A Room With a View

Nina-Li's room has a view - of our street. Little privacy. So, when I was deciding what to do with her window treatments there were two objectives. One, to let the sunshine through. Two, to be able to close for privacy. So, I doubled up. I was inspired by the Spring 2010 BHG Do It Yourself Issue. There was an article in which someone used the CHUNKY PLAIDS to decorate with! Loved it. I was on a mission. Check it out:




I couldn't find the green, but found a shade of pink that I thought would do. The hunt for this plaid was crazy. I went to every store I could think of in our area that might have it. Searched on the internet for hours. FINALLY, I was chatting on Facebook one night and saw a little ad on the sidebar for fabrics. Went to it, and there it was!

First, I made simple curtains that I am using clip rings for to pull open and closed. Then, I used this picture to add a touch of daintiness that I just love!


I had every intention on making the white shades. Then, one day I was in Target and found two tie-up window shades marked down 75% to $3.74 each. I just had to narrow them and I took off the ties they had to make my own. I then added a dowel in order to create the same look that I find in the magazine. This made my work a lot simpler and more affordable.


I am very pleased with the end result! I love these window treatments. I hope Nina-Li enjoys them as well!

Sitting Pretty

Well, I dragged another item home from Goodwill. Bill was a bit perplexed what in the world I was going to do with it. I guess I can understand that. Believe it or not I had a few different ideas of the possibilities. So, we began with this:

The back of it was stamped bunkbed. So it was a headboard of a bunkbed. I asked my sweety pie to cut the sides down so that the 'legs' were gone. And I toted it around the house. First I had it in my kitchen and thought it could be a mini wall hutch. I then took it upstairs and thought we could make it into a small table top coming out from the wall. Then, I took it to Nina-Li's room. I thought she might be able to use it as a wall shelf. However, on the wall it would fit on, it would be positioned too high for her to reach. Then, I remembered Bill saying he wanted Nina-Li to have a window seat, AHAA! I asked him what he thought and he said to go for it.
So, first I had to take apart the backing and some wooden type brackets that were on top. I then had to make it a deeper bench. It was only about 6 inches deep. I added a 1 x 8 that we had on hand. However, I used a 1 x 6 for the sides to widen the legs.


I then had to add blocks underneath the widened seat board to attach the beadboard backing I had. Although the bench itself is deeper, I didn't deepen the shelf. It's still the original 6" depth. Once the nail boards were set, I was able to insert the beadboard and attach it. I also added a center support piece to the back part of the bench as shown in the photo.

Once everything was built. (Which by the way, I got to use a few power tools: a circular saw, a miter saw and an air nailer.) I painted our bench black. I know, not very girly, but there is a lot of white in the built-in furniture Bill is building and it ties in everything...you'll see...eventually.


I had foam from little chairs the boys had when they were toddlers. I put it on top of the bench and covered it with this incredible fabric. I LOVE THE FABRIC. I also made little cushion and pillow for the rocking chair in her room out of it. I need to go get more because I have one more idea. Anyway, check out the end results: