No more fish bowl!

My sister is going to pounce on me for this, saying "OMG, you sound just like mom," but I really do hate uncovered windows at night.  It's one of mother's (many, many, many) pet peeves and you can be sure she'll comment if she's around and you don't get the curtains closed promptly at twilight that "I feel like I'm living in a fish bowl!  Anyone and everyone can stare in here!"   My issue with uncovered windows has nothing to do with privacy, however; I just think a big, black expanse of glass is cold and unwelcoming.  This is soooooo much better...

Woot!

a little-bit-closer Woot!

and an other-end-of-the-room Woot! 

I am so, so, soooooo glad to have this part of the re-do out of the way.  I really don't enjoy sewing; I do it only because I can so rarely find what I want in the colors I want.  In the case of these curtains, I also saved a bundle because the fabric was dirt cheap ($2.99/yd), but that's really not usually the case these days.  For instance, I made my daughter a computer satchel and laptop case for her birthday this year and spent a hundred bucks for the fabric and pattern.  Ridiculous!

If you've been reading from the beginning, you may recall I was very nervous about how much trouble my cheap-o polyester satin was going to give me, but because I used broadcloth for the lining I didn't really have any issues with the slip-sliding and instability I was expecting.  It wasn't even necessary to use the spray starch my sister suggested, though I did use it after they were completed to give them a bit more body and the #$@##%#%! stuff left stains all over the fabric which I'm just trying to ignore for now.  (They're very faint, but once I hang the lights in front of the two flanking the bed it may become a bigger issue.)  

In the last photo above, you can see the corner of my eyesore-of-a-chair hidden under a couple of throws I picked up.  The green one isn't really the right shade of green, so I'll probably end up using it in my family room.  The other one is the P.E.R.F.E.C.T. shade of aquamarine, and has a really pretty brocade look that you can't see very well in the picture.  And it was a steal at ten bucks.  But.  Sigh.  It sheds like crazy and the fluff that comes off of it glues itself to anything it touches verrrrrrrrrry securely, so I'm going to run it through the dryer with a wet towel a couple of times and if it doesn't stop it's going back.  Darn it.  

Oh, and in the other photos you may notice I've been busy shopping for fun stuff to set about.  No?  Well then, here...

The little frame is a Hobby Lobby find that I'd like to use for a silhouette of my daughter; the clock I found online and had my Dad order (oh, CRAP!  I keep forgetting to send him a check!) because he has a clock shop and I wanted his discount.   On the other side of the bed...

are a couple more Hobby Lobby finds.  I thought the bird was apropos because of the trees, and I just thought that candle holder was fantabulous (and a measly five bucks at half price).   They'll both probably be moved over the the dresser when I get it painted (Thursday, if the weatherman isn't lying to me about the 60 degree temps).  

Back to the topic of sewing for a moment:  A couple of years ago, a guy on one of the decorative painting forums I occasionally pop into was lamenting that while people think nothing of spending thousands of dollars on custom window treatments, they balk at spending the same amount for, say, a decorative paint treatment that will grace all of the walls in that same room.  I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind, because he obviously has no bloody idea how time-consuming sewing is.  For instance, I spent three times as long on the sewing for a recent job as I did on the painting, but charged three times less because that's what I felt the market would bear (based on how much it would cost her to go out and purchase similar items ready-made).   

Next up:  The Headboard!  I probably won't have it finished until Wednesday, but will post whatever progress I make on it...

Manana!  

(BTW, I love the word "manana" ever since a Mexican guy told me "It doesn't mean "tomorrow morning;" it means "Not now."    And it's so much catchier than "Uh, whenever!")