It’s been a couple of weeks since I reported in on the Once Room Challenge Dressing Room Do Over activity…and that is because not much happened last week!  I was at Highpoint Market scoping out the latest home furnishings trends (you can read all about what’s new in home furnishings HERE, and all about my less than stellar accommodations *eye roll* HERE).  But I came back to hit the ground running! 

We are now on week 5 of the 8 weeks of the fall One Room Challenge.  For the details on what the One Room Challenge (ORC for short) is and a little about me and all the embarrassing ‘before’ pictures of the space read see Week 1.  You can get caught up on what has happened so far with the links below:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 

This week I approved the fabric cuttings for my beeeauuuutiful curtains and my ottoman rehab.  We always order CFA’s which stands for cuttings for approval for all custom fabrications to be sure the right fabric is going to the workroom and that the dye lot is what we expect.

AND I found gorgeous trims at market that I am just itching to use…problem is, they were just introduced and are not in production yet.  

I will have to add my precious scalloped robins egg blue to my ottoman after the fact!  And I’ll {hopefully} add the taupe dash trim to my curtains later too. 

Have I mentioned I LOVE trim details?  They are like icing on a cake…they add SO much!

I’m sending off the work orders today so they will arrive at the workrooms before the fabric.

When ordering custom curtains, I take detailed measurements so that I can give the workroom specific instructions.

As with all things custom, work orders for custom curtains need to contain a staggering amount of information.  

I need to know the length I want - factoring in a half inch extra so they break on the floor (much like a pant leg on the top of a shoe).  I prefer this for a more luxurious look than just kissing the floor for my full length panels, especially when the floors are a tad uneven as they often are in older homes.  

I also need to specify the header style - that is what the top part is called and where it will attach to the rod.  There are many options for headers and I’ve collected the most common ones in this chart for reference.  For fabrics with pattern repeats that we want to show in a particular way, we might work with a different spacing or pleating size.

I rarely use anything but pleated header styles in my custom draperies. Rod pocket and tab top curtains are a bit dated now and grommet curtains remind me of hotel shower curtains. Tie top can be a nice casual style in the right setting.

For my curtains, I’ve had pretty goblet pleats with covered button details for the last 20+ years, so I’m changing it up to a more streamlined top tack or euro pleat this time.  

Pleated panels attach to the rod with rings or carriers (you can read all about the drapery hardware options here).

I also need to specify the width of the panels - I will do just one width per side.  Decorator fabrics generally come 54” wide and one width will pleat up to the right amount of bulk for my smallish windows.  For larger or taller windows, we usually need wider panels for the proportions to look right even if they are not meant to open and close.

The rods extend past the window about 6 inches on each side making the windows look more generous than they actually are and allowing the bulk of the glass to be exposed so I don’t block any light.  I’m reusing my rods for now, but I’ll probably replace them with French rods in a soft gold finish eventually. 

The rods also dictate the return - which is the fabric that goes around the end and attaches to the wall so there is not a gap at the sides.  Professionally made and installed custom curtains always have a return before the first pleat that is specific for the size of the rod brackets. Pro tip: Tacking the ends of the panels back to the wall is one way to help make ready made curtains look more custom. 

Unless we are looking for a sheer window treatment, we always have our custom curtains lined and interlined.  Interlining is a flannel layer between the face fabric and the lining fabric that gives the finished panels a heftier, more luxurious look and softer folds. Interlining material comes in various weights/thicknesses depending on the look and weight we are after.

I’m also having a matching valance made for the windowseat in the other end of the room.

I ordered the elusive 3/4” furniture grade plywood and some pegboard for my closet buildout and it arrived the next day.  Woohoo! And can I just say, that stuff is HEAVY.  I got my weight-bearing exercise in dragging it into my garage?!  The carpenter said he can start next week *happy dance*.  I can’t wait!

And finally, I decided on a wallpaper for the back walls of the closet.  The partitions, shelves, and drawers will be painted white

The wallpaper samples arrived while I was away - and all would be really pretty! Decisions, decisions…

The peacocks have a metallic silver, so very glam, 

the gingham check is a classic and a great match for the wall paint, 

and the dark teal would be a nice dramatic contrast.

Which would you choose?  Can you guess which one I picked.

Now we hurry up and wait for things to get going so I can paint, wallpaper, and install curtains!

In the meantime I need to do some soul searching about what clothing is worthy to stay in my beautiful new dressing room, and start shopping for the pretty finishing touches…baskets, matching hangers, etc.

And I need to work out the details of my brilliant closet door solution…stay tuned! 

And don’t forget to check out the inspiration and progress of the other ORC participants on the ORC blog page HERE!