That’s how many yards I knew I’d need to make eight living room curtains. It generally breaks down to five yards of fabric per window (or sliding door) for two floor-length curtains that I can hang high and wide over each one. So five yards times four windows/sliders = eight panels (two for the big back window, two for each of the two sliding doors to the right as you face the window, and two for the sliding door to the left (that leads out onto this balcony to nowhere). So that’s where the whole 20 yards thing came from. And yeah for those who can’t picture it, that’s a lot of fabric (60 feet of it to be exact). Even at a great price of oh let’s say seven dollars a yard it would have been $140 (not including curtain rods, etc). And it’s hard to find extra wide upholstery fabric for under $15 or so a yard (which is what we usually like to use), and that would add up to a heart-stopping $300 price tag).
Eeeks, eh? (<– that’s my Canadian impression). Anyway, so that’s probably the reason our living room sliders have sat around naked for over six months.
Oh yeah, and those pom-poms from Clara’s party hung around in the sunroom until this weekend when we finally decided to retire them to the playroom. Anyway, back to the curtains (or lack there-of). Originally we thought we wanted something bright and bold for the fabric. Just because we’re having so much fun with color in this house and also because the walls are soft gray, the beams are darker gray, and the sofa is also dark gray. We had a whole lotta gray going on so we thought some bold textile might break things up. But then we tossed up some bright place-holder $5 art (made here) and got Kermit (our big green cushy wool shag) and mixed in some brightly colored pillows, and brought in two big gleaming silver lamps on the back of the console that we built, and – can you see where I’m going with this? – we stepped back and realized we no longer wanted bright curtains.
Our big bright green rug was enough pop o’ color for us (and the bright art might get adapted but the tones will probably stay) so after our little course correction when it came to our fabric hunt we landed here: something with tone on tone texture. Not too bright. And not too expensive.
Then we realized that we had grabbed some fun tone on tone leafy guys from Ikea a few months back (they were on sale for $29 a pair, down from $49, so we tossed two packs into our cart with intentions of hanging them in the playroom someday). So since we already had four out of eight (and they worked out to be just $15 a panel) if we hung the four that we owned and liked them, we figured we could just head back to Ikea and grab two more packs and be done-zo. No more nekkid windows. So we grabbed some oil-rubbed bronze curtains and ring hooks from Target and hung our four panels on the two sliding doors on that right wall. And we liked it. Obviously they needed to be ironed and hemmed, but we loved the sweet and soft leafy sophistication that they layered in. Especially at $15 a panel. Sold. Just needed two more two-packs.
We miraculously heard that John’s mom would be up near Ikea the next day so we begged her to stop in and pick up two more packs for us. Before she left I popped over to ikea.com to find out their names for her. I like to play a game where I make up an Ikea-ish sounding product name to see how close I am to the actual product name (I’m never even close but it keeps me entertained) so I came up with Vika Lund and Skiv Rast as I searched. And searched. And that was the first sign that something tragic was about to happen. They weren’t online anymore. Nowhere to be found. That little know-it-all voice in the back of my head whispered: “They stopped selling them- you almost solved the naked living room window problem but you didn’t buy enough packs and now they’re gone. You lose.” But I’ve seen other things in the store that aren’t online (a bunch of rugs and mirrors for example) so I tried to convince myself that they were just were among the other in-store-but-not-online items.
About twenty four hours later we got the call I had been dreading. John’s mom was standing in the curtain aisle after asking a sweet guy about them and he confirmed they had in fact been discontinued. Hadn’t been sold since April. As the Brits say: majah bummah.
Of course that spurred on a marathon ebay/craigslist/google hunt for any and all available identical curtain packs. I turned up a few two paneled packs for around $75 a pop, but that hardly seemed reasonable when we paid $29 (they’re called Alvine Kottar by the way). So I gave myself permission to mope around and drown my sorrows in Oreos after throwing myself on the floor and telling John that the living room curtains would be the death of me. You know, totally normal behavior for a 29 year old.
Then as I was sitting on the sofa with Oreo crumbs all over my chest and lap (you’re welcome for that mental image), my eyes kept wandering over to the four panels that we had already hung. My one beef with them was that they were too bunchy. Too wide. All ganked up. See? Note: This is a terribly lit shot – sorry. I was too depressed to check my settings.
Yup, slowly it dawned on me. They were waaaay too wide. Especially since we’re not curtain closers so we always have them thrown open to let in maximum light (that area of our house is wooded and fenced so there’s not a privacy issue anyway). This next thought had me getting a wee bit excited. Picture my pace quickening and my chest rising and falling a little faster (just enough to make those Orea cookie crumbs do a little happy dance). What if I cut them down the middle thereby creating eight curtain panels from my four too-wide ones? Oh man, that would be sweet. The excitement was quickly followed by my good ol’ inner Debbie Downer voice saying: “But what if they look too skinny and you ruin them? Then you can’t even use them in the playroom because they’d be lame little slivers of fabric. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Darn that evil inner voice. She was right about Ikea no longer selling my curtains. Cue more Oreo eating. Then it dawned on me that I could test-drive the half-width by just unclipping them from my ring hooks and folding them in half and rehanging them. That would “simulate” the width that they’d be if I snipped and hemmed them without picking up the scissors (give or take an inch for the new hem). So I ate brushed the crumbs off of myself and gingerly got off the sofa to try it. Lo and behold, they looked pretty darn good. Not super full and mondo wide, but I didn’t like them that way to begin with (remember the word ganked came to mind?). And since they’d never be drawn and would always be smashed all the way open to let in light (and facilitate sliding door function) it was the perfect solution for us because we wouldn’t want anything much fuller anyway (which would just get in the way). And you’d see more of the pretty leafy pattern instead of ten million folds. Done deal.
Out came my neurotic “no John cuts” fabric scissors (more on those here) and I snipped those babies right up the middle. The best thing about the cutting-in-half process was that they had been perfectly folded in the packaging right down the middle, so they still had a center fold that I could just follow down with the scissors to end up with two exactly-the-same-size panels. Then I just hemmed them with my trusty iron + sewing machine technique (no pins required – yay Team Lazy). More on that here. Oh and this time I actually folded over and ironed the hem twice before sewing the hem (last time I folded it over once with the iron and then folded it again on the sewing machine as I stitched).
I must admit that ironing down that second fold made it even easier to slide through my sewing machine. So hemming the sides of all eight panels probably took twenty minutes (once they were all prepped with the iron, which probably took thirty).
Then after stitching that 1/2″ side hem (which looked exactly the same as the Ikea-made hem on the other side of each panel – thank goodness they didn’t do anything too fancy that I couldn’t replicate) I tossed them into the wash on cold (and then tumble dry lowed them) to pre-shrink ’em before hanging & pinning the bottoms.
I grabbed them right out of the dryer (they were still a little damp, but hanging them that way kept them from getting even more wrinkly from sitting in the dryer) and clipped them all up on the four oil-rubbed curtain rods (from Target, along with the ring clips) which we hung 14″ wider than the trim around the sliding doors and the window. Except for the sliders leading to the balcony to nowhere (there wasn’t as much wall space to go as wide on those, so we went 8″ wide on each of those). As for the distance down from the crown molding, we went with three inches so all of the rods would hang at the same height. That felt high enough to draw the eye up without completely crowding the dark beams above. You know I love a good oil-rubbed bronze rod hung high and wide like dark eyeliner on a window. Me-ow.
Then I pinned the bottoms of each panel so they’d just graze the floor…
… and hemmed those bottoms pretty quickly (I gave them a longer base hem since a few folks told us that nice drapes have 3-4″ base hems – yay Team Fancy). Oh but I used iron-on hem tape for the bottoms because I was tired and wanted the thick 4″ hem on each one to be uninterrupted by thread that you can see from the front (I’m still very very not-sewing-machine wise, so I couldn’t figure out how to get such a thick hem without seeing a telltale line of stitching 4″ off the bottom of the panel which I thought would interrupt the flow of the panel). I guess I could have tried to hand stitch them from the back so you couldn’t see it from the front, but I’m not so good at that whole thing. But the hem tape worked like a charm and I ended up with nice extra wide bottom hems in around a half an hour. I even hemmed them right from the rod (as they hung there after pinning them). Didn’t even unclip them and rehang ’em. Yay Team Lazy.
As for the curtain length, we definitely didn’t want our panels extra long and puddled since two of the three sliders are used often and we didn’t want the fabric to get all grungy (even though they hang to the side and aren’t in the path of anyone walking, we worried if they were too long they could drift underfoot).
Anyway, enough chitchat. Here they be:
I should mention that sometimes bright sun + window = blown out curtains. Oops. But in person you can see the leafy goodness from across the room, even on a sunny day. And as that over the top dude on Million Dollar Decorators says in his intro: it’s delicious.
Like this:
Only further away (so the leaves look smaller). Ok, now I’m giving you a little primer on perspective. Somebody slap me.
Oh but you can see the lesser-pictured sliders on the left side in the photo above (the ones that lead out to that odd patio that we someday want to revamp).
Who noticed that Burger literally gets up and repositions himself to face the camera? Diva much?
We love how the sweetness of the almost sheer-like curtains contrast the big chunky rustic-ish wood console we built:
And they play so nicely with the big round mirror too:
It was fun to add in a few pops of blue thanks to the hydrangeas from our patio and two awesome blue decorating books that I love: Domino and Decorate (the latter of which is Holly Becker’s new book that I got on Amazon – it’s great).
Hydrangeas = so pretty. But also pretty quick to wilt. I clipped these guys five days ago and some of them already look kind of… spent. Oh well. At least they were free.
See the curtains in the background of the pic above? That’s pretty much how they look from across the room in real life (the sunlight just blows them out in photos so they’re harder to read in the wide shots in this post).
Oooh artsy. Hydrangeas in the mirror:
Here’s Burg-dorf Goodman posing again. And here’s another shot of the lesser-pictured slider across from the two that lead out to the patio/sunroom on the other side of the living room. I love how the soft tone-on-tone curtains don’t steal too much attention from the frame wall nearby. They play well with others.
Oh and did you notice I had some fun switching up the pillows. Zero dollars spent (and proof that I have too many pillows). Pillows are like nomads in our house – they never live in one spot for long. These guys were all in the playroom and the sunroom (originally from Bed Bath & Beyond on clearance) except for the floofy one in the middle (which was originally from Target but has lived in our bedroom for a while) so I brought them out for more of that fun texture-y, layered, tone-on-tone thing.
Now the room is a nice little blend of happy (the shaggy green rug and the bright art that we might just switch up soon) + contrast (the dark sofa, the gray-washed beams, the chunky console, and the oil-rubbed bronze mirror) + softness (the faux sheepskin, the white frames, the white desk, the patterned curtains, the lighter toned pillows). Although I’m pretty sure those pillows will continue to get swapped around (Sue the Pillow and her bright friends are now living in the adjoined sunroom, so I can still see them from the sofa). And when we get around to building/refurbishing a media cabinet and refinishing the floors we’ll really be in business in here. Someday…
Let’s wrap this baby up. We love them. They’re our cup of tea. They add come-on-in-and-flop-down-on-the-sofa-and-eat-Oreos ambiance. And they were just $58 for four curtain panels (that we sliced up the middle to make eight). Which breaks down to $7.25 a panel. Which would mean that we’d have to find fabric that was $1.45 per yard to get this good of a deal if we were to make them from scratch. Pretty crazy how things work out, huh? Wait, I guess if we knew we could have cut our fabric in half (we wouldn’t recommend doing that unless it’s a really wide bolt, like 60″ or more, and you’re certain you won’t want to draw them for privacy) we only would have needed to find $2.90 a yard fabric. That’s still pretty tough though.
One thing’s for sure. This room has definitely evolved over the past six months. Here’s what it looked like when we moved in:
Yowsa. So yeah, we’re thanking the curtain powers that be. The only real bummer is the fact that cutting, ironing, hemming, and hanging my curtains probably only burned about one tenth of the calories from the curtain-drama-related cookie binge that ensued. Oh yeah, and it’s impossible to photograph how cozy this room feels (maybe because it’s so big it looks less inviting than it feels in real life?). Annoying. Anyway, here she blows at night. All glow-y thanks to the lamps:
And that brings us to 2,762 words on our living room curtains. Who do I think I am? I’m calling it. Have you guys ever split curtains up the middle or added extra length to them with banding at the bottom or top? Ever heard of Ikea selling out of things in April? Seems like a random month to decide not to bring stuff back, right? But maybe that’s why the panels we grabbed were on sale for $29 in the first place…
Autumn Tao says
Such a lovely post Sherry! I really enjoy watching you both decorate your home. Thanks for being fabulous.
Namaste,
Renee
kat says
It all looks fantastic!
You are doing a great job with your house!
Leslie N says
I absolutely love the mini room makeover! I liked the bold color before, but I am SO in love with the way you toned it down a little with the neutral pillows. It gives the room SUCH a great, expensive, mature feel – with still having some bold color (the green rug and the new blue accents) for fun. You guys are great! Thanks for sharing your house with us! Your adventures inspire me:)
Coletta (rhymes With Velveeta) says
whatcha gonna put on the naked wall behind the tv?
YoungHouseLove says
We need a bigger TV cabinet and John wants a bigger TV (can’t see the subtitles or weather temps from the sofa, haha). Then probably some shelves or art or something. Someday…
xo,
s
Allie says
I have those curtains in my dining room! Only I got them before they were marked down (bummer!). Oh well. I saw them on a random trip and thought they’d be perfect in my new dining room. Only I should’ve taken your advice and had a paint sample with me because they weren’t quite the right gray. However, the grayish paint in the dining room was there when we moved in and I’ve never quite fallen in love with it because it cast’s kind of pinkish purple in the daylight. But I love love the curtains so now I’m thinking of repainting the dining room a darker slate blue for some contrast. Love what you guys did with them!
Kitty says
Nice curtain save. Of course now I want a gray couch and some oreos. LOL!
Erin says
Hey! IF you happened to need 2 more panels, I have them…they’re for sale! I found some that suited our living room better. [email protected] :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Erin- we’re all set but someone else might want them!
xo,
s
elizabeth says
I learned a great (easy too!) trick for keeping hydrangeas fresh for A LOT longer. When you cut them, preferably in the evening when they are less stressed out from the Virginia sun, clip off all but the top leaves and put them immediately into the iciest water you can. Like with tons of ice cubes. Place the vase or whatever into a dark, cold room near an ac vent maybe or even in your fridge if you have room overnight. That’s it. They’ll last for twice as long:)
YoungHouseLove says
I’m loving all the hydrangea tips you guys continue to offer up. Amazing!
xo,
s
crystal dubois says
HYDRANGEA TIP
Boil water and pour it into a cup or any container.
Cut the hydrangea stems to the desired length.
Stand the stems of the hydrangeas in the hot water for 30 seconds.
Immediately put into room temperature water and then arrange
Love the curtains! :)
Melanie says
I can totally relate to your excitement about these curtains! That type of thing happens to me ( a problem ends up with a really great solution) and I love that feeling!
Also wanted to pass along a tip: if you ever want to make your own removable throw/toss pillow covers, there is an excellent video on youtube if you search “how to make envelope pillow covers”. I know the store bought pillows are pretty, and there are so many cool textures and such, but today in my quest to make my family room summer-y, I made pillow covers and covered the pillows I use when the room is winter-y. When you use the envelope method, you can just take pillows in and out, and of course that makes for easy washing. The video makes this project super easy.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip – I’ll have to search for that video!
xo,
s
Jamie says
Hi Sherry!
Love your choices! We have similar Ikea curtains in our office and they add just the right touch. Was wondering what brand/model of rods you use. I know you said they are from Target but there are so many choices and I trust your taste :) Thanks so much!
Jamie
Belinda says
Looks great! I have the same curtains in my guest room. When I was first reading the post, I actually considered offering them to you! Glad it worked out.
Heather says
I had a quite similar Ikea discontinuation experience last month! Finally, after much research, I decided that 2 more (only $60/each) Expedit sofa tables would perfectly solve my current furniture dilemma. But they were nowhere to be found on the website. Calling the store confirmed…”oh yeah, we should have those here…oh, wait, yeah, it looks like those were discontinued in April…we definitely have none left in the store.” PANIC ATTACK. How could Ikea not inform me that they were planning to discontinue an item that I own/like?
Unfortunately, unlike your curtains, I could not get my one Expedit sofa table to miraculously spawn even one other table. Then again, I haven’t tried cutting it in half. :(
JoDi says
Wow, I’m really surprised that there aren’t more people who are as disappointed as I am that you didn’t go with a bright fabric for the curtains. While I think these curtains look *nice*, the right bright fabric would have looked *amazing*!
Prior to adding the curtains, this room looked unfinished to me not just because of the lack of curtains, but also because the color in this room is all concentrated in the sectional area. I was really looking to forward to seeing bright curtains balance things out by drawing color into the other parts of the room. With the gray curtains, the different parts of the room still seem disconnected to me although it helps that you changed out the pillows for something tone on tone to tie the curtains back into the sectional area.
It just somehow seems like a regression of your style, like the sectional area is *new* John & Sherry and the rest of the room is *old* John & Sherry. I guess it just makes me wonder if you’ve decided that using a lot of color in every room isn’t really your “thing” after all so you’re starting to tone things down.
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe it’s just because we used such fun loud curtains in the dining room about a week ago (still love them so it’s not that we’re afraid of color). Since they’ll eventually be visible from the living room (once we cut the opening through the kitchen) we didn’t want the living room curtains to be too loud and compete with them. It felt like the right move to let the bright rug be the punchy item in the living room and let the curtains in the dining room be the stars – but it’s definitely a personal preference thing. We can’t wait to see that wall all opened up – as soon as we figure out the permits!
xo,
s
tracy a says
the canadian impression was pretty good. not sure we’d say “eeeks” but the eh was right on!
Marie says
Not once, but twice have I cut a curtain panel down the middle! Both times I bought one panel that matched bedding I had. They both had a design that did not matter if they were hung vertically or horizontally. I made valances for four windows with just two panels and hung them high and wide with black iron and matching clips in my daughter’s bedroom and brushed nickel in the master bedroom. I have also bought an inexpensive lime green cotton shower curtain with small silver grommets and made two Euro shams with it. I added black grosgrain ribbon to tie through the grommets to hold them together. Fabulous!
carly says
FYI…. Crate and Barrel is having a sale and the apple green jewelry box is on sale for $19.95.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh off to check it out!
xo,
s
Maggie says
My best friend bought a shower curtain to use as curtains for her closet that she planned to leave open all the time and so she cut it in half and used hem tape to make a clean edge (I got the idea from sherry’s projects). When she hung the curtains up they were way too short, so she added a panel of fabric at the bottom so they would “kiss” the floor. It looks great, and really makes her bedroom look pulled together.
michelle@decorandthedog says
Love the curtains!
Glad I’m not the only one who has a dog diva! Someone commented asking if we were pet photographers (which is hilarious to us)…nope, our dog is just photogenic…and constantly following us around!
KathyL says
Beautimus!!!!!! really sweet.
I once took two pairs of swags and two panels for my living room, took all the ruffle off the swags -sewed a panel and a swag together and cut the edges into a soft curve. Then I re-attached all the ruffles back onto the edges and hung them up with center swags (I don’t know what they’re called) and it all looked like one big piece when I was done. I didn’t want to close them either, so it worked for me.
Sarah says
I found curtains at World Market. They were too short but I kept one of the safe grey curtains I purchased and used it to add length. I’m very happy with the results.
http://likethedickens.blogspot.com/2011/05/room-makeover-update.html
YoungHouseLove says
Those look great! I love the little added shimmer along the bottom!
xo,
s
Dina says
The curtains look great! I especially love your idea to hang them with ring clips to make them baby-safe. I think I remember you did that in your last house when Clara arrived, but I’m paying more attention now that we’re expecting our first little one in a few months! One question though – in person, can you tell at all when you clip curtains that already have a pocket hem at top (for the curtain rod to go through)? Does it look weird, and do you iron the top flat or do anything else to make it look less obvious? Thanks for all the great ideas!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no you can’t tell at all. From the front they just look like one uninterrupted panel clipped up on the rod. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Erica in SF says
Wow, I love it. Also I LOVE the look of the pillows, how fun to change them. You’ve inspired me to deal with something I have put on hold for 2 months…I have a serious problem- in SF we need extra long curtains and I washed them (Ikea white) and I can’t get the wrinkles out with my iron! Do you have an super great iron, or do you think mine just got more wrinkled in my tiny dryer (even though I took them out damp)?! What am I gonna do? Should I buy a better iron or a steamer or something?
YoungHouseLove says
I would re-wash them and take them right out of the dryer when they’re still a little damp (instead of letting them sit there and wrinkle more). You could also get a steamer or a better iron, but ours is a pretty bad iron but it seems to do the trick of you hang them when they’re damp and then just blast them with some steam from the iron as they’re hanging up if they’re still too wrinkly. Good luck!
xo,
s
gabi says
Oh this post has me SO excited. Normally I just get upset because none of the cool stuff you have is available here (Australia), but I JUST put these same curtains up in our bedroom last week. They look amazing with the dark grey walls and fresh white linen. I am now contemplating putting them in my living room. The window in there has been causing me to lose sleep for about 6 months. Nothing looks right. Is it against all decorating laws to have the same curtains in your bedroom and living room??? Please enlighten me!! They look great in your house!
YoungHouseLove says
Dooooo it!!! I actually love when homes repeat one or two things throughout for great flow and continuity (maybe the same paint color in two rooms and the same curtains in a few spaces too). They’re subtle and charming enough to make a repeat appearance for sure!
xo,
s
Erica in SF says
Also not relevant to this post but have you thought of doing some sort of vertical garden with your old pallets if you still have them? I saw something like that and thought of you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah we’ve seen that and they’re really cool! We’re just a little gunshy of all the chemicals that we have since learned can be in pallets- so maybe not for anything edible but just something decorative? We’ll have to see!
xo,
s
gabi says
Oh thank you! I’m going to DOOOO IT! As soon as the littel man wakes up from his nap, we are going to IKEA!!! I have hung one from the bedroom in the lounge and it looks great. These were also on sale last time I was in ikea… oh please don’t let them be sold out! My only issue is privacy, I think these are so thin that the neighbours will be able to see straight in in the evening. I might line them, or put blinds on underneath. Choices choices. Thanks for the inspiration!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Have fun. And feel free to post some pics on our Facebook page when you’re done. I’d love to see them lined or with blinds!
xo,
s
karen says
Love it so much!! Love the tone on tone curtains. Love the new sophistication with the swap of pillows! Love the blue hydrangeas! Love Burger! That was one looong post!
Beth W. says
“Majah Bummah” *salutes*
Any other “How I Met Your Mother” fans catch that one? :p
Miller says
In response to Amanda’s suggestion that you dye them, just curious what your experience has been with dyeing fabric. I’m so scared to try! Just tried your bamboo shade & white Vivans combo. The white is growing on me but there’s a lot of it since I have 6 windows in the room. Thought about dyeing but was scared I’d inadvertently bring back acid-washed look!
YoungHouseLove says
We just wrote a post about using iDye on our slipcovered chairs and it was really easy! Here’s that post: https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/06/a-four-color-process/
xo,
s
Nicky says
Love the curtains! They look fabulous. As I read your worry about ruining them by cutting them in half, I was thinking, does she realise if she hates it she could sew them back together again and hide the join in the folds? ;-p
BTW Those curtains are still for sale here in Aus so you always have options. Although they’re $69 a pair here which is annoying seeing as our dollar is worth more than yours at the moment… grr.
YoungHouseLove says
Never realized I could join them back without the seam being really obvious but you’re right about it being hidden among all those folds. Too funny! As for you Aus guys, I keep hearing that stuff is more expensive out there even though your dollar is worth more! I think there’s a business idea in some US company buying and reselling things to Aus cheaper (enough to make a small profit but not charge you guys double like places like Ikea try to do sometimes!). Anyone up for helping the Aussies out? Maybe shipping will just be too expensive…
xo,
s
eileen marie says
Love.them. Nice choice! Wish they still had them, but curtains aren’t our top choice with 2 dogs right now anyhow, I guess. IKEA discontinuing stuff in April? They are SO random about discontinuing things -I REALLY wanted a single farm vase (those little white textured ceramic vases), but they up and discontinued them! And I KNOW they were popular, so it doesn’t make sense! Crate & Barrel does the same thing. Boo. I may never find another gumdrop lamp in merlot or a striped farm vase again. :(
YoungHouseLove says
Nooooooooo! They discontinued those? I love those. They were so cheap and versatile. Sadness.
xo,
s
Sarah T. says
I love how how different the before and afters look. I never would’ve looked at that room and thought modern while house hunting. I’m having a hard enough time doing that to my house and it was built in ’99!
Also, I love that you used the word floofy.
Maggie Rose says
I’m glad you didn’t go crazy bold in here! We have the same curtains in our office – this room was our bedroom originally but we left the curtains hanging when we switched rooms and thankfully they look great with everything! Thought it was funny that you didn’t like how “full” they were before slicing and dicing, because I love full poofy curtains!
Just a friendly suggestion, I bet you’d love it if you added some warm tones to the room to balance it out. Some pink or orange would warm it up more than the purple or blues. It would be so pretty!
YoungHouseLove says
I love the idea of playing around with some warm tones in there too! Maybe the next pillow switch…
xo,
s
Adriana says
Hydrangea drink water through their petals – try spritzing them with a water bottle. Although, if they have lasted 5 days already that is pretty good. They don’t usually last as long as other flowers. They are beautiful though, my favorite.
Kate says
I liked the room before, but the curtains definitely add more of a finished touch look. I love the light in this room!
Oh, as for the art above the sofa… have you considered leaving the colors up and snapping photos that you crop to black and white squares to place in the center? It might personalize the room a bit more and could easily be switched out as your family grows or big moments happen.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah I love the family photo idea for those eight giant frames but John thinks pics that big of “us” are weird. Even if they’re all Clara and Burger and other people we love. He just thinks the frame wall in the hall nearby should be for the family pics and we shouldn’t overdo it with giant photos in the living room too. I see where he’s coming from but think some interestingly cropped black and whites could look really fun on the colorful paper mats. I guess we’ll have to see where we end up!
xo,
s
Pierrette says
Great solution for the new window treatments. Last week I went to Ikea to pick up two things and they were both out of stock! At least they aren’t discontinued.
Did you know that Ikea is starting a loyalty program? It’s not at all stores yet but it is available at the store closest to Villa del Petersik. http://info.ikea-usa.com/FAMILY/Default.aspx
You get free coffee or tea on every visit plus a free ice cream when you pick up the card. Not to mention discounts on several products. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Sweeet! That sounds awesome. Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Monique says
Great curtain solution! I’ve been scouting for drapes and they are so expensive. Fabric is equally expensive. Whatever happen to the days where sewing was cheaper than buying? (Yes, I’m a wee bit older than ye.)
As far as hemming the curtains…hemming tape is one of the easiest solutions and a timesaver to boot. The only way for the stitches not to show is to hand sew the hems.
I like to have something up at the windows for privacy, particularly at night. Do you ever worry about people peeping in your house? It would give me the creeps.
YoungHouseLove says
We have almost an acre lot with a fence around most of it so it feels pretty peeper-free. But the motion sensor lights are what really make it feel private. Before someone can peep we’d see that light pop on (occasionally the neighborhood cat trips it and we gaze out to see him peering in). Haha.
xo,
s
Marcy says
I’ve featured your site at stylesson today. I love seeing the projects that you tackle and the fun that you have along the way!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Marcy- off to check it out!
xo,
s
christine says
love the post and the curtains…question…i am still grieving over the loss of domino and dying to know what that book on your coffee table is about??
YoungHouseLove says
It’s the Domino book (it came out before the mag went under). It’s awesome. And I bet you could find it on amazon.com for cheap!
xo,
s
diane says
Great solution and I so agree that light colored curtains were the way to go. I would have maybe added some fringe or something to the leading edge just to outline them but they really cozy up the place.
Dacia says
We have those some curtains in our bedroom, I absolutely love them! They add so much without overpowering other patterns!
Annie says
The curtains look great! And since everyone is pitching in with hydrangeas comments (and I only read page 1, sorry if this is repeat info), this month’s Southern Living has an article about drying them gradually, and they have similar info on their website:
http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/decorating/petals-pedestal-00400000010308/
But dried is just never the same as fresh, especially with flowers. And fruit. Seriously, banana chips are so different from fresh bananas! And don’t get me started on raisins… Anyway. Yeah.
Lelanie Slater says
Sherry, you guys always amaze me. I simply love reading your blog. Even of my lazy days, when I just want to look at the pics, I always end up reading the whole thing. You guys are simply great in the way you approach your home. I get plenty of my design ideas from you.
Keep it up.
PS- The pic of Hiss Royal Highness, Burger is my fav. He is too cute,
x
megan says
Love how the room is coming along – it looks fantastic! I have a non-curtain related question though, the pics just made me think of it. We have a large sectional in our family room too with the TV across from it. It’s great for the 4 of us, but when guests come over (and there are no chairs on the side where the TV is) we find we are sitting awkwardly staring at each and squished together on the sofa since there is no real conversation grouping. How are you finding it?
YoungHouseLove says
When people come over we don’t usually have the TV on (we like to play board games, eat meals together, sit out on the patio, etc). We’ll have to have a movie night and see how it goes though. Well actually we showed Clara’s b-day video to a group of about 25 people at her party and they all piled onto the sofa and floor and watched (it was really cozy actually- but we didn’t have convos going on since everyone was watching the Clara show- hah).
xo,
s
Patti says
Loving your living room but more importantly, you’ve inspired me ONCE AGAIN to solve a problem! I also have too-wide curtains in my dining room and haven’t wanted to change them because of the cost. I never thought of cutting them in half! Thanks YHLovers!
Caity says
Still lovin’ the little rhino butt in certain shots of the long console table :)
Jeri Atkin says
Your living room is warm and inviting. You have done a beautiful job. Ahhhhh, that Burger, handsome dog that he is, certainly is photogenic. Clara is growing up and so sweet. As usual it is a pleasure to read your column. Thank you. Jeri
Ellen says
I love to see that you have the Domino book. That was my favorite magazine! I mourn it’s loss every time I visit the magazine stand and don’t find anything that comes even close to it’s awesomeness. Any recommendations on a good Domino replacement?
YoungHouseLove says
Lonnymag.com is awesome! It’s basically put together by all the old Domino peeps (and it’s a free online pub).
xo,
s
ren says
A+ for being resourceful! Have you ever read how Ikea comes up with their product names? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikea#Product_names Kinda interesting!
ps. i heart hydrangeas
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting!
xo,
s
Charlotte says
I had a wonder that I did not see on your FAQ: I am in love with your charcoal sectional sofa. I think it’s lovely, I would love to know where you got it.
I just found your blog from apartment therapy, but it’s definitely going into my favorites. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Charlotte! It’s the Karlstad from Ikea (we got the corner sofa and the add-on chaise with Dark Sivik Gray slipcovers). Hope it helps!
xo,
s