Domestication

Moving back from overseas, we were so excited to have a HOUSE instead of a flat.  And a place to live where we knew we weren't moving anytime soon. Living in London always felt so temporary.   We were excited to buy furniture and decorate and feel at home.   Well, we didn't realize that we really had no furniture or decorations besides a couch, this house is twice as big as any of our flats, and that buying all this stuff gets expensive!

It's a work in progress, as are all of the projects we are doing on our 99 year old house.   Here are a few pics of the latest decor projects....and me getting crafty!

The "picture wall" of family photos.  Sheesh, this took forever to get the frames/shelves/lanterns/giant K, arrange them on the floor, fill with great photos, then re-create on the wall (hanging in plaster is not so fun either).   Thanks to everyone that sent me photos - we really like how it turned out!

Next up (or should I say...ongoing) are my sewing projects.  I must say I am not an expert seamstress, but I am trying to sew a straight line to make curtains and pillows!   I'm using my mom's Singer from the 60s - this thing is SOLID. No plastic parts here.   It weighs about 50 pounds and does a great job.  

My first project were 4 sheer panels for the living room, so we could have some privacy and still have light.  They are a nice sheer linen, off-white.  They were not complicated but still difficult due to the sheer (no pun intended) amount of fabric. 108" makes for lots of ironing and trying to sew a straight line.  I finished those a while ago, but will hold off on the photo until we have the awesome curtains Aunt Ruth is making (they fabric was pricey, so I needed to trust a professional!). 

Next up was a duvet cover and pillows for our bedroom.  Kent and I couldn't find (er...agree on) any duvet, so we went to a fabric shop and found something we liked that would match the yellow/gold in the fireplace tile and the blue curtains.   Here's a close up of the damask duvet & striped pillows.   In the big shot, you can also see the solid yellow shams.  It was also a lot of fabric to deal with for the king sized duvet....good thing we have a huge dining table!  

Next up were dining room curtains.  Only one window in here, so easy peasy.   We tried to find something to go with the dark rose colored fireplace tile, and also the brown and gray.   Thank goodness I stalk the Ballard Designs outlet...I found this fabric on sale for $28 for seven yards - the exact amount I needed!

Another Ballard find - a few yards of the teal-ish blue we have in the living room.   I made 2 of these small solid pillow covers.