We used to live in a Craftsman house in San Diego. In keeping with that style, we had a few pieces of furniture made out of quarter-sawn oak that we’ve since sold via Craig’s List. One item hasn’t sold and has been propped against the wall in our den for several weeks now. It’s a 3 panel screen (now folded) that’s made of oak – and it’s heavy. Consequently, we haven’t moved it.

The fabric that was in the panels is long gone. But the rods are still there.

Every time I sat in my chair in the den, I looked at that screen. It was bugging me. It wasn’t supposed to be there and it looked that way. Since we weren’t going to be moving it anytime soon, it needed something to tie it in to the rest of the room. I briefly considered the jute that I bought to fix the wicker rocking chair. However, I needed it for the chair, where it will remain largely hidden behind the cushion. And the jute/burlap thing is everywhere these days; it seemed too obvious to me.

Maybe something a little more whimsical, casual, maybe even artsy? I went up to the studio and looked around. My eye finally landed on the strips of fabric that I had left over from the fabric hearts I made last Christmas. It just so happened that they were the same colors that I’ve used in the den. They’re a French General design. These are 2 inch wide strips from a fabric jelly roll, but you could make them any width.

I gathered 8 strips, ran down to the den, tied them on to the rods that are at the top and bottom of the panel. Then I used pinking shears to trim the ends.

I may add more. We’ll see.

As always with the den, it’s difficult to take a good photo. Here’s the way it looks from a distance.

Oh good. That red pillow is covered in Scout’s dog hair (that’s her spot on the sofa) and it’s not showing in the photo.

Now it looks more like wall art, like an vintage ladder or door looks when propped against a wall. It looks as if it belongs here, like I’ve purposely added it to the room. Frankly, the section of the wall that leads into the corner was always sort of boring. Of course, now I don’t want to sell it. But you knew that was coming, didn’t you?

I think it took all of 5 minutes. It took longer to take the photos.

I like it.