Super Easy, Cheap, Roman Shades

 

Ok I really  wish that I could take credit for the idea of making roman shades from the cheap plastic blinds but I can't. A genius talented designer did it on her blog. http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/

I just took her idea and made it even easier. In my kitchen I did it her way. I took the plastic blinds and tore them all apart and it was a pain and a mess. They turned out good and I like them but these I like better. 

One reason is because they look better from the outside and the other reason is because they are way easier!! 

So this is what you do.. First you  put up your cheap blinds, they should be around 10 bucks depending on the size. It is much easier doing it while they are already installed. I tried it the first time on the floor  (way harder)! Make sure that you adjust the bottom so that they are only as long as you need for your window. If you already have cheap blinds up then all the better!

Next you get your fabric and sew a big square the size of your window. You can double back it depending on how much light you want to go through. I didn't because we like the light.  

then you just take your glue gun and glue the fabric along the top of the blinds, then depending on how many ruffles you want (folds in the fabric when you open them) glue lines across.

 I posted this picture because you can see the dark lines where I glued the fabric to the blinds. You can also see that I left the blinds totally intact. You can avoid all these lines by double backing your fabric. I took the stick off of the blinds and cut a tiny whole for the string to go through. Pull the string and walah... They fold up as you pull, and they really do look pretty. I told you it was easy! Plus all you see from the outside are white blinds.

 These are just the ones I did in the kitchen.

 Let me know if you have any questions. I am not the best writer or teacher so let me know if something wasn't clear.

Good luck!!

Master Bedroom

 I figured out the best place to find great feather pillows for $7. At Ikea!! In the throw pillow area they are $7, and I made cute covers w fabric I found at hobby lobby. For some reason you go to the bed pillow section at Ikea and pillows are 20-30 dollars but not the throw pillow area. They are so wonderful! I am a lover of feather pillows myself...

 Someone gave me this perfect chair that they had tried (and failed) to paint.  The Chandelier was at Costco for $39.99. No I am not kidding! I was so excited and it finished off the room perfectly.

So this is my bedroom when we moved in.. Does any of you have a tiny closet? Because my Husband happens to be a bit of a diva and with my wardrobe, well it just wasn't cutting it!!

 

So this is a lovely piece of furniture left here by the former home owner. The thing weighs a million pounds.....

Well I loathed it. I wanted to get a large wardrobe that would go clear across the whole wall. It would have probably cost at least a thousand bucks to get what I wanted. One day I got tired of living with ugly.

Same dresser! Who woulda thought a few coats of paint would transform it into a thing of beauty. I put some cute fabric on the drawers in the middle using some spray adhesive and a staple gun. I went over the edges with some modge podge. 

I painted the walls a grey and got my hobby lobby on, went crazy with some super cute fabric and I love my room now.

I found two hat rack shelves at Ikea for $25 each to solve some of our closet issues and hung my husbands work clothes on it. It is actually so nice and doesn't close up the room up like the wardrobe would have.

The end tables were also left here when we bought our house. One matched the dresser and the other was random. I actually love that they don't match cause I think they look really good with one matching the fabric and the other the wood detail.

I should have shown pictures of how I put my roman shades together. In an earlier post I showed pictures of some I made in my kitchen, these were easier and look even better I think. I took my cheapo plastic blinds and hot glued fabric on them . I glued along the top then about every foot across. So when you pull the string they function and look beautiful. And they still look great from outside. Maybe I will do a separate post and show you specifics..

This room cost me next to nothing! I was excited to share with you what I have done with a room that made me so unhappy before. I hope that It inspired you!

The chair on the side of the road..

I found this chair on the side of the road with a free sign on it. The exciting part about this chair is that it rocks, because it is sweet and because it actually rocks! The top rocks on the base!

So this is what it looked like when I found it, plus lots of spiders.

I had the white paint and I found this beautiful upholstery fabric.. For this project I wanted something quality. I get my fabric at hobby lobby and use my 40% off weekly coupon when it is not already on sale. This was $25 a square yard but it was 30%off. I bought a bit under a yard so I ended up spending about 17 dollars on this project. Not so bad I  say! Plus it rocks, did I mention that it rocks? So exciting when you are due to have  a baby in a week!

The Orange Nursery

This Rocking chair is one I got at a yard sale for $3 several years ago. Then I went to lowe's and bought a small sample of paint that I had mixed the color I wanted for $3. I made the cushions which ended up being the biggest pain for some reason but ended up working out. Now I am set for those middle of the night baby duty.. 

I wanted to do an orange room since College and made the ottoman in one of my classes. It is nice to have a great place and use for it finally!

 

My inspiration for the room! It doesn't ever hurt to have an amazingly talented Mother-in-law who made this beautiful quilt.

 I think that I should call myself the Dumpster Diving Designer. What do you think? Or maybe just Dumpster Designer. Super classy I think! This whole room was pulled from hammy downs and garage sales including the pictures of the pig and the two bunny's from a yard sale.. 

Apply fabric to a dresser!

I don't even know where to start! I finished the baby's room and have lots of projects to show off! So you need to check in to the blog over the next few days. Yes, I am shamelessly fishing for compliments so feel free to gush...
This projects was definitely a shot in the dark. I had no idea how to go about it and the risk definitely paid off. 
This dresser was/is old. Not antique just old and beat up. It endured two generations in my husbands family before it found me. Over the last several years I tried to Spackle it, and painted it black.. Not that great till I found this fabric for cheap and had this Idea!

I used spray adhesive to apply the fabric and a staple gun. It was actually pretty easy. If you can wrap a present then you can do this project! on the sides I just used the spray adhesive and an exacto knife. I went through tons of blades.. Then over the top I sprayed forcefield fabric protector that is supposed to make it waterproof.. I sealed the edges with some modgpodge just to make sure it was going nowhere..
So of course I did not take a before picture because I get so excited and wrapped up in the excitement of a project. I did find this awful picture that I took of the cat in a messy drawer. 
Just don't judge me very harshly!!

My backyard

 I was going through my pictures and found these "before" pictures of the back yard. Yikes, an improvement don't ya think??

I do not know why I did not take a better closeup picture of the playhouse. Especially my cute red door!
Our yard is not landscaped cute, and we definitely should have put a layer of good soil down, but this is a 50 dollar bag of seed people. Not to shabby I would say, since our yard is not small..

Staining: You go to Home Depot and you stand debating on the color of stain based on the picture on the can. Well I still do that, but I know it won't be ANYTHING like the picture on the can. When I first stained the play house I panicked cause it was pretty close to black. So some things to remember with stain..... Well first don't forget to stir the can. It really always ends up looking good, and just remember staining an outdoor project like this will fade over time. Don't buy into the lacquer stuff that will wick water. Don't do it. It won't last it will peal and be a nightmare to keep up. I just used the minwax brand stain..

Sandbox: If you are debating on a sandbox let me just tell you my thoughts. Do it! I almost changed my mind last minute but I am so glad I didn't! The kids love it and play in it constantly in the summer. I was worried about it becoming a cat litter box. I have a cat and have had no problems. I think it is because I got a really fine sand that need to stay fairly wet  or blows away..

I want to make the inside of the playhouse really cute. So maybe there will be some fun playhouse posts this summer!!