That Was Then/This Is Now

I remember when I was young and folks would talk about having to make adjustments because they were getting older.

I remember my reaction to such tales.

I would roll my eyes.

I might not roll my eyes where everybody could see me doing so but believe me, I rolled my eyes.

Now, things are a little different.

Now, I am the one making adjustments because I'm getting older.

One way I seem to be adjusting is by making everything lighter in my house.

The darkest room in the house is the den. (Well, unless you are in the basement with the lights off,)

One reason is because it faces the front porch and there are two huge oak trees providing shade on that side of the house.

Another reason is because I hung some beautiful Merlot-colored, silk, drapes with soutache braid and coordinating sheers as window treatment.  

Those drapes made the room cozy feeling.

They added a rich pop of color to the otherwise neutral room.

They also made the room sort of dark.

So, I decided to do a bit of lightening up.

I also decided I wanted to do it on a budget.

I think I succeeded.

Two canvas drop cloths for $10 each...

A couple of lines of stitching to create a rod pocket...

A couple of hours of ironing...

Voila!

A lightened up den!

I kept the same tie-backs and the same style.  Only the lighter, more casual fabric made lots of difference in the room.

I'm telling myself this adjustment had nothing to do with me getting older and wanting the room to be lighter for my old eyes.

I'm telling myself I was just freshening things up a bit!