Confessions of a do-it-yourselfer

I can do it myself! Those words have been flowing from my mouth since I first learned to talk. And I've become quite the do-it-yourselfer as a result. Whether it was sewing my own clothes when I was getting started, to sewing drapes and slipcovers now for my homes, I love both the creative process and the sense of fulfillment when the job is done. Some of what I have taken on, though, borders on insane.

Like the headboard you see here? Thanks! I did it myself! Yup, frustrated by the upholstery man who said it was take about 12 weeks (and an unbelievable amount of money!) to make the pique covered headboard I wanted for my bedroom, I decided to just build the dang thing myself. I'm pretty pleased with the result. (If you like the canopy and drapes that surround the bed, thank you for that too. I also made that - though I had to have some construction guys install it on the ceiling for me.)

The secret is to take your time, "measure twice and cut once" as the old saying goes, and think through your project many times before you take it on. You might want to start small before you start building furniture. Buy yourself a miter box and try making wooden picture frames before you build yourself a new bedroom!

Decorating Ingenuity

We all have rooms in our home that aren't 'quite' right. In my house, it's the powder room. The previous owners had renovated it into a bizarre series of angles and triangles. It really needs to be blown up and made a normal square room, but when we were renovating, we just had to limit how much work we were doing. Bathroom work is hugely expensive. So I figured, I'd hide it. After installing wooden strips at the ceiling and floor, the tile walls were covered with quilt batting. I then sewed together a huge wide swath of fabric, which I painstakingly tacked around the room. It wasn't easy, as the entire piece had to be sewed by machine before I could begin to install it.

Once the room was padded and 'upholstered,' I hid the staples with a double row of fabric-covered cord. Whip up a shower curtain in the same fabric, make some pull backs and throw up a funky reproduction lamp and the results you see here!

And best of all, I did it myself.

Workshop

Martha Stewart has workrooms so clean you could eat of the floor. Mine? Well, I don't think you'd want to bring food in here. But this is my little spot where many of my home-MAKING projects are created.