Cornices

I made cornices for my bedroom today.  I used the tutorial and photos from The Polka Dot Closet

Everything went just as described in the tutorial.  Everything was pretty inexpensive; the lecture from the guy at Home Depot about why I should pay eleventy billion dollars to a "professional" and "do it the right way - with wood" was free, so woot.

You can see what my bedroom looked like "before" here

The draperies are duvets - "Linen Rose" from Court of Versailles.  I've been collecting them from eBay for two years now with the express intent of making draperies.  Their retail price is horrific - I think the queen duvet was $495.  I managed to buy 2 queens and a king over the past 24 months at prices I can assure do not approach $495 each.

(not my actual bedroom)

detail of the bedding

The bedding is very heavy.  Heavy to the point that when there's even a down alternative filler in the duvet, it's too heavy for me.  So - after I took the duvets apart, here's what I did:

floral side of the queen duvets - I actually used the reverse side.  These are so well-made that I was able to do that.  The reverse floral picks up the bedroom color (I had Annie Sloan "Paris Grey" duplicated in Behr) and the cream reverse almost has a sheen to them.  I lined then using a plain white bed sheet I bought at SprawlMart.  A plain top to slide on the poles.  The sheers are a lace with a medallion that echoes the floral motif.  I'm not sure if I'm keeping them or going to switch to drop cloth panels (more on drop cloth later)

striped side of the queen duvets - these will become my dining room drapes...I'll use the reverse as well.

floral side of the king duvet - I'll hem that and back it with drop cloth and use it as a coverlet on the foot of the bed.

striped side of the king duvet - cornice for my living room.  I also have enough fabric for sofa/settee pillows and I have yards and yards of beautiful cording for trim.

The cornices for the bedroom are done with good ole' Lowe's drop cloths.  I like the 8-ounce weight.  I wash them, and then bleach them in the washer and let them sit in the water overnight.  They come out a beautiful shade of cream.  

Probably the most difficult part was ironing the drop cloth.  It turned out really well, I think.  The trim is a striped piece from the reverse of the duvet.

As usual, I take awful photos - the link above to my bedroom progress has better photos of the true color of the bedroom walls.

This is my other bedroom window -

 to show what they looked like before the cornice

The finished cornice.  The shadows make it look wonky, 

but I assure your my OCD self made certain it was plumb :)

I had been standing on the bed to put up

the L-brackets that support the cornice, so

it looks like I've been wrestling in it.  

(as if...)

My night stands are actually garden

furniture (wrought iron and marble) from 

Bombay Company.  I wish they'd bring that store

back!

I'm very pleased with the outcome - it makes a definite impact when you walk in the room and see the cornice and the beautiful draperies.

I'm linking up at:

ReFresh ReStyle - Inspiration Monday

Dwellings - Amaze Me Monday

Mod Vintage Life - Mod Mix Monday

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday