SORRY! This post should have been over on the "conversation" page......my bad!

Belle

Belle, I think it's great that you posted here. It's always good to hear from you. Glad Luvs ask about DH and happy things seem to be better for him. Yes, everything slows down with age! Sounds like he still has alot of go for not feeling well. Hope you have time to paint your window DH made for you soon. It sounds pretty neat. I should be dusting but just washed the autos and I'm taking a break.

We had a beautiful day today and sounds like it may be nice tomorrow too, then back to the rain for a few more days. Sad that the fish are having a hard time with babies this year. What's your temps now?

Take care and I'll get back when I have more time.

Punk

I love Shirley Koenig, can't wait to see what you do.
(I love the projects in her newest book, I think they are some of her best yet).

We desperately need some rain, so send that down my way!

Belle, glad the DH is on the mend and feeling better. Kidney stones are just horrible!

OK, so you wanted to see pics? This is my guest bedroom. It's been one long DIY/craft project, and I'm mostly happy with it. After all of the work on the curtains, I found some panels I liked better, but will need to make a different valance to go with, so all of that is on hold for another day. We still need to paint the doors and replace the hardware. I don't know if I'm much of a decorator, but I wanted to have a soothing, restful, functional place for company...with a bit of my own style thrown in, so this is what I've done.

The bedside tables were a thrift store find, and had a very dark stain, so I painted them and changed the hardware. I added a lining to the curtain panels, and made the valances. I made all of the toss pillows, and I put contrasting fabric on the backs, so they're reversible for a little bit of a different look. The lamps were an ebay find, and I think they're quite old. I took them apart, cleaned and rewired them, and added new shades.

The small metal shelves were also ebay and thrift finds. I painted them and added a small collection of old Japan colonial figurines.

The chest of drawers I've had a while. It was blue when I bought it, and I painted it white ages ago. It just needed some new hardware. The green compote was a thrift find, and I made that flower arrangement.

The lithographs came from ebay, and I had some old frames that were pretty scuffed up, so I painted them to match the nightstands, and added new mats.

It's been a lot of fun working on that room! Now I need to work on that craft room!

Franksmom, your guest room looks wonderful. The paint and new knobs made all the furniture go together perfectly and those lamps are perfect too. Great idea on making the pillows reversible. Your curtains and valance look really nice, so soft and airy looking. Your pictures, figurines and flower arrangements all go together so perfectly. You really did a nice job pulling it all together in this room.

I made some panels several years ago for our family room. My kind of sewing--just straight seams! ;o) I'm kinda tired of them now and have been thinking about buying some new panels someday in the not too distant future. Just have to make a decision on what I want--that's the hard part for me! LOL

Belle, our little forum is so slow, now big deal where you post, at least you are coming by and posting! ;o)

I can't wait to see your new projects. Gosh, what a lot of work retyping the directions. We're you able to just scan them in and then cut and paste to put things in the order you wanted? Or maybe you could just hilite the color for each section on the original directions to make it easy to find. Seems like you could paint a whole project in the time it takes to retype all the directions. :o(

Luvs

We got RAIN!!! Woohhooo!

Thanks so much Luvs! Do you know, that's the fourth set of lamps?! Who knew it would be so hard? I sometimes have problems with size and proportions, but my new moto is "go bigger!"

I've made curtain panels for all of the bathrooms, and that was pretty easy, since they were small and I didn't do anything fussy with them. At this point, though, I'm all curtained out!

So, I worked a lot in the craft room this week. Managed to get a LOT of things packed up for the thrift. I was doing so well going through the fabrics, and had a huge pile to donate, and more to send to my Mom. I sorted it all by color, then packed it back up. I still have NINE tubs of fabric. NINE...oh dear. Well, at least it's better, but I'm going to have to sort and sort again, because that's just crazy.

I love your guest room, Franksmom. All of your hard work will make any guest want to relax and maybe forget to go home.haha Love the green you used and your curtains look great the way they are to me. The lamps are wonderful in this room. So now instead of third times a charm, it's four and no more, huh?

I'm pretty picky and I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks so much for sharing and I know all of us here can relate to all your time to create this paradise for guests.

Punk

Franksmom.....the 'Where did my post go?" bandit hit again.

You bedroom is awesome. Would you like to take a trip to WA? Sure could use your decorating talents. Everything looks great and the soft colors are so soothing.

I want to redo my guest room (my GS room) in shades of beige, more adult-male colors. But just haven't found anything I like. Maybe that's just not my colors. I keep looking at the green quilted bed spread that is on the bed and I like it.....someday!

Thank You for sharing your lovely room!

Belle

The weather actually cleared Friday afternoon and hold onto your hats......we hit the 78 degree mark. Sat., started out cloudy but warmed up in the afternoon. Still in the lower 70's for this week, but NO RAIN!

Belle

Thanks so much you guys! It may have turned out more girly than I was planning, but I'm not redoing it! Except the curtains...

Belle, I wouldn't go with a color you don't like. If it doesn't speak to you, then the whole thing won't work and you won't be happy with it.

Has anyone seen any unfinished wood magazine files? You know, the skinny boxes used to keep magazines stacked vertically? I've used the cardboard ones before, and they don't hold up very well, and I could use plastic, but if I had wooden ones, they'd brobably be the sturdiest, and it would be fun to paint them to match the craft room.

Still working on the craft room. I did some creative furniture swapping over the weekend, and it's starting to take shape. I'm about 80% done with the sorting and purging, and things are mostly arranged in roughly the areas I want them. And I can see the floor again! I have furniture to paint for that room, so I'm hoping the weather cooperates.