It’s Time to Pick Out the Fabric!
Last Monday, we had the interior design team here at Belle Grove to pick out fabrics and curtains. It was an all day a fair and so much fun! Those that follow us on Instgram and Twitter had the chance to see it in real time. So we wanted to share the fun with our blog friends too! I have been trying to write this blog since Monday afternoon, but we have been crazy here at the plantation!
Jo Gates and her son, Jay Gates
Gates Antiques – gatesantiques.com
I want to first show you the layout of the mansion, so you will understand when I say a room name.
Now here is what we picked out!
Conway Room (downstairs junior suite on the riverside)
Bedroom Window (1)
Fabric Selected:
Curtain Style:
Just using the top valance with a long drapery on both sides that will reach the floor and by pulled back with a tie to a hook to open.
Hipkins-Bernard Room (downstairs junior suite on the plantation side)
Bedroom Window (1)
Fabric Selected:
Curtain Style:
Just using the top valance with a long drapery on both sides that will reach the floor and by pulled back with a tie to a hook to open.
Library
Window (1)
Fabric Selected:
Fabric Not Selected yet. We found some wooden cornices in the ice house and I wanted to see if we could use them. When I showed them to Jay today, he was amazed. He dates these cornices to the early history of the house.
I couldn’t select a fabric today because I wanted to wait and see what color is on this cornice after it is restored.
Curtain Style:
No Curtain Style selected
Once we get the cornice restore and select a fabric, we will look at curtain styles.
Parlor
Windows (4)
Fabric Selected:
We found some wooden cornices in the ice house and I wanted to see if we could use them. When I showed them to Jay today, he was amazed. He dates these cornices to the early history of the house.
Curtain Style:
We would use this style, except not have the big cornice as it shows here. We would use the cornices (4) that we found and restored. It would still have the same swag line. The drapery would come down on both sides and pull back with a tie to open.
Formal Dining Room
Windows (4)
Fabric Selected:
Curtain Style:
We are not going to have long drapery in the Formal Dining Room. We are going to extend the long section to hang lower. Mrs. Gates is going to locate four medallions to use. We will not use the bows in the corners. The outside of the fabric will be the red and the inside will be a solid gold color.
Small Dining Room (also known as the Family Room)
Windows (1)
Fabric Selected:
Fabric Not Selected yet. We found some wooden cornices in the ice house and I wanted to see if we could use them. When I showed them to Jay today, he was amazed. He dates these cornices to the early history of the house.
I couldn’t select a fabric today because I wanted to wait and see what color is on this cornice after it is restored.
Curtain Style:
No Curtain Style selected
Once we get the cornice restore and select a fabric, we will look at curtain styles.
Upstairs Hallway
Windows (2)
Fabric Selected:
Curtain Style:
We are going to use just a valance on these two windows without a drapery. It will have this style without the bows and flowers added or wood cornices.
Madison Room (to the right of the stairs)
Windows (4)
We have decided to repaint this room from Green to Blue. It is to give it a more Presidential feel.
This is a Sherwin Williams color – SW 6959 Blue Chip
Fabric Selected:
Curtain Style:
We are going to use this Empire Valance style with the gold color as the swag and the blue color as the drops. We will have a drapery that is blue and will drop to one side to open with a tie.
Turner Room (to the left of the stairs)
Fabric Selected:
We did not select a fabric for this room yet. When we purchase the bed from the Portsmouth Antique Store, we will be receiving two sets of curtains.
We are going to take them and see if we can use the drapery part to create two more valances just like the original ones we purchased. Then we will select a new fabric for the drapery under the valance so they all match. It will be just a one side open drapery with a tie.
Curtain Style:
No curtain Style selected until we get the curtains from the other antique dealer to match fabrics and styles.
I really like one for the hallway. Very pretty. I cant wait to see the end result. The Presidential Blue is beautiful. I am sure all the rooms will be perfect once they are done.
Thank you! We really hope so!
It is going to be gorgeous!
Thank you!
this would not b work, it would be great fun. Can’t wait to see the finished project!
Thank you! It really wasn’t too much work going on there 😉
What an exciting challenge. Everything is coming together. Time seems to be galloping along. You’ll soon be open. Oh My!!! V.
Yes we feel that way too! By the way I was thinking about you today! Wait until you see one of my posting coming in the next four or five days! I think you will love it!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Wow!
That is just how I felt!
Such elegant fabrics befitting an elegant house! You have great taste!
Thank you!
Great choices on the fabrics. I really like the cornices. I am sure that they will look really nice when they are cleaned up and restored. They will be a great addition. I look forward to seeing how they look in the library and what fabric you pick for it.
Thank you! We are so excited by the cornice find! Can you image these hung in Belle Grove all the way back to the early 1800s!
Good luck!
Thank you!
Such fun and beautiful choices. My humans are packing their bags right now. 🙂
Thank you! Tell your parents not to pack too fast! We won’t get the door open until mid June to early July! By the way, check out Hurley’s new post!
Oooh, as a quilt maker there’s nothing I like more than playing with fabric. (except maybe blogging these days). You’ve made some lovely choices. I’m looking forward to seeing the completed rooms.
Thank you. I know I don’t want to see a swatch again any time soon!
Very lovely choices in fabrics, and the cornice find was very fortunate — they are really neat looking!
Thank you! But we just received some sad news on the cornices. We aren’t not going to be able to restore them. They are too badly damaged and are falling apart as they were trying to clean them.
Oh no! Maybe there is a way of being able to preserve what’s left of them for just display purposes as part of the history of the house or something — it will be such a shame to have to throw them out! I’m also sad to hear you are unable to use them.
Well, I have decided to keep them and place them in the Summer Kitchen Museum as a piece of the Mansion’s past to display.
That’s fantastic! It is so wonderful the way you are preserving the history of your beautiful house — sometimes time has a way of eroding things to the point of uselessness, so it’s so neat that these items are at least in good enough condition to display!
Thank you! I want to preserve everything about this beautiful plantation.
It all looks gorgeous!
Thank you!
What beautiful cornices! You found them in the ice house? I wonder what they were doing in there . . .
Thank you! They had been placed there during the restoration process.