Spring Cure Success

As I said previously I didn't quite get my guest bedroom finished which I was hoping to do in the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure but I am really happy with my study. I've already posted some pictures below but I wanted to post what I'm most happy with - the vintage tram scroll which we have displayed on our wall.

Last year, my Dad who is a rescuer of many interesting things gave me a vintage trolley bus destination roll/blind from Brisbane (my home town) which he had been given years ago and held on to.

I love vintage, nostalgia and typography and I have sentimental interest in many of the destinations listed on the blind (they represent where I live, where I have lived and where many friends and family currently live). So I wanted to display it in my house - the problem was that at just under 4m long at full length it was far too long to display on a wall in one piece. I really didn't want to cut it up into pieces so we scratched our heads about it for a while but we came up with a solution we were happy with.

We bought two Ikea TUPPLUR blinds and attached the blind to either end and fixed it on the wall. We removed the ball chain from the bottom roller but kept it on the top so that we could 'scroll' through the destinations. This solution meant we didn't have to cut the blind and so could display it in one piece. In fact we can change the destinations displayed.

Destination blinds have been given a bit of a bad rap lately with people saying they're becoming a ubiquitous item of decor in peoples' houses (or more specifically in the Apartment Therapy home tours!) but even if it's not your thing this is an idea that could be applied to other long items you want to display - artworks, fabric, banners etc.

Overall it was a simple solution, not horribly expensive and we're very happy with the result :)

Ikea panel curtains: a cautionary tale!

Today we hung our Ikea panel curtains. You'd think this would be easy - we have already done it once before so the track is there and we know exactly how to attach the top and bottom rails. It's not easy. In fact the first time I assembled these I was planning to do the entire house in panels. I soon changed my mind on that!

I daresay be it the first or four hundredth time you've assembled Ikea panel curtains it is a PAIN. I can honestly say between midday today and 4pm getting these curtains up was the ONLY thing I achieved.

In the day time, curtains closed

At night time, curtains pulled across for open window.

Am I happy with the result? Yes very much so! I really like that they're plain white and the same style rather than a contrast of colour and texture we had previously. I also think they let just the right amount of light in - possibly too much for most people but I really like a naturally bright home. So I guess it was worth it after all!

Some words of advice if you're thinking of installing Ikea panel curtains:

• You'll need ample floor space for assembling these curtains - vacuum and / or mop first to ensure a dust free surface (especially if you're using white!)
• You're going to spend a lot of time on the floor doing this so try to have the right stuff handy to avoid getting up and down constantly - teeny tiny allen key, sharp scissors, measuring tape, possibly double sided sticky tape and a little bowl to put the miniscule screws in so they don't get lost!
• It is a fiddly, arduous taks. Allow plenty of time. You might need regular break times to stop finger cramping
• Regardless of the style you go for the edges of the curtain are raw so you need to be careful so as to not fray or bend the edges
• If you're using a thin/meshy style fabric panel you might want to use some double sided tape to hold the fabric to the metal 'whatsy' that slides inside the top or bottom rail (you'll know what I mean if you're about to do this and have read the instructions)
• BUY THE RODS that you use to pull these curtains. It will really preserve their longevity and protect the unfinished edges from damage. The ones we took down still looked brand new because we used the rods. You can see what damaged edges look like in the Ikea showroom where everyone's had a touch of the curtains.
• Keep calm. It WILL work out eventually, it WILL look awesome or at the very worst, Ikea WILL exchange if it's still in saleable condition ;)

Before and after photos of the whole room soon!

Hooray for long weekends and PROGRESS

Two long weekends back to back. WOW. It's been fantastic. I honestly don't know how I'll cope next week working 5 days rather than 4 though!

We've put the extra time we've had to good use - we've finished painting the study which means we're right on track to finish the Apartment Therapy spring cure. Originally I planned to have 2 rooms done (the study and guest room) but the guest room needs a bit more time and a bit more work so stay tuned for that one.

We painted the study plain white which is what we've done throughout the rest of the house. It's really amazing how much white can brighten up a space. The study was a cream colour and although that's not particularly dark when you compare it to the white you can really see the difference!

Tomorrow I plan on cleaning the louvres, hanging the new panel curtains and swapping the black leather cushion on our Ikea Poang chair for a white fabric cover. While I'm doing this my husband will be working at a solution for hanging our vintage tram scroll using roller blind hardware from some cheap Ikea blinds.

Then will come the last step - moving all the furniture back in and adding the final decorative touches.

In other news my husband has made me a cute graphic for the blog which you can see at the top. It's an illustration of the front of our 'little green haus' and I love it. Thanks!

Also whilst waiting for the paint to dry we visited our favourite antique centre in Brisbane the Woolloongabba antique centre. The visit was successful and I picked up a vintage Arabia 'plum' jam pot. I was really pleased!

Image from Arabia Museum

This is the fourth pot I have in my little Arabia collection.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!