barkcloth project

this is my mudroom, not very muddy. i found the idea in a magazine. i asked my architect to incorporate it in this area of the house. the stairway you see, leads to the media room….. which has no media, it is just an empty room … but i have dreams. but the main reason for this post is to show you the cart insert that i made from some vintage barkcloth drapes i bought years ago when i had my space in an antique mall in Agoura, California!

once i learned of these draperies that i believe were popular in the 40’s & 50’s (correct me if i am wrong) … i couldn’t stop searching for them on eBay~! i did a lot of eBay shopping back in those days. a lot.

(below: see the drapes hanging on the hanger on the right side of the doorway!)

that was my little space “Cheryl’s Cottage” (est..2003-2005)

and here was my other space

i stayed busy….painting, and sanding, and sewing.   buying, selling, and thinking, and pondering ….. and then all of a sudden i decided i wanted to leave California and move to Texas and build a house. 

that’s how i roll………. always looking for what i want to do next ……

crazy – but i have been that way forever – wanting to learn and do something different. life is short.

so, back to the project

how this came to be is that i was shopping at Canton Flea Market, in Canton Texas and needed a cart. so i bought one to carry my findings. well, it was UNATTRACTIVE to say the least (below, plastic checked), 

and a girl like me needed something CUTE!

i didn’t want to pay for something cute so i thought about those adorable barkcloth drapes that i now had sitting in my pile of fabrics in the linen closet. 

now, i am no super sewer or anything, but i can sew straight lines and can try to figure things out, thanks to my mother’s genes and home economics in the 7th grade! 

so i measured the sides of this plastic insert and cut my fabric pieces, put the “right sides” of the fabric together and sewed my straight lines.

there you have it.

sewing room

my girlfriend Susan made the bulletin board, which i took off her hands!

close-up of the bulletin fabric - below

more of the mudroom …..

chalkboard – from Ventura flea market – i think the creator of this was Doug for any of you who still go to Ventura

close-up of the chalkboard detail below….

and this next special piece …. my brother Andy made this for me from a building that they tore down in Newbury Park, California - i don’t really think he knows what this piece means to me – i don’t really think he knows how much i truly love him

  

 this horseshoe has been above a door of every home that hubby and i have owned. that is 4 (four) homes to be exact. 

and along with the horseshoe, there is always a quarter in the corner of a cabinet in the kitchen too......   for a rainy day.  not sure what a quarter will buy.

Have a beautiful week ~ Cheryl