Home & Garden

Joyeux Noel Bleu

It's the most wonderful time of the year! There's something so magical about Christmas decor! Our house goes from 'normal' to sparkling, with twinkle lights, blingy trees and piles of beautiful gifts!

I have had a Christmas Pinterest board for several years and when the holidays are nearing, I begin to look through it again for inspiration. Our house was all French Country reds and golds a few years ago and it was easy to decorate for Christmas.

When I redecorated a few years ago and went to blues, I gave away all my red things and began to figure how to do a 'Blue Christmas.'  So I thought it would be fun to share with you all the ways I have found to have a blue French Country Christmas.


Charles Faudree-Traditional Home
This beautiful room was featured in Traditional Home many years ago. I had the magazine and stared and stared at this photo. I love the mix of rustic, tapestries and fresh blue and white and the tree is filled with vintage ornaments, including some reds and golds. Mr. Faudree was probably the start of my love for French Country. I'm sure he was for many others, too!

You know I love blue and white and it's so fresh and lovely in the winter with Christmas greenery. And I love paper whites and white amaryllis. My mom used to force them at the holidays and I always thought they were so wonderful and smelled so good.

I forced some paper whites several years ago and was so proud when I had a beautiful bunch growing. Then my guys started pursing up their faces whenever they walked past them and asking, "What stinks?!" Ha! So I haven't gotten any since then. Fortunately, the amaryllis don't smell.
House Trends Magazine
 This blue and white breakfast room is so pretty with the yellow toile walls and the red ribbons.
Charles Faudree
This entry has red mixed with blue and white all year round. This another picture that I have loved over the years. I may have to add some red to my home again in the future - at least at the holidays.
Traditional Home
 Isn't this topiary wonderful?! It looks like gold pears. I love this!
Traditional Home
It goes so beautifully with the blue and white toile. And I love the mix of fabrics on the chairs!
My French Country Home
 Sharon Santoni's blog and home is always so beautiful and inspirational!

Traditional Home
This room was also featured in Traditional Home. Even though this chair is actually purple, it initially looked blue to me, and I immediately started shopping for deep blue chairs! So beautiful!


These two dining rooms are so similar and both are so beautifully filled with fresh greenery and over the top bling! The gold ribbons are beautiful!
Amy Chalmers
 Amy Chalmers does blue so beautifully!  I love her blog Maison Decor and find lots of ideas there!
Veranda

Ballard


Traditional Home
I included photo credit everywhere I could find it. Please let me know if you know where a picture came from that I did not credit. I'll be back this week with more of our rooms all decorated for Christmas.

I hope you'll have a beautiful, blue Christmas~but only in your decor!

love and blessings~
 "So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Dining Room

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season and are getting all your shopping done!. We try to keep Christmas simple but there are eleven of us, so when eleven people buy eleven people gifts, it piles up!

I'm slow at shopping and a slow Christmas decorator. I never start until the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of shopping on that day, I have my guys get all the Christmas boxes down from the attic and start at it. I only bought a couple of new things this year. I mostly just like to try putting the old things in new places. 

Our main floor is all open and our dining room is between our family room and our living room. It's also open to the kitchen. We love the open floor plan and it's especially nice at the holidays when we're all together..

My husband made our dining room table several years ago and we love it! He made it out of $125 worth of 'white wood' and it's still perfect. I did the sanding and staining. We add a smaller table to it on the holidays so that we can all sit together.
My favorite thing at Christmas is the trees. I've had as many as four decorated before but I gave one to our daughter a few years ago. The last few years, I've had this one in the dining room.
This year I decorated it in blue and gold to go with the toile and ticking in here and the living room.


I love this sleigh from Hobby Lobby. I got it last year and it's perfect as a centerpiece for our table.

I recently painted our china cabinet a soft blue. I also lightened the deeper blue that I had on the back inside the cabinet.

My parents were stationed in Germany when I was born and when they returned to the States, they brought back lots of treasures. One of them is this beautiful set of De Haviland china.




This china has been put away in the bottom of our other china cabinet and after I painted this blue, I brought it out to display it. I love the softness and dimension it adds to this area.




I know the holidays are hard for some who are missing loved ones. We have lost family members too and miss them even more this time of year. I'm praying that God brings comfort to you and happy memories of your times together.

love and blessings~

"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child." Luke 2:4-5

I'm joining these parties:
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Dining Room

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season and are getting all your shopping done!. We try to keep Christmas simple but there are eleven of us, so when eleven people buy eleven people gifts, it piles up!

I'm slow at shopping and a slow Christmas decorator. I never start until the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of shopping on that day, I have my guys get all the Christmas boxes down from the attic and start at it. I only bought a couple of new things this year. I mostly just like to try putting the old things in new places. 

Our main floor is all open and our dining room is between our family room and our living room. It's also open to the kitchen. We love the open floor plan and it's especially nice at the holidays when we're all together..

My husband made our dining room table several years ago and we love it! He made it out of $125 worth of 'white wood' and it's still perfect. I did the sanding and staining. We add a smaller table to it on the holidays so that we can all sit together.
My favorite thing at Christmas is the trees. I've had as many as four decorated before but I gave one to our daughter a few years ago. The last few years, I've had this one in the dining room.
This year I decorated it in blue and gold to go with the toile and ticking in here and the living room.


I love this sleigh from Hobby Lobby. I got it last year and it's perfect as a centerpiece for our table.

I recently painted our china cabinet a soft blue. I also lightened the deeper blue that I had on the back inside the cabinet.

My parents were stationed in Germany when I was born and when they returned to the States, they brought back lots of treasures. One of them is this beautiful set of De Haviland china.




This china has been put away in the bottom of our other china cabinet and after I painted this blue, I brought it out to display it. I love the softness and dimension it adds to this area.




I know the holidays are hard for some who are missing loved ones. We have lost family members too and miss them even more this time of year. I'm praying that God brings comfort to you and happy memories of your times together.

love and blessings~

"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child." Luke 2:4-5

I'm joining these parties:
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Dining Room

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season and are getting all your shopping done!. We try to keep Christmas simple but there are eleven of us, so when eleven people buy eleven people gifts, it piles up!

I'm slow at shopping and a slow Christmas decorator. I never start until the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of shopping on that day, I have my guys get all the Christmas boxes down from the attic and start at it. I only bought a couple of new things this year. I mostly just like to try putting the old things in new places. 

Our main floor is all open and our dining room is between our family room and our living room. It's also open to the kitchen. We love the open floor plan and it's especially nice at the holidays when we're all together..

My husband made our dining room table several years ago and we love it! He made it out of $125 worth of 'white wood' and it's still perfect. I did the sanding and staining. We add a smaller table to it on the holidays so that we can all sit together.
My favorite thing at Christmas is the trees. I've had as many as four decorated before but I gave one to our daughter a few years ago. The last few years, I've had this one in the dining room.
This year I decorated it in blue and gold to go with the toile and ticking in here and the living room.


I love this sleigh from Hobby Lobby. I got it last year and it's perfect as a centerpiece for our table.

I recently painted our china cabinet a soft blue. I also lightened the deeper blue that I had on the back inside the cabinet.

My parents were stationed in Germany when I was born and when they returned to the States, they brought back lots of treasures. One of them is this beautiful set of De Haviland china.




This china has been put away in the bottom of our other china cabinet and after I painted this blue, I brought it out to display it. I love the softness and dimension it adds to this area.




I know the holidays are hard for some who are missing loved ones. We have lost family members too and miss them even more this time of year. I'm praying that God brings comfort to you and happy memories of your times together.

love and blessings~

"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child." Luke 2:4-5

I'm joining these parties:
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Dining Room

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season and are getting all your shopping done!. We try to keep Christmas simple but there are eleven of us, so when eleven people buy eleven people gifts, it piles up!

I'm slow at shopping and a slow Christmas decorator. I never start until the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of shopping on that day, I have my guys get all the Christmas boxes down from the attic and start at it. I only bought a couple of new things this year. I mostly just like to try putting the old things in new places. 

Our main floor is all open and our dining room is between our family room and our living room. It's also open to the kitchen. We love the open floor plan and it's especially nice at the holidays when we're all together..

My husband made our dining room table several years ago and we love it! He made it out of $125 worth of 'white wood' and it's still perfect. I did the sanding and staining. We add a smaller table to it on the holidays so that we can all sit together.
My favorite thing at Christmas is the trees. I've had as many as four decorated before but I gave one to our daughter a few years ago. The last few years, I've had this one in the dining room.
This year I decorated it in blue and gold to go with the toile and ticking in here and the living room.


I love this sleigh from Hobby Lobby. I got it last year and it's perfect as a centerpiece for our table.

I recently painted our china cabinet a soft blue. I also lightened the deeper blue that I had on the back inside the cabinet.

My parents were stationed in Germany when I was born and when they returned to the States, they brought back lots of treasures. One of them is this beautiful set of De Haviland china.




This china has been put away in the bottom of our other china cabinet and after I painted this blue, I brought it out to display it. I love the softness and dimension it adds to this area.




I know the holidays are hard for some who are missing loved ones. We have lost family members too and miss them even more this time of year. I'm praying that God brings comfort to you and happy memories of your times together.

love and blessings~

"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child." Luke 2:4-5

I'm joining these parties:
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Family Room

Hi Friends!

I hope you're all having a joyous holiday season! Our family was all together on Thanksgiving and we'll all be together for Christmas. There's no sweeter blessing than that!

There are lots of changes around here since this summer, so I'll just be including them as I share each room decorated for Christmas.

Our family room is the room where we spend most of our leisure time. 

I recently found a new entertainment center/armoire on Craig's list. I was instantly in love with it but thought I was silly to get it - our old armoire was so nice. But when it was still there a few weeks later, I mentioned it to my husband, and we got it that same day - for $75!

It's much more my style than our old armoire.
I decked it out with bows of evergreen for the holiday.

I filled our sofa table, that my husband made, with glittery trees and deer.
Michigan gets a lot of snow during the winter, even though we haven't had much yet. I love to fill this room with fur and snuggle up on the couch on cold, blustery nights.
 This fur throw is from Pottery Barn.

 We've had this tree for several years now. I filled it with snow flakes and icycles.


I got these large fur pillows at HomeGoods.




I'll be back soon with more rooms, all decked out for Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

love and blessings~
"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city." Luke 2:1-3

all furniture - second hand
fur pillows - HomeGoods
fur throw - Pottery Barn
rug - HomeGoods
baskets - HomeGoods
pillows (Joy/Peace) Joss&Main
mirror - HomeGoods
candlesticks - HomeGoods

I'm joining these parties:
home-sweet-home-299
.impartinggrace
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
.stonegableblog
seekinglavenderlane
/handmade-hangout-132
RattlebridgeFarm
christmas-past-christmas-present

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Family Room

Hi Friends!

I hope you're all having a joyous holiday season! Our family was all together on Thanksgiving and we'll all be together for Christmas. There's no sweeter blessing than that!

There are lots of changes around here since this summer, so I'll just be including them as I share each room decorated for Christmas.

Our family room is the room where we spend most of our leisure time. 

I recently found a new entertainment center/armoire on Craig's list. I was instantly in love with it but thought I was silly to get it - our old armoire was so nice. But when it was still there a few weeks later, I mentioned it to my husband, and we got it that same day - for $75!

It's much more my style than our old armoire.
I decked it out with bows of evergreen for the holiday.

I filled our sofa table, that my husband made, with glittery trees and deer.
Michigan gets a lot of snow during the winter, even though we haven't had much yet. I love to fill this room with fur and snuggle up on the couch on cold, blustery nights.
 This fur throw is from Pottery Barn.

 We've had this tree for several years now. I filled it with snow flakes and icycles.


I got these large fur pillows at HomeGoods.




I'll be back soon with more rooms, all decked out for Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

love and blessings~
"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city." Luke 2:1-3

all furniture - second hand
fur pillows - HomeGoods
fur throw - Pottery Barn
rug - HomeGoods
baskets - HomeGoods
pillows (Joy/Peace) Joss&Main
mirror - HomeGoods
candlesticks - HomeGoods

I'm joining these parties:
home-sweet-home-299
.impartinggrace
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
.stonegableblog
seekinglavenderlane
/handmade-hangout-132
RattlebridgeFarm
christmas-past-christmas-present

Standard
Home & Garden

Christmas in the Family Room

Hi Friends!

I hope you're all having a joyous holiday season! Our family was all together on Thanksgiving and we'll all be together for Christmas. There's no sweeter blessing than that!

There are lots of changes around here since this summer, so I'll just be including them as I share each room decorated for Christmas.

Our family room is the room where we spend most of our leisure time. 

I recently found a new entertainment center/armoire on Craig's list. I was instantly in love with it but thought I was silly to get it - our old armoire was so nice. But when it was still there a few weeks later, I mentioned it to my husband, and we got it that same day - for $75!

It's much more my style than our old armoire.
I decked it out with bows of evergreen for the holiday.

I filled our sofa table, that my husband made, with glittery trees and deer.
Michigan gets a lot of snow during the winter, even though we haven't had much yet. I love to fill this room with fur and snuggle up on the couch on cold, blustery nights.
 This fur throw is from Pottery Barn.

 We've had this tree for several years now. I filled it with snow flakes and icycles.


I got these large fur pillows at HomeGoods.




I'll be back soon with more rooms, all decked out for Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

love and blessings~
"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city." Luke 2:1-3

all furniture - second hand
fur pillows - HomeGoods
fur throw - Pottery Barn
rug - HomeGoods
baskets - HomeGoods
pillows (Joy/Peace) Joss&Main
mirror - HomeGoods
candlesticks - HomeGoods

I'm joining these parties:
home-sweet-home-299
.impartinggrace
betweennapsontheporch
thededicatedhouse
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
.stonegableblog
seekinglavenderlane
/handmade-hangout-132
RattlebridgeFarm
christmas-past-christmas-present

Standard
Home & Garden

Our Master Bathroom

The day after my last post, the demo crew showed up and we began the process of remodeling our master bathroom. I'm sorry it has taken me SO long to share it with you!

We absolutely love it! It's girly and romantic and over-the-top and still - my husband loves it, too!

This is the first time that we've ever hired professionals to do the work for us. I had imagined a simple, quick process but we ran into some complications that slowed us down and forced us to make some changes.




The main one was a drain pipe placement that our plumber said that "in the 20+ years of his being a plumber, he had never seen anything like it!"  We were not able to figure out if our master bath was an addition after the house was built, or if it was a walk-in closet and half bath that was changed to a master bath, but whatever it was, it had resulted in this drain pipe being 6" out from the wall and 6" up off the floor.

Usually, it would be in the wall or floor but because of the ceiling of the family room, which runs along this wall, it could not be put there. (see the silver flashing at an angle in the wall?)

This is our bathroom before. You can see how the previous vanity and tub covered this pipe. This picture looks nice but things were definitely worn.

We had two choices: a) tear out about 20' of floor that runs under multiple closets and walls and lay a new drain pipe under the floor connecting to a 'normal' drain pipe in the adjacent bathroom, or b) build a new wall and platform,for the tub, to cover the existing drain pipe. *sigh*

Our new claw foot tub was already sitting in a crate in our garage but I still paused for about two weeks trying to decide what to do. I had envisioned a wide, open floor plan with our vanity and tub sitting in the room and I was very disappointed.

And this also meant that my husband would need to build a wall and platform and that everything would stop until this was done.

But that's what we did.
This is the view looking from our tub to the shower room.

So, a two week estimate turned into an eight week long job. We had to cancel our trip to Colorado and stay home and finish a bathroom. I share all this not to complain but in case you think you're the only one that has encountered obstacles when it comes to remodeling. I pretty much think it's the norm.

And it was well worth it!

Down a hallway, lined with closet doors, is our toilet/shower room. We used the same tile in our shower as the floors. It's a marble-looking porcelain set on a diagonal with a very small grout line. I loved this tile because although I could not get a very clear picture, there's also a faint gold edge to gray veining. The floor is a preset octagonal tile in a coordinating gray.

Our tile expert set the tile so that the vein was flowing vertically.  Our shower is double with a rain head on one side and a hand-shower on the other.
I designed the simple insert shelf and our tile layer carried it out beautifully!

Our bathroom ceiling is literally a hardwood floor product. It was a little dark and dated and I used SW Deer Valley, SW Chateau Brown, mixed with a little chalk paint additive and made the ceiling match our doors and woodwork in the rest of the house. Here's the before and after:
It softened the ceiling nicely, giving it the rustic wood feel that I love.  The chandelier in here is the same. I removed the crystals and then gave it a coat of antique white paint, then a coat of gold and silver.
I loved this picture from HobbyLobby. I wanted our bathroom filled with reminders of God's love and grace.

I have always loved the look of a claw foot slipper tub but didn't know if I would like the functionality. Without being too personal, I do! It's very comfortable and I love having the spray handle for rinsing. I'm a bath-person and it has fulfilled all my dreams! ha! And the platform, which I didn't plan, enables you to see out the window while bathing.
We still have a few things we'd like to do to. We'd like to replace all the closet doors that line the hall between the vanity and the shower room and there are two light fixtures in that area that we plan on replacing. We'll do those things eventually.

But for now, we are happy and so blessed!

love and blessings~


"Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7


vanity:- Amazon 
faucets - Joss & Main
mirrors - Amazon
wall sconce - Overstock
slipper tub - Menard's
floor and shower tile - Carpet Gallery
shower door - Menard's
shower faucets - Lowe's
towel racks and accessories - Amazon
toothbrush holders and vanity accessories - HomeGoods
tub rack - Joss & Main
tub accessories - HomeGoods
rug -HomeGoods
antique chair - bought from a friend
floor candlesticks - Furniture City Consignment
all wall art - HobbyLobby
curtains - I made them from Bluestone polyester Warehousefabrics

I'm joining these parties:
impartinggrace



Standard
Home & Garden

Our Master Bathroom

The day after my last post, the demo crew showed up and we began the process of remodeling our master bathroom. I'm sorry it has taken me SO long to share it with you!

We absolutely love it! It's girly and romantic and over-the-top and still - my husband loves it, too!

This is the first time that we've ever hired professionals to do the work for us. I had imagined a simple, quick process but we ran into some complications that slowed us down and forced us to make some changes.




The main one was a drain pipe placement that our plumber said that "in the 20+ years of his being a plumber, he had never seen anything like it!"  We were not able to figure out if our master bath was an addition after the house was built, or if it was a walk-in closet and half bath that was changed to a master bath, but whatever it was, it had resulted in this drain pipe being 6" out from the wall and 6" up off the floor.

Usually, it would be in the wall or floor but because of the ceiling of the family room, which runs along this wall, it could not be put there. (see the silver flashing at an angle in the wall?)

This is our bathroom before. You can see how the previous vanity and tub covered this pipe. This picture looks nice but things were definitely worn.

We had two choices: a) tear out about 20' of floor that runs under multiple closets and walls and lay a new drain pipe under the floor connecting to a 'normal' drain pipe in the adjacent bathroom, or b) build a new wall and platform,for the tub, to cover the existing drain pipe. *sigh*

Our new claw foot tub was already sitting in a crate in our garage but I still paused for about two weeks trying to decide what to do. I had envisioned a wide, open floor plan with our vanity and tub sitting in the room and I was very disappointed.

And this also meant that my husband would need to build a wall and platform and that everything would stop until this was done.

But that's what we did.
This is the view looking from our tub to the shower room.

So, a two week estimate turned into an eight week long job. We had to cancel our trip to Colorado and stay home and finish a bathroom. I share all this not to complain but in case you think you're the only one that has encountered obstacles when it comes to remodeling. I pretty much think it's the norm.

And it was well worth it!

Down a hallway, lined with closet doors, is our toilet/shower room. We used the same tile in our shower as the floors. It's a marble-looking porcelain set on a diagonal with a very small grout line. I loved this tile because although I could not get a very clear picture, there's also a faint gold edge to gray veining. The floor is a preset octagonal tile in a coordinating gray.

Our tile expert set the tile so that the vein was flowing vertically.  Our shower is double with a rain head on one side and a hand-shower on the other.
I designed the simple insert shelf and our tile layer carried it out beautifully!

Our bathroom ceiling is literally a hardwood floor product. It was a little dark and dated and I used SW Deer Valley, SW Chateau Brown, mixed with a little chalk paint additive and made the ceiling match our doors and woodwork in the rest of the house. Here's the before and after:
It softened the ceiling nicely, giving it the rustic wood feel that I love.  The chandelier in here is the same. I removed the crystals and then gave it a coat of antique white paint, then a coat of gold and silver.
I loved this picture from HobbyLobby. I wanted our bathroom filled with reminders of God's love and grace.

I have always loved the look of a claw foot slipper tub but didn't know if I would like the functionality. Without being too personal, I do! It's very comfortable and I love having the spray handle for rinsing. I'm a bath-person and it has fulfilled all my dreams! ha! And the platform, which I didn't plan, enables you to see out the window while bathing.
We still have a few things we'd like to do to. We'd like to replace all the closet doors that line the hall between the vanity and the shower room and there are two light fixtures in that area that we plan on replacing. We'll do those things eventually.

But for now, we are happy and so blessed!

love and blessings~


"Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7


vanity:- Amazon 
faucets - Joss & Main
mirrors - Amazon
wall sconce - Overstock
slipper tub - Menard's
floor and shower tile - Carpet Gallery
shower door - Menard's
shower faucets - Lowe's
towel racks and accessories - Amazon
toothbrush holders and vanity accessories - HomeGoods
tub rack - Joss & Main
tub accessories - HomeGoods
rug -HomeGoods
antique chair - bought from a friend
floor candlesticks - Furniture City Consignment
all wall art - HobbyLobby
curtains - I made them from Bluestone polyester Warehousefabrics

I'm joining these parties:
impartinggrace



Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Guest Room

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

We are in the midst of a master bathroom remodel and are being held up by plumbing issues. Everything is torn out - shower, toilet, tub, vanity, carpet and tile floor - and we are waiting on a plumber. I've taken lots of (ugly) pictures and will share them with you as we get closer to the end.

In the meantime, our guest room is now filled with the overflow from our bathroom. I didn't get all the pictures I would have like to have gotten and now I can't.  But, this is how it looked the day of the photo shoot with Romantic Homes.

Most things in here are the same. I had been on the hunt for a night stand for the left of the bed. I've had this sewing machine table for a long time. I moved it from another room and painted it white. It's a perfect fit and a great height.
Because our house will most likely be published in a Spring issue, I added some faux Spring boughs to the night stand and left all the Spring florals.


I didn't get any pictures of the other side of the room but you can see that we added a chair from the living room because I don't have a good chair for in here right now. You can also glimpse the corner of my desk that's opposite the bed in the photo below. There's a built in shelf above the closet door that runs that length of the room that I've  filled with treasures. Kristen is looking at everything in this photo.
 This chandelier was a garage sale find that I painted with chalk paint and added crystals to.
 I whipped up another pillow to sit on this chair.
The prints on this side of the room are the same.
These lamps were black when I purchased them. I spray painted them an antique white and added crystals. 
They tie-in nicely with the chandelier.  These are the plates you can see sitting on corbels on either side of the window.
It was a lot of fun watching Kristen get into position for 'the shot.' 
The last time I showed you this room there was this sweet baby on the bed.  This sweet baby turned one last week!
Happy birthday, Lucas!
And our Rhynn turned four!
We are so blessed!  Here we are at the double birthday celebration on my daughter's deck. 
Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours!
Me, my husband, grandson Lucas, daughter Laura, grandson Levi, son Matt, granddaughter Rhynn, son Mark, my mom, SIL Ryan
love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Guest Room

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

We are in the midst of a master bathroom remodel and are being held up by plumbing issues. Everything is torn out - shower, toilet, tub, vanity, carpet and tile floor - and we are waiting on a plumber. I've taken lots of (ugly) pictures and will share them with you as we get closer to the end.

In the meantime, our guest room is now filled with the overflow from our bathroom. I didn't get all the pictures I would have like to have gotten and now I can't.  But, this is how it looked the day of the photo shoot with Romantic Homes.

Most things in here are the same. I had been on the hunt for a night stand for the left of the bed. I've had this sewing machine table for a long time. I moved it from another room and painted it white. It's a perfect fit and a great height.
Because our house will most likely be published in a Spring issue, I added some faux Spring boughs to the night stand and left all the Spring florals.


I didn't get any pictures of the other side of the room but you can see that we added a chair from the living room because I don't have a good chair for in here right now. You can also glimpse the corner of my desk that's opposite the bed in the photo below. There's a built in shelf above the closet door that runs that length of the room that I've  filled with treasures. Kristen is looking at everything in this photo.
 This chandelier was a garage sale find that I painted with chalk paint and added crystals to.
 I whipped up another pillow to sit on this chair.
The prints on this side of the room are the same.
These lamps were black when I purchased them. I spray painted them an antique white and added crystals. 
They tie-in nicely with the chandelier.  These are the plates you can see sitting on corbels on either side of the window.
It was a lot of fun watching Kristen get into position for 'the shot.' 
The last time I showed you this room there was this sweet baby on the bed.  This sweet baby turned one last week!
Happy birthday, Lucas!
And our Rhynn turned four!
We are so blessed!  Here we are at the double birthday celebration on my daughter's deck. 
Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours!
Me, my husband, grandson Lucas, daughter Laura, grandson Levi, son Matt, granddaughter Rhynn, son Mark, my mom, SIL Ryan
love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Family Room Tweaks

Our family room got a few 'tweaks' getting ready for the photo shoot with Romantic Homes. When Staci Dumoski, the editor at Romantic Homes, requested that the slip covered ottoman be in the living room, that meant that I had an extra coffee table. I thought that our new table was more 'romantic' than our industrial cart, so I moved it into the family room and put our cart in the basement.
My daughter's always my most observant and honest critic. She said, "I don't know, Dad. This coffee table looks so good in here that I bet the cart doesn't make it back in here!"  (I think she might be right!)  It's surprising how much this small change brightened the room. I'm glad I left the top of the table the original wood tone. It flows well with the other wood in this room.

I had also been thinking about painting the mirror above the fireplace for a while. I reasoned I could always paint it back if I didn't like it but I'm loving it blue! I used a couple of shades of blue chalk paint that I mixed myself and a gold glaze mix on the details. Then I used a chalk paint antiquing wax in the corners.
I love fabric. One of the things that always gets me redecorating is finding a new fabric that I love. I found this linen stripe at warehousefabrics.com and made several pillows out of it. The photos of our house are planned for a Spring 2017 issue of Romantic Homes so I used pastel accents in every room.

My peonies were all gone by the time of the photo shoot. A sweet friend showed up at my door in the morning with all the peonies that were left on her bushes! I combined them with hydrangeas I had gotten at the store for this bouquet on the coffee table.

Behind the couch, I put some faux Spring branches mixed with bird cages and gold candlesticks.
My mercury glass lamps are a constant because we use them in the evenings.

I added some matching gold and mercury glass candlesticks to the mantel.
I moved my one fireplace screen in here for the shoot. I took these pictures before Kristen got here.


I hope you're having a wonderful summer! This is our last week of our grandson's teeball games, my son goes back to Boston tomorrow and our bathroom demo starts on Wednesday.

I'll be back soon with our guest room that I haven't shown you in a while.

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12


I'm joining these linky parties"

Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Family Room Tweaks

Our family room got a few 'tweaks' getting ready for the photo shoot with Romantic Homes. When Staci Dumoski, the editor at Romantic Homes, requested that the slip covered ottoman be in the living room, that meant that I had an extra coffee table. I thought that our new table was more 'romantic' than our industrial cart, so I moved it into the family room and put our cart in the basement.
My daughter's always my most observant and honest critic. She said, "I don't know, Dad. This coffee table looks so good in here that I bet the cart doesn't make it back in here!"  (I think she might be right!)  It's surprising how much this small change brightened the room. I'm glad I left the top of the table the original wood tone. It flows well with the other wood in this room.

I had also been thinking about painting the mirror above the fireplace for a while. I reasoned I could always paint it back if I didn't like it but I'm loving it blue! I used a couple of shades of blue chalk paint that I mixed myself and a gold glaze mix on the details. Then I used a chalk paint antiquing wax in the corners.
I love fabric. One of the things that always gets me redecorating is finding a new fabric that I love. I found this linen stripe at warehousefabrics.com and made several pillows out of it. The photos of our house are planned for a Spring 2017 issue of Romantic Homes so I used pastel accents in every room.

My peonies were all gone by the time of the photo shoot. A sweet friend showed up at my door in the morning with all the peonies that were left on her bushes! I combined them with hydrangeas I had gotten at the store for this bouquet on the coffee table.

Behind the couch, I put some faux Spring branches mixed with bird cages and gold candlesticks.
My mercury glass lamps are a constant because we use them in the evenings.

I added some matching gold and mercury glass candlesticks to the mantel.
I moved my one fireplace screen in here for the shoot. I took these pictures before Kristen got here.


I hope you're having a wonderful summer! This is our last week of our grandson's teeball games, my son goes back to Boston tomorrow and our bathroom demo starts on Wednesday.

I'll be back soon with our guest room that I haven't shown you in a while.

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12


I'm joining these linky parties"

Standard