I’m back from Jeanne Oliver’s amazing retreat and back to real life. What an incredible time I had at the art retreat and I will share stories and photos in an upcoming post.
I mentioned previously that our beloved house is now on the market and I would like to share photos of it with you. I have shown some of them in older posts as we completed projects but I have never shown my entire house.
The Foyer
The Living Room
French Doors leading to the stairs
Sitting Room leading to the Master Suite
The Studio
Guest Bedroom
Guest Bedroom #2
Back downstairs now in The Kitchen
Breakfast Nook
The Dining Room
The Bathroom
Laundry Room right off the kitchen
Wine Cellar
2nd room in Wine Cellar
Back of House
We have poured our heart and soul into this home for the past 22 years. We took it from a house in very poor condition that nobody wanted and turned it into a home that we have loved and enjoyed raising a family in. Although it’s sad to leave, we have been house hunting and have found a few smaller homes we like, one of which I know we will enjoy making our own.
You can see Part 1 here, including some before pictures. My vintage GE kitchen mixer found years ago at a garage sale for $10, and yes, I use it!
My mail center consists of a vintage scale, a metal basket from Hobby Lobby painted the same color, a jar to hold pens, pencils and letter opener, and magnets to hold important things like KC Royals tickets!
You may have been expecting to see my cabinets painted white, considering that I am moving toward a farmhouse style. Don’t think I didn’t think about it! I went so far as to mention the possibility to my husband who does all the painting around here. He was against it. Not because of the work involved (he actually enjoys painting) but because he likes the cabinets in their cherry state.
I picked them out fifteen years ago when we did a complete gutting of the kitchen, but I had started entertaining the idea of painting them. Well, he gets his way this time since he hardly ever does! He very rarely has an opinion on decorating and I usually get to make all the decisions!
This is what the top of my fridge looked like before the makeover. The wine rack was never meant to stay.
I’ll eventually have a matching cabinet above, but in the meantime I discovered that this little cabinet that I previously had in my living room fit nicely in the spot. And the wine rack is much more suited to its new place above the corner cabinet.
You may remember this box from a previous flea market finds post. I white washed it and set some succulent pots inside.
To the right of my refrigerator sits my all important coffee station. I wanted to put together a little coffee mug display on some sort of pedestal stand. After trying a couple of things I already had and even buying something new only to bring it home and not like it, I decided to create my own stand. As I envisioned what I wanted it to look like the thought entered my mind that it would be cute with casters.
Everything I used to put the pedestal stand together were elements I already had, with the exception of one caster. Later in another post I’ll share how plywood circles, cane strips and a small metal candlestick all came together to create my rolling pedestal stand.
I used a small, old, zinc paper cutter as a tray to hold “the fixins”. I placed a faux flower stem in an upturned glass funnel to add softness.
Thank you for taking time to look around with me. That’s just about it for this reveal. I just have one more area to show you in another post. It involves a favorite piece of furniture and a vintage collection. Come back soon!
My peonies are about to breathe their last but I managed to get shots of all five bouquets in my home before they bit the dust. In my last post I showed you an arrangement in an old wooden ice cream bucket as well as a vintage coffee percolator perched on a rocking chair. I prefer to use unconventional vessels to display my flowers. Don’t you? I think of peonies as an old fashioned flower so I think it’s fitting that they hang out in vintage containers.
I chose this silver trophy coffee urn for a bouquet I placed on one of my dining room buffets. I’m not quite ready to show you the full view of the dining room until the transformation is complete. It won’t be long now!
Ahhhh, if only they could last forever. Their scent is amazing. It reaches me each morning as I approach the top of the stairs to come downstairs.
For this simple arrangement I used a bottle that I picked up at my last flea market jaunt. It sits in my breakfast nook window. I once heard peonies described as the queen of the garden. A well deserved title I think. Reign on beautiful blossoms.
I have one final bouquet to show you. It will be featured in my Phrase Art Phriday post, where I share my own photography overlaid with an inspirational phrase or thought. Hope to see you then!
Happy new week! As promised I am here to show you my breakfast nook makeover. It’s finished!! It’s a small space but it’s part of a much bigger makeover going on. There are lots of photos so let’s get started.
Here’s what it looks like now.
And here’s a before picture.
Not only did this space get a makeover, I got a new camera too. You can see that the quality of the before pictures aren’t great.
The walls were a charcoal color before the makeover. We painted them in Benjamin Moore Crystalline. In some light it looks green, in other light it looks bluish aqua and certain times of the day it looks gray. I love it! In fact, I love it so much we’re painting the entire first floor in the same color.
I’ve had this antique typewriter for ages and have always kept it on a side table or desk. I decided to show off the graphics of the numbers and keys better by hanging it on the wall.
I love projects that I don’t have to spend much money on. My pillows didn’t cost me a thing. I already had the beautiful rooster pillow that I got from Hazelnut Deux.
I pulled the green fabric out of my stash and stuffed it with poly fill that I had instead of buying a pillow form.
The other two pillows were the most fun to create. Jen Rizzo recently posted a free bird and flower printable that she created. The colors in her design were just the colors I was using to accessorize.
So I saved her printable and played around with it to create two different pillow designs. Then I printed the designs using muslin ironed onto freezer paper and my inkjet printer. Once again I stuffed them with poly fill and as a result they cost me nothing.
Sitting on top of the old school desk they’re the perfect pillows for my breakfast nook. You can see the before and after of the school desk makeover in this post.
I hope you enjoyed seeing all the changes. Thanks for stopping by!
I have loved and collected ironstone for several years. My collection is a moderate size because I rarely pay more than $5 for any one item. Many of the pieces I have bought can be easily found at a higher price but if I’m patient I can find the types of pieces I love in that price range.
This bowl is just such a piece. I purchased it last month at the flea market for $5. Oh happy day! I almost walked right past it. I was on the lookout for plain white ironstone and this bowl was not that.
This bowl had big red flowers on it ~ poppies I believe? Not a problem I told myself. I will just place it on a shelf with the flowers turned to the back, or as my friend suggested sand the floral design off. Are you cringing? Would that be a terrible thing to do? I don’t think so. On the other hand there might come a day when the floral design works in just the right setting. What would you do?
I’m very happy to say that my breakfast nook makeover is (basically) complete. Monday I’ll show you before and after photos of the space. Woop!
Welcome to DIY Double Dip Flip! Heather and I are excited to share our third project in this series where we start with an inspiration piece from either fashion or decor, then we each show you our unique take on how to use the idea on something entirely different in decor or fashion. For this month’s inspiration, Heather chose an entire set with soft spring colors and lots of great texture.
………………………………………………………………………A similar pulloverC’est Si Bon
Being a lover of frayed edge denim, I was immediately drawn to the ripped knee patch jeans and decided to make that my jumping off point. I am in the middle of making changes in my breakfast nook and my chandelier needed a makeover.
So my flip for this month is DIY Chandelier Lamp Shades.
After my husband spray painted the fixture black I dressed the lamp shades in layers of frayed canvas.
These were really easy to do and I’ll show you how with just a few steps. But first I want to show you the “before” picture of the chandelier.
It’s not a very good picture but you can see that the fixture was an ivory color and the shades were black. You can also see the old wall color.
The black fixture gives the space a more grounded feel. The frayed canvas cloth adds softness and texture. I love my new wall color and I can’t wait to show you the entire space when it’s complete. You can catch a glimpse of another finished piece for the nook here.
Now back to the lamp shade tutorial.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own tiered, frayed canvas lamp shades.
A template for you to adapt for your own use. For standard chandelier type shades the width of the template needs to be 14 inches. I had to print it out on two sheets and tape them together.
Cut out your 2 template parts and tape them together.
Measure out and mark the pattern to be divided into 3 layers. The first mark for the bottom layer will be at 1 5/16 inches, the second mark at 2 5/8 inches.
Make the same markings in a few more places across the pattern and pencil in the connecting curves.
Cut out the three pieces. These will be the patterns for your three layers.
Cut out your fabric, leaving an approx. 1/8 inch allowance above and below the pattern.
Fray the fabric strips. Note: the bottom and middle layer will only need to be frayed at the bottom edge.
The top layer will need to be frayed at both the top and bottom edges. You can fray the ends too.
Glue the bottom strip to the lamp shade leaving enough fringe to cover the entire bottom rim.
Overlap the middle layer and glue. Glue the top layer making sure to extend it far enough up to cover the top rim of the shade.
This design could also be adapted for full size lamp shades.
So you’ve seen my take but you haven’t seen Heather’s! Be sure to go visit her blog Woods of Bell Trees to see how she interpreted this month’s design.
I hope you enjoyed seeing all the changes. Thanks for stopping by!
