In this previous post I told you about some of the changes that were brewing in the dining room. It was only a couple of small changes, but I’m loving how it turned out!
The mirror that I scored at Homegoods started it all. I got over my initial hang up about there being too many different wood tones in here and just went for it. I then decided to switch the gray drapes out to white. While I loved the contrast of the gray drapes, the white really opened up the space and made it flow with the rest of the house. It no longer feels like a separate dark cave.
SOURCES: mirror – Homegoods (same here) // DIY mudcloth pillows // dining table // slipcovered head chairs (similar find here) // side chairs // chandelier // DIY new sew skirted buffet // DIY refinished piano // bamboo blinds // sheets used to make drapes // glass vases // antique dough bowl – Round Top (similar here) // DIY pressed botanicals
SHOP THE LOOK:
DRAPES
Ok, so I want to talk to you about these “drapes” because I’m really excited about them! They are the same hack I used in the living room and kitchen nook. Plain white flat sheets from Target! These to be exact. I purchased them on sale for $10 a piece. BOOM. Since I needed longer curtains in this room, I did have to add length to the bottom of each using a fifth sheet, but the seam down low isn’t noticeable. You’d have to inspect them to see it. I’m a really picky person, and it doesn’t bother me at all.
I also used a different technique for hanging these. In the living room and kitchen there was no sewing involved. I simply gathered pleats by hand and used the clip from the ring to hold the pleats in place. You can see that in detail here. For these, I ran and needle and thread through the back of the pleats about 4-5 times and used that to hang them from the little hook that was attached to the curtain rings.
Here’s what it looks like from the back. The top of the flat sheet is folded towards the back, and the pleats are hand stitched in place.
View from the front after stitched.
The stitch is used to hang the drape from the rings. These rings are from IKEA.
They really do hang beautifully and no one would know they were sheets.
BLINDS
Another change I made in here was simply hanging the bamboo shades up higher. They used to hang as an inside mount at the top of the window, but I just switched them to an outside mount (where the brackets screw into the wall instead of the window header) and placed them up higher on the wall. We don’t pull these blinds shut so the loss of length won’t affect us. Looking back, if I had known I was going to hang drapes up so much higher, I would have just ordered the blinds longer and hung the up higher from the beginning. Live and learn.
Look at the difference.
And since before and after photos are so fun, here are some more! Ol’ girl has come a long way in just a couple of years.
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i love this room so much! it has such your signature style!
Thank you, Cassie! I've never thought of myself as having a signature style, mostly because I don't know what I would tell someone my style is, but you're totally right 😀
OOOOOOH that pinch pleat trick is so clever! And how I love that these are sheets – so inspiring considering how beautiful your home is!! They look so fabulous!!!
Love the changes you've made in this space. You are so talented with these sheet-drapes :)Hanging the bamboo shades higher looks amazing and love the mirror!
Hello,
I have a very long wall space and I intend to do exactly as you have done here (with the sheet/curtains and the bamboo roman shades.) My question is, did you DIY your curtain rods or did you find a site that has extra long rods? I’m looking for 14-18 foot rods….I don’t want anything telescoping, neither do I want an “industrial” look that some have with the galvanized piping. I love what you have! Thanks!
Hi Brooke! The rods in this post are actually telescoping rods from Target. Since they didn’t have anything that was long enough, I had to purchase two sets. I used one of the poles from the second set to made the long rod, so it’s actually three sections. The smaller diameter rod in the middle and the larger diameter rods at each end. I have since replaced these rods with one from IKEA. It too is telescoping, but I didn’t have to do any weird combinations like I did with this one. Hope this helps!