Finding the Right Fabric: Not There Yet

I recently renovated my kitchen. This involved a bunch of steps, some of which I've blogged about already. I painted the ceiling and window and door trim, painted the walls, painted the cupboards, replaced the cupboard hardware, replaced the ceiling light/fan, installed new curtain rods, and got my countertops replaced. I wanted to make the kitchen, which is small, really vibrant and fun. I therefore painted it a bright green color called Tart Apple. I got black, white and grey solid surface acrylic countertops. The new light/fan is a funky retro design. The new artwork I created (from rice paper purchased in Toronto's Chinatown and wooden frames that Ginny and I painted grey) adds a graphic punch without being too loud.





So all of that is great. Here's the rub: I can't find fabric to match my vision for curtains. I'm imagining something that's mostly black and white, in a mod/sunburst-inspired pattern like the fabric above, with maybe a splash of green and a bit of grey. I have searched and searched, online and in person, in the U.S. and Canada, and have yet to find fabric that corresponds with what's in my head. I have confidence that I'll get there, and until then my plain white sheers will have to do, but I'm kind of surprised at how hard it is to find what I'm looking for. If all else fails, I think I'll make my husband really happy by making curtains out of this fabric:

Stress and Curtains

I defend my dissertation proposal tomorrow (Monday) morning at 11am. Send good thoughts out into the universe for me, please! My wonderful (Buddhist) friend Nansa has promised to chant for me, which bodes well, I think.

Between preparing for the defense and preparing to leave, I feel like I'm running around in a daze. But I did take a couple of minutes last night to transform a tablecloth into a curtain. Aside from the fact that it could use a good pressing, I think this works very well in our bathroom window; it offers just enough coverage so that our neighbor won't get an unintended peep show but still allows light to flood the room. We previously had a roman shade hanging here, but the cats found the string mechanism a little too tempting. They managed to chew through it and create what was essentially one very long (too long) piece of fabric on the window.

It's really amazing how a few minutes of crafting can center me during a tumultuous time.

Proof of Monkeys

As mely pointed out in her comment, it is difficult to see the monkeys in the curtains I made. Here, then, is a close-up of the fabric I used. This poor monkey had part of his head cut off, but you get the idea.

Monkey Curtains, Completed

Ta da! The monkey curtains I made for our dining room have been completed. I was torn about the fabric (I'm not usually a fan of huge flowers) but it's actually quite nice because the yellow background color helps to keep the curtains from darkening the room too much.

On another crafty note, I also made the seat cushion for the window bench a long time ago. I love that it's velvet but unfortunately so do my cats (and their many, many hairs).

Monkey Curtains

Today I'm making monkey curtains for our dining room. I have finished one of them already-- see above. I'm not sure if I really love this fabric or not, but it (1) matches our dining room walls and (2) was super-cheap ($3!) at an interior decorator's garage sale that I hit this summer. It has monkeys on it, so I can't REALLY go wrong. It's better than staring at the house next door, anyway.