Gorgeous spaces don’t have to cost a lot. It’s all about thinking outside conventional decorating ideas. Textiles are, by far, my favorite design element. Instead of thinking in terms of tradition and using textiles to dress windows or reupholster a sofa, I use fabrics—and items made of fabric—in new ways.

In projects I’ve done in the past, I’ve used a patterned towel to recover a seat in a master bathroom, I’ve covered dining chairs with pillow shams, and I’ve converted old sweaters into accent pillows.

For a story in our July issue, REDBOOK teamed up with talented Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designer Tracy Hutson, who wrote the book Feathering the Nest: Tracy Hutson’s Earth Friendly Guide to Decorating Your Baby’s Room, to make over the nursery in one family’s home. (Check out the entire story at redbookmag.com). One of the most dramatic redos? Removing the sliding closet doors (which were heavy, white, boring, and took up the better part of one whole wall) and replacing them with beautiful embroidered shower curtains. And since the shower curtains were a bit too short, Tracy fused a coordinating fabric to the bottom using Stitch Witchery, an iron-on adhesive. Then, the curtains were hung from a rod inside the door frame.   

Photo courtesy of REDBOOK/Deborah Jaffe