Chevron Pillow and Olivia Nursery Update

You know I've been loving on Chevron for a while now.  And you know I've been working on planning Olivia's nursery for a while now.  And so, I thought I should just kill two birds with one stone, and make something Chevron for the Nursery!  One of my favorite design bloggers, Tiffany @ Living Savvy, did a review of her 2011 projects and of course the chevron pillow jumped out at me!  Tiffany actually has a LOT of awesome pillow ideas, if you need one or twenty! 

So I headed off one night after O was in bed, JoAnn 40 % off coupon in hand and picked out this fun stripe:

Source: joann.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

I love how it compliments the Aqua bedding I have, but its not too matchy matchy.  Oh and in case you looked back on my nursery post, I have decided to go with an aqua and brown color scheme, instead of the pink and yellow.  Once I started getting stuff in her room, it just sort of went that way.  It happens sometimes.


Anyway, back to my pillow.  My fabric has nine stripes before it starts over and so I had to draw nine stripes on a piece of paper.  My brain just could not figure out how this was going to work with out something in my hand to move around.  I 'cut' it on the bias and it didn't take me long to see that those two pieces were never going to make a chevron pattern, so I 'cut' one of those pieces on the bias going the other way. . .

. . . and figured out how to match those up.

So I cut half of the fabric into 6 inch strips going one way, and the other half of the fabric into 6 inch strips going the other way. 

Then I matched them up to create the chevron pattern.  I do not know a better way to do this than what I did.  I don't know a better way because I'm not a freaking mathematician, which is what it would probably take to figure out a formula for making a chevron pattern out of a nine stripe fabric.  So by the time I matched the stripes, there was a little bit  of waste, and I could just barely make my fabric square 19" long.  It was 21" wide, so I cut off 1" from each side to make it an even square. 

My first try at sewing the stripes together did not go well.  I had to unpick them.  Because the bias of a fabric is really stretchy, I found the best solution to be carefully matching and pinning each stripe.  I also did a stay stitch (with bias use a large basting stitch) to keep the bias from stretching, which didn't seem to make that big of a difference to me. . .

I like to make my pillows with a flapped closure on the back so I can change them with out ruining the pillow (and with out adding a zipper.  I struggle with zippers.)  I decided to check my fabric stash and sure enough there was a drop cloth I had used for a tree skirt back in November that was perfect for the back of my pillow.  I used a scrap of the stripe cut on the bias to sew a binding on the edge of the flap opening for a little added interest.  (sorry, no picture right now)

And since this pillow was made for Olivia's Nursery, I threw Baby Bear into the mix.  I think it turned out great!!

 And Olivia doesn't like it when a camera and Baby Bear get together with out her, so she had to jump in and get in on the action.  Check out the best pictures here.

Thanks Tiffany for the inspiration!!

IKEA + Anthropologie

So this is my IKEA hack.  I got this little dresser soon after I started teaching.  It was inexpensive and modern looking.  Recently I moved it into Olivia's room to help house her growing piles of clothes.

Today I went and got some knobs that I have had my eye on for a couple of months.  Anthro had such a great selection of aqua knobs, I couldn't choose just one, so I decided to use six different knobs! 

At 8 dollars a pop, I think the knobs are worth more than the dresser!!!

I love the finished product, though I don't think this picture does it justice.

 Next weekend project: Some art work for this space!!!

District House Competition

This past Tuesday my advanced interior design class competed in the Canyon's District House Competition.I had three teams, and another high school had three teams.  Here are the boards for two of my teams.  The missing boards were 2nd place (I'm guessing, I haven't officially heard) so they were taken by the builder.  I'm sad none of my teams took first place, but their designs were just too creative for a spec home.  I try and try, but you just can't stifle the creativity in my girls!!  You'll see. . .

Cinnamon Toffee paint, floorplan, and tile

Cinnamon Toffee fixtures

Madison Avenue color board

Madison Avenue fixtures

Madison Avenue title (top two are for bathrooms, third is for kitchen back splash, last is for fireplace surrounds)

Not pictured is my third group, Autumn Wind.  I'll post those as soon as I can get them back in my possession!! 

So proud of my girls and all their hard work!  They put eight weeks into these projects, visiting lots of flooring, tile and lighting stores!

Some prints that I just have to have

I found these on decor8 and I just fell in love.  I want need this one for Olivia's nursery.  I think it will play nicely on the aqua and brown scheme I have chosen for the space.

                                                                                      Source: cakewithgiants.bigcartel.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

And then this one would be so much great in a kitchen.  Its beautiful and since I love to cook it would be fun to try and cook will all the listed herbs! 

                                                                                      Source: cakewithgiants.bigcartel.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Easy Valentine's Decor

I've never been that into decorating for holidays.  I decorate for Christmas a little, but that's about it.  My husband says when we get our own house we're going to stock up on Halloween decorations, its his favorite.

Before Olivia was even born my mom bought her some Olivia Valentines.  We're going to use them and give them to her classmates, but we had some extra and I decided to make a little decoration for her room!  Maybe having kids will make me more inclined to decorate.

I picked out my favorite Valentines from the box and arranged them on a spare piece of mat board I had (I have a lot of mat board scraps from teaching interior design)  I used rubber cement because it doesn't make the paper wrinkle like glue would (a glue stick would also work, but they run out/dry out too fast for use in my classroom, so I have a lot of rubber cement on hand!)  It needed something else, so I added the Olivia heart and the smaller heart in the center.  I love it!  And I love that I can just hang it on her closet door knob!  I'd love to see what Valentine's Day Decorations you've got going on!

Chevrons, so hot right now

I live in my in-laws basement.  For Christmas gifts I got a little craft/pinterest crazy and I sewed every day after work.  And I am burnt out.  I really really really want some chevron in my life.  Obviously I can't do a painted chevy wall, seeing how I don't own my own space, but I need my crafting bug back so I can create me some chevron goodness.  So here is some chevy inspiration for a Friday morning.

Source: everythingturquoise.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: remodelaholic.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: savvydesignwest.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: e-tells-tales.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: cluckclucksew.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Orange capiz chandelier

I was watching the white box challenge from season four of Design Star (my favorite season by far, and yes I have seen them all more than once) and I realized just how much I love the orange capiz chandelier Nathan does in his room. But of course you can't have a chandelier made of rotting food!!

Here are some gorgeous capiz chandeliers that wont start rotting:

While I think this one is a little too grand for a residential space, I love the fullness of it.  I think I prefer the fuller capiz chandeliers.

Source: citified.blogspot.com via BreAnne on Pinterest

I love these colors.  LOVE.

Source: pbteen.com via Heather on Pinterest

This is an awesome faux capiz made from wax paper circles.  Click on the decor adventures link under the picture for a tutorial! 

Source: decoradventures.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

She spray painted some of them with silver paint to add some dimension.  Do you think it would work out with some aqua spray paint?  I am dying to make this, I just need a house now!

New Bedroom Lamps

We're moving on Saturday.  FINALLY.  Baby O has been sleeping in the closet far longer than I ever intended (she's 7 1/2 months!).  She is about to get her own bedroom and a super awesome crib on loan from Oilo (its the crib with brown bars and white ends).  I can't wait to post pictures of all the wonderful details!  And, even though I love most of my bedroom decor, the wall color of our new rooms is taupe, or darker, I can't remember off the top of my head.  I do know that my black and white and gray wont go with the wall color and so, I'm changing it up.  On a budget.

I have two lamps that I got for my bridal shower with a beautiful black and white pattern.  So I'm going to recover them (if I can find a temporary way to do that) to look like this:

Source: 6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

What do you think?  Too girly for a married bedroom? 

Ruffle Shower Curtain Craze!

Have you seen this awesome shower curtain from Anthro?  Its all the rage on pinterest these days.

Source: sisterview.com via Elah on Pinterest

One of my students started describing a shower curtain that sounded a lot like this one, but from Bed Bath and Beyond.  So I searched and sure enough here it is!

And of course if you're feeling crafty, you can always go with Elle Apparel's homemade version (+ you get to pick your own colors!)

Source: elleapparel.blogspot.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Anthro: $118
Bed Bath and Beyond: $49.99
Elle Apparel: $20 + lots and lots of work!

Which would you choose?

Let the Fun Begin!

Today we started our first project in my Advanced Interior Design class.  I love this project.  My students have competed in this competition with FCCLA for the last three years, starting the second year of its existence (really, the first year it was different rules, and a pretty lame project).  The first year my students did very well, the second year they took first place at state (Utah) and last year they took second place at state (which I blame on me not having as much time to coach them).  Every year its the same rules, but the scenario is different.  This year they are drafting a remodel for a whole house!  They are remodeling a traditional shotgun style home.  Along with the floor plan they draw an elevation of one room and select all the finishes and furniture.  We are going to spend the next two months on this project (which, isn't as long as it sounds since I only see them 2 or 3 times a week and there's a lot of time off for holidays).  Can't wait to see how they do!