DIY Curtains...For a Friend...That I Want to Keep.

Follow my blog with BloglovinA sweet friend of my recently came to me with a dilemma.  She was working on overhauling her office, and could not find curtains for the space.  Things were either too expensive, or just weren't the look she was going for.  I could totally relate...the same thing happened to me every time I looked.  So I told her there was an easy solution...just buy fabric and make them!

She said great!  Buuuuut she didn't have a sewing machine, and she didn't know how to sew.  Welp, that could be a problem...except for the fact that I have one and knew how to {well learned to from my Mama}.  So we planned a date to fabric shop at a discount store near work, and she picked out a gorgeous orangey ikat fabric.  It's amazing...as in so amazing, I might need to go back and get myself a yard or two.

Anywho, once the fabric was bought, it was time to get down to business.

My friend was not going to use these for function {no opening and closing of the curtains to hide the window}.  Like those in our house {here, here,  here and here}, she only needed them to dress up the space and add a pop of color.  This helps to keep the cost of fabric down, since you can usually just buy the yardage you need for one panel and cut it down the middle to make two.

So that's just what I did.  I sliced the fabric in two and lined things up making sure the fabric was running the same way. 

Then I started pinning... 

And sewing...

After some time, I was all done with both panels!

Well I use the word "done" loosely.  I didn't sew the bottom hem yet because I was waiting for her to hang her hardware so I knew how long to make the curtains.  Hopefully I can post a picture of them hanging in their new home soon! :)

Anyone else ever make a project for someone that you wanted to keep yourself?  Am I the only bad one? ;)

Rugs, Revealed.

This post has been a long time coming.  I 100% blame the procrastination on the awful pain it is to put an 8 x 10 rug under a crazy heavy king bed, with a million supports beneath it.  Hubby and I just did not feel like tackling that task.  That meant the living room and guest room rugs were in place for a long time, and the rug for our master bedroom sat, rolled up, in our living room for weeks.

Thankfully, due to a fun Super Bowl party we hosted, we were forced to cross things off our to-do list...so we put on our big girl/boy pants, and maneuvered that sucker into place.

If you are new to my blog, and my rug issues, I have made it pretty clear that I have a fear of buying rugs, especially from online retailers.  1) Rugs are usually such an investment, and 2) 99.9% of rugs I want to buy are online, and therefore I can’t see or feel them before I take the plunge.  Well one day I threw caution to the wind and went for it.  Yup, I ordered three rugs from Rugs USA...all at one time.

I didn’t know what to expect, so I was super anxious for them to arrive.  Luckily, when I unrolled each one, I was more and more pleased.  They were all prettier in person than they were online, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to place the order.  {Plus it didn’t hurt that I got them extremely discounted at 65% off...which is the only way we could afford 3 of them!}

Now I know there are all sorts of "rules" when it comes to rug size and placement...but I'm pretty sure those rules are for people who can afford to follow them.  And we aren't those people. :-/  That means I bought a smaller 5 x 8 rug for our living room space...because really, my main concern was having a cushy rug under foot for relaxing on the couch, or in case some young kids were over and wanted to snuggle on the floor to watch a movie or to play. 

And the guest bedroom rug could probably be bigger too, but I just wanted something to give people's feet a nice place to land when they got out of bed.  Plus, it can also be swapped out for the living room rug in case we wanted a pop of color out there in the spring and summer months.  Like I said, we are working with a budget, people!

For our master bedroom, we had to go with an 8 x 10 rug because anything smaller would have looked ridiculous.  Since we bought two smaller rugs for the other spaces, we could afford to go bigger here.  I love the comfort it adds to our room.

I am so thankful our big purchase wasn't a bust!  I think they add a little something to each room.  And hopefully you'll be seeing more of them soon because I'm determined to pick up my house tour posts again!  I might even re-do the living space because it's changed so much from my original post.

Anyone else on the cusp of purchasing a rug??  Anyone else laugh in the face of rug rules??  {Please tell me I'm not the only one!!}

Taking a Risk...On Rugs.

So I did it...I finally purchased rugs online.  Am I the only one that struggles so badly with purchasing rugs?  I would love to buy one from an actual brick and mortar store.  I’d be able to see it, feel it and have a good sense if it would work in our house...but while I’m out shopping, I never find the right:  a) pattern/color, 2) size and d) price.  {Anyone catch the movie reference?!?!}

That leaves me with one option...rug shopping online.  I love “window” shopping for rugs on the Internet.  As a matter of fact, I have been stalking quite a few of them for over a year.  My sites of choice are Overstock and Rugs USA.  Their selections and prices are UH-MAZ-ING, but knowing that I’d be responsible for return charges {if necessary} to get the rug back to the store had me avoiding the "buy" button.  Eeeeek!

This fear has kept our living room rugless, and I was afraid our bedroom would suffer the same fate now.  Luckily, I put my big girl pants on last week, and I purchased, not just one, but THREE rugs for our home!  Whaaaaaaat?!?!  Yup, you heard me right...three!

First up, one for our master bedroom.  Since we needed a sizable rug (an 8’ x 10’, or something larger) to fit under our king bed, I decided to check out Flor carpet tiles first.  I figured this might be a great idea since I could create a “U” shape around the perimeter of our bed, and therefore not pay for the rug area that would be under our bed.  I measured out how many tiles we’d need and it ended up being about $270.

But thennnn, I saw this chevron ikat rug that I love on Rugs USA, and the 8’3” x 11 rug was only $10 more than that because of a 50% off coupon {WINT50}.  Woot woot!

After figuring out our bedroom situation, I moved my focus to our living room.  I measured things out, and figured that I could get away with a 5’ x 8’ rug for now because of how our couch is shaped.  I found two rugs that I love...one ikat and one herringbone, and couldn’t decide between the two.  Either could go in the living room or in our guest bedroom.  Since they were also 50% off {WINT50}, I added both to my cart and figured I'd swap them back and forth depending on what look we wanted to go for.  WIN-WIN!

Getting 50% off on my purchase allowed me to get 3 rugs for the price of one...it was almost a no-brainer!

And then wouldn’t you know it...the next morning I got an email from Rugs USA telling me that they were having a 65% off sale {NY2013, expires 1/7/13}.  Come on!  I just placed my order not even 24 hours before that!!

I immediately called customer service to see if they would grant me the 65% off discount, and they said sure!  Although there was a catch.  {Isn’t there always a catch?}  The prices of all the rugs I bought had gone up...so the discount would be taken from the new, higher price.  I did some quick math with the rep and realized that even though the prices went up, I'd still be saving an additional $110!  Yes, please!!  All three rugs for $450...not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Now...let’s just say a few small prayers, and keep our fingers crossed, that we like all the rugs when they arrive!!  #idontwanttopaytoreturnanyofthem #ahhhhhhhhhhh

Move Over West Elm!

I apologize to any of you who follow me on Instagram {retroranchreno} because you’re probably all “been there, done that” with the subject of this post, but forgive me.  I couldn’t restrain myself from taking so many pictures.  It was just so much prettier than it used to be!!

Yup, that’s right…I’m talking about the bench for the end of our bed. 

I was very excited when I first laid eyes on this guy, well over a year ago.  The outdated fabric and beat up legs didn’t do it for me…but the size and price of this thing could not be beat.  For $20, I was sold!!  

And then along with most of my Craigslist finds, this poor thing was banished to live in the basement {first at our in-laws and then in our actual basement} just waiting patiently until I got around to transforming it.

The bench would probably be waiting another year if my mom didn’t convince me it was time to get it done.  During one of their trips north, we pulled it out of the darkness and got to measuring.  After figuring out how much fabric we needed, we went shopping.  Of course, nothing I saw was “it”, so I started looking online.  Once I laid eyes on the Islander Ikat Silver fabric from Fabric.com, I knew I didn’t need to look any further.  I submitted my order and impatiently waited for it to arrive.  In the meantime, my mom and I tackled the “fun” part of the recovering process {couch…sarcasm…cough}.  We ripped out all the old staples and removed the old buttons and fabric.  

Lucky for us, these staples came out MUCH easier than when we recovered my dining room chairs.  Phew!

After that it was time to find some new legs for the piece.  I could have easily sanded and re-stained the original ones, but they weren’t the style I was going for.  

Instead of thick, block-like legs, I wanted curvy, romantic ones…a la West Elm’s Essex Printed Bench.  During one of our numerous trips to Home Depot, I was able to pick these pretty things up for under $10 a piece.  I wasn’t thrilled to spend more money on the bench makeover, but I knew adding fun legs would put this project over the top for me.

At least I already owned the stain and sealer I needed for them.

Finally my fabric arrived and we got to recovering!!  After some thoughtful placement {taking pattern and direction into account}, sewing and button covering…I had myself a brand new bench!  

Or should I say Perny has a new bed.  I’m pretty sure he thinks this we completed this project just so he has another place to lay. ;)

Here is the breakdown of what I spent to make over the bench:

-Ugly CL’ed Bench - $20.00

-3 Yards of Fabric {with plenty left over to make pillows or something} - $44.94

-Legs - $36.00

-(2) Button Covering Kits - $3.94

-Upholstery Needle - $4.99

-Stain and Sealer - $0 {already owned}

-Thread - $0 {already owned}

Grand Total = $109.87

Okay, so this wasn’t the cheapest makeover, but it was way more affordable than if I bought the West Elm version brand new!  Their similar bench is priced between $299 and $349, plus a $30 delivery surcharge.  So in that case, I saved myself $219 – 269 on this project.  And while my bench isn't as perfect or professional, I still consider this project a major success! :)