H o M e

did you know you can buy display props at anthropologie?  these antique marmalade jars made me jump for JoY when i saw them...i've been wanting one for years....i'm sure they hadn't been snapped up because people don't realize you can buy the props

they had to do some digging to find a skew no. for the little one...and then i bartered...ha!  they were busy, so the clerk said "oh, all right...but we never barter, just so you know"

and hobby lobby, how do i love thee?

hadn't been for months but popped in the other day and fell in love with Bessie here (or Buford)...with my 40% off coupon, she/he was a steal

i bought my mom a ceramic cow just like this one (only bigger) when i was 16...guess i've always loved my bovine

and these little anthro spice jars...on sale now for $2.95

i love all things ceramic...swoon

my husband has really outdone himself this christmas...

now, i must remember to tell my boys that when they are married someday, they should be the ones to shop, buy, and wrap their wives' gifts...our system is a bit unconventional but i love it

and my husband does too because he doesn't have to set foot in a store :)

christmas past

it's funny when i look at photos of our home

i realize i move things around a lot

and i move things on (to new homes with friends) a lot

it's how i've always been

just like my mom before me

party table, 2010

last friday i helped a friend by sprucing up her home (made a sitting area in her kitchen!) and decorated her home for Christmas (everything but the tree)

she is busy with work...aging parents...nearly grown kids

i was in absolute heaven...my sweet spot...i L O V E interior decorating

she arrived home from work and wa-la!

wish i could have been there to see her face...she sure was excited on the phone

as for Christmas...the decorating is okay

we have a smaller home so it all comes down quickly after the big day

this year the kids scattered after cutting down the tree

so my husband and i decorated our evergreen very simply with white and cream ornaments

i crave fresh...streamlined...clutter-free

like the simple beauty of these paperwhite flowers my friend Julie gives me every year

i love stuff

and i love simple

trying to find the balance

and the beauty

busy as a...

all's good

but my little wings sure are getting a workout

{did you know a honeybee flaps her little wings 230 times a second?!}

bees are pretty, from a distance


but i'm sure loving my own little bee of sorts right next to my settee!


her little price tag stung me with surprise...$29 for the whole lamp!


{i like bees alright, but i like tj maxx a whole lot better}


happy weekend...may your flying about bring you alongside people who remind you of big, beautiful flowers!

smile bring-ers

these two folks just make me smile

and than when i turn them around

they make me LAUGH!

sitting in my kitchen windowsill (when they're not posing for the camera)...

i feel badly that my neighbors have to see their angry faces through the glass...

but THAT makes me smile because they probably wonder

what in the world?!

and mr. owl

he sees things others can't...that makes him wIsE

he is my early valentine's gift from my husband...

i had to have him now...because i couldn't get him out of my mind

once i saw him perched on his anthropologie branch

winter is fun {for awhile}

but i've already pulled out my faux tulip bundle (which no one believes is faux)

and my faux hydrangea (another dead ringer)

and my little ceramic friends

SmiLeS...BIG ones...

bring beautiful, warm, sunshine to my heart

owl photo: anthropologie

simplifying

$3 wooden barn crate...perfect for organizing presents!

free stool and minno canteen...perfect stage for a little greenery and frosted house

estate sale finds...displayed just as they are {what charm those boxes have!}


pretty simple decorating around here this year


how about you?

evening soiree

tonight we host my in-laws and their friends

they swing by for a little dinner party before taking in an annual Christmas concert at the university

this year's theme is "remember"

i've tucked fresh rosemary in antique mustache cups

antique clocks and watch faces nestle in amidst candles

this group has lost some people over the years...but we will remember them

after all, rosemary is for remembrance

and we will remember a baby's birth, too

because with our remembering, the baby brings us 

HOPE, PEACE...JOY

there's rosemary for remembrance; pray, love, remember...

-william shakespeare

the afters (plus 1 before)

all but one wall {in desperate need of repair} have been painted

calm...serene...simple...warm

me!

{actually i'm not all that calm or simple, but i love the look}

busybusyBEFOREdidisaybusy?

mrs. dunbar requested a before and after so i was forced to include at least one before shot

oh, how i love this print from Teresa Sheeley

we nabbed 4 of these wooden trim pieces from a house being demolished

{at least 10 years ago}

i LOVE them up there!

can i just take a bow now?

i pounded a hole in a cork and shoved it over the nail

brilliant.  if i do say so myself. {grin}

love these 1-4 plates on the soffit over my sink

{what a funny word soffit is!}

tucked this keep calm sign in an out of the way place...

so as i'm cooking i can glance up and be reminded to carry on

now i need to carry on in the dining room...

so many treasures...

{patty, do you see my little sign on the bench in the lower left corner?}

so little space to display them all!

25 teenagers coming over tonight so i better get off this computer and start putting away and cleaning up

happy wednesday everyone...hope it's a sunny day wherever you are

xoxo

scrape, scrape, peel...

so i've been taking down wallpaper

forever

really.  for me? forever.  both my husband and i usually tackle jobs with a gusto...get-r-done mentality

but wallpaper...not so much

if i've said it once during the past few weeks, i've said it a thousand times

"i.will.never.wallpaper.again."

i tried paying my children to finish the scrape, scrape, peel

no takers...the huck finn strategy {"it's fun!"} didn't work

so as of 8:30 last night

no.more.wallpaper

dining room is finished and accessorized

today, the kitchen gets painted after sanding the spackle

i used to be a "let's fix her up!" kinda gal

but not so much anymore

wallpaper will do that to you

crate love

so i went to a barn sale a few weeks ago and bought something i've been wanting for a few years...

i almost bought one at an antique store a few years back for $40 but didn't

so when i saw this cHicKen cRaTe i started clucking

then i nearly fainted when the farmer said 

"ohhhhh, i dunno...10 or 20 dollars?"

music to my ears!

so i hauled this little crate {$10} over to my van and nestled it in beside my {$30} antique white wicker chaise lounge (i know!)

i cleaned and bleached (and cleaned some more)

then i attached some wheels and wa-la...

a brand new {old} chicken crate coffee table

makes me wanna do the chicken dance

home

i know a chair is just a chair...

but a pretty chair {or settee}...

sure does add to the beauty

{antique settee: $50, reupholstery: $50}

the "before" shot

a friend did some magic on this antique settee i found at a garage sale

{sorry no good before pic}

it's been missing since july

but, boy, was it worth the wait!

reveal later today...run, run, run for now

xoxo

once upon a time...

there lived a pretty picture in the girl's basement


she loved it once, but not so much anymore


then she had the idea (blogdom inspires once again) to spray paint over the picture with chalkboard spray paint


{GASP}


and so...tentatively...she.............did!




and she bought some fancy starbucks-style chalk markers with her michael's coupon


and wa-la!


the girl was happy


and wonders what else could use a nice new coat


of chalkboard spray paint

walking on the wild side

{wild [wahyld]: living in a state of nature; amazing or incredible}


i've worked up to this wild rug...


but i'll have to share about that later


it's monday mornin...time to hop on a new week and hold on tight!

tree decorating

I don't like things that can be reproduced. Wood isn't important in itself but rather in the fact that objects made in it are unique, simple, unpretentious.
Georg Baselitz


steps in the mountain-top cabin we rented a few weeks ago...


breathtaking in their simplistic beauty


i can't tell if it's the swedish influence in decorating these days...


or my age...


or the harried pace of my life...


but i'm really loving 


simple. organic. clean. calm.


b e a u t y

happy house

almost everything in my house makes my heart happy


{i love the people most}


i know i'm not supposed to love things...


but i'm wired so that when my eyes fall on something i think beautiful, i just want to whistle a happy tune!



how could i frown when i gaze upon little (mr.) bo peep here?


and have i told you how i love to blast "happy music" through my house?


it's a beautiful life...la, la, la, la...it's a beautiful time to be here!



when i saw this cute equestrian and his friend at the Country Living Fair, well...i just knew they needed to come home with me...


cuz even turning on lights can bring a smile!


happy colors...textures...shiny...matte...wood....glass...ironstone...


makes me wanna sing...


it's a beautiful world!

metamorphosis

what happens when you really want a long, narrow farmhouse table to fill up your den,
but you don't have the big, fat pile of money to pay for it?

but, of course!

you lug your mom's old {heavy} wooden table top inside on a winter day

{poor thing has been living in the garage all these years}

and you clean and shine it...

and take a porch table from outside and remove the glass top

and call your neighbor to come help you lift the big wooden table top

but your neighbor isn't home, so you rig up a lever system

{and call yourself brilliant when it works}

and you carefully scooch the new invention into the corner

and you shop your house to accessorize the top...

ta-da -- you get a new table for your den!

and what makes your afternoon even more fun?

your bloggy friend {with exquisite taste} Ruth does the redesign with you

via photos and email!

who knew such a beat up caterpiller could turn into such an interesting butterfly?

my decorating-artsy-move-furniture-around mama would be so proud

ps--don't know what's up with my picture sizes! wow, do I need a fairy godmother for my blog!

The Trashman Cometh

Avert your gaze from the tree on its side, the tubs brought up from the basement, the magical lights unplugged.

It's the day after. Time for clutter-free and clear. Simple and snappy. Resting places about the house for the eye. Breathing space. (A minature kitchen tree fell down 2 days ago and it took everything I had not to banish it to the basement right then and there.)

Goodbye Christmas 2009. You were as meaningful as always. Truly.

Time to apologize to the neighbors who hate to look out their front windows today...because their eyes can't help but see our much loved evergreen laying helplessly at the curb. (We've cared for it since Thanksgiving weekend, for heaven's sake!)

I'm sorry it has to be like this. Every year.

But I need my sanity. I need clean, crisp and bright in our home to battle the grays of all the days ahead. No more dark reds and greens. In with the creams and whites!

Bows in their boxes and memories tucked away in my heart. And when I see tulips at the grocery store, they're going in my cart, lickety split!

check out the beauty

Finally, I have a little time to give you a proper introduction to my new blogging friend, Ruth! Ruth is the proprietress of "The Beautiful Life, Inc." -- a vintage funk (with a French/Danish twist) online shop. Oh, the eye candy!

I don't remember how I found Ruth's blog, but I'm so glad I did!

If all of us were sitting across from each other over coffee, I would go on and on about "The Beautiful Life" -- after all, when I find something wonderful I shout it from the mountaintops.

I would show you the beautiful Danish magazine/book I bought from Ruth...
(and if we were eating, say, cheetos with our coffee, I would make you wash your hands before touching it)

And I would show you the amazing Paris stamps I received from "The Beautiful Life".

But, since we're not sitting at my kitchen table, here are the TOP 10 REASONS I love Ruth and her "Beautiful Life"....

10. I adore anything pretty and Ruth knows pretty.

9. I love things from our home that are out of the ordinary ("Beautiful Life" = unique)

8. Next to "customer service" in the dictionary is Ruth's photo.

7. Ruth picks out the best music! Sometimes I park myself at her blog and crank up the volume while I work around the house (these 2 new songs are Ruth's picks).

6. "Elegant essentials and sensible luxuries" - what a tagline.

5. Although I hate math, Ruth has the most fabulous number pillows!

4. Ruth loves her family. A whole lot.

3. Ruth doesn't post everyday (which tells me she has her priorities straight).

2. Ruth is as warm and friendly "in person" (ok, so we only chatted on the phone!) as she is on her blog. This is really important to me!

1. Ruth knows what true beauty is.

Life is beautiful!

And so is Ruth. So head on over and say hello!

Groovin'

One of my favorite places to be is anywhere near an antique shop or flea market, in our alley before trash day, or rummaging through someone's junk before they have a garage sale.

Last week, our neighbor's daughters let me go through 60 boxes in the basement, give them a fair price for any treasures I wanted, and take them to their new home next door.

This typewriter called me over before I had hardly walked in the door.

The daughters laughed when I asked if I could take the old wooden rulers. "oh, we were gonna pitch those..." (me = GASP!)

Oh, can I just tell you I have wanted one of these for YEARS?

I even ordered a new set of McGuffey Readers from Amazon, but sent them back because they were just too new looking.

I nearly swooned when I found it at the bottom of a box of old books.

And my neighbor wrote her name in the front, in 3rd grade style, in CRAYON!

(She was born in 1917!)

Tick-tock, beat the clock. I cut off the bad cord and wa-la! it's always morning now -- my favorite time of day! (but if you like nighttime, then it's 8 PM for you!)

Bowling anyone? How cute are these old bowling pins and balls?

If I had to name my house, I would call it...

The Sentimental Home: where everything tells a story.

What would your home be called?