June 3, 2011

One of my favorite ways to add depth to a room is by layering textures.  And when I think of texture, burlap is the first fabric that jumps to mind. I polled our designers and fabric experts, and compiled a list of GDC's favorite ways to use burlap.  We carry it in every color of the rainbow, and at under $10 per yard, it's an unbeatable value.  Here is a snapshot of some of the brand new colors that just arrived this week:

- Bedskirts, especially tailored ones

- Table runners.  We frequently fray the edges and lay a long strip, approximately a foot wide, down a dining table when making displays in the showroom

- Window panels.  One of my favorite places to play with texture is with window treatments, and burlap works well in casual and rustic interiors

- Lampshades.  Recovering a lampshade is a quick and inexpensive way to give a light fixture a facelift

-Upholstered headboards.  The rough texture is a great contrast to soft bed linens

- Christmas tree skirts

- Upholstery, especially when used as a contrasting fabric on the sides and back.  Mixes particularly well with leather

- Shower curtains

- Bulletin boards.  We love covering the cork with burlap, and then adding grosgrain ribbon and nail head trim around the edge of the frame

Oh, and in case you're wondering, any of our design consultants can have custom pieces such as bedskirts, tree skirts, headboards, shower curtains, window treatments, etc made for you out of any of our fabrics.  Just ask and we'll get you all the details.

Now, for my personal burlap challenge:  to make something new out of old stuff around the house and burlap.

Out of all my old, useless stuff, I chose a used -up scented candle and lone drinking glass to repurpose.  I love burning scented candles (most of my favorite fragrances are made by Sprig!), but I never know what to do with the glass container once they've been thoroughly enjoyed.  Their new destiny?  To become a set of more aesthetically pleasing desk accessories than my present mesh wire collection.  I stuck with a crisp, clean neutral that will match everything - white.  I chose one empty 3-wick candle for my paper clips and rubber bands, and a small tumbler whose mates have long since been lost to become my new pen cup.  After running them through the dishwasher to make sure they were clean, my first step was tracing the base of each onto the burlap.

After cutting out the circles, I used hot glue to attach them to the glass.

Next, I glued burlap around the cylindrical part of the containers, leaving about 1-2 inches extra on each side.  I then cut the extra burlap around the base into strips, and began glueing them down like pleats.

After the strips were all secured, I trimmed the extra off the top and left the edge raw.  Last step - adding pens and paper clips!