Friday, January 10, 2014

Be Inspired: #172

Thanks so much to all of you who came by last week to link up to our Year in Review Party! Some wonderful Top Tens were out there and some great Reviews of the Year. (If you were like me I couldn't find a lot of DIY projects from last year that were notable, so I did a few, and then my top visited posts) I could only highlight a few of all your great links, so, take a peek for some beautiful inspiration, DIY, and decor. 


Faded Charm
Top Ten Posts



Top 5 Roundup





Top Ten Posts



Beautiful Things



from The Cowboy's Daughter/Winter Journal


thanks so much gals!


Party Guidelines


  • Please have an individual link back to Common Ground within your post. I'd love to feature you. This is just part of the Party Etiquette.
  • Please remember to turn off word verification. I've tried leaving comments that didn't go through. I'm sure others have tried also.
  • Please no direct links to Etsy or Advertising.
  • Link up to three of your current posts.
  • Take a minute to visit a few of the other links.
  • Please be a follower of Common Ground.
  • Thank you to all of you who come over each week to link up to the party, I may not get to leave a comment, but I try to visit each of your posts. You are a never ending source of inspiration to me and others, so just know how much I appreciate each one of you!





    Meet our New Sponsor
    where you'll find some beautiful china,
     treasures, collectibles, and all things "Tea".
    Use code "commonground" for 10% off at checkout.




    Wednesday, January 8, 2014

    Monogram

    Last year I bought these wonderful wooden monogrammed letters for my sis and the girls for Christmas. They turned out so pretty; all scrolly and interesting. They loved them, but I didn't order one for myself because our initials are sort of boring... D-O-D (could be worse, it could be DUD). But after seeing so many people use these in different ways last year, I decided I'd have to go ahead.




    I haven't been able to decorate or change things up after putting away the Christmas decor since everything is on it's way into a box. But I did have a sunny day because of all the blinding white stuff that's outside...that made for a great photo shoot day. I had to take a picture of something...



    So I put together a little New Year vignette on the Hallway Sideboard. I don't know if I'll have room for this piece at the new "little house". My "vignette" days may be severely hampered.



    But one thing I know for sure is all my sheep and lambies will be grazing around 
    and that my scrolly chalkboard will be leaning against a wall somewhere.



    We're supposed to get the keys on Friday. We've had so much crumby weather that we're hoping that the cleanup and painting has been done over there; if not we'll have to wait. But we're praying for better weather, so we're hoping it all goes as scheduled.

    Just thought I'd throw in a few pics from last year this time...
























    I've decided that I have way too much stuff stored in my office. I've had to go through and decide what is necessary and what is not. It's ridiculous. It's a good thing this move will be in stages, since I'm not making much headway. I told my husband that if I didn't finish this up soon that he had my permission to turn me in to Hoarders Anonymous. OK, back to work...

    I'll be joining in on these fabulouso parties this week:

    Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
    Inspiration Gallery at City Farmhouse
    Blissful Whites at Timewashed
    DIY By Design
    House Party at No Minimalist Here
    Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush
    Fab Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo
    Shabby Art Boutique

    xoxo,

    Tuesday, January 7, 2014

    The Marketplace

    Welcome to The Marketplace


    I think most of us have been hit by this major cold and snowstorm. We've had about 6-8 inches which is nothing compared to a lot of you a little further north. So now that the Christmas decor is down and put away it's time to do some shopping! Yesterday between packing, I visited your links and was thrilled to see so many wonderful items listed and some sales. We're getting back to some great antiques and vintage items now that the Holidays are over. Here are a few that made me think of Spring, ahhhhh.....


    Vintage Watering Can
    Fresh Eggs Antiques





    The Zoe Bird




    The Gift Garden Shoppe






    Gizmo and HooHa





    Sew a Fine Seam


    Thanks to all of you who come by to join in and do some browsing!


    Party Guidelines:

    This is a linky party that is for items that are FOR SALE only. You don't have to have a blog to link up. If you have a blog post about your items that's great too, but they need to be available to purchase. Please try to link to the individual item that you are selling if possible. Please be a follower of Common Ground and if you have a blog it would be so nice for you to grab the image below to share somewhere on your blog. (not mandatory, just nice). Remember the link is up all week, so please stop back by to check out new items being listed.





    IF YOU LOVE SHABBY COTTAGE CHIC 
    THEN YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.
    SALE - Take $25% off, use coupon code "AWESOME" at checkout.
     $15.00 minimum purchase.





    Time to link up,
    and if you missed last week's Marketplace,
     then you can check it out HERE.



    Sunday, January 5, 2014

    New House Living Room Inspiration Board


    Last night I needed a diversion from packing. Can I admit I'm already tired of it and I've only scratched the surface? I've spent most of this week in my office/studio trying to make some sense out of all the crap,  junk, supplies, treasures,  stuff that I have. I may not be at my all time "best" through this move. It's a good thing my husband is patient and longsuffering... 

    So I hopped on Polyvore once he went to bed and thought I'd put together an inspiration board for the Living Room. Our "soon-to-be" house is small, folks, so nothing is going over there that isn't functional and doubles as storage. Let's just say that most of my furniture and fun stuff is destined for a very large storage unit.



    The new little house has a lot of  "wood", in the form of cabinets, woodwork, trim, etc. not my favorite "white". So I'm having to go with a more masculine vibe. Maybe I can translate that into a little of my favorite, "English Country". I can't paint the walls or anything else, and frankly we'll probably only be there a year, so I'm not going to totally "decorate", but I have to feel like I have a "home". (we'll just be leasing until our house sells, then buy something permanent or build) So hubbs and I came up with a plan and we pooled our pocket change and bought a Chesterfield Sofa and Loveseat. Believe me, there is some great looking furniture out there that doesn't break the bank, and I was determined I'd find it.




    So we purchased the sofa and loveseat and a couple of new lamps in a bronze tone with linen shades. I have to decide what I'm going to sell, but for now I'm justifying this purchase because all the downstairs furniture will likely be sold. (And it was our anniversary present to ourselves.) I was secretly wanting to do something different downstairs anyway, so please... be careful what you wish for.





    These examples of furniture from Polyvore are just representative of what we're using. I have an old cedar chest that had a horrible finish that I painted a Country Gray, which I'm going to use as a coffee table. It's pretty rustic and not at all what you'd find in my current living room, but hey, I'm making the most of this and using or repurposing what I have. 





    I have a beautiful black area rug that hopefully will work
     under the coffee table/trunk. If not I have my taupe-y one.




    Then, I'm hoping to use some stacked suitcases and a few decorative tole trays and wooden boxes for end tables. I also have a really wonderful very old school desk from Atlanta that's like a tea table. It's been hidden downstairs the whole time we've lived here; I think that will work with a lamp for an end table.








    Hubbs has a great leather recliner that we'll use 
    and I have another chair that hopefully will fit.





    I love me some leopard/cheetah print so I'm going to try to find some throw pillows, cause the pillows that came with the loveseat and sofa are not what I'm going for. 





    Love that chair above, but like I said, just "representative" of what I'll be using, something that I already have. How many of you bought the "required" massive entertainment center when big screen tvs first came out? Oh yeah, we bought a doozy, but it's still pretty, and we have one large wall that needs to be filled, plus we need the storage, so we'll be using that puppy.








    Every time I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and try to remember why we're doing this. Let's see...do I remember why? Oh yeah, we're downsizing so we'll be ready for retirement and whatever else that might bring. Actually, this house is adorable, and I'm super grateful that we found it. It will be perfect for us, I just need to get used to this downsizing business. 


    you get the idea?


    Hope you're having a great weekend, 


    xoxo,



    and 




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