denise cerro: On a budget...

I always enjoy good design...on a budget.

I mean really...it doesn't have to break the bank...and you don't have to go without...and best of all, it is pretty exciting when you come up with an idea and don't have to let cost stop you from doing + enjoying it.

Here is one such idea I actually played with awhile back and am still digging the results. Not to mention...feel even better about it because I didn't have to let cost stop me...just had to be a little more resourceful.

We had new windows installed at home, and I loved the open feeling...

wish I didn't have to do any window coverings at all...

though living in a fish bowl is a little too open for us.

So the very least I could do was white blinds, it fit the bill for simple and open

and gave the room a cottage kinda feel.

Then...I fell in love...

with a fabric sample my friend Mechelle gave me.

A very loose, natural linen with an embroidered stitch throughout called "The Buzz".

My thought when I saw it was a simple valance of some type, to finish off the blinds while still keeping it airy and open and adding a natural element to the room.

I LOVED this fabric...

and who wouldn't at $245. a yard!

I was very sad, but not discouraged as the creative wheels were already in motion.

So off to the local fabric store I headed for an alternate fabric...

and one of my old standbys...burlap!

I love the weave, the texture and the range of colors. I purchased the lightest, natural color...kind of an oatmeal...and love all the imperfections in it.

Then I played with a no sew idea...

• I split the fabric down the center lengthwise

• folded over the finished fabric edge to the length I wanted for the finished valance, and let the edge show

• unraveled the cut side to create an uneven fringed edge

• using drapery rings that were painted sage green and then aged by running through the washer and chipped up, I sewed them on using a small bow with string that I unraveled out of the burlap fabric

• and best of all...used branches (from trees that had just been trimmed here in the neighborhood) for my valance rods.

I love the way the light shows through the burlap texture, and it accomplished my thought of finishing off the blinds without taking away the openness I love when the morning light floods this room.

And the best part...

this versatile fabric was only $2.99 a yard ...

and I love it so much I don't even miss " The Buzz" of the $245. a yard fabric (though I still love it and use the sample as a table topper)!

With the left over burlap...pillows!

I used it to back beautiful fabric samples, fringed the edges to repeat the valance design...and I have the light airy look I was wanting all along in this room.