In September, I was in Hancock Fabrics and I saw the most perfect potential drapery fabric. I knew instantly that it would be totally wonderful in our house. I snapped this photo, and I brought home a couple of their tiny sample swatches.
The little swatches hung on the windows in our dining room and family room, and the colors in the fabric were even more perfect in our house than they were in the fabric store. I knew that I had found THE ONE!
I visited Janet at her shop a few weeks later, and I saw a roll of MY fabric in her work area. I told her how much I loved it, and mentioned that I was planning to use it to make drapes in our dining room and family room. Janet said, "That's the fabric Miss Mustard Seed used for her drapes."
When she said that, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. MY fabric was actually someone ELSE'S fabric ... I knew I would feel like a shameful copycat if I used it ... especially since the simple drapes I had in my imagination were very similar to what MMS has. (I googled them as soon as I got home.)
It wasn't that I minded that someone else had used the fabric and published it online ... I'd be silly to believe that no one had EVER made drapes like the ones I was imagining. I got myself pretty deep in a feeling of insecurity, worrying that other people would THINK I was a copycat. It's totally unlike me to even consider stuff like this ... what was I to do?
It was my friend Kat (dear, sweet Kat) who set me straight. When I wrote to her about maybe not using the fabric, even though I loved it, she replied, "I say use that fabric and enjoy those drapes. We can't decorate our houses for the internet, nor should we deny ourselves something we like because someone else has already used it..."
Thank you, Kat!! Your words of wisdom helped more than you know, and I am very, VERY grateful that I took your advice, and followed my heart.
Without further delay, allow me to introduce ... our new dining room drapes. (I snapped a few quickly-styled photos for you with my iPad this morning.)
The ceilings on the main level of our house are nine-and-a-half feet high, and these drapes emphasize that height and add definition to the room. I am over-the-moon delighted with how they look.
Since the drapes are wonderful, I decided to do what I could to pull the rest of the dining room together. I hung this gallery of The Husband's paintings on the wall above the blue buffet, and I love how it looks ... I need to find something to put on the top of the buffet, tho.
This corner cupboard holds a little flat-screen TV, so I can watch the news while I cook. The top of the cupboard looked like a good place for a graduated stack containing two of my primitive painted tool boxes and a child's toy trunk. The wall clock is an 1840's ogee clock from Connecticut, and the antlers are the same ones that I originally hung over the door in our office ... they look way better here in the dining room.
From the moment I hung the first of the two sets of drapes in this room, I knew that I had done the right thing. These simple drapes, gathered on a rod, hanging from ceiling to floor, are the perfect choice for this room ... I am so happy about this!!
The moral of this story is .... I followed my heart, and I am delighted with the results. Kat, my friend, I am ABSOLUTELY enjoying these drapes!