Thanks for all the compliments, I've been waiting for this to be made for a while :) Robolady,so funny.....I found the little greenhouse we copied from a link on your site(more window ideas) over a year ago( we replaced our windows 2 years ago,so it might have been that long ago!)so of course you may use the picture and instructions. It was the link to HGTV,Decorating Cents.I painted one side of each window green,then DH attached the 2 windows together with L-brackets,then he measured the width of the open ends to decide how big to make the box. He used old 1"x6"'s for the sides and old plywood for the bottom. I thinned down some white paint to "white-wash" it,and painted the inside of the box with thinned down green paint. Then he screwed old porch spindles(they were already white,a great yard sale find) on for legs on the outside of the box,screwing them from the inside,turning it into a table. Then the windows were fastened to the table with hinges on the outside of the windows to the box. I hope this is a better photo. Here is a link that might be useful: window greenhouse

Topics I'd like to see addressed in a decorating class would be how to coordinate fabrics...i.e.combining patterns and colors. What to look for in quality furniture. How to arrange accessories. Pitfalls to avoid when selecting paint colors (don't go with gumball pink if you want a pink room, beware of the opaqueness of yellow, understanding how important undertones are,etc). Surely there are some rules to guide the novice, it would be good if those were spelled out to make the process a little easier. Throwing a little Fung Shui in there couldn't hurt. I don't mean all that chi stuff, focus more on the more logical aspect of it like where to place chairs and desks in a room so the person's back isn't facing a door, that sort of thing. How to chose carpeting, what does all that loop and pile jargon mean. I wished my teacher had provided a list of local sources for upholsterers, seamstresses, wholesale to the public suppliers, that have been vetted be her/him...so students can skip the middle-man and go directly to the person who is able to sew bedding, slipcovers or upholster furniture. I have taken several classes through the community center. What I discovered is that many of the instructors use this as a marketing tool to drum up clients. What the interior designer really wanted was for the students to hire her after they saw she was competent enough to teach the class but not so informative that they would think they can do this all themselves. So I never got the sense she was willing to give away all her trade secrets. But maybe she was just trying to keep it at a very beginner level so as not to saturate the students with too much information. I'm not saying we had to sit through a one hour sales pitch but I thought I should have walked away with a lot more information than I did. She did spend some time on proper placement of art, mirrors, etc on the wall..pointing out that most people usually hang them too high. So that part was good.

House Hunters International, yes, I love seeing the ones that are not tropical. We are amazed at how much you can get a house for in a tiny little town in Italy... we're like "We could afford that!!" Course the ones we could afford need major work, LOL. Agree with everyone on Color Splash Miami... if I could call him on the phone, I'd beg him to go back to San Francisco. I love David Bromstad, but can't stand his show anymore. His helpers have zero personality. While I think it's cool that his design assistant is someone who I think just got her degree, so she's kind of an intern, I really miss Ian and Danielle. The two women on this show don't do anything that requires skill, all they do is shop and answer cell phone calls that say stuff is not coming/going to be late. And the two men who actually have skill have no personality and rarely talk to the camera.

Sorry I took so long getting back to this thread. Here is how I made mine. I bought a bunch of the small square bullseyes for a backer plate (matches the window trim) and some wood dowel (I BELIEVE 5/16", it was the largest the doorknob would fit on). I also used 3 drill bits, one that was a 1/2" "paddle" type, one that was a regular 5/16" bit and one that was matched to the shank size of a drywall screw. I took my bullseye blocks and first took the large drill bit and used that to shave off the "bump" in the middle of the bullseye. If I didn't do that first, the drill bit would tend to slip off center. Then I took my 5/16" bit (just match it to the dowel size if you use a different size dowel) and drilled about 3/4 of the way through the center of the bullseye. Once I did one carefully I used painters tape on the bit to mark how deep I needed to go for the rest. Last I took my smallest bit and drilled the rest of the way through. Then I cut my dowels to size, painted the blocks and screwed them to the wall with drywall screws (went right into the window header so no anchors needed). Then I stuck the dowels into the holes (if you match drill bit size with dowel size they will fit tight, no glue required, and you can get them out later) and then slipped the knobs over the dowels and used the set screw to tighten them down. That's it! It took me some trial and error to figure out the best way to drill the blocks but I like how it looks. Yes, the valance was made from a pattern. McCalls M4407.