I ventured out of the house today on my own for a little retail therapy. I thought a trip to the Goodwill or fabric store might give my spirits a boost. Not with any particular agenda, just getting the lay of the land and to see what’s out there.
I was reminded of G Street Fabrics. What an awesome store! Go to their website and click on “tour” if you want to get an idea of the magnitude of this place. Designer fabrics galore. I felt slightly paralyzed by all of the fabric-y goodness!
Remember when I said I was going to wait to decorate my studio? Well…that was before I found the amazing and abundant remnant table. 🙂 So here’s what I starting thinking about…
…the schlumpy futon couch. It has been a good friend. It’s now my new roomate in the studio. 1% of the time, house guests will sleep on it. 99% of the time I will stare at it and try to resist stacking stuff on it. I mean, it is a horizontal surface, after all. It used to reside in our family room but I want to leave those days behind. I need to integrate it into my studio space. That and the big blank white wall behind it. But that’s another design dilemma.
Just this week I was starting to put together an inspiration board. I am in desperate need of it. I was really drawn to the acidic greens, a dark raw umber sort of brown, and then that little pop of crimson. I think that upper left tear sheet came from the August issue of House and Garden magazine. I’m not really a tropical print palm leaf kinda gal, but I like this!
Ok, so back to the remnant table. There were some fabrics that just jumped out at me. Darn those jumpy fabrics. They have a sense for the casual browser. It’s like the orphan kitten that can spot the soft-hearted one in the crowd. These fabrics convinced me that they needed me. And look at them. They are totally playing in to the acidic green, raw umber, crimson thing. I think they will do well as pillows and am hoping to refresh the futon couch. Maybe it’ll read more as a daybed. Maybe it’ll look so swanky I’ll resist stacking stuff on it. Or maybe it’ll just be a nice place for a nap.
Love the remnants!
Have you seen the new fabric from Moda, Blossom by Urban Chicks? You might like that lime green dark brown combo.
http://www.fatquartershop.com/Blossom-Moda-Fabrics-Quilting-Fabric-Urban-Chiks-Fat-Quarter-Bundle.asp?Store_id=499&T=1
Amber
What great colours. I am in need of an inspiration board – great idea. Then I would have somewhere for all the bits I keep tearing out!
The first time I walked into G Street Fabrics I didn’t even know there was an upstairs, and when I finally made it up there I didn’t buy a thing because I was so overwhelmed!
Hey, Miss Betz, I may have a solution for your futon / ‘horizontal stacking surface’ dilemma…
Purchase a hollow core interior door (just the plain old cheap wood ones, without holes) and paint it a color that coordinates with your studio. Lay that across the arms of your futon frame so that it forms a table.
Now, you have a large workable surface for cutting fabric or laying out patterns or other tasks that need large space to do.
Get one or two of those ‘under the bed’ shallow plastic bins, and slide them under the door (table) so that they sit on the cushion. This can be storage for fabrics you are using in this project, etc.
It’s additional workspace – but for that 1% time span when guests come over, you can slide the bins beneath the whole frame, and tuck the door (‘shelf’) up against the wall like a headboard. It all disappears!
PS: LOVE your color scheme!
As I open your blog my three year old comes running in the room and says “WOW- look at those yummy cupcakes!” So, whenever you have some cupcake creations on Esty, please let me know. I would love to buy some for her.
Have a blessed day
How cute is that?!
I’ve been thinking that I need to get a ton of pillows to make the bed in my sewing room more of a daybed and less of a dumping ground too!