Here is a sampling of home dec projects I’ve made over the years. Left click on an image to see a larger view.

Pillowcases 2024

 

Tailored Valances (2023)

My stepmother Shirley’s patience was rewarded when I completed a set of tailored valances for her living room:

To see them installed click here.

 

Chair Pads 2023

With the able assistance of my twin sister Diane, the six chairs in my dining room got a major facelift with newly recovered chair pads:

You can see the transformation by clicking here.

 

Pillowcases 2023

Sometimes fabric that I buy with a quilt in mind winds up being made into pillowcases, too:

 

New Valances for a Glamorous Garage (2022 and 2021)

This is one of two matching valances made in 2022 for my sister Diane’s rather elegant garage during my annual Thanksgiving visit. The valances replace ones I made only a year ago, which are pictured directly below. We decided to replace the 2021 valances when it became apparent that Georgia’s high humidity was causing the ruffles at the top to droop, despite being interfaced.

Diane and I had found the beautiful Jacobean floral linen at a shop selling decorator fabric. Not to worry: the fabric will be repurposed.

The 2022 valances are decidedly more casual . . .

. . . which is probably a good thing, as a few friends had teased me about the 2021 valances being far too fancy for a garage. If the fabric for the 2022 valances looks familiar, it’s because you’ve seen the valances I made for my kitchen windows following the 2019 remodeling of my kitchen.

 

Pretty Pillowcases

 

Kitchen Valances

These valances, completed in January 2020, were the final touch for our 2019 major kitchen remodel:

The fabric, a vibrant Jacobean floral that had been in my stash for a few years, is from the “Breath of Avignon” line designed by Sandy Klop for Moda. It inspired my choice of paint color for the lower cabinets. To read about the making of the valances, click here. To see all of my posts about the kitchen remodel, click here.

 

Pillowcases

I made four pairs of pillowcases in 2019, three as gifts and one for the Portland White House. The first pair is a king-size set; the remaining three are standard.

 

Simple Window Treatment

During my 2018 Thanksgiving visit to Atlanta, home of my twin sister and her husband, I made this simple treatment for their dining room windows:

Vintage oversized napkins, known as lapkins, are draped over what look like simple squares of fabric. Making those squares was a bit more involved, however. Click here to find out more.

 

Pillow Shams for the Master Bedroom

I wish I could say the master bedroom in question is mine but in fact these shams are in my twin sister Diane’s home in Atlanta, Georgia. I made them during my annual Thanksgiving trip using a lovely paisley decorator fabric she bought for a mere $2 a yard shortly before the home decor fabric shop closed. Diane designed the shams and I figured out how to make them. Click here to see the process from concept to execution.

 

Two-Tone Tablecloth

While at my sister’s home in Atlanta over my annual Thanksgiving visit, I made this tablecloth for her dining room table using a large floral fabric and a small scale fleur de lis print. The mitered border was designed to go all the way around on the wrong side and cover the seams where the two fabrics were joined on the front. Click here to read about the making of the tablecloth.

 

Ottoman Slipcover #2

The slipcover I made in 2010 for my sister’s ottoman (see Slipcover #1, below) turned out so well that I made another one for a second ottoman during my Thanksgiving visit in 2014. This one was easier to make because I had a similar one to use as a pattern. It was necessary to fuse interfacing to the back of the decorator fabric to give it enough body.

To read about the making of this slipcover, click on this link.

 

Loft Window Treatment

Over Thanksgiving 2013, spent at my twin sister Diane’s home in Atlanta, I made a valance and side panels for her loft using recycled panels from our sister Reigh’s home. To read more about the project, view my post here.

 

 

Guest Room Valances

The guest room in my twin sister Diane’s home in Georgia got a major home dec facelift during my visit over Thanksgiving. I fashioned a pair of valances based on Diane’s own design and made a new bedskirt out of the same decorator fabric.

To read my post about these projects, click here.

 

Renovated Shower Curtain

When my sister Diane renovated her second guest bathroom, she brought in a shower curtain I had made for another bathroom. The ceiling in the renovated bathroom is much higher than the other one, so the shower curtain was way too short. Fortunately, we were able to find more of the same Waverly fabric I had used in the original version. I simply added a wide piece of horizontally striped fabric to the bottom to complement the vertical stripe at the top. On a visit later the same year, we added the ball fringe. Click here to read more about it.

 

Ottoman Slipcover #1

I’m not a fan of slipcovers. What I like about this one is that it doesn’t look much like a slipcover. It covers an upholstered ottoman in one of the guest rooms in my sister Diane’s home.

 

Master Bath Valance

This valance with inverted pleats was made for my sister Reigh’s master bath. The tabs are grosgrain ribbon.

 

Bedroom Window Valance

My sister Reigh ordered a valance from a catalog and was disappointed in both color and quality when it arrived. We found this wonderful blue and yellow home decorating fabric at our local Mill End store, and I made a valance based on the store-bought version. When Reigh moved to a new home, the valance went with her, and on one of my visits I was able to alter it to fit the new window.

 

Pillow Shams

My sister Reigh and I collaborated on the design of these pillow shams for her guest room. They are coordinated with a tailored bedskirt and tab curtains.

The shams turned out so well that I used the same design in my sister Diane’s guest room:

I also made the pleated bedskirt.