Thursday, February 12, 2015

red curtains and visiting tim

 Finally. The hunting and the waiting are over. I'd been looking for the "perfect" pair of
red curtains for Tim's room/the guest room for a long time. I don't sew, so I looked in
 numerous stores and online until I recently found these online at Land of Nod. They are 
quality cotton, made in India. Brian put up the curtain rod (from Target) today and then we
 hung the curtains. They're wrinkled - I'll need to wash and iron them, but here they are for
 now. (The silk Roman shade was from blinds.com. I had won a $100 gift card in a blog
giveaway to blinds.com awhile ago and this is what I ordered.)


The 96" length of the curtains was perfect. Maybe a tad too long, but they'll shrink a little
 once I wash them. That's Clementine snoozing on the chair, by the way.


 I wanted to keep this room rather masculine and neutral, but with pops of red - one
of Tim's favorite colors. The comforter is from Overstock. Silly me washed it in our
 washing machine instead of taking it to the laundromat to use a large capacity
 machine and now it's all wrinkled. Anyway, I like how the red curtains pick up the
little bit of red in the comforter. I purposely don't have any art on the walls yet. I wanted
 to wait until the room was completely finished. I'm planning on doing a gallery wall
of black and white family photos. 
 

 See how the white detailing on the curtains looks like the inside stitching on a  garment?
When we were hanging these curtains today, Brian insisted that they were backward 
because of the visible stitching. I kept telling him no, that that's how they're supposed to
 be. That this kind of stitching was the subtle detail that I really liked about these curtains. 
He just said, "Okaaay." I told him to leave the decorating up to me. ;-)
 

Speaking of Tim, we're taking the short road trip to see him tomorrow. (For those
of you who are new to my blog, he's away at university.) While the guys do Tim's
taxes online, I'm going to visit a cute little shop that's going out of business. They carry
housewares, cool kitchen stuff, vintage aprons, fabrics, jewelry and clothing, cards and
stationery, cookbooks, gift items...and everything is 20% right now. I have to at least take
a look! The three of us will then go out to a late lunch/early dinner. I spent the afternoon
making a pot of creamy chicken and rice soup and I'll be taking big container of that
to Tim - per his request. This mama was more than happy to oblige.
 

36 comments:

  1. Tim's room looks really good. I love the red. It's masculine and grown-up, but not stiff or formal at all. I think that can be a difficult balance when you're decorating for men. Have a wonderful time visiting him and enjoy your time in that interesting shop!

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    1. Tim definitely wouldn't like stiff or formal and neither would I! We had a great visit with Tim - thanks.

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  2. This room is looking good, Mel! I love the curtains and quilt...it has a sort of nautical look. A bit Ralph Lauren. Have you thought of going in that direction at all? Maybe I'm being pushy but HomeGoods goes nuts with that stuff in the spring and I've been swayed to get a few things for the lakehouse even though I swore off all things "Ocean" (we do not have crabs or whales, ship steering wheels-although we did see a Seaplane once land on the lake...totally awesome). You get my drift (no pun intended).

    Those curtains are awesome. We have thought about getting Roman shades for the big windows at the lake. Are these made to order at this site? Were they hard to hang?

    Have a ball tomorrow. I wish I were with you to go to that shop.

    Thanks for the comment. We are over the moon now that the baby has come. Everyone told me how great I would feel as a grandmother and I tell you, it's as indescribable as when I had my own children. My heart is bursting and I just want to hold that baby every chance I can get. She looks exactly like Kevin!

    Jane xx

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion of the nautical theme, but definitely not the way I want to go for this room. Don't like the nautical look unless it's at a lake/beach house. Yes, the roman shades are custom made through blinds.com. You can pick your fabric, whether or not you want them lined, what kind of "pull" you want, etc. No harder to hang than any other blinds. I can't wait to see more photos of your precious new grandchild and hear more about her!

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  3. Love the red curtains, Melanie! The rug, comforter and curtains really give the room a fresh new look! I've been looking for 96 inch curtains but never thought to check Land of Nod. You never know where you'll find what you're looking for. Enjoy your visit and shopping!

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    1. I never thought of Land of Nod - I thought they only had children's items - until I did a Google search for red curtains and this particular pair came up in the search.

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  4. I love the red curtains! Great color! Enjoy your visit!

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  5. You did a great job with Tim's room, Melanie...love the red, it's perfect!

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  6. Love those red curtains. I find all kinds of things I like at Pottery Barn for kids and Land of Nod. Maybe I have never grown up. I washed my long Pottery Barn curtains. They shrunk up about 6 to 8 inches. Seriously.. I then checked the tag and it said Dry Clean Only. I would have still washed them. So maybe try this, spray them slightly with water from a spray bottle. Or maybe try that stuff you spray to remove wrinkles. Do they still make that. But, I would just give them some time first.
    Have fun tomorrow. That's a double win, getting some time with your son and hitting a closing out sale.

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    1. Thanks for warning me about the curtains...though mine do say gentle wash. I haven't done it yet though. Maybe I'll wait until spring when I can hang them outside to dry. Or, great idea about misting them. I might try that before I actually put them in a washing machine.

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  7. Well, you knew I would like the red curtains - the room looks great!

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  8. Love your red curtains., what a great pop of color it added. Travel safe and have a great visit!

    Judy

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    1. It really did make a difference in that room with all the neutrals. Had a great visit - thank you.

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  9. I like the new room design very much. Unlike Brian, I like the decorative stitching too, next time I sew curtains I may try to incorporate it.

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  10. The curtains look really great don't they! Very "manly" but nice too. I hope that you have a great visit! xx

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  11. I really like what you have done in that room - Tim is lucky to have you for a mama!

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    1. Aw, thank you, Mary - that was very sweet of you to say.

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  12. The curtain are a beautiful shade of red and look satiny. Brings such great color to the room and compliments the bedding. Be safe traveling and have a good time with Tim.

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    1. Well, they're not satiny...they're cotton! Maybe it just looks that way with the sun shining through them. We had a really nice visit with Tim, so thank you.

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  13. They look so pretty. Just the perfect pop of color that your room needed.
    Great job!
    Happy Valentine's Day.
    Connie :)

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  14. My mother told me, years and years ago, that every room should have a pop of red to bring it to life. Also if you take photographs in a room with something red you will notice they always turn out well!
    Lovely curtains and the chair and Clementine match so well, and the rug is awesome, I really love it.

    Hope Tim enjoyed his homemade soup and you had fun shopping.
    Hugs, Mary

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    1. Your mother was a very smart woman! Tim loved his soup and I didn't have enough time in that store, but that's OK - maybe next time.

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  15. LOVE the stitching on your new red curtains, Melanie - that's the clincher for this red and white fan! The room is looking very smart. Your visit to Tim's sounds lovely, and slipping away to that shop while the guys do their math, sounds ideal, with dinner afterwards! Enjoy!

    Poppy

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    1. Glad you like the stitching, too! Those men did the taxes so quickly, I didn't have enough time in the store to really look around! Oh well, we had a really nice time with Tim, and that's all that counts.

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  16. Clementine is so cute! I love that pop of red that the curtains add to the room and I also like detail of the sticking on them. I like my curtains to be 96" - I like a bit of puddle on the floor.

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    1. Clem actually matches the room, doesn't she?! I like the little bit of puddle of curtains on the floor, too. Certainly better than being too short!

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  17. It's coming along nicely! It's funny, Kristen has been gone for almost 8 years, and I still call it her room, even though it's now my hobby room. It's hard to decorate around them when they don't quite have both feet out the door. Brian often questions my decor decisions, and my answer is often the same. It's more like "trust me honey"!

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    1. Funny how we still call our spare bedrooms our kid's rooms. My office/hobby room is still called Phil's room. I think men should just leave the decorating up to us women - unless, of course, they're a professional designer. I wouldn't hesitate to take advice from Nate Berkus. ;-)

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  18. Those are really nice curtains and I love the stitching. I had to laugh because you told your husband the same thing I told mine. Leave the decorating to me... :D

    Enjoy your visit with your son... :)

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    1. I think it's that way with decorating in most households. I did indeed enjoy my visit with Tim - thank you!

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  19. I love the red curtains and the stitching. I always tell the man that he has the garage to decorate ;)

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind comment - I read and appreciate each one!