South Shore Decorating Blog: July 2011

So, I've been looking to update my dining room for close to free. I'm going to paint white, and am thinking about thin black stripes on the walls (horizontal). I got some black ribbon to tape up to see how it looks before going to all the trouble of taping for paint stripes. I think I will make curtains out of this fabric below-- really cheap, at only $5 a yard at The JoAnn sale (remember, the walls will be white):

For a pop of color, I'm thinking turquoise on the chairs. I have a friend who is a seamstress, so those will be relatively inexpensive. I want the Robert Allen $80 a yard fabric, but will be very happy with the almost-the-same Joann Fabrics versions.

Here are the $80 versions:

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And here, on the far left and far right are the $15 versions. I'm not sure I've found the right one to go with the curtain fabric (which I love). It will probably be a solid, which I didn't show you:

BUT, here's the big secret....When you order samples of Robert Allen fabrics from Calico Corners, they charge you $6 for every four samples. At first, I was quite annoyed at that, since I wanted about 15 samples. But when they came, guess what? They were 15-18" square! Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Napkins of course! Or even in frames as fabric art! Actually, a couple of them are even big enough to make a 16" pillow with (front only of course). They are already hemmed like most linens, and you are getting a Robert Allen fabric napkin for $1.50 each!!! Do people already know about this idea? I hadn't thought of it, and am so excited. They could even be stitched together to make a runner or placemats (since you can buy as many samples as you want of the same pattern). If they were free, I'd feel kind of badly about doing this, but since they charge for them, I'm thinking it's ok....am I right? So that's my exciting discovery for today!

UPDATE: I spent the day painting white and putting up cheap ribbons to imitate stripes, like a mock-up. I am very interested in your honest opinions! I'm not sure if it's Kelly Wearstler crazy (not for me) or Mary McDonald fabulous. Here it is - the blue swatches draped on the chairs are what I'm considering for slipcovers, but I'll have to show you a daylight picture of that. For now, I'm stressing about the curtains/stripes...what do you think?