Roman Shade Trim Options

Thank you so much for your comments and sharing of my One Room Challenge project.  They absolutely made my day and my entire weekend, frankly.

I’m now jumping from one home design project to the next.  The nursery.

As a refresher here is the plan so far –

The Katie Ridder Beetlecat wallpaper has been ordered; I custom colored it so that the flags and sail outline are actually red instead of pink.  The Quadrille zig zag fabric is sitting in my living room and ready to be made into Roman Shades.  Today my seamstress will be over to measure the windows and get to work on the shades.

Here is where today’s decision comes in.  I’m going to do a blue grosgrain tape that matches the background of the blue in the paper on the shade.  So how to position the tape.

Option A would be to just put it along the bottom like how Lauren Nelson did in this office

Option B would be three sided with the taping inset on the shade as Erin Gates did in this girls room

Option C would be to do the taping inset but let it criss cross at the ends like this boy’s room from the Salt Lake City Parade of Homes

Thoughts?

ORC – Patio Reveal Day

Calling It Home’s One Room Challenge, where you decorate one room in six weeks from start to finish, is like having a newborn.  Those first six sleep deprived weeks are both joyful, tearful, blissful and insane.  And then the baby starts sleeping and you forget about those weeks and you want to do it all over again and again.  At least that’s what happens to me.

I’m pregnant with my third child so that could be why the analogy feels so fitting.  Well at the end of week six, I’m exhausted and I could use a drink that isn’t a “mocktail.”

For those allowed cocktails, let me show you our new favorite spot for drinks and dinner.  Our revamped patio…

And here is what it looked like six weeks ago…

Goodbye to that unused, unattractive table and chairs that the previous owner of our home just left behind.  Hello to the custom Christopher Farr Cloth cushions, Serena and Lily pillows, bench handmade by my husband, Dash and Albert Rug, Turf clad coffee table, vintage faux bamboo chairs and a vintage elephant side table.  Each of these pieces makes me super happy.

Isn’t that bench amazing?!  I’m super proud of my husband’s secret woodworking skills.  He should never have revealed his skills because now I’m constantly coming up with projects for him.

It’s hard to pick a winner but I must say this fabric makes me the happiest of them all.  I’ve been dreaming of having it in my home for the past eight years when I first saw it in Australian Vogue.  It didn’t hurt that my mom had the left over fabric from the One Room Challenge that I did four times ago of her pool house.  I took the left over fabric from her sofa.  Thanks mom!

Back to the project this time around.  In addition to my favorite Christopher Far Cloth Fabric, I also loved the Montecito pillow from Serena and Lily.  It’s the softest outdoor pillow I have ever felt.  I have no idea how they pulled it off.

The other loves are the grass ottoman that I got at the Filoli Gardens boutique.  It’s a beautiful local garden that I visit often with my girls and for month’s on end, I would walk by that grass ottoman and wish for it to be mine.  They have a once a year sale and I grabbed it faster than you can say, “sold sweetie.”

Those vintage bamboo chairs I bought about eight years ago at a thrift store for $40.  I sprayed them in an outdoor spray paint and we’ll see how long they last outdoors.  We don’t have a spot for them indoors.

Remember New York Seltzer?  I thought they went to the land of Tab.  I drank one after the shoot and it was delicious – absolutely packed with sugar but delicious.  Also, that flower looks straight out of a cartoon but I assure you it’s a real peony.

Down those steps comes our newly revamped bar/bar-b-que area…

As a refresher, here is what it looked like six weeks ago…

They say the heart of the home is the kitchen, for us it’s our bar-b-que.  We use this spot all the time from May through October.  And I have HATED the red chipped tile since we moved in two years ago.I absolutely love the new tile and I’m so happy that we decided to tile the entire bar.  What a difference!

I wanted an antique blue/white tile to go with our 1936 spanish colonial home.  But sometimes “wants” run a couple hundred a square foot.  Enter this faux antique from Wayfair tile for $5.65 sq/ft!

We nearly cheaped out and didn’t fully tile the back but I’m thrilled we went the extra mile.  That hole to the right will be getting a refrigerator and that brick area is where a wood burning fire pit goes.

That Salamat Designs light, hanging over the bar, was a battle to get with my husband; we tried out three different lights until we landed on that one – the best one!  It was my top choice all along.  Luckily for me, Salamat Designs is based out of San Francisco and they let me come to their warehouse earlier this week to get the light.  It’s actually only up by fishing wire right now.  Electrician will be out next week – because it truly has only been six weeks.

Moving right along, just beyond the bar is a large farmhouse table that my husband also built.  We didn’t do any changes to it but I did put together a tablescape.  PS – I cut that palm frond from our own back yard!

I tried to keep the tablesetting as simple as possible which is tough for a maximalist like me.

Those flower pots are some of my favorites ever for tablescapes; they were a gift from my mom.

You can see that just beyond the table sit two green wicker chairs that are positioned to look out on the lawn.

I just had new cushions made for the green chairs.  Even though the least was done here, this is where I spend most of my time, sitting and watching the girls run on the lawn.

It’s all very new but I can already say that we use it all the time.

Some find a spot to dance

Some lounge on it like little queens.

It’s a pretty awesome spot.  I’m not going to lie.  Now to invite people over.

I encourage you to go check out all the participants and their hard work in the One Room Challenge at Linda’s blog, here.

ORC: Shit Happens

Honestly, I’m not the hugest fan of rugs used outdoors.  But I’m even less of a fan of my outdoor hardscape.  So, I got this rug from Dash and Albert for our patio lounge area.

It arrived during nap time this past Saturday which was a perfect opportunity to lay it out and to debate wether or not to keep it.

Then, my 20 month old and three year old woke up and I moved on.

It was a hot day and so naturally my girls got naked because that’s what kids do.  Right?

The number one unsolicited parenting advice I receive is to potty train in the summer so that your kids can run around naked.  Graham suggested we take the diaper off our twenty month old so we can “potty train” her.  To which I replied, “what if she poos?” to which he responded “I’ll clean it up” to which I quickly agreed.

We were all four roaming around outside doing our own things when we hear our three year old exclaim, “who pooed on the rug?!”

I ran to the rug and sure enough there was poo, without question, supplied by our 20 month old.  And she successfully landed 100% on the rug; there was no half-assing it.

Graham was stuck on clean up duty.  He did a very thorough job while the girls and I stood back and watched.  Then we flipped the rug over.

So guess what?  We’re keeping the rug.  But, the good news is that I like it!

See the full monty (of the rug, not my daughter) next week.  Until then, here are a few sneak peeks in whats to come…

check out the other participants here at Calling it Home.

Baby Boy Nursery Plans

Thank you so much for the comments and phone calls after Gene’s post.  It was so very healing to hear from you and I’m glad that the story of his life could touch so many.

Last week, Graham and I went and checked in on our baby boy with the 20 week ultrasound.  Thankfully, all is looking good with him.  So, I asked the Dr. if I could start working on the nursery and she said yes.  Dr’s orders!

The baby will be going into Grace’s room and Gracie will be moving in with Josie.

Most everything will remain the same – carpet, crib, glider, lighting, art.  I just want to add a few things that make it feel more boy.

When we found out we were having a boy, Graham came home so excited with a nursery theme: Sports!!  To which I laughed and said I just couldn’t do a chic sports nursery.  He tried to claim that it would be a fun challenge for me.  Nope.

I got to looking through schemes and we came up with a compromise.  A room in Golden State Warriors colors.  Doesn’t this room just scream Warriors to you?

I’d like to do Katie Ridder’s wallpaper – Beetlecat on three of the four walls and then Quadrille’s zig zag as Roman shades and a bit more boy bedding.  It got Graham’s approval.  Items have already started arriving and I like how the scheme is coming together…

Go Warriors!!

PS – Don’t feel sorry for Graham because in like ten short years, our boy will likely cover his room in sports posters and will absolutely live in those sports jerseys.  So really this is my five minutes of a “sports themed” room before it all goes very full on Steph Curry.