I love the bird fabric. I love the colors in it and I think the birds are a perfect scale for the room.

What about a cream canvas or linen for the Romans, but banded in a tan on cream paisley, like one of the subtler Peter Dunhams or John Robshaws. Those would work with the existing pillows, too. (One of the pillows has a zig-zag pattern with tan and cream, no?)

Ok, I think that this look would be so nice in you room.

"Field Stone Hill nursery"

I love roller shades with trim. Also, roller shades are so easy to operate and can block glare but still let in a nice glow of light. I am not sure if you are set on roman shades, but the only way I could imagine a top style treatment like that would be in a light, blend into the wall color. You could easily do short little patterned panels since you have the room in between each set of windows. Just an idea.

That's very interesting that you feel the craft room is masculine, mtnrd. It seems sophisticated and elegant in design to me. Of course you are the one living in it. Do you think the lack of fabric treatment lends to that vibe? Or maybe the fact of viewing it as a utilitarian room plays into it? Hmm...Verrry interesting. The next question is, which way do you want to tilt? Or not tilt at all? Or immaterial. :P

I like the bird fabric the best so far.

I thought I'd like marcolo's tree print fabric but seeing the mockup with the tree print, I don't like it. I think it would look really cool when the shades are fully down, but sounds like that won't be happening too much.

I also adore that pink fabric, but not for this project.

The birds win, IMO.

I didn't see the attic boho bedroom from the beach house.
But agree with marcolo on the birds…not good..IMHO.

maybe one of the smaller scale patterns from a peter dunham (or anyone)would be better so that if they are raised most of the time and much calmer.

love those les indiennes curtains posted above:)
can't wait to see what you bring home.

I think the bird fabric is fun and whimsical, but I think you would grow tired of it as a WT. I think this is tough because, since it's mainly the kids' space, you don't want fabric that is too traditional or staid, but you don't want too juvenile either. For that reason, I think I would keep the WT fairly neutral but go wild and funky with the pillows. The WT will most likely be there for a long time...a neutral window will work now with fun pillows for the kids and 5 years from now when they are older and you can easily change to more sophisticated, adult pillow fabrics. It's a lovely room!

If I had had a room like that, I would have gotten a long length of off-white canvas drop cloth and stretched it out outside, chosen colors, and let my kids go all Jackson Pollock on it. Then I would have cut it into appropriate lengths and made Roman blinds from the result. So, I was thinking about that, and I stumbled on this Pierre Frey fabric.

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 1:37

Have you looked at Valori Wells fabrics? Your original elephant print reminded me of an elephant print in the Karavan Marrakech line. Beautiful colorful with a little whimsy. There are also birds especially the peacocks in Quill line just so many beautiful options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Valori

Marcolo,
I can see what you mean by cartoony, and I appreciate your forthrightness! The word "cartoony" actually helped me focus what I am looking for. Almost anything could work in this room, but I want to choose something that the primary users of this room will particularly enjoy, and I want it to be a little different. It turns out the term for what I am looking for is "novelty" fabrics, so I've been searching on that.

The real issue with the trees is one my DD noticed. We don't have WT because we really don't want them, and these WT will be up 90 percent of the time. The default position, as in my markup, is an 18" reveal with a soft roman edge. The trees will look odd squished up that way. Second issue is the only "colorful" option, mint, is too washed out.

Raven and Kitchen, Those are very much the mood and feel, but the color needs just a little tweaking. While we want colorful, it can't be Lily Pulitzer bright color, it needs to be a tad washed out, IYKWIM.

Joanie,
I am always the "go traditional with the X and funky with the Y". (You have just never seen me post my off white linen MBA WT, MBR WT, and office WT, and off white linen MBR chair, office chairs and sofa, FR sofa, stone cottage sofa, etc etc etc. Because just how much off white linen can one person stand? But anyway, that is kind of what I did a few years back, right? No WT at all and whacky pillows.

As far as the longevity, it has a decent horizon in its current use. If and when we no longer have students, to be honest, I think it will lie fallow. It is 30 feet from the kitchen, and we already have offices. Without walking into it, all I can see i one window, so that's 18" of fabric when the shade is pulled open, obscured by the chandy as in my post above. Keep in mind, too, I am not choosing fabric I hate, just bending in a different direction.

Isabelle,
Yes the birds are polarizing! Maybe that is why Ive always been an off-white-linen-girl. The block print stuff is great. part of it is that I feel that is the beachhouse look, partly I feel it is too willowy. Small scale patterns often disappoint me because I fall in love with the way they look in my hand but when you walk into a room they read as a color or a texture but not a pattern.

I haven't posted the attic Boho room which I think ended up more Santorini that Boho, with all the sun from the windows, white walls and floors.Still deciding on one part of project -- a wall sized decal the girls ordered but then aren't sure about since they fell in love with a sign at HoGo that spells "Love" in lights... yup.

SueB, Yes, the shades need to be down for that patten I think. Thanks for your vote. The colors in the birds remind me a bit of your color schemes somehow. I think all of us are now thinking for a way to use that pink!

Voila,
Why do I think it is masculine. Hmm. Maybe the built in drawers, which are shaker with the cutouts for your hands ... if not masculine than at least not delicate. Also the base of the table. Maybe that the chairs all have arms. Maybe the thickness and flatness of window trim. Hardware on the cabinet (you can't see that). All three children use it but only the girls would get enjoyment out of the decor or give a fig; so I'd skew feminine.

AtHome - I love that nursery! wow. That is a really nice look, too. I am wondering if it will look too squished in an octagon and where the rods would go? Hmm

Kitchen, I am thinking a little more wow. But I do like the idea of using fabric for banding. The pillows, they were tossed aside many posts ago! I don't think I ever liked them now that I have spend so much time on this.

Hollykay, Once I mocked it up, to my surprise, I did think the scale worked. The colors work too. And it is a fabric I picked out before when I was looking for the PR back in April. And the girls like it, and it is very cheap (18/yd) so I needn't overly feel bad if I tired of it unlike many purchases I have made. The only downside is that I am doing something custom with a mass market material, past its prime at that. Not a deal-killer but a negative.

Kitchykitch, It's from Calico Corners. One of DD picked it and I actually thought id like it as a folded roman. ONe issue is that it can't go vertically, the windows are too long.

The table and chairs are in cherry from Stickley. I did not set out to buy them for a craft room, so I'm not a total nut. This set was in my kitchen in our first house, but our DR here is long and narrow and the breakfast room is also a rectangle. We put a glass top on it to protect it. The table is actually a custom size IIRC because I wanted 6 captains chairs and they wouldn't fit around their standard size tables. Not sure I'd do that again, fwiw.

AnnieD was kind enough to share her top secret fabric source and then even kinder to waste a few hours with me there yesterday, going through all the books and bolts ..."no, too dark, no, too formal, no, too... no, no". We did find a few contenders though which I will post more about when time permits.

Thanks AnnieD, and thanks everyone for your posts.

If you're looking for novelty fabrics, try Brick House Fabric in Maine...

This is their "elephant" department,
http://www.brickhousefabrics.com/exotic_animal_fabric.html

This is the "bird" department,
http://www.brickhousefabrics.com/bird_fabric.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Brick House Fabric

I'm dying to know what you're leaning towards now...

and what you're final choice is going to be!!!

Angie, those are some fantastic bird fabrics! How fun!

Great link!

I love birds! But I don't think that white bird fabric works in that space. It looks washed out to me unless you bring in a complementing paint that will not fight the room.

With the angles in that space have you considered a gorgeous chevron and a bird print? found this on etsy. Scroll down to the aqua yellow combo

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikat bird Chevron prints

These are super cute!

Here is a link that might be useful: Etsy Art

Then again, there's always this....
make your own fabric design!

Or you can buy one that someone else has created...check out the bird fabric selection....some unique offerings there. The prices seem very reasonable.

In fact there are so many good looking bird fabrics there from the graphic to the whimsical...puffins and penguins and chickadees, oh my!

I love this damask which combines the color with the birds and the traditional look yet bright. This one is by peacoquettedesigns who has quite a bit of gorgeous fabrics there, including one that looks like a giant houndstooth....

Here is a link that might be useful: Spoonflower

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Sun, Nov 23, 14 at 10:10

Here's something from spoonflower that is very colorful and whimsical, just to give you an idea of the range of stuff there.

I'm thinking I've found a new favorite place to look at fabrics on line!

I've got to stop or I'll keep posting...they have some retiled wm morris print that it so fab...they have peacocks and peacock feathers all sorts of different ways, and bird of paradise and black and white graphic sketches ...and oh my! I'm in love with this site and I've just been looking at birds!

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Sun, Nov 23, 14 at 9:43

FWIW,

Here is the latest. It is truly an assortment from the ridiculous to the sublime. And some of it breaks my own rules about what we are looking for. Thanks for the Brickhouse link, they are a great source. Annie, Id actually been avoiding SF because it is so overwhelming and I wonder about quality, but they are perfect for novelty.

But after conferring with my peanut "gallery", here is our short list. I need to check on availability on one or two, feasability on one or two, and pricing on one. Then we will narrow it further and, if possible order half yards so we can do a good mockup.

Row one is whimsy.
The first one is books spines. It can be customized in any number of ways, size, width, color, etc and we like the concept (Spoonflower).
The second one is Spoonflower, too. This is soooo cool. It is a reproduction of one of the first color charts from 1686. The handwritten detail on it is very cool. May not be workable though.
The third is an aerial view of a french garden plan, hard to tell but it has aqua tinting.
The fourth my girls think is so cool. Having used a phone like this to actually talk on, I don't get it.

Row 2
We can't seem to stay away from the Moroccan/Indian vibe.
I love the first one (Brickhouse) but it is out of stock. The colors are great. Elephant is pretty big though ...15"
The second one we are all in love with because of this description and the close up (see link). "Handwoven in India, they are available in a palette of precious metals." Pardon me? I think this is a case again of TDF fabric, wrong place. And, my windows are 5'x4' and this is only 44" wide.
Third one, like the one above it, more Madeline Weinrib.
Fourth one, John Robshaw. Too blah. What we loved about this one was under "pattern repeat"it says ... random. How cool is that? So it's all hand done?

Row three
We like the scale, colors and negative space but the subject is only "eh", on the first one.
The second one is goofy but the girls kind of like it. It has silly sayings and stuff. It is a script and bird marriage with good colors. It's okay, a little too "Old Tymey"
The last one, still a contender.

PS Annie, Spoonflower can be a total time vortex. It's downright scary! I think pure white backgrounds don't work well in the room. The postal sample and the china sample didn't work for that reason.

Here is a link that might be useful: Probably too washed out, too

I was campaigning for leaving the windows alone-- or adding plain linen blinds so take these late-in-the-game thoughts as just that..

I think you were right on target above when you noted the scale is right in the original birds -- I think it's the scale and the large amount of "white space" that keeps this pattern from feeling too busy. I also picked up that the colors really sparked you and the girls and made you happy (I agree). I don't think they look cartoony.. I'd concede that they are a little youthful and cheery but not in that cartoony or "novelty fabric" way. The birds remind me of watercolor/sketches you might find in an artistic bird watcher/hiker/traveler's journal-- which seems absolutely appropriate to the space.

Of all the suggestions and options-- though many are absolutely gorgeous-- I like the birds.

The real test will be when you get the samples. I have a fabric that quite honestly everyone thought was "gawd awful" -- until I put it up to the windows. It was *perfect* it just brought the room to life.. I believe you will know immediately which fabric brings the room to life-- if you don't see it yourself, you'll see it in your girls!

Unfortunately, I just don't have enough yardage to use my perfect fabric on my windows and havent been able to find another stitch of it anywhere. My perfect fabric also has (apparently now extinct) birds. :)

Sorry for such a long post-- and then adding to it. I love love love the madeline weinrib bellini. It is gorgeous in so many ways-- but check out the scale on a pillow. I fear it would disappear on your windows. Surely you can find another spot for it though!

I think the birds would be prettier in a neutral colors. the brightness of that pattern is blinding to me….just my opinion

maybe this color way

Here is a link that might be useful: bird watcher fabric khaki

sorry to bug…I also love this

Here is a link that might be useful: more birds

Mntrd - this is so cool that you are involving your girls in this decision. With that in mind, I am all over that idea kitchendetective had - let the kids have at the fabric with paint. They are the perfect age for it. Old enough to do it well and young enough to love doing it. But the labor $ may make cooler heads prevail.
You could do the same with fabric roller blinds. Less $.
If that's not an idea for serious consideration, then I'm liking the birds. Or even the elephants; it is good they are big.
The only other fabric that has me going back multiple times is the Richter that Marcolo posted. In a non pastel...
But it seems like something young girls may not like as well as birds.

How about this one? Neo Toile by Robert Allen I've found it on line for under $20 a yard

Here is a link that might be useful:

Mtn, have you looked at any Map fabrics?

I did, Eandhl. Never found one I liked much.

Joshuasma, That is fun! I think the background needs to be creamier though, like the walls?

MissyMoo, Love the Richter. The girls liked the pattern (despite one saying it looked like a 'medical graph') but there wasn't a colorway that interested them much. If it came in Raspberry, maybe.
I actually did look up how to do block printing. Jackson Pollock is a lot harder than it looks ( i once wanted to make a light blue wall with speckles like a bird's egg ... enuf said). Maybe we could carve some potatoes... The only thing is that we do need a fair amount of fabric so it's a pretty big project. But I'm thinking about it ... The woman who works for us at our home is an artist by training and she is wonderful with such things, I might ask her.

Isabel, You make a great point about the Khaki colorway. But the colors are what make this a departure for me, what make this more THEIR space then mine ...KWIM?

Anyway, still waiting for word on the Weinrib stuff, but I think that scale is wrong. I do think that the birds work well because of the scale and the color of the background. I don't find much that has those two elements....

I am talking to the a Spoonflower artist about customizing the books' size and colors (more beigey), and I have ordered a sample of the 1686 ColorChart ("clean version"), which can also be customized in a number of ways. I know it will look sort of like a random pattern but we want to check it out anyway. We would probably do that in a simple form with no gathering.

For what it's worth - I still like the birds (your first choice of birds). They "belong" in that room.

I was looking at some wallpaper ideas and came across this schumacher ...don't know if it comes in fabric too. I'm thinking you don't have to be so fussy about the background color if other shades in the fabric go with the walls....it's called A-Twitter.

Forgot about that Schumacher. Nice!

mtn it could be too white I didn't realize the walls were cream although the trim around your windows looks white so it could work I recently paired this with a natural linen couch and a coral trellis print If you like it you can get a sample from the website I also love the bird print!

Thanks for posting the "First Color Chart" from Spoonflower. I have a thing for old color charts so I'm going to have my mom make a quilt out of that fabric.

Have you looked at fabrics by Mally Skok?
Very interesting, pretty fabric.
http://www.mallyskokdesign.com/

Is there wall space anywhere for this along with its companions, the periodic table of the vegetables, the periodic table of the fruits and nuts, and the periodic table of the fishes. Unfortunately, it doesn't come in fabric.

Here is a link that might be useful: Food for thought

Suero,
That is so darn cute! Alas we have zero wall space. Even with 8 walls; 5 are window, 1 is cabinet, 1 is bulletin board and 1 is entry.

Cyrus, As soon as i pulled up the web page I loved everything there.

MagdalenaLee,
Really? How cool! Note she has two kinds. I have no idea if there will be any way to use them but we just wanted to see them. If we cannot use them we will consider the money spent our attempt to be "patrons of the arts" ; )

Joshuasma, Thank you. The walls are FNB Pointing and the trim IIRC is FNB Slipper Satin. Thanks for the bird vote.

Tuesday, Thanks for the bird vote.

Annie, I haven't found A twitter in a fabric but I will keep looking. It's a very good contender for a less cartoonish version -- if that is what we want.

Thanks everyone for being so indulgent. This has certainly gone off on tangents! Especially now with Spoonflower people who will resize and recolor etc etc...

It will take a while to get samples which may be just as well, sometimes you need to walk away from a project for a bit.

We tried I think 17 porch ceiling paints and went with the first one. And probably over a dozen blue paints for the Maine DR which is now wallpapered!

Annie's Schumacher bird wallpaper (A-Twitter) I don't think is available as fabric (I have dreams of one day using it for a bathroom). But -- and apologies for tossing more into the mix! -- Schumacher does have some cute novelty fabrics, below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schumacher novelty fabrics

So, some things are out of stock. Some colors didn't work. Some were the wrong scale in person. The girls still like the birds, but now they have me interested in one of their choices; I love the 1686 colorchart, and how appropos.

It reads like an odd pattern, but the colors are good for the room. It may benefit from a banding of some sort. The pillows could stay, OTOT they are darker than the windows so maybe that is not good; brings the eye down.

Here is the colorchart fabric:

Dear lord. I thought that was a giant pair of bloomers hanging in the window.

I think I would like it, no banding as something flattish and plain.

Marcolo, this is where the overusage of "Laugh Out Loud" leaves me ill equipped to respond.

Maybe it's less evocative of laundry day sans hangers? Or maybe I cannot appease you. : )
{{gwi:2140258}}

Pal, I too thought the roman shade style should be simpler with this fabric.

Love the concept and how it relates to what the room is used for but the print looks too small to me. Maybe it's better IRL but that's the first thing that popped into my head. Maybe use it for some additional pillows or seat cushions?

I'd want to be closer to the print so I could read it. I think your windows need something that looks best from a distance.

I love this room even without anything on the windows, BTW!

Not whimsical enough for what I thought you wanted...and while it has color, they aren't strong enough to have the impact I'd like to see...this is almost up there with a plain linen-look. But, as you know, our tastes differ...

The purpose is for function: to block out the light for the children to do homework. It really suits the style of the room and, if lined, will afford the sun-blocking you are seeking. A thumbs up here!

Thanks, Bonnie. It will be either the Birds or the Paint chart. Just thought I'd update people since I'd bored you all this much, and since the paint chart choice surprised me when we saw it in person.

I'm relieved. I was going to suggest a brisk walk and perhaps cutting back on the chips. Not to mention a tad more neighborly discretion.

Between the two options, I favor this print. But do a Photoshop test first. With the dots spread across a large area, they will form a more linear, vertical pattern. You don't want it to look like someone left the cake out in the rain, oh nooooo.

Would this fabric benefit from a darker lining? And I'd definitely band it.

Yes, it has no lining, it is just a yard of fabric on a hanger. folded a bit to simulate the finished size. Definitely needs lining. I think a band might give a nice definition or weight to it.

But I have prevailed upon the good people of GW perhaps enough with this project, so this is really more of an FYI that I felt I almost owed y'all!

Love it, but I run in the minimal school, and it was my favorite from the beginning. The pillows give the room enough color. The room is beautiful as is.

I like it. Interesting but quiet. I like it much more than the birds.

I think it is a perfect choice for your space!

As I was reading through the post, I kept coming back to the original bird fabric which I love. After seeing the color chart fabric and reviewing your room pictures, I think the color chart fabric is the way to go. Use the bird fabric and elephant fabric to make new pillows. Remove some of the large dark pillows. You will have the whimsy you are looking for.
Also, the chart fabric would look better in the photo taken from the entrance that shows one window with the the chandelier hanging in front of the window.