4.15.13

Here is a before picture of our kitchen.  All pictures in today's post are from my iPhone so sorry about the quality.  I have some on my regular camera but I haven't loaded them onto my pc yet.  I feel so out of practice with the camera.

Anyway – this shot was taken just mere minutes after we took possession of our new home.  The sellers left all the window coverings as part of the contract (so we wouldn't be scrambling to buy new coverings the first day we moved in) but my plan is to eventually replace them all.  

I did remove the valances but left the fabric shades.  Which actually aren't bad.  Just dirty.  Since they are fabric I'm thinking they can be washed but they are the roller shade type.  Anyone ever take one of those apart to launder the shade and successfully put it back together?

I have new valances on order.  White.  Sheer.  Modest amount of crocheted lace.  

I also removed the curtain under the sink.  Of course I don't want my garbage can and jumbo sized bottle of dishwashing detergent on display so I whipped up a new curtain to replace it.

A year or so ago I bought a pair of vintage French pillow cases from a vendor at the Alameda Antique Faire.  The lace is beautifully and the pillowcase seemed sturdy and in good shape.  Until I washed them and they kind of disinigrated.  I salvaged the hems with the lace on it, figuring I would just sew them onto new pillow cases.

I found another use for them instead.  They became part of my new undersink curtain.  I had a scrap of Kona cotton in white what was the perfect size and I hemmed all the edges, added a pocket for the curtain rod and then added the lace hem to the top and the bottom.

Not bad for salvaged pillowcases and leftover scraps of fabric.  And much more my style.