The Apple Street Cottage

  Hello again!  I'm back with another inexpensive curtain idea that involves using some of the vintage linens/clothing that's been sitting in a drawer for far too long. You see, I'm on a mission to use the things I've had languishing in drawers and closets and this little DIY gave me the perfect opportunity.   W elcome to the 'Do It Over' Designers blog hop.  We are a group of bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY.  I'm happy to host this hop and I hope you'll visit everyone to see what they have to share with you.  Please visit to see everyone's creativity.  The links will be listed at the end of this post. This post may contain affiliate links. It all began with these two petticoats.   They were long and had beautiful eyelet trim. Just what was needed for a curtain to add privacy to a door window.   Door window, you say? That's right.  We have a door in our laundry/storage room that has a window.  It's currently cover...

Hello!  I'm revisiting the kitchen in this Charming New Cottage  with a couple of simple, inexpensive updates. Come along and have a peek at what I've done. This post may contain affiliate links. Let's start with the curtains. It all began when I remembered this piece of fabric I'd been given several years ago.  Since I still can't decide if I want to paint the kitchen cabinets blue or yellow and  it has both colors in it,  I thought this fabric was a good choice.   As you may have guessed, the focus of this project was the kitchen window.  The one with the 'lovely' blind on it. It was old.  It was stained.  It was c hipped.  Aaaand......it didn't work.   Oh, it was also black.   Not that I'm not a fan of black.  I am.  Just not for window treatments. I did a lot of thinking about this space.    A shelf above the window?  It's only four and a half inches. Shelves on either side?  Aga...

I'm so glad it's May. April has been a Weather Whirlwind.  Last week we started out with a warm, sunny day followed by a chilly rainy one. At one point it was pouring and 20 minutes later, it was snowing...I mean, R-E-A-L-L-Y snowing!!  It lasted most of the night and we woke up to a Winter Wonderland...in APRIL?????  It was at that point I told my husband we need a new place to live.  It needs to be warmer, have less Winter and more Spring & Summer.  I'd also like to avoid tornadoes, flooding, etc.  Please share your suggestions in the comments.  Really, I'm serious.  I've had it with Winter!   With any luck, May will be kinder to us. But, enough complaining.  We're healthy, staying in, eating well, and taking walks when the weather allows!  How are you? I truly hope you are all healthy and safe. Now, let's talk about curtains.  I made these panels last year for the living room.  S ince it faces north, i t's...

It came to my attention last week that I never posted a moving update.  As you know, the Cottage was sold - read that funny story HERE  and we had to decide what we were going to do next.   About 5 weeks ago we moved into a small apartment in a turn-of-the-century house.  Although much of the original woodwork, etc is gone, it does have new windows, insulation, and hardwood floors.   'Small' is the operative word here - the apartment is about 550 square feet.  I know what you're thinking, and no, we haven't lost our minds.  We really are working on down-sizing, because, let's face it, how much 'stuff' do you really need? Since it's just the two of us and we've already done the 4 bdr, 3 bath house, it was time to try something new.   Since the woman who bought our house also bought most of our furniture, we were starting with a pretty clean slate.  This is not our forever home, so we have a storage unit for those things that just don't h...

One pair of curtains & two windows - that was the dilemma I was facing.  Since the curtains matched my bedspread, I searched the internet to see if I could find another pair.  No luck!  Spending money on a new bedspread and curtains was not in the plan, so, it was time to get creative! What did I do?  I got out the scissors and cut each panel if half!  Each panel was 50" wide and the windows at the cottage are  36".  It was a little nerve-racking to cut those panels, but, I had nothing to lose.  The bedroom had 2 windows!   After cutting the panels the only thing left to do was sew some straight seams.  Pretty easy!  I also had shear panels to finish the look.   I'm sure you're looking at that photo and asking, "What is that valance hiding?"  Well, here's the answer: I hung the sheers and curtains all on one rod and covered the top with the valances that came with the cottage.  The valances got a fresh...