Tuesday, September 11, 2012

...I'M ON A BARKCLOTH MISSION....





WOW WEE that was a long hot summer....and a super long break for me from this blog. 
I had several clients on the go at the same time in July and Aug....floor plans, sourcing, mood boards etc....not to mention time spent at the cottage.

An antiquing trip to Brimfield Mass. was being planned earlier in the summer with 4 of my design friends. With the driver's Yukon and trailer, we headed down to the Brimfield Antique Show last Thursday until Sunday. What a hoot!. We all had specific items we were looking for and I believe we all accomplished that task .... and then some. I had my mind and heart set on bringing back vintage barkcloth. You see, when we built our cottage 7 years ago, I had a vision of skirting our plastic laundry tub in barkcloth to dress it up a tad. 

If you were around in the 40's-50's or 60's you are very likely familiar with this brightly coloured, often tropically or floral patterned, textured fabric. I remember our living and dining room curtains made from barkcloth in early 60's, and every cottage we summered at when I was a kid had curtains, slip covers or pillows made out of bark cloth. Back then, my young designer eyes thought our barkcloth curtains were UUUGGGLY!  Back then, barkcloth wasn't vintage!

Do you have memories of barkcloth curtains?


...notice the texture in this closeup....love it!



I hit barkcloth pay-dirt big time at Brimfield.....

I was in 'barkcloth heaven'....Problem was, I could not decide which colour and pattern I should buy....so I bought several panels and lengths....with the new goal of designing unique cushion covers.





...woah!!!.. this one is so retro....but it's now a member of my barkcloth stash...



...this one is my favourite...and it's going to become the laundry tub skirt....oh ya!



To add to the vintage look, I then searched for vintage buttons at Brimfield to adorn the cushion covers. I've always had a crush on buttons, and now I have an even bigger crush for vintage buttons.


When I catch a break, I will post pics of my vintage barkcloth cushion covers. Stay tuned!

to learn more about barkcloth, click here BARKCLOTH 



Oh, and by the way...the aforementioned Brimfield antiquing trip with my 4 designer friends will be talked about on a new and different blog. Keep your eyes peeled for the new The TBB blog, coming your way soon!! 


Maureen at Modecor Muses: September 2012

Maureen at Modecor Muses