13 April, 2013

Vintage Jacobean Floral Fabric

 
I love beautiful fabric.
I feel there are some patterns and colors
that I have loved since I was a teenager.
My folks let me choose the wallpaper and wall to wall carpeting when we moved
into our new house.
I was in 8th grade.
I chose a wonderful Jacobean wallpaper that had such vibrant colors-
reds, greens, yellows and blues.
And birds.
I also chose red...for the carpet.
Looked great, horrible to live with :)
Every speck of anything showed up against it.
Yep, the 70's in New England.
Every room in the house had different color carpeting!
To make what should have been a short story longer,
while out shopping Estate Sales this weekend I came across this.
I realize some of you will think I've gone over the edge.
Not exactly a contemporary print,
however,
it speaks to me so that's all that matters!
 
 
It's vintage...I'd say 70's...maybe 80's.
The selvage is gone so I don't know who made it.
It's a cotton chintz.
It was lined with this-
 
 
Ivory Blackout Lining.
 
 
This is blackout lining after many years in the Texas sun.
Shreds when touched.
These were custom, mostly hand sewn draperies.
The blackout lining protected the fabric from the same fate.
It still has the wonderful sheen that chintz is known for.
 
 
The fabric is in pristine condition...
that's not discoloration in the pictures,
 it's the shadows caused by the lighting in my studio.
 
 
So...I bought all 7 panels.
Each panel has 1 1/2 or 2 widths of fabric.
Each panel was about 100" long.
That gives me about 40 yards of gorgeous fabric
to remake into panels for our new Master Bedroom.
All for the ridiculous amount of
$25.
 
 
I know, crazy!
 
ann marie
 
 
 
 


01 April, 2013

Upsizing Our Downsize Home

 
This is where we started 5 years ago...
we put a lot of love and hard work into her and this is
how she looks now.
 
 
This house has been a great size for us until about a year ago...
when the Grand Daughters were babies the size of this house was OK...
Then they started walking and running and playing  and needed someplace to nap etc.....
We also love to cook and entertain at home, especially when Mark and Andrea and Caroline and soon Grace are visiting us.
We wanted a bigger kitchen that could accomodate more than 2 people at the same time...
and when I say 2 people that's really pushing it.
My kitchen is 9' x 11'.
It will be 11' x 23'.
Oh, and we're going to have a dishwasher!!
We also needed somewhere for them to stay.
Four people in one bedroom was beginning to be a problem.
So, we decided to go ahead with plans to add on to the house.
We'd been thinking about it for the last couple of years.
This is the original layout.
Same as it was the year it was built-1951
 
 
So with lots of excitement we got our first set of "plans".
 
 
The dark line you see is the original wall of the house.
We now have the plans and things should start rolling this week!
 
 
There are lot of decisions to be made, but we have a really clear vision as to what the finished rooms will look like.
That being said, there will be some tweaking I'm sure.
 
Hope you enjoy the journey with us...
I hope we enjoy the journey too!
 
ann marie