A mid summer zero dollar decorating redo

Dang, its hot.  Feels like it has been hot forever. In Kansas, we typically get a stretch of 100 degree plus days, but not this early in the year. It makes me quake in my boots (or flip flops) just contemplating what July and August will have in store after June blasted us with this heat.

To get the temperature off my mind, I decided to cottage-up my living room a bit.  Ithought strewing some roses about would be a cheerful summery thing to do. 

I'm afraid this photo doesn't look as cheery as it should, I took it at night, and the windows are dark.

Since my walls and furniture are neutral, its easy to change the whole look of the room with a few accents.  Throw pillows, curtains, and knicky knacks make a quick change when you start with an all ivory room.

It probably took longer for me to get the wrinkles out of the old curtains than it did to redo all of this.  I popped these rose curtains in the dryer on fluff while I took down the vintage lace ones, and packed away all of the pillows and a few other things from around the room as they were fluffing up.

When the curtains were ready, it was a fast redo, because we were due to meet friends on the lake. This was a spur of the moment plan, and I only had about 30 minutes to spare.

Over the years, I've made a few different slip covers for my big sofa cushion, and have collected curtains and pillows at clearance sales and garage sales. I keep a linen closet full of cheap, but pretty extras to switch out when the mood hits me.

This time, I tried draping the bottom of the couch with a bed skirt.  The front ruffle shows, the rest is wadded up under the cushion. Hopefuly it will stay in place, it might not.

The look I was going for was an "explosion" of roses.  I think I got it...  Few match, but I like the way they go together anyway.  You can't really tell from the photos, but the brown slip cover on the big cushion has pink roses and blue pailseys on it, so it matches a bit better in person than it seems to in the picture.

This chair was in the studio.   After bringing it in, I topped the garden table with a floral drape panel, and added a couple rosey elements to the arrangement on top.

The sheer panel on the other small table (previous photo) is also a curtain.  I had three of these panels in my breezeway and they were shredded by raccoons.  So, I trimmed off the bottoms that were ragged, used one on the table and the other two in the windows.  As long as I don't move the couch, no one will know about the shredding.

Well, I guess that's not true, I just told everyone about the rips...

My china cabinets are over stuffed anyway, so these items won't be missed in it and they add to the flowery feel of the living room now.

It didn't take much, a couple of pieces for each table arrangement gave me the rose garden effect I wanted.

I think I'll hang a framed rose print on the window frame and pin a big, fat millinery bloom in red to the lamp.

In the fall, I'll want to change it around again, so wasn't striving for perfection. Its a temporary, fun look that I didn't take very seriously. I do love my white on white/ivory room most of the time, but I appreciate it more when I change it up a bit sometimes.

So, this redo took about a half hour, using things I had around the house or packed away.  The only cost was $2 for the bouquet of roses.  My local grocery store has markdown roses for $2 a dozen every week.

Comments

[Linda P.]

Oh, I do love your rosy room redo! It has a rose garden feel, for sure! Shame on those rascally raccoons for messing with your lace curtains! Good for you for just snipping off the damage and moving the curtains to the living room.

I must inwardly giggle here because snipping off lace reminds me of something I did yesterday. I ran across some old bras I needed to discard. Before I did, though, the lace on the cups caught my eye! "Well, look at that! I could use that in an art project!" So! Prior to tossing the bras, I got out my scissors and snipped away until that lace was removed to live another day in a future art project.

Looking at everything with an eye for artistic re-purposing--is it a blessing or a curse??? : D

[nancy thompson]

I love it! Soooo much fun to change things up with little finds that make us happy. Former 2nd grade teacher that I am...use to changing classroom motif each month....I now love changing out our home each month with vintage finds, linens, doilies etc. to go seasonally through the year, and create a cozy happy feeling.

Also love the previous post! Made me laugh because I recently cut lace off an old half slip ( does anyone wear them anymore) for a book I made!

[gail]

OMG, I adore the room, and would die for the curtains!

[Karla Nathan]

Gail, I paid $5 for five panels of those curtains at a garage sale about ten years ago. Ive sure got my moneys worth out of them!

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[Karla Nathan]

How funny! We artists cant waste anything that can be used in a project!

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[Louise @ Elsie May and Bertha]

A lovely room full of rosyness, you do have a good eye.
I don't envy your hot weather, it's been pouring down with rain Here over the past week (though we're fortunate enough not to be anywhere that has flooded) I couldn't cope with the types of temperature you're getting. I hope it doesn't get much hotter for you through the rest of the summer.

[bettyann]

beautiful..fab that you can go shopping in your own delightful home for your re-do..

[Karla Nathan]

We had a nice little break in the weather, complete with rain! Not enough to quench the cracked ground, but it helps.

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[Kate garfield]

What a nice change! I have a mix of flowery things in our house and now you've got me thinking.....hummmmm!

[jeanie]

Love the curtains -- very cheery! Lovely!

[Erin Houghton]

Hi Karla,

Oh my goodness - your ceative space is just magical. Love everything and the way you mix and match it up.
Thank you for sharing.
Have a creative day.
Blessings,
Erin