Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

Creative Ways to Use Leftover Pieces of Fabric

by Filed Under: design, DIY, fabric, fall colors, seasons


I recently entered a contest through Tonic Living, in which I made a project using leftover pieces of fabric. You could take the contest literally or come up with a creative use for the fabric scraps. Let’s get this little disclaimer out of the way, right now… I am not a DIY expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have always been in the camp of If I can do it, anyone can!! So I am here to show you my super simple and fun ways to use those leftover pieces of fabric you have.

Fabric Wrapped Pumpkins


For this project, I used an artificial pumpkin. {That’s important, so the decoration can be used year after year.} I just plopped the pumpkin in the middle of the fabric and started gathering up the sides to the stem. I used one of my pony tail holders I had laying around the house to keep the fabric pulled at the top. The fabric ended up being a little short on the sides. Not to worry, since it’s pretty easy to hide that with some tucking and folding. You will most likely get some bulging of the fabric in spots. I just took some sewing needles and pinned down the bulging sections, to get it to lay more flat. At first, it looks very messy. Don’t give up just yet… you can smooth the fabric down and display the side that looks prettier! I cut off some of the leftover fabric on top and used some brown grosgrain ribbon, to hide my pony tail holder. {I know I will be looking for that one morning, when I have a bad hair day!} All in the name of DIY, I guess. 🙂

Onto the next project… fabric wrapped canvas.

Fabric Wrapped Canvas

* Both fabric samples provided by Tonic Living *

At first, I had no idea how to tackle this one, since I don’t own a staple gun. I bought some spray fabric adhesive, but didn’t end up using it. I bought an 8×8 canvas board from a local fabric store and then got to work. I followed this tutorial HERE but used small nails instead of the staple gun. I just hammered the nails in the back.

-The key is to make sure the nails are very short, so they don’t poke through the canvas.

-You also must make sure you iron your fabric first, so you don’t have a wrinkly canvas art piece.

-You must also pull the fabric tight as you go along, so it ends up looking as if it was always a part of the canvas.

I thought that I had centered the fabric, but it’s a bit off. I told you I was no DIY expert!! The new canvas piece adds some texture, color and pattern to the back of the shelf.

So there you have it… about an hour of my time for two new accessories!

Have you crafted something recently?? Would love to hear about it!

The Drapes Are Up!

by Filed Under: design, fabric, personal design style


On instagram {amberbinteriors} I gave a little sneak peek into the drapes I finally hung in our dining room. When I repainted the walls, I realized I also wanted to raise the curtain rod up to the crown molding. I already had two silk panels left over from the living room that I didn’t need. They used to be too long for this room, but now with the rod being raised about 6 inches, they’re perfect! So, to tie the two rooms together, they both have the same drapes. Here are some afters…

After

I used my method that I discussed here for hanging the drapery panels. Installing your curtain rod higher than the window molding not only makes the room feel taller, it also opens it up, creating a fresher, more open space. You would be surpised how such a small detail makes a big difference.

Make sure to come back on Monday for an amazing art giveaway!
Happy Weekend!!

Dressing Up Plain Drapery Panels

by Filed Under: e-decorating, e-design, fabric, personal design style


A great way to achieve a custom look for less, is to dress up plain drapery panels with ribbon trim or extra fabric. It’s also a great way to bring in your accessory color and add a decorator’s touch.

You can also add fabric to panels that aren’t quite long enough:

Source: bhg.com via Kate on Pinterest

When I present this idea to clients, I always like to provide them with a helpful DIY link, showing them how to easily complete the project. There is one site that I always like to go to, for great tips… House of Fifty blog! Janell shows how you can easily finish almost any DIY project! To dress up your drapery panels, follow her no-sew tutorial HERE!

Have you dressed up your drapery panels??

Flame Stitch Love

by Filed Under: fabric


I have had my eye on a certain fabric lately, that has to find its way into my home! The flame stitch print is nothing new, but I love that it looks like a new take on the chevron print.

I am on the hunt for pillows in this amazing print! My ideal color combination would be brown, gold and cream.

Have you seen any??? Please let me know if you do! (Must be affordable!)  🙂

Choosing Fabrics for Your Space

by Filed Under: e-design, fabric


Fabric selection for a room can be tricky… there are so many amazing fabrics out there to choose from, that the task can appear daunting! What I like to do is choose a fabric that has all of the colors in the space, to help tie the room together. Tieing your room’s colors together with fabric allows for the space to have an array of color choices, while also incorporating hues from other rooms, bring multiple spaces together. I recently wrapped up a dining room e-design project, where we went through the process of choosing from multiple fabric selections. I presented the selections to the client with this board:

All of these fabrics can be found here. The client ended up choosing the whimsical bird fabric on the top middle row. It was also my favorite on the board. It’s a Waverly fabric, and we are using it to cover a canvas for art on the wall. When I started to look for fabrics for the art, I wanted to make sure and use all of the room’s colors to bring the space together. The canvas art was the client’s idea, and I loved it! What I love best about e-design is the meeting of the minds and the building of the decorator/client partnership. The client lives in the space and knows it best. When the partnership works well together, we can bounce ideas off each other and design magic happens! This Waverly fabric ties all of the room’s colors together, giving the space a cohesive, thoughtful look. To read more about this design and see the complete design board, go here.