The Horse Is King In My Old Kentucky Home

 As you know this is a blog about interior design. But today I am departing from decorating advice to share with you about my home. One of the fun things about social networking is making new friends and learning about where they are from. I have learned alot about cities and states I have never visited. I have also enjoyed seeing pictures and learning about the countries and hometowns of my international friends. Many of you have asked about where I live, so I thought a post about central Kentucky might be in order. 

I live in Richmond, population 37,364 and home to Eastern Kentucky University. I spend a great deal of my time in Lexington, which is 20 minutes to the North and is  the heart of what is referred to as the Bluegrass Region. No, our grass is not actually blue. It does however have a distinct  cast when it is has not been cut and goes to seed. You can see fields of it and they do tend to look slightly bluish.  Lexington is called the Horse Capital of the World and Thoroughbred breeding and racing is a major industry here. Central Kentucky is very steeped in tradition and proud of it's prominent position in the equestrian world.

We are also known for bourbon production and basketball. The University of Kentucky is in Lexington and  the Wildcats are the current national champions. But it is the horse industry that I want to feature in this post because it is the part of being from Kentucky I enjoy most. I love all sports involving horses and especially polo and racing (no bidding, just love to watch them run)!! 

I hope you enjoy this post and decide to come visit Kentucky.....during racing season of course!!

The Thoroughbred farms in central Kentucky are breathtaking. Beautifully decorated mansions and fencing as far as you can see dot the landscape in this area. Even barns and offices like this one are beautifully appointed. 

Horses are treated like kings on these farms with the finest living conditions one can imagine.

We are definitely surrounded by beauty in horse country!

Perhaps a future Derby winner!

The Keeneland Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion, where some of the finest horses in the world are sold. Check out the bidding...and it's not over yet!!

Keeneland historic racetrack in Lexington. I don't go as much as I used to but still love attending the spring and fall meets at Keeneland whenever possible.

The stars of the show!

We love to watch them run!!!

Churchill Downs in Louisville and the running of the Kentucky Derby. Louisville is 75 minutes to the north and home to the Derby.

We have our share of celebrities for the Derby

Our most royal visitor who obviously is having a good time.

The Kentucky Horse Park  in Lexington where many events are held such as......

Sunday Polo matches.......

The Rolex Three Day Event.......and last but not least the World Equestrian Games

Like I said, we LOVE horses in Kentucky. You will too if you come for a visit!!!

Fun, Unique, and Inexpensive Window Treatments

One area of interior decorating that usually produces high anxiety in most all people is the dreaded window treatment. People think they have to spend an enormous amount of money to have their windows look nice. And let's face it, custom draperies and other treatments can be expensive if it is a luxurious look you desire. Billowing draperies made of silk, linen, or taffeta  are beautiful, and while I love to work with those fabrics and create high end looks for my clients, the creative part of me also tries to talk them into trying something unique and fun ever once in awhile.

This blog post will show you some simple, inexpensive window treatments that are still lovely and unique and will create that "wow" factor for you. Most of these you can make yourself and even the ones you can't will only require a small amount of help. I hope this will help you find an answer to your window dilemma. Try and have some FUN decorating your home!

This is the perfect window treatment for a beach or lake home. It is fun and right on theme.

Tiebacks are perfect the perfect way to bring that "wow" factor to even simple curtains. These are simple, using only rope and a starfish. You could use ANTHING in the beach or nautical line.

Who would have thought an old wooden hanger would have been such a cute curtain rod!! You hang it in the middle to cover your window, and just slide it over to let in the light. This would be really cute on both sides of a window

I love this these wonderful straw hats used as a valence. Put yourself up a peg board and start collecting cute hats. Vintage would be my choice but new ones would be fine too. You can really customize this look.

This is clever if country is your decorating style of choice. You could do several things with this idea such as using old aprons. You come up with some great ideas!!

I think using old lace dresses..... or vintage party dresses......or old tutus and other ballet costumes would be lovely  to use if you wanted a more vintage "girlie"look!!

Stenciling a window is another charming idea. I love this lacy look!

Another fun tieback. To see how to drill a hole in porcelain, check out this link. You will learn how to make a cool lamp as well. http://www.twiggstudios.com/2012/02/diy-tea-cup-lamp-tutorial.html

Lovely lace runners stitched together make a wonderful window treatment.

Add vintage doilies to a sheer for a bit of interest!!

Consider vintage jewelry as a drapery tieback. Can you envision this with a pretty cream silk panel?

Simple, fun idea for window treatments in a child's room. Here is another place you can get really creative by adding other things. Can you imagine bunnies with  fun stuffed carrots as finals for your rod? Or monkeys with tropical leaves and bananas as your finals. 

Very easy. A rectangle of fabric tied up over the rod with ribbon, rope, a leather belt,  a scarf, beads, the list goes on and on . It depends on YOUR style!!

These are very simple window treatments I had made for a client . You simply make a long runner with  different coordinating fabrics (these are black/black and white stripes) on either side. Flip the "curtain" over the rod and pull it 3/4 of the way down so the reverse side can sow a bit. I had a gorgeous tassel attached to finish it off. You can really customize with this idea!! I wish I had a better picture of them but think you can get the idea.

Such a pretty tieback. You can make something that is equally pretty by finding an interesting branch and hot gluing your birds on and maybe some silk leaves. You can leave your branch natural or paint it with a clear sealer to give it some shine. Just be creative.

An awning is always classic and very simple to do.

This is a treatment I did for myself for a small room where I just "hang out" It is a reverse awning. I had two large pieces of fabric I had bought just because I liked them so decided to make a window treatment from them. I split  the pieces of fabric and finished off the edges.  I brought the rods (suspended by tasseled drapery tiebacks) out from the wall approximately two and a half feet, attached them to the ceiling and then used beautiful  hammered brass nail heads to pin the fabric to  the wall. I then laid the top of the fabric over the rod and let it hang down about  a 18 inches.

Three easy ways to dress up your windows. I love being different by attaching to the ceiling instead of the wall. These would be great as side panels for sheers, blinds, shutters or what ever you decided to use as window coverings. The third one is simple rolled up and tied with a ribbon. Reversible coordinated fabric would be great for this.

What could be better for a country kitchen or laundry room?

A vintage spoon makes a wonderful  vintage drapery tieback.

You could get really creative with customizing this idea of using scarves or vintage handkerchiefs as tiebacks.

Lovely window treatment when used in a Bohemian style room.

Imagine a window covered with alot of these colored paper chip and string  lengths. Boho perfection!!

Think outside the box...you don't always need rods!!!

For a rustic room, antlers make great curtain tiebacks.

Branches are always fun curtain rods!

Just remember there is nothing wrong with a touch of whimsy in your decorating.