A LITTLE BURLAP GOES A LONG WAY

When I think of burlap, I've always pictured fall decorations (scarecrows, pumpkins, etc.) I never really considered it as a decorator fabric until a few years ago. A friend of mine needed a window treatment for her son's room. To go along with the fishing theme, I used burlap to cover a cornice board, then attached a fish net from HobLob and some random fish thingies from the tackle box to it. It looked great. To carry the theme in the room, I also made a burlap dust ruffle for his bed. Super, super cute!!

Fast foward to our laundry room. Our laundry room is... well large... which is nice, but the room does double duty as an exercise room, which means I had to really think about the decor in there. I had to make the room somewhat masculine since my hubby is in there so much. So I started by painting the room a medium camel color, which is sooooo much better than the dirty white that was in there before. At least now I want to do the laundry.

As for the windows, I needed to make a valance of some kind so as not to have them ripped down with the weights. BINGO!! I opted for a yard and half of burlap which set me back a whole $4.78. Wow, talk about breaking the bank. Having sewn burlap before, I didn't want to have my "mistreatment" curling up on me, so... I glued it. Have I ever mentioned that I love my glue gun.


Anyway, I folded my burlap in half ... longways, and cut at an angle to make a pointed end. Then I cut two strips of another fabric and glued it to the ends all the way around. I made a pocket at the top to slide the repurposed and newly spray painted rod through. Have I mentioned I love spray paint?

The result, a pretty, but masculine window valance that didn't break the bank.


With the extra burlap, I decided to recover a bulletin board I had made that just didn't thrill me. Then I hung it from a rod iron scroll. Love the new look of the laundry room.




I plan to make a cushion for the two boxes below the hanging rack where the girls can sit and put their shoes on. I'm still thinking I need to find something else for that though. I'm thinking maybe a narrow coffee table converted into a bench. I may have to make a trip to Salvation Army once school starts again.

I just love cheap redos.

Have a great day. Stay cool... it's HOT outside!!

*ciao*
deb