Monday, August 18, 2008

Mistreatment Partay with The Nester



I have been so inspired by what the Nester has done in her home that I have decided to "mistreat" some of my windows as well. I will even show you one disaster in the making (which of course I am stuck on). Maybe you can help me.



So here is my first mistreatment. It is a valance that I made for the kitchen window. I had a bag of fabric scraps and a box of OLD ribbon that I got from a lady at church. The fabrics is the skirt portion of a little girl's jumper and I glued the ribbons onto it and used coordinating plastic clothespins to hang it on an existing rod. I hung it at the ceiling and it mostly covers the wall. Please disregard how the wall paper is hung upside down on this section of the wall. It was like that when we bought it. The cost for this project was: $0









The next room I did was my formal dining room. I used some old homemade curtain panels and hung them at the top of the window so they would reach the floor. Then I hung a rod just below the crown molding and hung my nifty mistreated window topper to cover the wall and the top of the lower curtains. I really love this fabric and I had just enough to make it look like a custom cornice board. The velvet covered buttons make it look even more tailored and formal. In the first picture you can see the lampshades on the chandelier that I mistreated with some dangly, beaded trim. Even my husband liked it and he seldom gets excited about decorating. The scallops are not as crooked as they appear in these photos. The cost for this project was: $8










The next room I did was my bedroom. We have 2 windows on either side of the bed but since my bed was not made, I only took a picture of one of the windows. They are both dressed the same. I already had the sheers in there. The mossy green panels were a pair that I had gotten at Walmart at least 3 years ago on clearance. I cut each panel in half and glues the cut edge so the fabric wouldn't unravel and made dumby panels. It has almost a burlap weave but it is soft and smaller weave so it made a mess when I cut it. The toile and gingham were remnants from Hobby Lobby. I hung everything just under the crown molding on rods I already had. The cost for this project was: $6 (for 2 windows) Does anyone have any ideas for the lampshades?





The next room is a work in progress and I really need everyone's help. I started in the formal living room by pairing existing cream colored panels with the striped panels that I made using my glue gun. I have blackout fabric in the top windows because we live in the south and these windows face west. The sun bakes this room in the summer so I cut blackout fabric to fit these windows and velcroed them to the window frame. In the fall and winter, I can take them down and at Christmastime, I take everything down out of this window so the world can see my tree! Anyways, I am having a hard time dressing the top of the window to cover the blackout fabric. I also purchased some wonderful blue fabric on Saturday at Hancock's 50% off sale and some trim. There is a picture of all of it together. Any ideas for me?









I have some other projects and fabrics to play with after I finish the formal living room monster window. Take a look at my clearance finds:




I am thinking about mistreating a round table and a sideboard with these.

I am going to do a cornice or something in the family room with this.

I love everyone's pictures and ideas that I've seen so far. Thanks in advance for the help.

13 comments:

The Nester said...

Your fabrics are lovely--I have most of them here at my house too--sitting in a closet oh the horrors! That big beautiful window is tough.

At first I was gonna say get a big huge rod and hang it high. Then I saw the pitched ceiling--rrrr! That makes it hard!

This is one of those times where I think it would be worth it to save for custom plantation shutters. They will look great and be a selling feature for your home. Hate that I cannot come up with a better solution--I bet someone else can!

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

I love the kitchen window treatment you did--so sweet and girly.

I'm stumped by your big window, but I do like Nester's suggestion of shutters.

~ Sarah

Anonymous said...

I love the dining room mistreatment! Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Katina said...

Love the toile!!! Nice job!

Wifeof1Momof4 said...

Great choices of fabric. I like the way you glammed up the panels.

Bonita said...

Wow! You do beautiful work!

Aja Jenise said...

All those fabrics are yummy I wish I could play with those fabrics. Makes me want to make a road trip to Tulsa from our little town for some threads!! Thanks for the peeks!

Aja
SE Kansas

mary grace said...

Oh, I love Waverly Country Life toile. ((sigh)) So much toile, so little time ... :-)

Katie said...

hey girl,
I am a mistreating newby, so I will stay tuned for answers to your large window black out question. . but I love the fabric that you have already- beautiful

Amy Jo said...

You do a really good job layering your window mistreatments. I really like the ones in your bedroom. I'm racking my brain about your windows in the living room. I think my church had something like that in the old building and I'm trying to remember what they did in that space. I'll let you know if I come up with anything. What is the black out stuff made out of? could you cover it with scrapbooking paper? Or velcro some fabric over it, use pins to attatch fabric to it? Just some quick ideas...

Anonymous said...

yours are really beautiful!! Love the toile:)

Jill said...

Thanks so much! I LOVE the floral one with the scalloped edge at the bottom!

Anonymous said...

I love the fabrics you chose.

I think you should just cover your lamp with some coordinating fabric. From what I've read, it's easy to do. I don't know for sure though...I haven't tackled that project.

As for your window...the only thing I can think of is to maybe hang hooks (or decorative knobs...which would probably be better) on either side of the curved windows. Then take a really loooooong piece of the blue fabric and drape it over both knobs so it hangs over the middle window and each side falls to the floor. Does that even make sense? I can picture it in my head, but can't explain it that well. I have no idea if it will work or not. LOL!

Good luck! I would love to see what you come up with!!

Antoinette :)