Fully dressed + extra mayo

As we shift our priorities from the former jungledom of our backyard to the outdated interior of our home, I find myself thinking a lot about dressing. And I don't just mean peppery Parmesan or feta-balsamic, which, OK, are on my mind more than I care to admit. Or hamburgers, which can be dressed in a multitude of delicious ways and also take up too much of my headspace. I mean prettying things up so that they don't need a true overhaul. You know that saying "Slap some lipstick on the pig"? I hesitate to use it because I think our house would take umbrage, but I think you get my drift.

Our foyer has been in need of a little dressing. The casement windows are lovely, and I'm happy with the elegance of the white paint, but it all came together a bit icy and plain.



As I share my vision for dressing our foyer, I feel like I should unveil my overall concept to provide context. I'm calling it Modern Southern Transitional. The modern is to keep with the look of the exterior--bold and not at all fussy. The Southern is an acknowledgment of the high ceilings, graceful entries, and ubiquitous stained wood that really give our house its character (plus I like monograms, and what is more Southern than a monogram, I ask you?). The transitional is simply modernizing the very traditional elements we're working with--the clear stained glass of the foyer divider, the wood beams, and library paneling. Modern Southern Transitional means, to me, a look that funks up old-fashioned damasks and brocades and marries all the disparate elements that give our 1976 eclectic rambler its charm.

I hope I've achieved at least a start to that with our new window dressings.



The drapes feature an elongated botanical pattern in a vibrant but not-too-bright green. The fabric is reminiscent of burlap and provides a nice contrast to the white walls.



The pull-backs make easy work of accessing the blinds for opening and closing, and they also add a bit of sophistication. The hardware itself is a simple matte black, but the carved bone provides some organic texture and interest.

And now that I've turned off my design blogger voice, I can tell you that BG and I totally cheapskate-handyworked the shizzle out of this project! Drapery hardware costs a fortune, and unless it's really a statement in a home, I don't understand the logic behind spending those bucks.

My solution was to cobble together inexpensive materials and will them to work. I paid $3 each for two dowel rods, bought four tool hooks for about $8 total, and BG put in a little sweat equity. For finials, we used elongated, swirly, matte black drawer-pull hardware (approx $15 all together). BG smartly, thanks to a brainstorm by my brother, put the hardware screw into the dowel and then snipped the screwdriver end off. He then used the threads to twist the drawer pull on to the snipped screw. Et voila! $29 for two complete drapery set-ups.

BG and I are so happy with how it came out and hope you like it too! I feel really inspired to begin Phase II of the foyer dressing.