The Eclectic Home

You may recognise this fabric from our previous postings!

When this client came to me I thought the world had gone mad, my brief was to select a minimum of 5 upholstery fabrics and 3 curtain fabrics, along with co-ordinating paint colours all for one room!

On my first home visit it became clear that although it technically was 1 room it is actually an enormous conservatory at the back of the house used as a sitting room and dining room off which there is a tv room and the kitchen.

Whilst this project was a little out of my comfort zone, I've enjoyed working with this client and both of us are delighted with the results.................

We chose quite a glamorous claret and bronze metallic damask for the windows at the dining area of the conservatory. It's opulent enough to create a formal dining area when required but subtle enough not to detract from the gardens and the views during the day. Most of the upholstery fabrics we selected have been used in the conservatory area and are a combination of earthy colour wool checks and stripes and a delicate satin dobby weave in beige.

This fabric is actually a vertical stripe but we turned it on it's side to make the most of the colours. It has been used on 2 sets of doors, 1 overlooking a tranquil courtyard garden and the others open from the tv room onto decking and a covered outdoor eating area. The curtains are suspended on a Silent Gliss Metropole with an integrated 'Wave' system which creates a contemporary and unfussy fold to the curtain. The upholstery fabric selected for the traditional furniture in the tv room is a very narrow vertical stripe with the same colours as the curtain fabric and cream.

And finally, 'Gormandise Chantilly' which we used for 2 Roman blinds in the kitchen, one overlooking the courtyard and the other looking through to the conservatory and the garden beyond.

I'm sure many of you think these fabrics would not work together - but they do, especially for an eclectic home!

Some more of our work!

Next week!

Sunday afternoon and planning work for the week ahead!

My blinds made from cakes will be fitted this week, my customer is just going to love them!

The sewing machine will be busy and we are starting on a bedroom for a customer which is going to be fab. It will be a few weeks before we can post photos of this project as the main fabric is out of stock until mid August - any other businesses have this problem?

Contemporary Roller Blinds

Decorative Cushions - More Tassels!

Swags and Tails

Villa Nova Sylvie & Inspiration Trimmings

Villa Nova Sylvie & Troynorth Trimmings

James Hare Silk Dupion

Zoffany Fabrics & Houles Trims

Swags, Tails, Puffballs and Tassels

Lovely cushions - more tomorrow!

Grand Designs!

A Girly Bedroom

Beautiful curtains and pelmet in white silk embellished with silver embroidery and pearls

to compliment the sparkly wallpaper and French style bedstead.

Today's Job - a Tricky Bay Window

The Thrifty Home Stylish & Contemporary Cushions from Scraps!

I’m not the greatest fan of patchwork and shabby chic (even though I used to teach it!) but one thing I do hoard and find difficult to throw away are remnants of fabric, no matter how small.

Here’s a cushion which has been made from very small pieces of fabric but looks nothing like patchwork and I think is extremely stylish.

The strips of silk on the front are overlaid on a co-ordinating linen, in this case I had enough to double the fabric to the back but you could just turn and stitch the edges,

Just overlay the strips on the backing, this could be made up of smaller pieces if necessary as joins can be concealed behind the silk. Stitch the strips together through the backing to hold in position, I’ve used tiny almost invisible stitching in the centre but you could be more decorative, apply more stitching or even embellish with a lovely button.

The back of the cover could be the same or a co-ordinating fabric.

Pipe the front (if you want to), apply zip, stitch back to front and there you have a non shabby chic patchwork cushion!

If you’re more adventurous with colour you could you use 2 or 3 colours for the front strips, patterned or plain - be creative in your home!

For fabric remnants click here

Silk fabrics - so versatile!

James Brindley Opulence

Tula Silk from Romo

SALON SILK FROM Osborne & Little

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'll be adding to my Thrifty Home ideas - making contemporary and stylish cushions from scraps of fabric.

Glamorous wallpaper from O&L

One of my favourite wallpapers!

and for the boys -

More from What a Hoot!

What a Hoot!

This is one of our newest collections from Harlequin.

It's aimed at the Children's market but I think a few older girls might like it too - especially the cupcakes!