Which do we like better- the grey sheets or the white sheets?
I switched them around the other day because the white ones started looking dingy (even though I washed them in various Pinterest recipes). Any tips of getting them clean again?
Included also are close-ups of my wall decorations. I love them so.
I’ve been reading a lot of Young House Love lately, and that combined with my latest furniture purchase has left me feeling a bit inspired. So here’s a mood board for what I’m hoping my big girl living room will look like. Most items are from Ikea or West Elm. The West Elm pretties are DEFINITELY a reach in the $$$ department, but I’ve found a couple DIY tutorials on how to craft my own mirrored table and create my own copper light fixture.
Check it out, and let me know what you think! I can hear my mama in my ear now, “It’s so contemporary!”.
To cure boredom during my last long Christmas break, I’ve been perusing Craigslist to find furniture for the apartment I will (hopefully!) be moving into in May. When hunting, I usually search direct store names that I’m hoping to find goods from, like “Ikea”, “West Elm”, or “Pottery Barn”.
So, I popped in “Ikea”, and this popped out….
Two Ikea EKTORP TULLSTA chairs for $50?!?!
I quickly emailed the seller because this was just too good to be true. For reference, the Ikea website lists them as retailing…
….$129 A PIECE!
Yes, kids, that’s a savings of over $100 a chair. This was a deal I just couldn’t pass up! The seller lived a mere 20 minutes down the road, so my stepmom and I drove our little SUV up there to fetch these two beauties.
I was scared that the seller would be some creepy serial killer because CRAIGSLIST, but he was totally nice and normal! The chairs were pristine and pretty darn comfy for Ikea products. We carted them home and I now walk into the spare bedroom twice daily to sit in them and admire them.
I plan on reviewing these chairs soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
I originally bought Ikea sheers for my apartment windows, but after spending about a week waking up too early for humanity, I realized it gets quite bright in my room in the mornings.
Curtains are not cheap, however, and I’ve already spent a bit outfitting the rest of my room (don’t worry, pictures are to come!). So I decided to follow this tutorial from my favorite RVA bloggers, Young House Love, to create my own curtains.
I started out by buying 2 yards of fabric from Hobby Lobby. I knew I wanted some kind of grey print. A grey and orange ikat patterned cotton originally caught my eye, but since my room is in shades of purple and grey, I didn’t think it would work out so well. Luckily, a grey chevron patterned cotton really stuck out to me! I love the chevron trend, but I think it sadly will be headed out of style soon, so I’m glad to use it in this apartment for a low investment.
Speaking of an investment, the fabric and seam tape (as requested by YHL) only set me back $14 with my 40% off one item coupon (check the Hob Lob app). Such a great price, considering I already had a $10 rod that I got for my sheers.
I followed their tutorial pretty closely, except I did less measuring. I’m kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants crafter, so I used the peaks of the chevron as guides and it ended up fairly even.
If you guys plan on making the curtains, I highly suggest you follow YHL’s directions, but here’s a quick recap if you’re too lazy to click over:
1. Heat up an iron.
2. Decide your seam allowances based on how much fabric you buy. 2 yards was perfect for my 19 by 34 window.
3. Measure your seams (if you’re not me).
4. Follow the directions on the seam tape that you buy, ironing each side down to make a neat folded edge and testing it after it cools. I had to do some spots twice.
5. On the top side, don’t forget to make a pocket!
6. Hang and enjoy.
One change I made to the YHL design was creating a pocket for the curtain rod rather than buying clippie hooks. I thought it would look sleeker and go with my overall design better that way.
Drumroll please….check out my $14 curtains and let me know what you think!
Theme rooms…in your own home? Yay or nay?
Black and white toile wallpaper, simple cotton bed linen trimmed with grosgrain ribbon, and pillowcases made from old French tea towels.
From ‘Country Comforts’, a story on page 144 of Vogue Living July/Aug 2009.
Photograph by Mikkel Vang.
I am SO in love with the toile, but I know lots of people who find it…well…grandma-ish. Thoughts?