One down, three more painted curtains to go! My first handmade imperial trellis curtain has been hung and the room is starting to come together. The stenciling and painting took a lot longer than I expected, but it was worth it. Thanks for being patient!

Last week I purchased an antique wooden cane daybed from Thailand and ordered bedding and a mattress. See the image below for a mood board mock up of my decor plans. The floors are very worn wood and the Duncan chandelier has already been installed. I’ll post more photos when the bedding arrives. Thanks for following along with my guest room updates!

Don’t forget, if you would like to create your own imperial trellis drapes or walls, you can order one of my stencils in my shop. I highly recommend it! I love the results. If you missed the steps on creating the curtain, check out steps 1 - 2 here and steps 3 - 10 here.

- Emily

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Last week we designed + made new business cards for Timeless Paper. Painting all of my imperial trellis curtains for my updated guest room subconsciously influenced the design. The trellis business cards are folded with a tiny love bird cutout on the front with inverse rounded corners. The shapes were inspired by all of the tufted headboards I’ve been seeing lately on the interior design blogs. Order something from my shop and I’ll toss one in the package for you!

PS: Recycled Birds For Sale! Order the cutout trellis birds to use as confetti, scrapbook embellishments, or table decor from my shop.

- Emily

My evenings this week have been filled with stenciling my curtains with an Imperial Trellis pattern. If you can paint your nails, you can paint within a stencil. Follow me as I update one of our guest rooms in preparation for a family visit in October. (In case you missed it, read more about steps 1 & 2 in my previous post.)

Step 3: Draw out your pattern on a large piece of thick paper. I used a 12″ x 18″ piece of Mohawk Superfine Smooth 80 lb cover that I already had in my office. Make sure to leave cross bars between the pieces you don’t want to fall out (for the island pieces).

Step 4: Cut out your pattern with an X-acto knife or scissors. (I prefer an xacto knife.)

Step 5: Carefully peel away the pieces of your pattern.

Step 6: For fun, try to put all of your discarded pieces back together like a puzzle. (It’s harder than it looks.)

Step 7: Align your stencil with the left edge of your curtain. Make sure everything is level.

Step 8: Trace your stencil with a pencil. Align the pattern moving left to right (if you’re right handed) so your arm doesn’t smudge the lines as you draw. Repeat until you move across the top of your curtain. Repeat pattern row after row after row….

Step 9: Using fabric paint and a small paint brush, fill in your pattern. I opted to use Tulip Slick fabric paint in black from A.C. Moore. I found that it was easiest to squirt the paint onto a paper plate or paint pallet and brush onto the fabric.

Step 10: Let it dry flat.

Stay tuned to see my imperial trellis curtains hung in my updated guest room. If you would like to create this DIY project but don’t want to create your own stencil template, I can make one for you! Check out the decor section of my shop to order a stencil. Let me know if there is a different pattern you would like. I can draw and cut out anything your heart desires! Thanks for stopping by. What about y’all? Do you have any secret stencil weapons? Do tell.

- Emily

In honor of my mom and sister, Abby, coming to visit me in October from Arkansas, I decided to update one of our guest rooms. When we moved in, the room had country blue carpet, pale pink and blue floral wallpaper (with a border), brass and dolls galore. Talk about not my style at all! To reminisce, let’s check out the room as it looked when Michael and I purchased the house:

Within the first month of owning this home, I stripped the wallpaper and removed the carpet and curtains. Thankfully the previous owners didn’t leave me any of the furniture, dolls, or bows! I painted the walls Restoration Hardware cappuccino tan and exposed the worn wooden floors. I removed the vintage light fixture that was a simple globe and replaced it with the Duncan brushed nickel chandelier from Crate & Barrel. We had a terrible hail storm a few weeks ago and lost a pane from one of our small windows in this room. We’re working on replacing the pane soon. See the updates below:

My most recent update for the guest room is the drapery and window hardware. I’ve been wanting graphic lattice patterned drapes for the room since we moved in, but never found the right ones in my budget. I’ve had an infatuation with Kelly Wearstler’s Imperial Trellis pattern for years. I considered purchasing material and trying to create curtains but decided against that option since I don’t have a sewing machine. I’m more talented at painting, so I opted to stencil the pattern onto inexpensive grommet khaki curtains from Ikea. My pattern will be black on khaki. Follow my DIY steps:

Step 1: Measure your windows and purchase pre-made drapes to fit. I selected floor to ceiling (98″) Merete drapes in a sturdy canvas fabric.

Step 2: Wash and iron your new drapes to create a smooth surface for your pattern.

Step 3: Create your pattern. Stop by soon to see the remaining steps and progress on my Imperial Trellis stencil project! See my inspiration fabric:

- Emily

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