All About Home Link Party #3

Hi Friends! So glad you're back with us at the new All About Home Link Party, that celebrates everything that you've been up to at your Home. We hope you've had a great week, and ready to start a new one with some great inspiration.

Botanical Prints in the Hearth Room

Hi Friends, I hope you're having a good weekend, I just wanted to share a quick post about some little vintage Botanical prints I just got around to hanging this week. I've been thinking about what to do with them for months. I finally decided I could make a commitment, so I jumped on in and had Hubby grab the hammer.

Late Summer Baker's Rack

I gave myself a little challenge...

and that was to create a late Summer/ early Fall Baker's Rack using colors of the season,

without using Pumpkins. So instead of any kind of squash or gourd

 I used another Fall Favorite; Pears.

All About Home Link Party #2

Hi Friends, it's the beginning of a new week and time for the second installment of our new Link Party, All About Home.We had a great turnout for our first party, and we know that each week we'll be growing as more people find out we're here. Thank you so much to all of you that came to link up for our first party, and for those that shared a link and a shout out! We appreciate you!

Fall Decor Stash and New Finds

Last Winter and early Spring before the move, I spent days going through all of my seasonal decor tubs and I purged so many things that I didn't use. I tried to get things a little organized and labeled, making mental notes of what was in what container. It's easy to recognize that I love Fall decorating, since  I have more Fall decor than all the other seasons hands down.

All About Home Link Party #1

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!

and Welcome to the very first All About Home Link Party!

Amber (Follow The Yellow Brick Home) and I are so excited to be co-hosting the new link-up get-together that celebrates "Home" and all that we enjoy about it. We both love all things Home Decor, Vintage and Antiques, and Seasonal fun. We want to provide a fun place where we can all link our posts that are about "Home". 

Garden Room with Sunflowers and Ticking

Hello Friends! I've had a few posts where I've added some Sunflowers to the decor, so I thought I'd share the latest in The Garden Room on the church pew, and a few more pics of the Farm table with Sunflowers in the Ice Cream Bucket.

Exciting News...it's "All About Home"!

Hi Friends, I've been about to explode for weeks with some fun news that has been in the planning stage! Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home and I have been getting our heads together to co-host a new Link Party that will begin this coming Monday, August 12. We're super excited and hope you will be too!

Celebrating Summer with a Mini Home Tour

Hello Friends, Welcome to Celebrating Summer, 

a Blog Hop hosted by our sweet friend

  Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home. 

As Summer winds down through the month of August, there's still time to enjoy the warm weather, family time, and a few delicious alfresco dinners. Last year this time, we were just starting to pack for a big move and readying ourselves for a year of home renovations. I really hadn't been able to enjoy last Summer at all, so this year I've been thankful for having a home and outside spaces that have been fun to decorate with flowers and plantings, to relax in, and basically get back to "living life".

August Mantel and Hearth Room

Hello Friends and Welcome to August!

I've mentioned before that August used to be my least favorite month of the year. Oooh, I felt bad that I gave it such a bad rap, especially since ALL my husband's family had birthdays in August. (strange...) It's just that I really get tired of the hot weather by now, which is usually dry and oppressive, and the older I've gotten the less able I am to handle hot weather. But a couple of years ago I had a change of heart in my attitude.

Sunflowers for a Late Summer Dining Room

Since August shows up a little later in the week, I'm adding some "Late Summer" color with Sunflowers. They're the perfect way to transition into Early Fall. Real or faux, spread them around for some "happy face" time. You just can't look at Sunflowers without a big smile showing up. I'm adding a touch of "Late Summer" here in the Dining Room on the buffet with a few Sunflowers and prints.

New Kilim Pillows in the Hearth Room

Having an off -white slipcovered sofa, chair and ottoman has really enabled me to be more creative in my Hearth Room decor. I'd been obsessed with white slipcovered furniture for years, but I'd never had the right space to put them in. Now that I am livin' my "white sofa dream", I'm going a little crazy with monthly change-ups. A quilt and pillow stash and a "no-stepladder-needed" mantel have made it much easier to change things up.

Late Summer Seed Box

August will be here before we know it, and with August my decor palette changes with the season. I start thinking about the beginning of Fall and all the subtle color that comes with it, but for now I'm still in Summer Mode. Today I'm sharing a staple of my vintage Summer decor.

She Collects (Vintage) Seashells

This time of year, late July, I get that little nudge to play with some Seashell Decor. There's a short window of opportunity to do shell decor around here. Early Summer is filled with garden fun, then comes the Patriotic decor. Now's the time before "Pre Fall" starts. So I put together a little vignette on an antique tray in the Dining Room. It's not really  "beachy", but more "vintage".

Summer Entry wih a New Vintage Print

I like to keep things changed up... well, you all know that about me. With the patriotic flags put away, it was time to bring out something different for the next month. So here's a new light and bright vintage print in one of my favorite chippy white vintage frames. I've had this traditional British print of an old engraving for awhile, but haven't taken the time to find it a frame that did it justice.

The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost

Late Summer, (anytime after the 4th), has always been a time for the vintage chickens to come out and strut their stuff. I've been playing with all the chicks here on the old cupboard in the Hearth Room. I've had them in several different places on the shelves and think I finally came up with a good placement... for now. You just never know where a chicken will turn up around here.

(a small chicken bud vase in the Garden Room, where it's light and bright)

A Simple Centerpiece for the Garden Room

It's been fun seeing the shrubs, plants and flowers that have emerged here at the new place this Spring and Summer. Mid Spring, I was so excited to see a row of Forsythia at the back of the property line, and even though they were pruned to within an inch of their lives they are now becoming full and giving us a little more privacy.

Stars and Stripes in the Hearth Room

Hello Friends, Hope you're having a wonderful

 Independence Day Weekend!

Welcome to my Cottage / Farmhouse Kitchen!

You might have noticed that my kitchen has been absent from the blog. My only excuse is that I wanted to wait until I had things a little more put together. It took me a while to find a rug that I liked, and to get up a few prints. But as I was taking some pics of the Patriotic Hearth Room, I realized there would never be a "perfect" time. It's not a showhouse, or really even styled; it's my working kitchen. I'm not a fan of "the Reveal" because that's too much pressure to be fabulous.

The French Chef and a Patriotic Church Pew

I'd had so many things stashed away in the bar area downstairs that I'd lost track of them all. But as I packed them up earlier this Spring, I tried to make mental lists of paint projects and things I wanted to work on once we unpacked and settled in. One of my projects on the to-do list was to give a paint update to my Little French Chef. He'd been living downstairs in obscurity. 

Summertime Garden Room

It's been 6 years since I've been able to decorate a sunporch for July 4th festivities. So this year, having a sunroom again, it has been especially fun pulling out the patriotic and red/white/blue decor.

Patriotic Entry and the Wall Art

Hi Friends! Earlier in the week I posted about the wall art that we finally got up in the Living Room. I've had these few pieces here in the Entry up for a bit longer, but just now getting around to doing a post. I wanted to wait until we finished the front door and porch. So now that that is done, and it's near the 4th of July I have a bit more to share.

Art in the Living Room

It's taken us awhile to get the framed wall art up on the walls here at our new place. In the past I've zoomed through decorating a new home, but this time, I've taken longer to really think things through. One of my main goals in decorating this place is to not overwhelm it with "stuff" and clutter. That includes the walls.

Front Porch Before, Before, and After

Welcome to the new and improved front porch!

I'm going to start this post with an "after" pic from this last weekend and not the "before" or the "before, before", because I don't want to scare you all off.  That's what the "before, before" look of this house did to me. I really didn't want to go inside, because I was so turned off by the dated ranch look of it. But thank goodness my husband forced me to. 

It only took 5 years...

I'm usually pretty diligent on getting a task or a job done. I can make excuses with the best of them, but when it's something I actually want to do I get it accomplished quickly. But, it's been 5 years since my mom moved and didn't have a place for this wonderful old porch column and it's been sitting in my sister's garage waiting for me to pick it up. 

Back Porch and the Potting Bench

This has been the week to finally share my outside spaces... good and not so good. Earlier in the week I posted my front porch that's in the middle of a facelift. That post is a kind of a cringe-worthy "before photo", but I know it's going to get better. So now to the back of the house. I'll show you the potting bench first, since it's the most fun to look at.

Porch Decor while in Transition

Hi Friends and welcome to the Spring Into Summer Porch and Outdoor Spaces Hop 

hosted by my talented, good friend Amber of  Follow the Yellow Brick Home. 

Are you needing some ideas to help spiff up your outdoor spaces? Put together something different? I know I am! We are in the middle of a facelift for our front porch and landscaping and sometimes it seems easier to just opt out of decorating an incomplete project. But I'm here to give it a try so I don't feel like it's a lost cause living with an outdated front porch.

If you're coming from Marty's at A Stroll Thru Life, I'm so glad you're here! I know the title to this post might seem a little strange, but it's an honest look at sharing the ups and downs during house renovations. 

Vintage Market Finds and the Copper Stash

Hi Friends, I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend. It was a "working" weekend for us, as we concentrated on getting the basement cleaned up and put together. We got tons of boxes emptied, the family room usable, and my husband's office pretty much up and running. The basement has been a convenient catch all since we still had both storage areas to finish organizing and lots of books and decor to decide on. So now it's a great place to go and relax, without feeling like you're in a storage unit. It's really good to finally have this done. Pics coming soon.

Vintage White Pottery

I did a pretty good job of packing and labeling all my breakables. Boxes of Transferware (brown, red, and green) ironstone, majolica, china, etc... and several boxes of White Pottery. At the previous place I kept it put away in the basement bar area because I just didn't have room to display it. So now that I have the garden room, I'm making a seasonal spot for it here. I may rotate it after Summer is over, but for now I've gathered all the white pottery pieces together for a little collection.

A few more touches in the Dining Room

Over this last weekend we finally got a few things up on the walls. We've had so much to do, and my hubby only has the weekends to help me do things, so this decor fun was moved on down the list. I explained to him that I needed to share some things that were not Garden Room or Hearth Room related here on the blog, haha. Time to get to share some other rooms.

Garden Room China Cupboard with Transferware

This cabinet used to be known as the Kitchen China Cupboard, but now it's going to have to be known as the Garden Room China Cupboard since it's not technically in the Kitchen any longer. It's really wonderful having all this extra space and the windows out here. I hadn't wanted to have anything blocking the light, but I didn't have the right spot other than this. 

Out and About: Spring Market Open House

It's been awhile since I've been out vintage shopping, and I've been missing the fun. One of my favorite spots is The Vintage Peddler, here in Springfield, Missouri. Each time I visit I try to snap some pics for you all. It's always changing up because it has some of the best vendors in the area. That means "buy it when you see it", because it may not be there tomorrow.

Vintage Tea Party Vignette

I have sweet memories of the times when my two girlies were young, that our church would host a Spring Tea Party or luncheon in honor of Mother's Day. Moms and daughters would dress up in their best Springtime dresses to come and celebrate with teas, cookies, cakes and tiny tea sandwiches. Surrounded with flowers, ferns and fun pastel accessories, antique tea sets and china were part of the festive decor.

Spring Tea and the China Cupboard Preview

Hi Friends, the last time you heard from me I was knee neck deep in boxes of vintage dishes. Well, I've managed to work my way out and have a lot of my things put away. I'd been anxious to get the Dining Room China Cabinet and the Kitchen China Cupboard put together. They were looking pretty bare and lonesome without their contents. Here's a little preview...

AND...

I'm excited to be part of a Blog Hop on Monday sharing our ideas and inspiration for a Spring Tea Party. My sweet friend, Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home, is always a wonderful hostess and coordinator of these Hops.

There will be some pretty feminine goodies to be shared for Mother's Day, too.

So please plan a fun time visiting the gals Monday morning...

Have a wonderful weekend,

I'm hoping to make it to the nursery for some flowers...

if it will ever quit raining!

Late Spring Change-up on the Mantel

The move brought to the surface so many things that had been misplaced and displaced, and I want to share one more of those items that has been buried for the last almost 6 years. 

Church Pew's New Home in the Garden Room

The church pew had been banished to the basement at the old house along with the rest of the group of white chippy misfits that didn't make the "upstairs" cut. I'd thought about selling it, but never could bring myself to do it... so glad I didn't.

Spring Vignette on the Cupboard Top

I really enjoy having a flat surface to decorate for the seasons. At the previous house I had the kitchen china cupboard in my Kitchen Sitting Area that I used for seasonal change ups. We moved the cupboard over here, but because it's in a different area with a window behind it, it doesn't work well to decorate with seasonal decor.

Moss Covered Cross in the Entry

For all the adorable bunnies, chicks, and eggs that we have fun decorating with for Spring and Easter, I never want to forget the real meaning of this holiday, which is Resurrection Sunday. I like to keep the Entry a place where I can remember the meaning of the holiday and have a reminder of the seriousness and solemnity of this sacred time.

Hop Into Easter

Hello Everyone! I have to tell you that this is a special day for me being able to join in on this fun Spring Blog Hop. This last year has been a difficult time due to health issues and a major move. So being able to participate makes me feel like life may be getting back to normal. I'm so glad you're here to help me celebrate! Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home is our talented hostess for this Easter Hop. Thankyou Amber for inviting me along.

An Easter Mantel in the Hearth Room

I haven't gone all out for Spring and Easter decor this year because I really don't have a lot of my dishes and seasonal pottery unpacked. Back in August when I started packing up all the seasonal dishes and decor I had no concept that we wouldn't be fully moved in until Spring. It's probably a good thing that I was ignorant, otherwise I've had been even more stressed out about the whole process.