Curtains, curtains, everywhere!

In all of the places we've lived, Greg has always been our interior decorator, which always involved a multitude of band posters, tons of colored mood lighting, lava lamps, and tie-dyed wall-hangings. In our first apartment it made sense: he lived there for several months before we married and I moved in, so it was already all set up by the time I arrived.

In each of the places we've moved to since, I always knew we wouldn't be there for too long, so I felt that it wouldn't be worth really digging in, indulging in my nesting instincts, and creating space inside of my house to make it a home that reflected me.

During Greg's last deployment, I started to feel a change. As I looked around the house and considered the style of decorating, I realized that there wasn't much that said "me" outside of my wool room. When we were getting ready to move here to Texas, I knew that this time it would be different. It was time for a change, and this time, I wanted to be in charge. Armed with the incredible (and doable!) inspiring book, Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule, I began to gather my supplies as my head filled with all sorts of ways to beautify, personalize, and soften the interior of my home.



The first major change is: no posters, except for Large Important Framed Ones. So far, he hasn't framed any, but there are at least two huge ones that will look pretty awesome in the hall (we're going to create an "art gallery" of sorts along the walls). The second, and most important to our discussion today, is: There Will Be Curtains. Proper curtains. White, breezy ones.

I've been just a tiny bit curtain obsessed lately. Obsessed, as in: this is pretty much all I've wanted to do, think about, and discuss this week.

So here they are.

Kitchen:


Thrifted bedsheet, vintage doilies. The lace panel at the edge of the top valence is from the edge of the sheet.

I love the way the light filters through. The vintage doilies remind me of snowflakes.




I sewed the curtain-rod-casing so that there would be a little frill over the top, but now I'm thinking I might sew loops into it instead to hang it that way. We'll see.

Here's my wool/sewing studio:



My favorite part of the handkerchief curtain is that, like the doily one, it showcases someone else's handwork (in the case of the crochet-edged or embroidered ones), putting their talent on display, rather than allowing it to be forgotten in the corner of a drawer, or worse still, thrown away.

I am also terribly charmed by the ribbon loops and the box pleats.







I've got another that I sewed for the children's toy room, with a playful polka-dot ribbon border, but the curtain rod that I bought for it is too small to fit the window. Once I find the right size, I'll be able to show it to you.

Tomorrow, I'm going to show you our little knitted advent garland!