Tuesday, November 11, 2014

A Thanksgiving Vignette...

Just take a peek at this sweet little guy...he's sitting on a wonderful tweedy pumpkin that came from my sweet and talented friend, Becky at Timewashed. He's part of my Thanksgiving Vignette that I'll be sharing on Thursday morning for the Thanksgiving Vignette Blog Hop. 









Do you need a little jump start on those Thanksgiving Tablescapes and last minute decorations for friends and family? Hope you'll start tomorrow morning, Wednesday November 12, with Sherry at No Minimalist Here, our hostess.  I'm excited to see what all these talented bloggers have to share!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Kitchen China Cabinet with a New Look

You've heard the old saying "It's got to get worse before it gets better." That's exactly what happened here at the new house this weekend. We rented a U-Haul trailer and made several trips from the 3 storage units back to the house with all kinds of boxes...kitchen dishes, decor, china, crystal, pillows...etc. Hubbs brought some of his fun stuff, and it all ended up opened and stacked on every flat surface available. After 6 loads of china and crystal going through the dishwasher, we started putting it all away.





Of course it took longer because I decided that I wanted to put my transferware into the kitchen china cabinet instead of my French Faience. (You can see this cabinet at the old house decorated for Christmas).That meant having some kind of a plan. I'm still missing some of my Old British Castles in Brown, but when they show up I'll just rearrange a little. Decorating can slow you down, you know...



And this morning before taking pics,
 I knew I needed something on top of the cabinet


So I added a few pumpkins to the mix and some bittersweet.



This cupboard has glass doors that stay closed, but I opened them up so you could see inside without at bunch of glare. I'm having to figure out the best time of day for photos at this new house, because this room has south facing windows and the blinds cause a lot of issues for photographing.



This is a newer cabinet that we purchased when we moved into the other house 12 years ago. I went back and forth on this one or a hutch and top cupboard, but in the end I chose this one. It matches the kitchen table and chairs with a somewhat creamy distressed finish.


I really enjoyed putting this all together, it's just a mix of my brown and red random pieces. I'd had the Faience in it for a long time, so I wanted to change things up a little. In the Spring I may go back to the florals and pastel dishes, but for the Holidays I wanted to stick with predominately brown.




A few of my old friends are here too, like the cows and cottage ware teapots and sugar and creamers. I have more of these...somewhere. Oh, and good news...Hubbs found the Dining Room chair slips (YAY!!) and they are now waiting to be washed and ironed. We literally looked for that specific box for hours, and of course it was hiding at the very back behind my outdoor garden goodies. He had packed that last storage unit with all kinds of various random boxes, and he knew not to come back home without it.


If you noticed, a few pieces of wicker found a spot here in the kitchen dining area. It makes me feel a little better for not having a sunporch at this house. Now, if I can just not "over-decorate"...I don't know if that's possible.



I'll be a part of Sherry's (No Minimalist Here) Thanksgiving Vignette Blog Hop this week, starting Wednesday November 12 through Friday November 14. Please come visit us for some Thanksgiving fun and inspiration. 


I'll see you again on Thursday for my Thanksgiving Vignette
 with the rest of the gals.

I'm linking up here this week:


Have a great week!
xoxo,

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

We made it, and a look at "French Linen"

We survived the move, and actually things went pretty well. That's because we've been "moving" in stages. We've had the furniture from the storage units delivered first, and then we moved some boxes from the storage unit and lease house, then Friday came the furniture from the lease house. So it's been much easier and more organized than any thing we've attempted before. The house was painted, cleaned, and ready to go, so that's part of what made it easy. Plus, we were mentally and emotionally ready; we've been working on this house since the end of August.



If you read my previous post about the French-y coffee and end tables, then you know that I was getting ready to paint them a shade that would "blend in" to the walls, rugs, and sofas. The antiqued white that they were before at the old house was just too "white" and imposing. 



I wanted to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint this time, so I tried mixing, Paris Grey, Coco, and Old White, but Paris Grey has a blue undertone and that wasn't working. I needed a gray/green undertone to match the new sofas. So I picked up some French Linen and that was exactly the right color to throw into the mix. I just added a little Coco, and a little Old White. (If you live close by to the Springfield MO area they carry ASCP at The Baglady Boutique on East Republic Road)


(love the details on these tables)



...and after a few coats, this is the color they turned out. Pretty close to my original little oval accent table that worked perfectly.



I invested in a ASCP brush, and I'm so glad I did. The paint went on beautifully and no streaking or brush strokes. I've painted a few other things with a regular brush, and now I wish I'd bought one sooner.


 It really gets down into all the little crevices and crannies.


I used liquid poly on these. I know the wax is wonderful, but I had just a short amount of time to get these tables finished and my Minwax Liquid Polyurethane top coat has never let me down. I did one coat plain, then a mix of a Fruitwood Stain and Liquid Poly, then another coat of plain. The liquid poly and stain does darken it a little, but the finished pieces turned out exactly the right shade and matched the sofas perfectly...mission accomplished!


Here's a peek at the Living Room in progress. I'm really happy how things are coming together. All the planning and color matching has paid off. 






I've just done a teensy amount of distressing so far, because it sort of made me nauseous to sand on these things, since I'd spent so much time getting these "right".


Now they blend in with the wall color and furniture instead of looking huge and too noticeable. It's a pretty tight fit in here (as it is with the rest of the rooms). The room size seems bigger because of the high ceilings, but in reality, this house isn't all that big. Cozy and efficient, and we love it.



I don't have much unpacked, so nothing is on the tables yet. I'm hoping to NOT clutter things up, but keep it more simple. We'll see... I DO have that "more is better" gene. The rugs are "busy", but then they help bring all the furniture and colors together cohesively. I thought about a neutral rug in here, but these won out. These close ups make the rug look extra "busy", but overall, they are just what these rooms needed to ground the seating area and pull it all together.



It's cool and rainy, and looks like November around here. Most of the leaves are down, and we had a killing frost Saturday night. The time change has me a little thrown off, but then the moving had me thrown off too. I have boxes lined up in the garage waiting to be unpacked, but I'm trying to pace myself, and not get crazy. I DO want to get out some of my Thanksgiving Turkeys so that may be next. gobble~gobble.

Thanks everyone, for sticking with me during this last rough year, I'm hoping things have taken a turn for the better. You'll never know how much you've blessed me with your encouragement, prayers, and support. you're the best!

Joining in here:

xoxo,

Thursday, October 30, 2014

When you just have to decorate something...

This Friday is the big move, but we had furniture delivered from the storage units last week, and it was good to see a few of my things that had been packed away. I've been taking bits and pieces over to the new house, like baskets and pillows and some odd things that could fit in the back of my car. But a few days ago my deep inner need for some sort of a vignette took over, and I grabbed what few things that were within arm's reach and put together something (even if temporary) in the living room. I know I can do better, but bear with me...I'm ready to decorate this dang house!



This sofa table won't stay against this wall, but it was a flat surface (that wasn't being painted), so it was fair game. The lanterns made it, but no candles to be found. The basket and corbels from the baker's rack, one of my Autumn Trays, some bittersweet, pumpkins, and a wonderful soup tureen from a garage sale for a dollar. really. yes, a dollar. (and it's not even busted!)








You can see that the rug is rolled up while I'm working on the coffee and end tables. They're turning out great, but taking more time than I'd figured. It took me quite a while to mix the exact color, but I'll have pics soon. 



I'm not sure why the walls look blue, but trust me, there's is no blue in them. Just a great neutral taupe. (Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe). I never knew there were so many grays, taupes, and whatevers. My advice if you're thinking of painting your walls...get sample pots of paint, lot's of samples, You won't know what color it really is until it's up on your wall.




Speaking of pillows, my two little squirrels made it to the new kitchen. 
The perfect time of year for them.


And my hat boxes and old hats are up on the hutch 
above my computer in my new office.



Here are a few pics from the Dining Room; it's snug in there. I've realized my chair slips are in "no man's land" somewhere in the depths of the last storage unit that was filled. I hope to have them located and in my possession before Christmas... hopefully that will be this Christmas.



My Staffordshire bowl with velvet pumpkins that I hand carried over. I think my table runners are all with my chair slips, so ditto for having some decor tablescapes on the big brown DR table.


The clock looks a little "white" and by itself, but with the chair slips and prints up, I think it will balance out.


And here's a sneak peek of my new antique mirror I found a few weeks ago in a great little shop in Ozark, Missouri. It will go above the buffet that you see here. It's my gold scroll-y French-y mirror that I had been looking for.
 


I'll be without email and the computer for a couple of days, while we get things transferred to the new house. Have a fun Halloween and weekend. I'll check back when the dust has settled!

xoxo,

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