Readers' Homes | It's Great To Be Home

Show Off Your Space {2nd Edition}

June 18, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 3 Comments

I feel like a proud parent getting to show off yet another round of fabulous spaces courtesy of my even more fabulous readers. That’s right, it’s the second edition of Show Off Your Space! {If you missed the first edition, you can check it out right here.}

Show Off Your Space is a series on IGTBH that’s all about you guys – with each edition of the series, we’ll get a sneak peek into the real-life homes of three IGTBH readers to see what snazzy spaces you guys have whipped up.

Here we go! From the cool grays to the vibrant pops of turquoise, this DIYed guest bedroom had me at hello:

{ Twenty-Six to Life }

This is our guest bedroom. It’s the first room that I tackled in our house {still working on the rest!}. I DIYed the heck out of everything in the room {all the details are at my blog} to keep costs down. Originally the room was painted a bright “big bird” yellow that made it impossible to relax in, let alone sleep. I ended up refinishing all the furniture, making a headboard, and putting up a whole wall of decals. When I started I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew that I wanted gray walls and went from there! ~ Kate

Incorporating bits and pieces of your memories and family history is a sure fire way to make your home feel alive and inviting – and this gorgeous dining room is a prime example!

{ A Lil’ Welsh Rarebit }

My happy place is our fabulous, soulful dining room. We inherited this beautiful furniture collection from Matt’s mother! And the photos on the wall are our favorites {which Matt took!} from our favorite vacation – in Rome! Ooh la la – that city is romantic and so much fun to visit! The Scottish crystal and Turkish glassware in the corner unit are all wedding gifts from our relatives around the world – we love breaking them out for special occasions, and for the occasional glass of wine after the kiddos are in bed, of course! ~ Christy, Cherry Hill, NJ

Katie’s gallery wall knocked my socks off, and I still can’t believe she and her hubby made that buffet! Check it out:

{ The Proudfeet }

While this picture might show only a small portion of our dining room, I absolutely love this little space. It represents so many things to me – love for the family and friends in the pictures lining the wall; determination since my husband and I built the buffet together; joy over the little decoration details like vintage books; and of course happiness because of all the good times we’ll spend in the dining room. ~ Katie, Northern Virgini

My hat is off to these talented ladies – thanks for opening your homes to us! Be sure stop by their blogs to tell them hello if you get the chance. :)

If you’d like to be included in the next edition of Show Off Your Space, just click here to get started! And if you’ve already been featured, feel free to snag this button for your sidebar and link back to your feature:

Show Off Your Space {1st Edition}

June 4, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 18 Comments

Can I get a “whoop whoop” for the first edition of Show Off Your Space?

For those of you that missed this post, here’s a brief explanation of Show Off Your Space – it’s all about you guys! With each edition of this series, we’ll get a sneak peek into the real-life homes of IGTBH readers to see what snazzy spaces you guys have whipped up.

Here we go! Check out this inviting living room sent in by Meghan – the layering of patterns makes my heart go pitter pat:

{ Rumer & Co. }

This picture is of my living room. What makes this my favorite place in the house are the window treatments. I’ve had the fabric picked out for 3.5 years but we’ve moved four times in four years, decorating each living room to fit the floral fabric, but never had them made to hang and enjoy. When we downsized to this house, I made it my mission to make them, and just shy of our one year anniversary in the house, they are up. We love how all the fabrics tie together finally (we aren’t 100% done but it’s so close) and the coziness that the window treatments provides. This is the room we live in and now it’s comfortable and warm, even with the “cool” colors. And…my 9 month old son wanted in on the picture action…at least he’s wearing cute pajamas… ;) ~ Meghan, Columbus, GA

Next up is Shauna’s soothing guest bedroom – I think my favorite part is the texture from the woven headboard and blinds:

{ Elements of Home }

My guest room happens to be the first room I decorated in our new home. I love the way it turned out! This was done on a pretty tight budget and I love how cozy and warm it makes me feel. I secretly wish this was my master bedroom, but I hope one day to have a master bedroom that I love just as much! ~ Shauna, Arvada, CO

Ladies, this next photograph will have you in a tizzy – I want {no, I NEED} a closet like this! {P.S. I spy the rug from our den - still loving it!}:

{ Russet Street Reno }

My favorite place in my house is definitely my dressing room. I converted a spare bedroom into a walk-in closet for myself because I have a ton of clothes! I made no-sew curtains with a bolt of clearance fabric {that was also the inspiration for the color scheme}, purchased some bookcases and hat racks from Ikea to create open storage, and added a dresser I already had. A capiz chandy, Pottery Barn Moorish Tile rug, and Pier 1 bench completed the room! Please check out the details on my blog. ~ Sara, Racine, WI

I’m totally wowed by these spaces – what do you guys think? Thanks to Meghan, Shauna and Sara for sharing their homes with us – be sure to swing by their blogs to check out the rest of their homes!

If you’d like to be included in the next edition of Show Off Your Space, just click here to get started!

Reader Question: What To Do With These Windows?

April 1, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 7 Comments

Window treatments can be one of the most frustrating {i.e., annoying} design elements in a room – you have to think about light control, privacy, expenses, style of treatment, fabric choice . . . the list goes on and on! One of my lovely readers is struggling with choosing window treatments for her family room, and wrote in a for a little advice. Here’s her note:

So I have a window dilemma – I think I want to cover the long window in our family room, but with what? I HATE vertical blinds – and that’s the only thing I’ve seen on my neighbor’s houses who have windows like ours. The window isn’t centered in the room, so I think curtains are out – plus I wouldn’t want them to go to the floor since it’s the playroom too. I can’t imagine finding pull down shades that would work since it’s soooo big. And I have a feeling any custom pull down blinds would cost almost a grand. I just don’t want to spend more than a couple/few hundred dollars…. Do you have any suggestions? Should we just keep it open? Do you think your readers would want to chime in? If not, that’s totally fine…just thought I would check with you since you’ve been so helpful in the past! { . . . } ~ Christy

{ P.S. If you haven’t already checked out Christy’s post about her family room makeover, you totally should – it’s awesome! Just click here to scope it out. }

In some followup emails with Christy, I learned that she wanted any window treatments to be functional so that she can completely cover the windows when she wants to. Knowing all that, here are some affordable ideas I came up with to conquer her large {and gorgeous} windows:

1. DIY Roman Shades. I’ve been dying to try this idea ever since Britt made them for her bedroom.

{ source }

The basic idea is that Christy would use a length of fabric that extends from one side of the windows to the other, and from the ceiling to the window ledge beneath the windows (treating the 3 panels of the window like one big window). Screw a cup hook near the top of the window frame on each vertical section of the frame (so you’ll have 4 cup hooks in all). Then sew four little rings onto the back side of the fabric panel to line up with the cup hooks – these rings will be used to pull up the shades and let in some light, so think about how much window you’ll want to expose. That’s it! Check out Britt’s blog for even more details.

Drop cloths {like the ones Britt used} would be a great affordable fabric that can be gussied up with ribbon, and the neutral tones would work well with Christy’s furniture – another alternative would be to use one long length of a punchy, graphic fabric like the ones below to play off the beautiful blues and patterns in the space {and remember that you might want to line the shades for extra light control and so that they’re pretty when you see them from outside, as well}.

From left to right, top to bottom. 1. Waverly Sun N Shade Lenox Horizon, 2. Woodland Delight CD4085-Blue Fabric by Paula Prass, 3. Waverly Ellis Turquoise, 4. Premier Prints Giraffe Brown/French Blue, 5. Premier Prints Trellis French Blue/Kelso Brown, 6. P Kaufmann Loopy Lou Robin’s Egg, 7. Woodland Delight DC4084-Blue Fabric by Paula Prass, 8. Shangri-La 3883-22 Fabric by 3 Sisters, 9. Pavilion Indoor/Outdoor by Duralee, 10. Waverly Sun N Shade Outdoor Fabric-Lovely Lattice Lagoon Fabric, 11. Invidgodk in Confetti, 12. Waverly Cross Section Charcoal.

2. Alternate Version of DIY Roman Shades. This version will let you have two different fabrics, like a neutral on the front and a pattern on the back. Instead of the fabric folding underneath itself, you would “button up” the bottom of the shade to expose the patterned fabric on the back of the shade.

{ source }

You can check out a more detailed tutorial here.

3. Faux Custom Roman Blinds. Custom blinds are expensive, so why not fake it? The Youngsters do it, and so can you.

{ source }

Believe it or not, these custom-looking bamboo blinds {above and below} are just a series of inexpensive blinds hung together to look like a single unit. Can’t tell, can ya?

{ source }

Just be sure to keep any cords out of the reach of little ones. And for a more polished look, you can always add a pair of curtain panels or a valance.

So those are my ideas for Christy’s naked window – what about you guys? Chime on in, we want to hear about your solution!

P.S. I loved reading all of your guesses about yesterday’s post . . . you’ll have to stay tuned to find out for sure! :)