common ground : birdcage

Showing posts with label birdcage. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Vintage Birdcage Spring Vignette

This time of year, I'm drawn to creating vignettes with plants and all things vintage garden mixed in. Throw in some bird nests, moss, sticks and grapevine; all the better. Then arrange it in/on a vintage vessel.

Using birdcages for vignettes is similar to using a glass cloche, as both cover the grouping. A cloche offers a more clean, pristine look, whereas older birdcages usually give a bit of wear and age and yes the vibe of garden grunge.

Vintage Birdcage Candleholder with Seashells

I get on a mini seashell obsession during the months of July and August. Seashells are "summer" to me, so I don't display them other times of the year. Since we live in the middle of the Midwest, (no where anything "coastal"), I have to take advantage of this time of year. So last week I shared a display in the Garden Room, and this week I have a fun Pinterest inspiration vignette in the Entry.

Cupboard Top Spring Garden Vignette

Hi Friends, it's hard for me to believe, but I haven't shared the cookbook cupboard (in real time) since last late summer. It has been seasonally decorated, but somehow didn't make it to the blog. Since I love decorating with a garden theme for spring I wanted to make sure that I share the latest on the cupboard top.

Holiday Leftovers in the Cookbook Cupboard

No matter the holiday I always seem so have stray bits and pieces of rooms and vignettes that get left behind. Big holidays are usually the ones where I take tons of pictures, then run out of time. This year there are a few Christmas leftovers still to share. Since I like to keep a visual diary of my decorating year to year, I didn't want to leave them. Especially when a few cute birdies were out in the Garden Room.

Goat Cart filled for Fall

I can't believe I haven't gotten around to sharing the goat cart that I first talked about weeks ago. After searching through Pinterest for ideas, I put it together with mums, vines, and all kinds of white pumpkins. And then the landscape guys showed up and it all went kaput. So this is what I've had in my Garden Room since. The mums went back to the front porch and I substituted moss orbs and faux pumpkins for the real ones. So much for a fun display on the front porch. At least I've been able to enjoy it here in the Garden Room.

Fall Vignette on the Farmtable

I wanted to have a little fun this week with one of my vintage birdcages and a sassy little blackbird that I've had for a few years. He didn't fare very well during the move, as his cute little paper hat became unattached. I did the easy thing and used some transparent tape to get it back on. Don't look too close. He's almost good as new.

Hoo's in the October Entry?

I think you all know how much I love Fall and look forward to it all year. I wait all year for the crisp air, brilliant blue skies, and kaleidoscope of Fall foliage. So many of us have fond memories of "Trick or Treating" when we were kids. Even though we might not "celebrate" Halloween, we still enjoy the fun and nostalgia of vintage ephemera, Jack-O-Lanterns, costumes, and decorations from our young years.

Decor Philosophy for Cupboards, and Life

It's been said, more than once, that I can't leave a flat surface alone. Meaning that I have to "decorate" every square inch, and it wasn't often said with an affirmative attitude. I think I may be a little better than I used to be. When you have goodies you love, they just cry out to be used and appreciated!

On top of the Cupboard...

We've been working hard lately to get more boxes opened and unpacked, so we'll have space to bring more over from storage. It's a domino effect, with storage shelving going into the basement storage room first, then organizing the garage and getting Holiday tubs and decor stacked up and out of the way. I'm finding things that honestly I didn't remember I had... and probably don't need. But that's beside the point, because I'm now having to go through box after box of "stuff".

I am finding some of my favorite little things, though.

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:

Dwellings

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Coastal Charm

A Stroll Through Life

Cozy Little House

Stone Gable

Have a great week!

xoxo,

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

What's New on the Dining Room Buffet

It's really easy for me to find myself in a rut when decorating for the seasons (or any time for that matter). I know what I love and what's worked in the past. But I have tons of "stuff" and sometimes it's just a matter of clearing things out and then being willing to look at things from a different perspective. That means taking a chance by changing things up a little and moving things around.

That's what happened here in the Dining Room. I'm still in love with my chippy white windowbox for the DR table centerpiece, but the buffet was in need of some attention. My lamb and sheep collection got a little makeover for Fall with some cloches. So it was screaming for something new and different. OK, not new, just different.

So down from on top of the armoire in the Living Room came this monster sized birdcage. It doesn't look all that big here, but believe me...it's BIG.

I had hoped it would actually have a way to get some bigger items inside, like a large candle and some bigger pumpkins, but guess what...? it actually IS a birdcage, so big things weren't going to happen. Bummer...I could see it in my head all decked out in Fall foliage and pumpkins. I did manage to squeeze a few things in through the wee birdie sized door, like these three mercury glass votives that are lit here in the early evening light.

When hubby got home from work I was excited to show him my latest decorating work of art. I take him into the entry so he can stand back and admire my artistic flair for the out of the ordinary vignette.

...so I say,

"What do you think?"

He stands there with a bewildered look on his face...I give him a moment to let it all soak in...

"How do you like it?"

... still nothing...cue the crickets.

OK, one more shot...

"Do you see what's new on the buffet?".

I kid you not, he says,

"oh yeah, you have antlers".

Is he a man or what?