Over the years, I’ve learned that making linen room dividers, tablecloths, napkins and slipcovers does NOT have to involve sewing…
Read MoreDraped Linens and Drop Cloths Transform Furniture in a Chateau (and Your House as Well)
For need-of-a- refresh sofa or chairs, we take a cue from this chill 12th Century château in France transformed with the artful use of draped cloth.
Read MoreBig DIY Linen Projects and Room Dividers + Where to Find the Extra Wide Linen to Make Them
In our age of diminishing spaces that have to serve many purposes, linen projects like room dividers, curtains, draped slip covers and spreads hold many possibilities. The logistical question: where to buy really wide linen?
Read MoreRipped Linen Room Divider, Tablecloth, Napkins…
Leafing through a file of good ideas, I found this image of a ripped linen room divider by Ellen Silverman. Ripped linen is so beautiful, there’s no need to hem it…witness this tablecloth and napkins…
Read MoreHuge Linen Shirt Becomes a TeaTowel
Marella Consolini sent us her inspired transformation of a gorgeous linen shirt bought on eBay for pennies, that turned out to be SO big, it languished in a drawer, waiting for something to be done with it. “Finally it dawned on me: the back was big enough to turn into an oversized linen tea towel”. Here’s how she did it.
Read MoreRough-stitched Ripped Linen Pillow Covers
Just as we were wrapping our head around learning to use our new sewing machine, we noticed these big pillow covers on IKEA’S blog Livet Hemma… …which sent us hunting around Ikea USA to discover that it is selling 100% linen by the yard for 7.99 a 59″ yard in white and gray. We’ve long been fans…
Read MoreSerene Sheer Linen Bed Spread
We clipped another lovely, doable idea from the idiotic New York Times T Magazine article a few weeks ago about the Axel Vervoordt-designed “wabi wabi” penthouse at NYC’s Greenwich Hotel. A sheet linen bed spread. We thought right away of Rough Linen’s lovely Summer Cover, made of lightweight linen. We used one as a bed skirt and it…
Read Morediy instant bed skirt from a linen sheet or coverlette
The Laboratory’s latest design dilemma: how to hide the underpinnings of my makeshift bed and all the art materials stored under it? A bed skirt was clearly the solution, but the traditional route posed a number of problems. Classic bed skirts come in set sizes and lengths, none of which really fit my rigged bed.…
Read Morediy or buy: stylish frayed-edge linen pillows
Flipping through the new Crate & Barrel catalogue, we came across what seems like a bargain: “eyelash pillows”— big square two-tone linen pillows whose edges are sewn inside-out, to show their frayed edges. It’s a lovely play on a trend we’ve reported on quite a bit, most recently in Paola Navone’s frayed-seam slipcovers. It appeals…
Read Morerough linen’s clever ideas for tabletop + home decor
(Video link here or on YouTube.) We spent part of this weekend poking around Rough Linen, an online store and information resource for fine affordable linen products made by proprietor Tricia Rose. (We are mulling using one of her Summer Covers as a multi-configurable/multi-purpose bed skirt but more on that in another post; we’re still figuring…
Read Morereminder: you don’t have to iron or hem linen cloths
Two images in a recent Remodelista post illustrate an essential principal that just might let you off-the-hook over the holidays: linen table cloths don’t need to be ironed to be beautiful, nor do they even have to be hemmed. We offer proof below, in the lovely tables set ‘au natural’. But if prefer an ironed…
Read Morediy: oversized ripped linen napkins
Years ago, we used to scour flea markets for oversize damask napkins that were once a mainstay of early 20th century tables. They’d range anywhere from 20-to-36-inches square. Putting one across your lap at table felt incredibly luxurious: like being tucked into bed while sitting at a wonderful feast. Over the years, the look of…
Read Morelinen flat sheet as stylish bedspread (dust ruffle included)
About a year ago, our friend Ellen Silverman came back from France with a beautiful linen flat sheet that she’d seen displayed in a Paris shop. The salesperson encouraged her to buy a king size sheet and use it as a coverlet that would drape on the floor and become it’s own “dust-ruffle”, hiding whatever…
Read Moreunhemmed (ripped) linen with yarn stitching
We’ve long been fans of unhemmed linen tableclothes, napkins, shower curtains – a rectangle of pure linen just ripped to leave a raw edge *. We hadn’t though of this swell embellishment: the yarn stitching accentuates the intentionality of NOT-HEMMED in a really beautiful and charming way.
Read Morelinen apron as improvised table cloth
When Ellen Silverman was over photographing Prunes in Armagnac for our holiday food gift post, we were hunting through our collection of tablecloths to use as a background. Nothing seemed right. It was the end of the day and the light was waning. In desperation, she threw a big linen apron of Sally’s onto the…
Read MoreAdvice for An Anxiety Situation (Maira Kalman)
Maria Kalman recently arrived in our Inbox with an invitation to buy a signed and numbered edition she created. It’s called “Don’t Think too Much” and it has much to say on the subject and how not to… (think too much)
Read MoreTattooed Tablecloths after Sarah Espeute Spark Maps, Guestbooks, Artifacts
When we first saw French artist Sarah Espeute’s embroidered table linens, we thought they were drawn-on with indelible markers, something we might be able to do. Then ideas and memories began to connect and flow.
Read MoreTool for Living: Low Profile Step Ladder, in Colors (With Poem)
As I’ve gotten older, the grim reality-sandwich of falling OFF a ladder has become something I don’t want to experience. I’m loving this light, sturdy low-profile step ladder that looks good enough to leave out.
Read MoreOilcloth (Not PVC) Makes a Surprisingly Cool, Wipe-Clean Tablecloth that Protects Your Wood Table
When the mid-century wood table I set up for dining and work took a hit from a spilled glass of water, I cast about for a protective everyday solution that wouldn’t look like plastic. I found it in old-fashioned oilcloth…
Read MoreInspiring, Do-able Interior Design Ideas from Paola Navone
Whenever we look at designer Paola Navone’s homes, we come away with a zillion ideas that we could actually do, without a ton of dough. Here are our favorite steal-able ideas.
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