Hey Shereen,

The Vivan curtain panels do come in 118″ so you’re in luck! They also come in 98″ and sometimes they’re mixed together in the bin (or sold out) so check back in a week or so and I’m sure you’ll find ‘em. Sometimes you just have to read each package for the length and dig through the pile to find the one 118″ pack among the other shorter ones. Hope it helps!

xo,
Sherry

I absolutely love your beachy themes! I’m in the process of redoing my new bedroom with my version of beachiness and your mood boards have inspired me. I love your recommendation of Vivan floor-length curtains. My new ceilings are 112″ tall, so I thought a hemmed version of the 118″-long Vivan would be perfect to hide my bookcases. I went to Ikea yesterday and found the Vivan bin, which said the curtains were 118″ long, but when I got to the checkout, I realized the package said 98″, which is 14″ too short for my room.

I went back to the curtain section and looked all over for any white/neutral curtains longer than 98″ and the only ones I found had grommet tops, which won’t work with the rods I’m mounting to the ceiling. Do you have any recommendations for a Vivan replacement?

Thanks a bunch,
Shereen

Oh, good question! The answer is a great big “Yes;” all too often I think about this very thing. Since this photo, the newell posts, balusters, and risers have all been painted white to match the rest of the trimwork in our house. (Our front door is actually painted black inside and out – not a stain.) The horizontal plane of the stairs have long been polyurethaned, but the handrails remain completely unfinished to date and have been the topic of much discussion recently for the very reasons you note.

While I wish we had wide-plank, darker wood floors throughout our home (very us), our red oak floors aren’t changing any time soon. We’ve determined that, despite the furniture color, the answer wouldn’t be to add yet another color to the stairwell woodwork. Red oak flooring, semi-gloss white painted millwork, then adding a chocolate or espresso color to that woodwork (a more permanent application than just having darker wood furniture pieces) seems like too much. I’ve had to resign myself to thinking of it as furniture is furniture and we would have that furniture no matter what color our floors were. The main problem is that the rise of the stairs brings the floor color into the same plane as the darker furniture.

I’ve asked a few contractors about the possibility of bringing a darker (espresso or chocolate) stain into the handrailing and horizontal plane of the stairs and whether they’ve seen this in homes on which they’ve worked. In the end, all have advised that we match the existing flooring. One problem would be the look of the darker stairway stairs when they meet the red oak flooring at the top and bottom of the stairwell. Despite this, the picture of how nicely tied-together the whole thing would look if the handrails and stair tops were a darker color is something that still crosses my mind. Almost daily. Sigh.

Any/all suggestions welcomed warmly!

Thanks, in advance!

- Jean

We’re glad you guys are enjoying the latest mood board, especially you Jean and Andrew! We can’t wait to see how it all turns out so definitely keep us posted. Is it springtime yet?

xoxo,
Sherry (& John)

p.s. Oh and Elizabeth, I’ve never experienced a smell with jute (it’s a natural fiber so there aren’t any chemicals or rubber backings which tend to smell) and as for the softness underfoot, it really depends on the type. For example, we have a braided one in our den that’s super soft while the one in our third bedroom is semi-rough and the one in our bedroom (actually seagrass, not jute) is even more textured- like a little exotic Indonesian vacation on the feet.

However, while beautiful, they are not very comfortable under foot. If you wear slippers, they might be good for a bedroom.

Best,
Jean & Andrew

My Mom has the nautical rope table and uses it between two chairs. She got a round piece of glass and put it on top to make it seem a bit larger for the space she needed it. It also makes it feel a bit dressier.