and consider many of my clients "friends" now. There are many clients that were some of my "first" that continue to call me as they have more "projects" for me. I enjoy catching up with them and seeing how their lives have changed, how their kids have grown, and of course, helping them make their homes even more beautiful. I LOVE MY JOB!

I have posted some of my most recent projects below. The first set of pictures is of a clients family room and her preteen daughters bedroom. She was a joy to work with and everything turned out like she expected. She used a beautiful rich brown brocade style fabric with a multicolored tassel fringe. On the window, I did a double width panel mounted on a short rod. We did this to create the illusion that the window was wider. I simply mounted the rod so that it appeared the the window continued to the right. This also helped to fill that corner of the room. She has large leather/wood furniture in the room, so the panel helped to balance it out. I used Allen Roth window hardware that you can find at Lowes-very reasonable but yet substantial for this type of installation. For the french door, we chose the Dana valance from http://www.patemeadows.com/ . We used the same fabric but pulled a deep cranberry silk in for the sash. This is a great window treatment for a variety of windows. In her daughters bedroom, we chose the Brenthaven pattern from the southern living patterns on the same website. We also added two Euro Shams for the bed to pull the fabrics together.

The next pictures are from a client's master bathroom. They totally remodeled the bathroom and it looks so great. The tile work is just beautiful as well as the faux finish. She picked a floral fabric with a black background and a small animal print to compliment. She chose the Pull Up valance from pate meadows. I mounted the valance on finials that I purchased from Hobby Lobby in a black iron finish. In the wetroom, I made a functioning Roman Shade with a Point Valance. As I have said before, Roman Shades are a great choice for privacy. They are classic!

The third set of pictures are from a returning client! I have done her kitchen and now her dining room. I enjoy working with her so much. She picked a fabric that came to life once the panels were put together. She wanted to do the style I have in my own dining room. It reminds me of a beautiful ball gown adorned with a beautiful tassel fringe!

It was truly my pleasure working with all of these clients! I look forward to working with them again in the future!