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 But I'm here to give it a try so I don't feel like it's a lost cause living with an outdated front porch.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. 

Spring Inspiration

While I'm working at our old house, trying to go through what's left of household goods that need to be donated, I thought I'd go back and share some Spring and Easter past pics. I don't have most of my vintage dishes and Spring items at the new house yet, so "Spring and Easter" are still a little sparse. Seeing these photos have reminded me of everything that's still packed away. sigh....

Update on New House Living Room

We've always enjoyed having a more separate Formal Living Room; giving us a place to relax in the evenings after Hubby comes home from work. After the kiddos left home, we found ourselves having dinner with a lap tray while watching TV. It's just always been our time to relax and unwind.

Stacking Painted Baskets

I'm very fortunate to have a long wall in the Hearth Room that can handle multiple pieces of furniture, and I've made use of it to bring back two vintage pieces I've had for years. I didn't know how they would look together, but I realized I'd need something of a different size and texture to go between the two. 

Candlestick Lamps on the Sofa Table

I love using tabletop and task lighting to give a room a comfortable intimate feeling. In this house it's not only for the ambiance, but mostly because it's dim; ok, sometimes kinda dark. This time of year, with gray and dismal skies, doesn't help to keep things brightened up. I'm not a fan of overhead lighting because it's mostly too harsh, so I realized I needed to have some extra table and floor lamps around here. *This isn't a sponsored post, just sharing my new lamps from a great online source.

Vintage Repurposed Cupboard

When placing all my odds and ends of mix and match white chippy pieces out in the "Garden Room", (I'm going to refer to that big space formally known as the Sunroom, as The Garden Room, ala Katie from Let's Add Sprinkles. Sometimes it's not very sunny so it's now The Garden Room) I soon realized that there wasn't going to be space to fit it all in. Despite a huge room, I had an abundance of furniture that I've had "in storage" begging to be functional again. I had to find a place for this old cupboard that had unfortunately lost it's doors many years ago. It had been in the basement holding quilts or dishes in it's previous lives.

A Light and Bright New Entry

This is my first post since we moved in last week, and it's been a busy week for sure. We did this move in stages and it really paid off in our ability to make the transition much easier than other moves. All the interior remodeling has been done and the house was clean and ready with most of the furniture here in place. The best part is that it already felt like "Home". The sun came out today, so I grabbed my camera and took advantage of some wonderful soft Northern light.

A First Look at the Casual Dining Area

Next week is our final move of furniture, and officially we will "move in" and take up residence. We will still have things to go back and pack up at the old house, but our master bedroom furniture, big TV and the rest of the Living Room furniture will be at the new house. Unless we want to camp out on the floor, we'll make the leap to get there! 

Last post I shared how the Hearth Room is coming along and a glimpse of the eating area in the sunroom. All the chairs to this table set aren't here yet, since we're still using 3 of them at the old house. But as I said earlier, I think I have the main pieces out here. The extra little tables and smaller decor are subject to change, though. The corners are hard to decorate out here because of having to be able to reach the blind adjustments, so that's the reason for the larger cupboards having to be placed in front of the windows.

Layering Decor in the Hearth Room

We are getting furniture in place and unpacking "decor" throughout the new place, so I've been trying out ideas and moving pieces around. One of the house projects that made a big difference in looks and functionality in the Hearth Room was a beef-up of the concrete mantel. Not sure why it would have been made of concrete, but the big problem was that it was a very narrow ledge and wasn't proportionate to the size of the fireplace. You can read about that project here. The update is a huge improvement.

New House Journal: First Look at the Sunroom and Armoire

I know to some of you our "move" seems unconventional to put it mildly. Even my husband commented last night that the way we've handled this renovation and the moving process "has been weird". The reno part took far longer than we had ever considered, since we ended up having to do much more work to get things ready to move in.

(I'm laughing when I see in this photo that the little white decorative piece on top of the cupboard had fallen over. It was almost dark when I took this, and I didn't realize it until we'd already left the house, so no time to go back and redo this shot.) 

Warning: Phone Pics Ahead

A Vintage Romance

Hard to believe that it's actually February.

 I thought I just brought out the new calendar.

It looks like one more holiday will be here with no chance to decorate either house. Nothing like having 2 houses and both of them not in a place that I could put anything other than a bouquet or a box of chocolates. Which by the way, either of those would be fine with me. So instead I'm sharing some past photos for a little Valentine inspiration.

Antique Sideboard Buffet Makes a Comeback

Hi Friends! Well, we're in the stage right now where we have most of the furniture at the new house, but also a lot of boxes starting to mount up. It's exciting being this close, especially when we see rooms coming together with our favorite pieces.

Here it is with a fresh new look.

New House Journal: Living and Dining Rooms and a New Recliner

We had a busy last week with another partial move and then working over the weekend at the new house. This last trip we got my office furniture, most of the Living Room, more basement stuff, guest bedroom and the big room size rugs for the Living Room and Dining Room that I cleaned last weekend. Phone pics ahead; sorry for the less than perfect images.

New House Journal: Moving little by little

We have one "move" down, probably two more to go. We are using a small moving company that we've used before and found a few guys that we really trust. They are amazingly careful and so far have been able to get some BIG furniture down the stairs. My hubby has taken my office furniture and computer apart for this week's installment, so it may be a bit before I can get pics for posts, other than phone shots.

New House Journal: Laundry Room Update

We didn't do a lot of huge projects here at the new house, but we had a lot of medium and small re-dos. The laundry room/bath was one of the bigger projects. I'll share the "after" photos first so you won't get totally grossed out. If you've ever done a bath renovation you will know what I mean. It can be pretty ugly when you're down to the plumbing and bare walls. This wasn't a flashy makeover, we just wanted a clean fresh look in this space that will be used multiple times a day. Since I don't have a dedicated, guest friendly "powder room", I'm sure this will be a default bathroom that company will wander into.

New House Journal: Hearth Room, Wood Blinds, and a Dated Master Bath

Hi Everyone, I thought I'd check in and let you know what we've been up to this last week or so. We had a great Christmas, but I've just been "off kilter" with this long drawn out mini renovation and move. Since we've only been able to work at the house on weekends, it's taken us since the end of September to get where we are today. We started the Big Clean and moved a few odds and ends this last weekend. Thank Goodness, we're almost there.

(the wires are the cable tv box, and I'm hoping my big armoire will fit there

to house the tv and storage. That wall looks pretty bare right now.)

Christmas Vintage Inspiration

I know it's late in the Christmas Season, but I'm still in "inspiration" mode since I haven't been able to do any decorating. I looked back in my posts and I realized I've only done one on Christmas decor and that was my Christmas Home Tour from last year. I've still been "pinning" pics of current posts from everyone; but hey, it will still be good for next year! So I thought I'd share a few pics and links from some of my fave inspiration... and I threw in a few pics from my past Christmas posts. You all know I'm anxious to get to the new place, even though it will be too late to decorate for Christmas.

Antique Rocking Horse at Christmas

New House Journal: New Hardwoods and Carpet

This post is probably way more exciting for me personally than for any of you readers, but it's part of my documenting the progress of our new house. When we first walked into the Entry, other than notice the shiny ceilings, was the fact that the formal living and dining rooms were covered in carpet. Now I have nothing against carpet as you will see, but I really wanted hardwood floors this next time around.

New House Journal: Painting the Antique Sideboard Buffet

We've been working weekends at the new house, and I've been spending at least one day a week there working on my own. We tend to work on bigger jobs on the weekends, then I do some things that I can get accomplished on my own without Hubby's help the rest of the week. OK ... some days are just spent doing laundry and resting up for the next round of fun.

Spirit of Christmas Past: Entry in White

Hi Friends, I'm really missing not being able to decorate for Christmas this year. I didn't get to decorate for Fall either, but I knew that wouldn't happen from the minute we signed papers on the new house. But... I had hopes that we'd maybe be moved in by the end of November. As we started working at the new place more and more projects that needed to be done came to our attention, so now it's December and we are still working. At this point I'm hoping to move at the first of the year. I'm not complaining because I want things accomplished before we get there. So I'm doing a little reminiscing. 

New House Journal: Slipcovered Sofa Set and Mantel Makeover

We're making a lot of headway at the new house, with several things coming to completion. The hardwood floors were installed before Thanksgiving and the finish of the carpet install was this afternoon. I'll share those once I get decent pics. Right now I have something hiding underneath plastic drop cloths that I'm anxious to share. One of my favorite things on my check list is the long awaited delivery of my new Slipcovered Sofa Set. Big Yay.

New House Journal: Timber Frame Front Porch

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We worked most of the weekend painting the laundry/bath and Hearth Room/Kitchen. One project we took on called for some study and investigation. Today,  I'm sharing a little Pinterest inspiration that I gathered, to help me find a solution for a front porch "mini makeover" on our new house. To say I was not a fan of the front porch is an understatement. The house is a long drawn out 60's brick "ranch" that has a lovely setting, but just left me lacking that home-y English Cottage feel that I love.

Pinterest

Favorite Vintage Thanksgiving Tablescape

Sharing some pics from my favorite Thanksgiving Tablescape from 2013. Just for fun. Have a wonderful day with friends and family.

New House Journal: Painting the Woodwork

These photos are really not blogworthy, because they were taken with my phone and the lighting is so poor in these rooms. The little chandelier is so pretty, but it's throwing shadows on the wall that look mottle-y and dirty. (the walls WERE dirty, I think they must have used a lot of candles or the fireplace soot built up over time) Anyway, it was either using these pics, or waiting until I could get my camera over there. The flooring will be installed next week, so I'll wait and get some better ones when they are in.

Dining Room

Go-to Thanksgiving Decor

I've always loved Thanksgiving, and enjoy bringing out the cozy wool blankets in Tartan Plaids of brown, dark green, and tans, vintage Turkeys, cornucopias filled with Harvest goods, and of course my favorite Brown Transferware. I'm usually in a hurry to start decorating for Christmas, yet I never want to totally bypass this wonderful Late Fall Holiday, dedicated to love of family, friends, and gratefulness for God's blessings.

"Hoo Said That?"

I have several little friends that haven't been able to make their appearance this Fall, since they're all packed away and waiting till next year. But once in a while I hear a little hoot, chirp, or baaaa, and know they are wondering what happened to October. They were the star of the Late October Show. Don't worry, we'll share a few pics from yesteryear.

Thanksgiving to Christmas Tree

We'll be inundated with "Christmas in Blogland" next week. (I AM excited to see what's coming for Christmas) There are still some of us that even though we are looking forward to Decking the Halls, still want to celebrate Thanksgiving. This causes us to look for ways to start the Christmas Decor process, but we're not ready to barrel head long into it, bypassing Thanksgiving.

Bountiful Fall Baskets Blog Hop

Using baskets has been a fun and creative way for me to decorate since I saw the first issues of Country Living Magazine back in 1978. One of the best things about them is that they can be found at any vintage market, flea, antique shop or garage sale, usually for a price that will fit anyone's budget. Baskets come in so many varieties; mostly wood products, wicker, willow, and even metals. Since I turn first to vintage finds, I have a good stash, big and small, that I can choose from. Today I'm joining in for a Fun Fall Blog Hop that's showcasing Baskets decorated for Autumn. If you're coming from Follow the Yellow Brick Home, so glad you're here. I think Amber loves this time of year just as much as I do.

A few misplaced things...

Even though we're working on the new house with it pretty much in disarray and a lot going on, I still have that need to scatter a little Fall Decor about. During August and September I was able to get a jump on some packing, especially some of my decor pieces like old dishes and vintage odds and ends. I found a few things that I don't think I'd shared on the blog for awhile so I thought I'd try to use a few of them for the season.