A New Color For A New Year

If you remember, or even if you don’t, I purchased a white pin-tuck comforter for our new bedroom. The old gold and blue wasn’t working for me anymore and I wanted something not quite so traditional.

Once I picked out the cover and shams ($85 for all, thank you very much) I needed to decide on a color scheme. Since this room opens off the living room I wanted it to coordinate with other colors in the house somewhat.  I found some coordinating fabrics at Hancock’s, so armed with a coupon to use on their already 50% off I was able to get a damask print, a stripe and two different solids for $8/yard. These are shades of sea glass blue/green and charcoal.

 I know everyone in the world is doing gray, and gray is the new brown, but hey it's new to me. Nothing in my house is gray. Or brown. And I have a periwinkle blue and green living room. I'm just not into beige.

Since my MIL has the mac daddy of sewing machines I asked for her help while we there visiting. I really thought all I would have to do is cut a square of fabric for each side.  But it soon became apparent that I was going to need some mathematical skills, and folks I don’t have ‘em.  Enter SIL Becky who saved the day by determining how to find the center of the design that we wanted front and center and then make a template to use for each front. Mr. Lane has mathematical skills as well but he was out with his Dad behind the tool shed. He wasn’t being punished; they were busy trying to create a template to make the soon-to-be headboard. Maybe that was punishment enough.

SIL made a template by using tissue paper, then folded it into half twice to find the center corner, then pinned the center point onto the center of the damask design and we were off.  But just so you know I’m keeping it real, I did maybe perhaps sew two pieces of fabric together with one side inside out.  We so thought we were done and I know my MIL and I both wanted to go to sleep. But because we were leaving in the morning we needed to persevere. I ripped out all the seams and tried again. Then we could finally go to sleep.

The two damask pillows are the kind where you can slip a pillow in or out. The larger stripe ones I just sewed all the way around. By the way, the best deal I found on those large, square euro pillows is at Target - $10 each.  Not for sleepin’ just for lookin’ though.

Mr. Lane was in charge of the headboard. Our biggest mistake was trying to use 4” foam.  We thought we wanted it to look all plush but neither the staple gun nor the tacks could get all the way through to the wood.  That was sort of an expensive lesson as we didn't realize that until we had glued all the foam to the wood.  Have you priced foam lately? Sheez.The 2” foam worked much better, and since there are a dozens of web sites that show you how to upholster a headboard I won’t go in to it here. 

But I love those nickel upholstery tacks! I think they really make the headboard look special.

I love the new restful colors:

What do you think? Are you itching to get some new colors into your home?