Well obviously my New Year's intention is a bust....but we'll try and hop back in the saddle.

My mother, who is an avid and gifted seamstress (she used to make my formals when I was in high school!) got a new sewing machine for Christmas this past year. Since her old (and very nice)sewing machine still works just fine, she decided to hand it down to me. Well, it sat in my guest-room-to-be for a few months, unused. I have to admit, sewing has always been pretty intimidating for me. This weekend, however, I finally worked up the nerve to try my hand at some (very) simple curtains.....as in, all I had to do was hem all four sides of the fabric haha.

I had seen this neato fabric online....

But didn't really fall in love with it until I decided to paint the guest-room-to-be (currently serving as my music room until we get the garage converted to living space) a dark, muted teal color (Martha Stewart's Plumage, for those of you who are wondering).

See how the color just begs for some more white, and maybe some dove grey, plus maybe some pattern? Don't worry....the rug is not staying in there.....

Anyways, I picked up eleven yards of the stuff for just under $8/yard at The Fabric House a couple months ago (yes...I really have been putting this off that long). This past weekend, I took a deep breath and dove in.

Bam....it's not a great picture. I'll be able to get better ones, I think, once I can move things to the new music room....or at least figure out how to shoot looking at a window without the photo getting washed out....maybe I'll try to get some pics when it's dark outside.

Breaking down the budget, the fabric cost me about $88, plus another $5 or so for thread. That works out to about $45 per window. In most stores, you would spend at least that much per panel, so I think I did pretty well!

Anyone else been making curtains lately?

Dressing out the Man Cave

I've been charged with a very special mission: making the man cave a functional and comfortable place to be. That in itself isn't that hard, but doing it to my husband's tastes has thus far been more challenging!

One of the things my husband really loved about this house when we bought it is the finished basement that runs under half the house. The idea was that if I get my own personal space (my music room), that he should get one too. That way he has a place to retreat, work out in and watch all the football he wants. He can decorate it anyway he wants and I don't get a say, so he can deck it out in all the Georgia Bulldogs gear he wants, and I don't have to look at it! Haha

So here's what it looked like when we moved in. Very cave-like, no?

Before he took of for the other side of the world, he put down some gym flooring for his workouts (he's big into weight lifting). I also found an arm chair and ottoman at a local thrift store (it was less than $10, and if he had hated it, I could have Craigslisted it). It's comfy and gave him a place to watch the fancypants TV he bought to go down there.

He mentioned he wanted our old couch down there once we got the new one (this happened back in November, and I bribed a couple of college kids from my church with a home cooked meal to come and move it for me).

He also asked me to find a rug so he could walk around barefoot without freezing his feet on the linoleum floor. I approached this with some caution, since I was going to have to guess what he would like. The way I got around this? I started by finding a couple rugs online (this one and this one) I thought he would like and sending him the links for his approval (or non-approval).

I was ready to order one of them, when I was walking through Home Depot and saw this...

Very similar to the others that Jacob had already approved, but less than half the price. Plus, I figured the indoor/outdoor design would be easier to clean/more durable for the situation. I snapped a quick picture with my phone and sent it off to Jacob for approval. Score one for the wifey. He loved it! So I went back a couple days later and purchased the 5'x7' version to fit the TV area. Here's a picture of it in place.

It's a little messy down there at the moment.....I've definitely taken advantage of the fact that he's not here to gripe about it to store artwork etc. while I paint other rooms (yes...I've been at it again) and decide where I want it all to end up.

Next up, figuring out how to get a little more light down there!