Home Improvement: Floor length curtain FAIL

This looks a lot like our kitchen/patio door area with the white cabinets, white backsplash, white trim, and dark floors. When I first saw this image, I loved the geometric print curtains, but after staring at it for awhile, I was hesitant. I just wasn't in love with the print (or any similar print).

(via HGTV)

Then I laid eyes on this photo:

(via BHG)

Bold, bright, horizontal stripes! Only I wanted them in royal purple (to pick up the bits of purple in our granite countertops). Unfortunately, my sleuthing skills failed me and I was never able to find premade curtains with horizontal stripes in purple.

DIY it is! They can't be that hard (I'd eat those words later). Since I'm making them myself, I have full control of the fabric choice, the finish, and budget. I wanted the look/feel of silk dupioni, but I didn't want the price that came with it. So I went cheap and just picked up some of that fake shit from the apparel section at Jo-Ann. What was I thinking? 

After procrastinating for a year, I finally decided to just sit down and knock them out as my first home improvement project of the year. Not to mention, finally sew something for myself. It took 3 days, a hell of a lot of fabric; 6 yards; 12 if you count the lining fabric, and a shit ton of cursing. Damn my perfectionist ways. They looked great and exactly like I had pictured it...until I threw them into the wash. 

Why, oh why did I think that was a good idea? I didn't prewash before sewing. And clearly, I hadn't thought about how cheap polyester does not hold dye well. Yeup, and in just 15 minutes, I had ruined 3 days of work. The purple dye had migrated and tinted the white stripes a pink/purple hue. The off-white that I had painstakingly picked out and matched the trim so perfectly was no longer white! 

Oxiclean failed me. I love the stuff when I'm cleaning my white dinner napkins, but it only made my curtains worse. The tinted white stripes turned completely pink! I tried Shout Color Catcher, but to no avail. I'm done trying to save these things. I'm just going do what I should have done in the first place; BUY the damned things.

Anybody want these?

Home Improvement: Anthropologie Corrigan Chair, River Reeds

I have been obsessed with the Corrigan chair for months. Probably close to 8 months! I first became enamored with it I saw it on the Anthropologie website. Then I was smitten with it after I sat in it. Since then, like a stalker, I regularly stopped in ALL the Anthro stores in the area just so I could sit in it some more.

A couple of months back, I made up my mind to purchase the chair, but only after I received a bonus from work. Well wouldn't you know, the chair went on sale just before the bonus payout. SCORE, right? (wait, it gets better before it gets sad.) Then, the 20% off sale items Sale was announced. Double score, right? My dumbass decided to wait a few more days. I woke up on July 5th to find that it had been sold out online!!! (Yea, I do this to myself all the time.) Panic and sadness ensued. Followed by phone calls to one of the stores. 

A couple hours later, this happened.

Sale, plus 20% off, no shipping fee, and instant gratification. Not bad for a slightly used chair (the store got it new in November).

Yup, our temporary curtains are sheets of fabric held in place with binder clips. It's totally avant garde.

Ahhh, LOVE it! Now I just need curtains. After seeing the chair in our living room, DIY curtains full of texture have been added to the queue. Just imagine, white, floaty curtains that mimic my wedding dress. SWOON! 

Home Improvement: Laundry Closet

Our laundry closet, without shelving: 

It's your standard second floor laundry closet, with the exception of it being 8 feet wide! The 18" on either side of our appliances is wasted floor space. But on the flip side, it makes for 36" of additional shelving space along the wall.

I'm not sure if our builder never planned to put shelving in this space or if he got my note to skip the builder grade shelving (aka crap wire shit). Either way, I'm glad we got to work with a blank slate. I had very specific requirements, namely a closet rod for hanging my laundry (I like to air fluff and then hang dry the delicate pieces of my wardrobe). 

Now check it out:

BOOM, Elfa shelving! If you are eyeing anything Elfa, RUN to The Container Store, like NOW! The annual Elfa sale is currently underway. Um, hello 30% off!! I was a little hesitant about the shelving at first. I didn't like the idea of being able to see the vertical hanging bars. But know that it's in my home, I freaken LOVE it. Just seeing the completed laundry closet as I come up the stairs makes me giddy. Seriously, I clap and giggle every time, granted we've only had it for less than 48 hours. 

We chose to hire installers. It was installed in like 45 minutes. I'm sure I could have done it, but it would have taken me WAAAAAAAAAY longer. And I would have had to purchase/borrow a drill, get a taller ladder, and needed an extra set of hands. Our installer looked like Nicholas Cage; he was a really nice guy. It was interesting to see that he cut a couple of pieces on site. If you install yourself, they will cut pieces in the store for you.

Our setup:

36" easy hang standards (vertical pieces)
16" x 93" vented shelving (top shelf), 2 pieces - 48" and custom cut 45"

45" closet rod, custom cut

16" x 48" vented shelving, 2 pieces - 24" each

16" x 50" solid melamine shelving, 2 pieces - 25" each

24" mesh drawer 

Not sure if we really need the drawer or the solid shelves, but they could be useful. We'll give it a go for a few weeks and see what happens. We are excited to upgrade the bedroom closets, but we will probably wait until next year. You know, spread out the hit to the bank account.