Laundry Room Counter Skirt

I gave a hint in my last laundry room post about an update I was adding to the new counter top.  Just a reminder, here is the new countertop and the post showing the before is here.  If you guessed a skirt you were right!

I wanted to hide the laundry cart and make this area look a little prettier.  I’ve always liked skirted tables, counters, etc., so knew I would incorporate that in here somehow. I decided to use drop cloth.  I picked some up at Lowe’s.  This particular one is soft feeling to begin with, but I did wash it anyway.  It was $5.98 for a 4 ft. x 5 ft. drop cloth.  I bought two because I can use the left over drop cloth for other projects.

I decided to use a tension rod so I could easily remove it if needed.  I cut the drop cloth to size (from the floor to the clip of the clip ring) and added a ruffle to the top.  Then used clip rings to hang it from the tension rod.  I already had the tension rod and clip rings so I saved some money there.

I cut the drop cloth so that one of the finished edges would be the bottom and measured up from the floor to the clip ring which gave me 32 1/2 inches (I added a half inch for the seam allowance in adding the ruffle so cut it at 33 inches).

I used about 15 inches in width from a second drop cloth to give me the width I was looking for (about 66 inches wide).  The opening is 33 inches wide.  The ruffle was cut with a 6 1/2 inch drop and this piece also had the finished edge that came already sewn on the drop cloth.  I made that the bottom.  I cut the full width of both drop cloths with the 6 1/2 inch drop, and gave myself 112 inches of fabric to make the ruffle (sewing the two pieces together first for that extra long piece).

I attached the ruffle to the wrong side and then flipped it over to the showing side.  This gave it a finished look to the top.  I did pin it first to make sure this was going to turn out correctly. Better to take the time to make sure than have to rip stitching out!   I ruffle as I sew, which works for me. 

Now I have a pretty way to hide the cart holding the dirty laundry, yet it is still easily accessible. 

You can make a project like this easier on yourself if you can take advantage of the finished (sewn) edges already on the drop cloth.  I did with the bottom of the skirt, the bottom of the ruffle, and the two sides.

I’m loving the flirty ruffle and the sturdiness of the drop cloth fabric! 

*If you have any questions about how I made this, you’re better off sending me an email directly (kpassarette(at)yahoo(dot)com) rather than asking in comments.  I don’t always get the comments in my email because of whatever has been up with Blogger for the past six months and so I can’t reply. 

Linking up with:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Sizzle Into Summer at DIY by Design

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Sundays Best at My 1929 Charmer

The Artist Behind The Etsy ~ New England Wreath

Being a part of the Etsy community, not only as a seller but as a customer, I have come across many talented individuals.  With this series, I hope to introduce you to some of these creative people, finding out where they find their inspiration, and a little bit more about them.

This week’s Etsy shop focuses solely on wreaths.  Wreaths for every season and holiday.  And beautiful wreaths they are, too!  Please welcome Darlene from New England Wreath. 

My name is Darlene Provitola, the owner and creative designer behind all of New England Wreath Company’s designs and décor. I am a wife and step-mom to two teenagers and a nine year fluffy orange cat named “Archie”. I am delighted and honored that Kathy has asked me to share a little about myself and my Etsy shop with you.

My career began over 30 years ago as an Interior designer. As a professional designer I have learned to appreciate individual needs, styles and tastes and the importance of creating environments that are an expression of the individual I am designer for. Those experiences have inspired me to create products that are impressive, unique and of the highest quality. It was always my dream to own my own design company, so in 1990 I launched my own Interior design firm that along with providing residential design services also specialized in designing special event and seasonal décor, decorations and displays for corporations, retail businesses and the hospitality industries.

A little over three years ago, I came across Etsy while browsing online and thought to myself what an awesome way to make my items available to customers across the country. So having a lot of inventory on hand from doing commercial work, I created about a dozen wreaths mainly using tea stained American flags and opened my Etsy shop. The wreaths immediately began to sell and I just kept on expanding and adding more to my line. I now average about 80 designer wreaths in my shop. The wreaths that are featured in my shop are all pre-made and ready to ship so the wreath you see in my shop is the exact wreath you will receive. I also do a lot of custom work for my customers and welcome their requests. When I first started this company I was making my wreaths in my home but soon outgrew the space and am now fortunate to have my own studio and showroom nearby in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Living in New England, and more specifically the south shore of Massachusetts between Boston and Cape Cod, it’s easy to find inspiration from the beauty, history and charm of the region. I love to create wreaths that bring a bit of the rustic and old Americana look, but also specialize in very lavish and opulent designs that reflect the classic and stately look of so many of the mansions and estates you see in New England.

I have always loved beautiful homes and décor and have a passion for creating pieces that will enhance and add the perfect touch. I thrive on creating something new and can’t wait to start the next piece. From searching for new floral and greenery, to finding a new whimsical character to center my design around, I am very passionate about what I do and put heart and soul into each piece. I love coming up with something new and original and then being able to share my work with thousands of potential customers through my Etsy shop. As a designer, living in a beautiful part of the country and being able to sell my creations on Etsy is a dream come true!

Thank you,  Darlene, for telling your story of how you came to share your wreath creations through your Etsy shop.  They are all just beautiful!  I love them all and was so taken with the Patriotic Wreaths when I first came across the shop.  You can visit Darlene’s Etsy shop, New England Wreath, here.

Design Book Library ~ The Perfect Country Cottage & A Giveaway

The giveaway is today’s Design Book Library and you can see how to enter to win at the end of this post.

Today’s book from the Design Book Library is The Perfect Country Cottage by Bill Laws.  Since this book is a giveaway, I wanted to include the chapter titles for you.

Chapter 1  First Impressions

Chapter 2  Heart of the Home

Chapter 3  Rooms for Living

Chapter 4 Sleeping Quarters

Chapter 5 The Cottage Garden

Chapter 6  A Country Harvest

There are quite a few pictures and most of the writing is of a “teaching” style, which takes you from the features of an old cottage to the materials that make it up, both inside and out.

This book is more about a very country life as opposed to what you might think of as English Country or Cottage decorating.  Just typing up this post, I could already think of a handful of bloggers that might be interested in this book.  In case you were wondering, the book is a hardcover.

Having said that and shared some of the pictures from the book, to enter for a chance to win, please state that you would like to be entered to win in your comment.  Not everyone who comments will want the book, so if you don’t say that you want it, I am not going to count your comment in the giveaway.

The giveaway will be open to residents of the U.S., because I’m paying for shipping.  I will keep the giveaway open until Wednesday, August 20th, and will announce the winner in next week’s Design Book Library post.  At that time, I will also have another book I talk about that will be up for a giveaway. 

Debbiedoos Cool Whip Cookies ~ Gluten Free Style

If you’ve ever seen a recipe post that I’ve shared here {they are few and far between}, you’ll have noticed that I like the words “quick”, “easy”, “simple”,  and that I always mention that I am not much of a cook or baker.  When I saw Debbie’s Cool Whip Cookies recipe that she shared here, I knew this was one I could handle.

For the gluten free version, I just used the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix.  I also used light Cool Whip, although, how many calories we are actually saving ~ who knows.

Gluten Free Cool Whip Cookies

1 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip

1 box of gluten free cake mix

1 egg

confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix together the first three ingredients until blended and smooth.  (I used my mixer).  Place parchment paper on your cookie sheet.  Use a teaspoon to spoon some batter onto the parchment paper.  Sprinkle tops with some confectioners sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Mine took about 12 minutes in a gas oven.

Yeah, the first batch I used a tablespoon.  The cookies were huge!  That’s why I bolded “teaspoon” in the recipe.  At that size, they took about 15 minutes to bake. 

They were delicious and I always know a gluten free recipe is good when the husband will eat it.  These are a great cookie to bring along if you are going to a party and want to bring a dessert, plus if you are gluten free, you actually get to eat something!  Since they are so quick to bake up, it is also a good cookie to make when you have guests come over on short notice.

Thanks for such a quick and easy recipe, Debbie!  (And thank your mother-in-law for me, too!). 

Laundry Room Update

Unfortunately, I don’t have The Artist Behind The Etsy post today, as the person I had lined up did  not get back to me with her post. I am sharing our laundry room update in its stead.

Well, after almost three years of waiting, my husband finally put in a longer counter in our laundry room.  Here is what it looked like until last week.  This picture is from last summer, after the room received a fresh coat of a lighter color paint.

When we moved in there was a utility sink between the cabinet and the dryer.  We never had a utility sink at our old house and didn’t feel that we needed one now so he pulled it out shortly after we moved in.  That allowed us room to put a rolling laundry cart with four laundry sorters.

And here is the new counter top!

I love it!  This will make it easier to fold clothes, since I have the raisers on the front loading washer and dryer.  It will also give me a little more room to spread out if I am doing a craft project.  The laundry sorter is on wheels and will be easy enough to move out when I am doing laundry.

I’m not done with this area, though, and here is a hint (through pictures) of what else I have done and will be sharing soon.

Source

Source

Source

Can you guess what it is?