Garden Furniture Reviews Rotating Header Image

Drapes

A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! **You are all so awesome for voting over at the One Project Closer site!! I didn’t think you could vote more than once, but I think some have been able to…so if you want, check it out. It takes about two seconds to vote…http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/before-after-2009-vote-for-the-best/ The contest goes through Friday night. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your vote. icon smile A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! **

So my latest project was one that was about a year in the making. I had plans to do this foreva. I couldn’t decide on the details so it just didn’t happen until I started the redo a few weeks ago.

I LOVE our dining room hutch. It’s dark and curvy, just the way I like hutches. If I had a thing for hutches that is.

There is only one issue that has bugged me from day one:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Can you tell what it is? The mirrors that line the back of the hutch drove me cray-zay. They reflected ev.er.y.thing — I mean, that’s the deal with mirrors right? When I filled it with accessories, it felt like they all just disappeared into a reflected abyss. You couldn’t really see anything that was in there.

So, about a year ago, I decided to cover the backs — I started with foam poster boards (from the dollar store) and some leftover fabric from my drapes. I stopped after one though, because as I mentioned before, I just wasn’t “feeling” the room.

A couple weeks ago I decided to finish this everlasting project up. But what to cover it with? I didn’t want to do the same fabric from the drapes because a.) it was more than I wanted to spend on this and b.) I didn’t want it to be too matchy and c.) I was lazy.

So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk. It hit me — DOH. I had a ton of wallpaper left from this project. And it was already white. SCORE!

Here’s how I did it…

Measured each section of mirror horizontally and vertically:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then I marked the measurements on the foam board:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!I marked the measurements down the board, then connected the dots with the level to make a line:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!The foam is thin enough to just cut with scissors:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
Then, check it to make sure it fits the spot! I had to do some trimming to make them fit perfect. A fork is useful for this part — if it fits well it’s impossible to get the foam out without one. icon smile A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then just cut the wallpaper to the size I needed, then used the hot glue to wrap the paper around the foam:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! It turned out pretty much exactly how I had hoped!:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then I was able to decorate the hutch for autumn…some pumpkins and leaves bling it up:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!My apothecary jars are so fun to fill for fall and Christmas! They are filled with a bunch ‘o fall stuff — leaves, pumpkins, beads, pears, apples:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Teeny tiny acorns and beads that I snipped off pics from Hobby Lobby:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! A pumpkin under glass:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!More beady stuff. Are you surprised?:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Those FAB plates are my HomeGoods finds from today and whoooeee they are gorg! I needed to lift a couple items up and for now, they are the perfect way to do that.

The knobs that were on the hutch were very pretty but have never felt right to me:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Enter half price (faux) crystal knobs from Hob Lob:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Fat round ones in the middle, small square ones on the doors.
The top of the hutch is filled with a couple items I already had, then my long scrolly candleholder turned on it’s side, and a couple platters at $9.99 each from HomeGoods:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Stink Eye Sister doesn’t like the scrolly thing on it’s side. It makes her “uncomfortable” that I am not using it as it should be. I told her where her “not as it should be” can (nicely) go cause I like it!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Love you sis! Smooches!
I love how subtle the texture of the wallpaper is!:  A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!I was toying with touching up the raised areas with some stain or paint, to bring out the texture, but now I’m thinking that would get too busy.
Here’s a before — helloooooo accessories? Where are yoooooou?
DSC02836 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
Ah yes, there you are!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! And I love it at night even more, of course:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Oh yeah, did I mention this was FAAAREEEE? Well, I bought nine foam boards for a buck each, but that was a year ago so it totally doesn’t count.
I made what are simply the cauuutest Halloween decorations last night –I can’t wait to show you later this week!

Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!So next to the paint, the biggest change in my dining room was the windows. I swear these windows have been through more transformations than all the windows in this house put together.
The first step in the redo is something I plan to do in the whole house — can you guess what it is???? Ah DUH — it’s molding! Our home has no trim around the windows, just window sills:
 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! I heart thick, beautiful molding around windows, but alas, our window sill only goes beyond the window about an inch. So to get the look I really want, I’d have to tear those out, and that’s just not happenin’.
The solution? The molding I’ve used all over this room is just the right fit to trim out the window and match up with the window sill:

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!I painted the trim and the drywall around the window all glossy white, giving the illusion that it’s all molding:

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! It’s all an illuuuuuuusion. I like illuuuuuusions. They are cheap and easy.

Next step: More of my beloved bamboo shades. I am on a mission to change all of our two inch blinds to these. I don’t know why, but they just scream natural and warmth to me, two things that have me at hello.
Bamboo roman shades are so easy to install it’s just silly. You mark where the brackets go, install them, then tighten the wing nuts and there. you. go. (Use anchors if you don’t hit studs though!!):
 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! Oh…I was already in love after these two steps. The “window casing” makes such a difference, to me anyway:
 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! Uhhh yeah, by the way, I really can’t reach out and touch our neighbors, I swear. It looks like I can in this pics, but I promise, no touching going on.
The final step: Fabric!! I just need fabric to finish off a room. Since the dark paint color adds so much drama, I wanted the drapes to be light and airy. I found a fabric I ADORE (at Joann’s) and hung it like I showed you here:

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!It makes them look pleated, every time. icon wink Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!

I quite literally took the fabric off the roll, cut it in half and then hung them. They puddle on the floor just a bit:

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!I pretty much ALWAYS put lining in my drapes, but these are so lovely on their own, I don’t think I’m going to. I didn’t even hem them (*real* decorators all over the world are passing out right now). But I did use my hemming tape to hem up the bottom, just so they were finished there.

This take minutes peeps — I took video to show you how easy it is:

I did the bottom of each drape in about five minutes. You can probably hear my stories on the TV in the background. And excuse the spray paint on my hands and the sweatpants. I didn’t dress up for y’all. icon wink Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!

I am loving the white drapes on the chocolate brown walls:
 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!Here’s the before:
 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! Here’s the after:

 Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY!And there’s that cat again. icon wink Molding, bamboo and fabric, OH MY! I’m thinking about shortening the rods just a bit, to make the drapes pleat more.
Just some paint touch ups to do, then the two biggies — I want to recover the chairs desperately. I did the seats years ago but would love to do the whole chair. That’s another post for another day. I am also DYING to extend our hard floors into this room. I mean, DY.ING. I’m hoping we can swing it soon, and have a friend help me install them. DYING.
Next up — I’ll show you the ceiling (ooooo!) and the hutch redo.