From the BlogSubscribe Now

Fabric Decisions and Calling Off DFACS

You can call the Department of Child and Family Services back and tell them they don’t need to come to my house after all, because my unborn baby girl may actually have an (almost) finished nursery when she arrives, and may not need therapy after all.

At least not for that.

From Someecards.com

I have lots of nursery-decorating progress to show you! (YESSS!) First I want to follow up on a previous post when I was trying to settle on some fabrics for this bad boy. I showed you a few I’d been considering at the time:

(The fabric in the center is my jumping-off point for the nursery, so everything else must play along with it, or be ruthlessly cut and sent to fabric purgatory FOREVER while I laugh mercilessly.)

Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi Summer Totem in Tart

I loooove hearing your thoughts and opinions on this stuff! From that image, a lot of you preferred the fabric that I also liked – the one on the right, with the red and pink stripes:
Be Mine Stripes Red

But as much as I loved it with the floral, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to bring all that much red and pink into the room. Essentially, I wasn’t sure that it was “The One,” in the way that all decorating decisions have a “right” answer and everything else is wrong, and if I make the wrong decision then my whole house is ruined,

and this is why I can’t make any decisions.

(I’m hoping this amazing series from my friend Darlene at Fieldstone Hill is the cure.)

So I ordered a few more, and took real-life photos so we could all see how the scale and color played together more clearly.

These two fabrics were an instant “no,” because the color didn’t look like I expected when I saw it online, and the fabric on the bottom is too similar in scale to the happy floral which is THE BOSS.

Get out of my life, you two.

These three were not offensive, but also not awesome. Kinda just “meh” and not enough contrast. GET THEE BEHIND ME.
You are boring and therefore not invited to the party.

I liked all three of these individually – they were different enough in scale to not compete with the floral – but I was hoping to find fabrics that all complemented each other, and these felt disjointed. Individually they worked great with the floral, but all together they were like chocolate and fuzzy socks: awesome on their own. Not made to be combined.
Chocolate and fuzzy socks.

After that brutal round of eliminations, I was left with these three:

Better, right? I love a chunky stripe with a floral, and really wanted to emphasize the turquoise color in the floral fabric. The second fabric down brought in the turquoise with the pink in a medium scale, which played happily with the smaller-scale pink and white. Seems like a decent starting place, right? Here’s a closer look:

Before you start to think that I’m some kind of decision-making ninja, who knows what she wants as soon as she sees it, keep in mind that at this point I still had no idea exactly what I was going to use the fabric for. Ridiculous, I tell ya.

But I did know one of them would need to work for a crib skirt, and I was kinda falling hard for the stripe. I want to know what YOU think about these fabrics, but you’re not allowed to hate the stripe because I may or may not have already made the crib skirt and may even be planning to show you how I did it soon. Feel free to hate the others with minimal repercussions.



Let's connect

Comments

  1. Funny funny funny. Only you could write about fabric swatches and make me laugh out loud!
    Love the turquoise stripe! And love the “boss”. It’s going to come together beautifully!

  2. My immediate thought was that the stripe adds something that the other two don’t. The others are pretty, but a little too overwhelmed by the “boss”. The stripe holds its own while still complementing the main fabric.

  3. You kill me. I wonder what kind of Google searches your title is going to bring!

    I’m in love with that floral. It’s perfecto!

  4. Those fabrics rock. And I’m glad that I am not the only one who thinks there are “right” and “wrong” decorating decisions and I, of course, ALWAYS make the wrong ones.

  5. my kids are going to be so dysfunctional, but oh so loved. 😉
    and i love the choice you made… it’s going to look amazing!

  6. I think you made the right choice. And I’m not just saying that to avoid any minimal repercussions. 😉 Can’t wait to see! Baby girl is going to have a fabulous space!

  7. Ohhh. I’m loving that chunky stripe w/ the floral. Great choices Mama K. (Like how I just totally made things awkward?) 🙂

  8. Ya know what, I’m definitely thinking you should use the strip for a crib sheet. I think that would be just perfect.

    I love the geometric… so much fun. I’d love to see some trimming made out of the hot pink one, like welting or ties or some such fun stuff. Love all of them and I definitely think you made the right choice.

  9. yep, and by “strip” I mean “stripe.” Yeah, definitely no stripping allowed in the nursery.

  10. There are so many great choices! No wonder you’re having a hard time! Holy cow!

  11. Love the chunky stripe … not just saying this because I want to come to the party either! You are so funny!

  12. Hi there! Love the post!
    While I love ALL your final choices, I still think that the pink and red stripe need to find the way somewhere in the nursery. It just seems to go.
    Congrats on your new little bundle, and no matter what you choose, I am sure that she will love you anyway.~lol

  13. I totally agree with your final choices, and in fact, I’d suggest using a combination of the stripes and the pink with the smaller pattern. Use the pink for things like binding and i-cord stuff to help create a “bridge” between the busy “Boss Fabric” (love it, btw!) and the also large print stripes.

    Hope that helps, and I completely understand your decision making dilemma. I’m due tomorrow and I’m having the same problems, *sigh*.

  14. ooooo! totally on board the chunky stripes train! love it…it adds a little something-something to your inspiration swatch. this post also reminds me to definitely order swatches in the future when i am trying to make a decision…i feel like they look so different in person!

  15. I do love your choices! But I do also love that green one with little pink accents too…hopefully that will find it’s way into your house somewhere.

  16. LOVE stripes, so it must stay. Ok, glad that decision is over. If you see me at Haven wearing stripes everyday, don’t be surprised. Plus they will all be navy and white. I really am loving the fabric choices on the bottom, nice picks! Want to come pick out some fabric for my daughter’s room now? 🙂

  17. Love your fabric combo and your little girl will love it too!

  18. You know you have done well with the final selection .It is important to work through all permutations and combinations to get to what makes you happy. You have the right combination of colors with a graphic, florals, large and small prints. A solid will be in the mix in a lot of other spots, I am sure. I like the stripe but it should not compete with the floral.

  19. Love your fabric choices! Can’t wait to see your new sweet bundle! 🙂

  20. hands down. the bold turquoise stripe with little dots.

    I also would love to see a touch or two of that red/pink fabric snuck in. Like on the belly of a homemade teddy bear or something. Whip that up, wouldya??

    {thanks for the link love!!}

  21. That floral fabric is just so beautiful so you can’t go wrong! I think you made a great choice with that striped fabric. Can’t wait to see the crib skirt.

    I guess you really should call the DFACS on me. Our baby’s almost 6 months old and her nursery isn’t 100% done yet. 😉

  22. Hello! I love these fabrics! I was just curious where you got the striped turquoise fabric you ended up using for the bed skirt! Thank you!

Trackbacks

  1. […] back.The crib skirt is Premier Prints Lulu Stripe in True Turquoise – the same fabric that you all agreed to love whether you really did or not for the sake of my tender, pregnant sanity. Making the skirt was a […]

Speak Your Mind

*

Back to top          Privacy Policy          Copyright © 2013 View Along the Way. All rights reserved.          Contact Me