It is said that, in a home, the kitchen is where everyone ends up gathering.  (If this is truly the case, I desperately need to turn my focus to cooking, not sewing!)  It is easy for my kitchen to be the "gathering place" because we have a very open floor plan.  We have a large island in our kitchen that opens up into our living room.  It is a wonderful feature when our children are in the living room or playroom and I am in the kitchen (sweeping again!).  It is not wonderful, however, if we have unexpected company and have not cleaned up yet, it is visible to anyone that rings the doorbell.  

One of my most favorite things to do is to flip through various home decor magazines and dog-ear the pages of projects I want to try my hand at or use as inspiration.  I even mark pages of ideas I will never try, just love to go back and admire.  As I was flipping through an issue of Edmond Monthly, I discovered the inspiration page for my kitchen.  To me, the best feature of my kitchen, are the bay windows in the dining area.  Our backyard opens up to an open pasture with cattle, therefore, we have no real neighbors and no real need for privacy.  I decided to use a combination of sheers and tall curtain panels, which can be closed if necessary.

I was quite the bargin hunter when shopping for 24 yards of fabric for the red drapes.  I stumbled upon a discontinued pattern and bought the entire bolt for a great, great price per yard.  The sheer fabric was my splurge. . . not a bargin, not a great price per yard, but, I figured since I was so budget conscience on the fabric for the drapes, why not?!  The leopard is something I decided to add just for fun.

Everytime I walk into my kitchen, I love the way the dining area looks and feels.  It is warm and inviting, but bold and dramatic.  I love that when you come through the front door, if not completely distracted by a messy kitchen, your eyes are immediately drawn to the bay windows and my favorite part of our kitchen.  So, anyone want to teach me how to cook?  If you are going to gather in my kitchen, I should probably feed you.

My friend Keasha may be the most sassy person I know.  She is about the size of Polly Pocket and pretty feisty!  About a month ago, she and her husband decided to take on the challenge of transforming their builder grade living room into a HGTV designer worthy space.  They replaced their fireplace surround with a beautiful mosaic tile of copper, chocolate and cream.  They glazed and distressed the fireplace mantle and then added a dark mahogany wood floor as the hearth.  Here is a picture of the finished product . . . . beautiful!

This rich and bold fireplace needs a window treatment that can compliment the tile and wall color, not divert any attention away from the hard work put into it.  When you walk through the front door, the fireplace is the first thing that catches your eye . . . exactly what it is meant to do.  It isn't until you turn around do you see the large picture window on the adjacent wall.  Keasha did an amazing job selecting the fabric and trim for her drapes.  (I'm so proud, all on her own!)  Here is an up close look at the combination of fabrics . . . the leopard is my favorite!

The fabrics contrasted with the wall beautifully and I was so happy with the way they turned out.

After the drapes were installed, Keasha told me that she was so excited and she mentioned she left the room just so that she could come back in to be surprised all over again!  Thanks Keasha for letting me contribute to your living room make over.