Sometimes it works…and then sometimes…

As I have mentioned I am working hard to get my home ready to go on the real estate market.  So, recently I have been updating certain problem areas to help my home “show” in the best possible light. As I don’t live close to many retail establishments, this has involved spending LOTS of money with Ballard Designs.

I love Ballard, they are just my taste. I am always happy to see the catalog arrive in my mailbox, and love pouring over each issue. But, as you would expect with mail order, sometimes things work…and sometimes they don’t.

My success today came in the form of the Ballard Couture Chair Covers I ordered for my dining room chairs. This was admittedly, a risk, as I totally don’t have the Ballard chairs they are designed to go on! I did measure my chairs vs. the dimensions in the catalog (as well as sadly, passing on having them monogrammed so I could return them if they didn’t work out) and I knew they would be off, but not by too much.

Here is the “before” of my chairs. They came from Storehouse many years ago, and while I love the lines of my table, I have never loved the chairs. The set was the first furniture my husband and I purchased after we were married for our little townhouse. So, it was time for a little updating. Plus, I recently painted the walls chocolate, with the intention of making almost everything else in the room white.

Here is the chair before: (I had recovered the seats a few years ago)

I figured (correctly) that my chairs would need some help to match the dimensions of the slipcovers, but I just added some layers of quilt batting over the back (top) of the chair, and slid the cover on. While it’s not a perfect fit, its fills out the slipcover and is a huge improvement.

I know that I could have made something similar, but at $35 each, plus the 15% off coupon Ballard just ran, it was well worth my time to just order them and not pay for materials, childcare and deal with my lack of patience with sewing. I love them! I did not love the amount of ironing they took when they came out of the package–but hopefully the remaining wrinkles will fall out over the next few weeks.

Now, my “fail” of the day…I have been waiting for WEEKS for the Ballard Burlap panels to come back in stock. They arrived yesterday, and after even more ironing, I got them up. Then took them down, rehung the curtain rods higher, and put them back up. Their weight promptly pulled the rods out of the wall, so then I re-anchored them and rehung them again. And decided it was all a waste of time…

Here they are (see the rods still falling out of the wall?)

In my opinion they just don’t work. While I hoped they would cover up a less then pretty view out the back window, I don’t like how dark they are, and how wide they are in the space. The final straw is the cost of new (more substantial) rods– on top of the curtain cost– it just wouldn’t be worth it just to make the room look good to show. So, back to the drawing board!!! I am thinking a trip to Ikea??? I need a cheap, easy short-term solution, and as always it’s a good place to start.

Thanks for stopping by!