What Rattles Around in My Head: Risking It–Using Upholstery Fabric To Add Hot Spring Color to My Home

Now this is pretty.

Risking It–Using Upholstery Fabric To Add Hot Spring Color to My Home: "

So Long, Winter? The calendar says it’s Spring, but when I woke up this morning there was a layer of white stuff on the ground that wasn’t there yesterday.

I am trying to stay positive and I’m going chase the chill away by adding some Spring color to my family room by doing something a bit unconventional, but authentically in my own style –which brings me to how I even came happened upon my own style – my own way of doing things – a few words – I took a risk.

A long time ago when I was first married and my hubby and I had our first home I dearly wanted to decorate it, but we had a very teeny tiny budget. My younger, inexperienced self thought I had to go to Ethan Allen or JC Penney to decorate my home to have it look nice. I also had those worries – Will it look good if I do this? Will it go out of style before I can even get it paid off? or What if I hate it after I spend good money on it? etc. etc.

That all changed for me when I decided to just do it my way. I learned that when I wanted something bad enough –in this case a pretty home that I had to look past risks and find opportunity. My opportunity came when I threw the risks of picking and choosing conventional furnishings out the window and became resourceful – which I now know is one of my greatest strengths.

I started doing things my way – unconventionally – the way I learned in my profession of retail display. I used a glue gun to make drapes out of sheets and coat hangers to make curtain rods to hang them. This was way before HGTV came on the scene and a glue gun wasn’t a household staple. The way I was decorating my home caught on and I was doing it for my family, friends, and neighbors – unconventionally and everyone was so happy and wanted to know how to do it for themselves.

It was this unconventional way that I did things that landed me a DIY decorating book contract. I stood out from the crowd, I was doing something different – unconventional that worked and that people wanted – I was making a difference in people’s homes that had teeny tiny budgets like I did – and it all started when I took that first major leap and risked – doing it my way!

That leap and the belief that yes, I could make it happen set me on my course in life. My home was like a lab – where I took the risks – experimented! It was a fun and exciting journey. I have a bigger budget now a days, but still rely on my resources and doing things my way – unconventionally – it has more meaning to do it this way than for me to buy something off the rack – that to me is taking a risk – not authentic enough anymore for me.

So to chase the winter blues away I went to my favorite $1 a yard fabric place – JoMar and splurged! – I bought 3 yards of $6 upholstery fabric to make 2 bright and cheery throw blankets to replace my animal skin fur ones that I use in the winter.

Upholstery fabric is usually stiff and has strange backing – not very soft either, but I always keep my eyes open and never dismiss any possibility – cause that’s how I decorate my way. Most people would not even step into JoMar and if they did they don’t go down the rows and rows of aisles of the very ugly and old fabric that makes up a good portion of what JoMar sells. If I was one of these people, I would never have stumbled upon wonderful stuff like this upholstery fabric that was on the roll backwards and mixed in with the rows of dark brown fabrics. Stuff like this sells at Calico Corners for $36 or more a yard.

Supplies Needed:

Fabric

Thread

Scissors

Straight edge

1. Lay your fabric out – I always do this on my floor. I used my fur throw as a pattern. It measured 64” long x 46” wide.