I don't know what was wrong with me at the time but when I ordered the wallpaper for my library last fall, I ordered only half the amount needed (and I knew all about the confusing single roll/double roll thingy).I must have been working with half a brain that day. But then it took me 4 months to realize it and call the company I'd ordered it from, only to be told it was no longer available! Ahh! What to do - I loved the pale blue and white damask wallpaper but had only enough for half the room!Well, here's the solution: wallpaper the upper half of the room (which means I can then avoid cutting around all those outlets, heaters and window sills!!) This is from a 20+ year old Laura Ashley Home Furnishing catalog and it is still the perfect solution! I can paint the lower half of the walls a pale blue, and add trim and wallpaper above that. It will keep the room airy and I won't have to try and find an extra $300 in my budget to order new wallpaper when I got the original for the smoking deal of $10 per roll! I just have to make sure I wallpaper high enough so as to not run out - will measure the square footage before making that decision.I also like the idea of two rows of trim - the trim can be white, with the space in between and the lower half, being blue.
And curtains - I'm thinking a pair of white linen....tied back with a baby blue tassel on a polished brass hook.On my next trip to the paint store I will have to take along a swatch of the WP so I can match the blues. This project will begin AFTER my February 20th tea party. Last night, in a moment of panic, I painted half the family room and added a bunch more gold leaf to the hutch. I realized I only had 13 days to the party. My friend Scott will come this Saturday to tile the step from the kitchen down into the family room. Progress IS being made....and I always did work best under EXTREME pressure!
I was just sharing my experience with reupholstering a piece of furniture on the Victoria magazine forum when I tried to upload a photo of my project and it repeatedly failed. So, frustrated, I decided to blog about the piece instead and then let the VF readers link to my blog if they wished, to view the settee. Here's the history behind it: one day at work, probably 8 or 9 years ago now, I checked into my email and saw one had just come thru 3 minute ago from my boss's antiques gal. My boss had a bunch of stuff she was giving away and it was located on the 2nd floor landing of the privately owned office building I worked in. Without a word to anyone else (it was first-come, first-serve) I bounded up the stairs, three at a time, to the landing and practically landed on top of this gorgeous old settee with very Rococo lines. It once had a broken front leg which was repaired but very obvious. And on it's front was a horribly ugly purple tapestry with tiny white daisies. It was badly stained with white paint. On the back was a soft peach damask but was rotting and stained badly with a bright green paint.
Needless to say, I was given the settee as I was first to see it and put in a request for it. So once home, I had to make it usable. I tried my hand at reupholstery - my first try. I found and bought the fabric I wanted - a denim-shade of blue and white stripe ticking stripe for the front and a solid blueberry blue damask for the back. I took photos of the piece before I began to remove the upholstery and as I removed each piece, I set it carefully aside, labeled, to use as a pattern for the new fabric. Under the purple fabric on the seat I found an old layer of modern batting and then what looked like horsehair. Hand made nails. I lifted the hair and saw underneath the original peach damask still intact.
Not wanting to destroy what I'd found, I decided to put a fresh layer of batting over the horsehair and then my fabric on top of that. When I can afford it, I'll have a pro redo it for me. Once the front was done, I did the back and then added braiding to the areas where I tacked the fabric unto the frame. All in all, it looks acceptable and I have used it in my living room ever since.
Since the people way back then - I assuming 18th c - were so short, I needed to raise the seat a bit ) I am 6' tall and when I sat on the seat, my knees almost came up to my ears!) hahahaha very graceful looking. So I bought a king sized bed pillow and sewed a blue toile ruffled and piped cover for it. It sits comfortably now and I'm happy with the piece except for one thing - I still want to gold gild the frame. So this is my "before" photo - before I add gilding. When I get it done, I'll repost the photo to show how it turned out. I have never water gilded so I will do it the lazy way and oil gild.
