My curtains revealed and an introduction to The Loaded Trunk!

My curtains are finally finished! Some of you might remember this post awhile back when I asked for suggestions for curtain colors after we moved into our new apartment in Chevy Chase, MD.

Before:

After:

The curtains the apartment came with were drab and heavy. Our couch had to stay, and is an olive-colored suede, that depending on the light and colors around it can look gray, brown, or green. The rug is a new purchase that I love, and wanted to make it work. Our walls, though hard to tell in the picture above, are a light aqua blue.

I tried photoshopping some different color options in this post, but all of them left me a bit underwhelmed. You guys offered up some amazing suggestions for DIY's, specific fabrics, and other resources. The amazing Christine of Design with Christine came up with an amazing edesign for me, utilizing some Ikat curtains, and some throw pillows to tie the rug in with the couch. You can see the amazing job she did in her post.

The curtains Christine chose.

My photoshopping the curtains and pillows Christine found. Christine’s genius really got the ball rolling for me to find a pattern to balance out the visual weight of the bottom half of the room with the visual weight of the top. So, since I wanted to sew my own curtains, I began the search for the perfect (afforadable) fabric.

via 6th Street Design School

I really liked the fabric above, which a reader suggested to me . Even though it was above our price range, I ordered a swatch. The medallions were a bit too large for my liking, and the background was more of a beige than a white, so we decided against this one. I also ordered a few more swatches, but I wasn’t sold on any of them. Then, I noticed the curtains below on Danielle Oakey's blog, and went on an internet scavenger hunt to find the fabric.

Long story short, I finally located enough to sew my curtains (9 yards) from Red Rhino on ebay. They were actually the only seller I found with the fabric available. Red Rhino gave me a great price, amazing response times, and I couldn’t have been happier with the fabric. The match was very accurate to what was on screen.

via Danielle Oakey Interiors

So, after hours and hours of measuring, ironing, starching, sewing, and ironing and starching again, we finally had our curtains. I also added a black tape on the right and left vertical borders of the outermost curtains to mimick the black border on the rug. We are really happy with the results. I'm also in the process of testing out some swatches to sew throw pillow covers.

Another view of the room with the ikat curtains

A close up of the curtain and the black border

I'm testing out a suzani style swatch, as you can see from the bottom pillow.

Isn't this red pillow AMAZING!?!?

I couldn’t be more thrilled with the pillow, which  I received from The LoadedTrunk!

There couldn’t be a better cohesive element between my couch and my rug! What’s even cooler is the history of the pillow, called a Hmong pillow:

“This beautiful vintage textile was once part of a garment worn by Hmong women in Vietnam. The Hmong, an Asian ethnic group living in the mountainous regions of Vietnam and Laos, are known for their traditional textiles which feature cross-stitching and often indigo block printing. They have been given a second life and were re-cycled to make these lovely pillows.”

 

They offer a handful of one-of-a-kind Hmong pillows.  This one in purple is gorgeous

I love that mine is one of-a-kind. They have other hmong pillows, and lots of other global goods. I could make a really long wishlist of items from this store, but here are just a few:

These bronze hammered bowls would look glamorous and beautifully organic anywhere.

The color in this Mexican coverlet is so rich.

Thanks again to The Loaded Trunk! You can see all their treasures on the online shop.

SO..how do you think our living room is coming along so far? 

We still have some art to hang,  maybe a floor lamp for the corner behind the palm, and the rest of the throw pillows for the couch (I want a pillow that will tie in the colors from the curtains)

And how about that pillow from the Loaded Trunk?

I can't wait to hear what you guys think!

*disclosure: I received the Hmong pillow as a sample