Lamp Switch

Process of upgrading our not so Mauve-u-lous bedroom continues.

But even before I painted I had to fix the lamp situation.

We had little tiny lamps on our nightstands, and I was ready for an upgrade. 

It did make me a little sad, when we first moved in we needed lamps so I had my husband run to the store and 'just pick some.'  He actually did a pretty good job, my tastes have just changed.  And they WERE nice nice lamps.....enough about my guilt!  They sold within the day and went to a loving home.

Then one day I was driving in a part of town I wasnt too familiar with and saw a thrift store that I had never noticed before. I went in to check it out and found 2 beautiful brassy lamps with matching shades for....$5 a piece. Hurray!!

I was hoping to do a mercury glass effect on my brassy lamps, but since they were brass and not glass, it was a no go.  Primer and some Krylon Looking Glass Spray just gave them a nice silver sheen.

Oh well, better luck next time.  I still like my lamps and think they are more proportional to the space then the little ones.  Not to mention I recently upgraded with some serious help in the bedding and paint department.

I think to make them have a little more personality I want to add a ribbon trim, but am loving the small upgrade.  They are so chunky and cute!  Who knew you could ever love a pair of $5 lamps so much.

Tufted Duvet Cover

As part of our master bedroom upgrade, I wanted to try and tackle making my own duvet cover.  After educating myself on what that actually was, I saw this adorable one from Target, and found a few tutorials that made it seem pretty easy to make.

I bought 2 queen flat sheets from Walmart and washed them. (around $11 a piece)
I also purchased a plain white down alternative filled duvet (around $25)

------In hindsight I should have probably purchased a king sheet and a queen, the king to account for length and width lost when doing the ruching----

After washing the sheets, I took one of them and laid it out on the floor, wrong side up.  Using a pattern like this:

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 I pinned the places where the ruchings would be.  Diagonally they measured approximately 10 inches apart.  Then, where the pin is placed, I took the fabric in my hand, twisted it and then sewed about an inch down from the top of the twist.  Go over the end, back and forth.  This makes the pretty swirl pattern on the opposite side, and the more you twist, the deeper or more dramatic the swirl.

I repeated for all the pins I had placed.  There was so much fabric and it was all up in my face, so intimidation set in sounding like, "I have never made anything this massive before, can I handle all this?"  But it went just fine, just took a while.

I took fabric scraps I had lying around and sewed them into strips to attach to the duvet, and to the inside of the duvet cover.  They tie to each other to keep the duvet placed correctly inside the duvet cover. 


SOURCE

THIS tutorial really helped me visualize.  She drew everything out in pictures.

Then placing right sides together I sewed around the entire duvet cover and left a an opening in the top, about 3 feet wide.  I flipped it right side out, stuffed in the duvet, tied it down to each end, and then added Velcro (buttons were way beyond my skill set) to close the opening of the duvet cover.

   And check out what a difference this makes.  So glad I tried it. 

 

 

 

 

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