Recap of a long weekend...

We relaxed. A lot.

There were no chores (except for some much needed laundry).

We bought peonies at the farmers market, even though they're growing in our garden (the world can't have too many peonies).

We tried our first non-alcoholic beer. It was awful. There's no fooling me.

We antiqued with a great girlfriend. Boy, did we antique.

We spent some time at the lake.

We grilled out & enjoyed time with family. 

We celebrated birthdays. 

We felt the baby kick for the first time (at least we think we did).

We sweat. A lot. 

We sat out on the porch. 

The end.

Just when you thought City Dwellin' had been abandoned...

...I'm back! And I realized (after looking through random photos of our pets on my Iphone) that I had taken pictures of the new throw pillows for the master bedroom makeover awhile ago. Ooops. My bad. Get with it Katie!

Anyhoo, remember this fabric?

The fabric that when I last spoke about it still had not arrived from Calico Corners? Well, low and behold, all it took was walking the dog on a different route, past our house to find the package of fabric just sitting on our front porch. I still have no clue how long it had been there, since we don't use the front porch regularly. Nor did UPS or Calico Corners bother to notify me when it was going to ship (or when it had arrived, for that matter!).

Anyway, I quickly shipped off the goods to my mom so she could get crackin' on some throw pillows. And days later, this is what we ended up with...

I must say, I'm quite pleased with how well the fabric ties in the gray of the walls. I'm still not in love with this duvet (there, I said it). I suppose had I gone with another wall color I'd feel differently. But since it's much easier to one day buy a new duvet vs. repainting an entire bedroom....we're living with the stupid duvet for now.

This project also bears mentioning that I'm a hoarder of down pillow inserts, yet didn't have any spares floating around when it came time to tackle this little project. The easiest way to nab yourself a good old fashioned down insert? Just find yourself an ugly cheap pillow, remove the insert, and sew (or buy) yourselves a new cover! I purchased these pillows for $18 each at Homegoods. In this case, the old covers were of the neutral, Ralph Lauren variety (which I actually wound up saving for possible future use). But any old nasty looking (but not actually nasty) pillow will do! They just happened to have decent cheap ones the day I went looking.

So there you have it! One more project down, a million more to go! I probably should make a list of what we really want done in this space....it would probably help keep me more accountable and organized (something that just isn't my strong suit lately). And then by the time 2014 gets here, there's the possibility of at least 3 more items being crossed off said list. Wishful thinking? Perhaps.

Happy almost TGIF!

Project Hallway panels

Okay, it's time to share what became of this fabric! Remember?

Duh, of course you do. You read this blog & you've seen this picture no less than 12 times (but I know I never mentioned the fabric is from Anna Marie Horner's Innocent Crush line, now did I?). I commissioned my mom to make simple panels for the lonely little window in the hallway. The window doesn't let in much light on a good day, even without a window treatment. So I was a little worried how the panels would or wouldn't affect things in there. But none-the-less, that boring bare window needed something stat!

I'll spare you the details of how we got to this point (mostly because I don't think the husband would be amused). But let's just say it started with me buying a cheap-ola $5 curtain rod from Christmas Tree Shops, and then the husband climbing up, down, up, down the step ladder, leveling, measuring, drilling, climbing back up, down, up, down the ladder some more, measuring again, drilling again, all the while I was in the background saying helpful things like, "ooooh yeah, that doesn't look right". So needless to say, for obvious reasons, there were no photos of this process.

So the panels were looking okay at this point, but they were blocking out way too much light and I knew I needed something to tie them back. So off to Joann's I went. I came across some great trim (do you know Joann's carries Cynthia Rowley & Project Runway lines? Ooooh, yes please!). Anyway, after much debating I narrowed it down to 3 choices...none of which are C. Rowley or Project Runway, ironically....

In the end I chose option #3. I loved greek key #1 and #2, but there was something about the braided gold that I loved even more. It's not something I'd originally thought to work with, but it spoke to me at the time, so home it came with me!

There was no rhyme or reason to how I tied these back. Really, it's almost ghetto when I tell you I simply hammered a nail in there and voila...instant tie-backs!

I'm still getting used to the fact that we have some sort of treatment for this window. But I love that the fabric adds a pop of color to the gray-black-white color scheme that's happening in there now.

And the good news? The curtain rod & panels are still intact...so, bonus points to the husband for all of his hard work! And who said a cheapy $5 curtain rod isn't legit?