Defining the space with drapes

I have been busy whirring away on the sewing machine lately.  The difference is subtle but it sure adds a touch of class.

Above is a picture of our dining nook before the addition of drapes.

And after.  I chose to only add the drapes to the patio doors on each side of the bank of windows.  I feared adding drapes to all four windows would enclose and darken the space too much.  We still have a light and bright space with unobstructed views of the mountains and the class of drapes.

I purchased 12 meters of mixed fiber fabric (a very similar look to dupioni silk but half the price and washable) and the same of drapery lining to make these 4 panels.  The sewing was very easy with basically four straight seams.  The only thing I did different than sewing regular curtain panels was keep the lining short on each side and the bottom by 3 inches to give them a natural balloon and keep the lining (which is white) from making an appearance.

They have a little bit of a shimmer and a subtle brown fleck added in with the charcoal grey to give them a little more dimension and texture.

I love how they are so subtle, yet help to define and bring warmth to this space. 



Linking To: Simply Creation, Frugalicious Friday, Remodelaholic's Anonymous, Flaunt it Friday, Show and Share, Tickled Pink, Free For All Fridays, Furniture Friday

Stump Trivets

You may remember way back in October I posted about the stump tables I created out of a cedar log I hauled back from my parents cabin.  The log gave me three 19" sump tables with a 12" chunk remaining.  The remnant piece of stump sat in our front flower bed until I finally had inspiration to use up the remaining chunk. 

STUMP TRIVETS.  You know those 'hot plates' or 'coasters' you use on the table to protect it from heat stains.

How did I create these?

Using a hand saw I cut through the stump about 1.5-2" from the edge leaving me a rough trivet.

This is the saw I used.  It is for rough cutting and I picked it up from Home Depot for $16.  Make sure you use a rough cut saw as it will save you tremendous amounts of cutting time. 

The first trivet I sanded with my palm sander, however, the next day I had to run out to my parents house so the remaining trivets I quickly ran through the belt sander.

I finished them with two coats of Tree Spirit All Natural Wood & Bamboo Oil.  It is a food safe oil that penetrates, conditions, and seals unfinished surfaces. This I purchased from Crate and Barrel a few years ago to use on my wood cutting boards.  I will continue to re-apply the oil as I do my cutting boards to keep them fresh.

We use these trivets every day and love the dimension they add to our table top.



Linking To: Simply Creation, Frugalicious Friday, Remodelaholic's Anonymous, Flaunt it Friday, Show and Share, Tickled Pink, Free For All Fridays, Furniture Friday

Lending a Hand

My in-laws are in the midst of building a new ten resident seniors care home.  Things are running a bit behind schedule in construction and they are anxious to get into operation mode so they asked if we would come help complete a few projects over the holidays to help speed things along.  We headed out to Regina for a week and 4 1/2 of those days my husband and I worked at the care home while grandma had some bonding time with her grandkids.

Here is just a few quick photos of the things we completed in those 4.5 days.  (You'll have to excuse the iphone photos.)

This one is my favorite of the work we completed.  On either side of the front entry is a closet.  On the right side of the door we created a welcome bench in the closet opening for the seniors to sit down and remove their shoes, or wait for their ride.  We were given free reign on this one so my husband and I created this design.

Next up was the fireplace.  Because of time constraints a lot of fireplace surround options were out of the question.  We decided to bring this flexxstone product with us from Calgary as an option as we have used this product in our own home and have loved the results and the install is fast and easy.  It is a real stone veneer.

And last but not least we installed the kitchen backsplash tile. 

 It was a little unnerving when we first arrived working amongst all the contractors but we bluffed our way through and I don't think anyone could tell the difference between our DIY work and the trained professionals.

FYI - My Timber and Chrome Console Table is being featured on Remodelaholic sometime this afternoon.