mini makeover

Five years ago we moved into our current home, inheriting a number of lovely "gifts with purchase," so to speak. Some things I simply could not abide and was driven to change immediately, and others--though I didn't like them--got pushed to the bottom of the to-do list until, sadly, I guess I became used to them and almost forget that I wanted to change them.

My bathroom shower curtain was one such item. Southwest-style prints have never been a favorite of mine, but I guess the fact that it was a pretty shade of red and I happened to have matching towels made it somehow tolerable, or at least not annoying enough to move up on the priority list.

I'm not sure what first inspired my desire for a black-and-white shower curtain, but I had a vision in my head of what I wanted. One day while reading a home improvement post by blogger friend Lee in Pennsylvania, I saw the shower curtain that was in my head! I posted a comment about the irony of it all, praising her for her good taste. She quickly emailed me to say that she had made hers from a table cloth she purchased at T J Maxx, and that she had an extra one I could buy from her for a mere $15! Woo hoo! One step closer to getting rid of Southwest kitsch.

Fast forward about four months. The table cloth had been sitting on my sewing table, waiting for me to find the time to transform it. One afternoon after work I decided that there's no time like the present, and I sat down and made myself a shower curtain!

The table cloth was not quite large enough on its own, so I added a weighted hem in solid black. I decided to tie grosgrain ribbon in single-looped bows at the top of each shower ring.

Remember my powder room re-do last March? I saved the rather scary hardware (towel bar and switch plate cover) and got out my favorite transformation tool: black spray paint.

I haven't hung the "new" towel bar yet, but you can see here the lovely one I'm replacing. Do you know of anyone with a log cabin who would like to decorate with a hunting motif? Perhaps the more pressing question is, "Why in the world didn't I replace this hideous thing sooner?!"

The finishing touches, and perhaps the final impetus that got this project in motion came as birthday presents last March. Susan gave me these cute ceramic canisters for Q-tips and cotton balls,

and Michelle brought me (among other things) one of the darling black-and-white boxes of Puffs I had coveted after seeing them on her blog. I have alerted each of my family members that I will NOT be throwing away this box, but re-filling it.

See the wonders of blogging? Table cloth from T J Maxx: $15. Black fabric on sale at Hancock's: $5. Twelve yards of black grosgrain ribbon: $12. Sending the Southwest to Goodwill: Priceless.