Tag Archives: Our Home

Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Kitchen Island

Happy Monday! Spring has finally come to Michigan and we had a wonderful weekend helping our daughter and son in law pick out some new flowering bushes for their yard and get them planted. 

I'm also adding lots of Spring to our house these days! I have always loved florals and I've been getting some old favorites out and adding them back into our decor.

Our kitchen island has always been a fun place to decorate. It's in the very center of our main floor and you can see it from the living room and dining room and even parts of it from the family room, so I like to change it with the seasons.

I got this beautiful bunch of alstroemeria at the grocery store this week. When I was looking up the spelling I saw that they're poisonous so maybe they're not the best choice for the kitchen! Ha!

I got this little chalk board at Tuesday Morning when we were in Auburn, AL. I managed to fit it in my suitcase and bring it back home! lol It was a little brighter turquoise than this when I bought it and I gave it a coat of SW Interesting Aqua.
It's perfect for a simple message or to help me remember what's important.
This part of our island is right above our sink. If you're like me, you spend a lot of time right here so it's nice to have things here you enjoy.
I got this set of canisters many years ago at HomeGoods.
Our island divides our kitchen, dining room and family room. It's shaped kind of like a 'Y.'
It's always a challenge to try and make the center of it look nice from all directions and I have to travel all around it to clean it. I can't reach the whole thing from one side.
I have always loved this area when we have holidays or family dinners. I can fill this whole counter with snacks and desserts and still have counter space to prepare a meal.

The little wet bar was intended for mixed drinks and there used to be an ice maker in this area. It didn't work when we bought the house and when we redid our kitchen, we took it out and built a niche in this area. This picture is a flash back to when I had this area painted brown. I am really liking the blue now.
We have added some fun changes to our living room lately. I'm adding some Spring to the decor and will be back soon to show you the room.

Have a wonderful day!
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 Kitchen Island

Happy Monday! Spring has finally come to Michigan and we had a wonderful weekend helping our daughter and son in law pick out some new flowering bushes for their yard and get them planted. 

I'm also adding lots of Spring to our house these days! I have always loved florals and I've been getting some old favorites out and adding them back into our decor.

Our kitchen island has always been a fun place to decorate. It's in the very center of our main floor and you can see it from the living room and dining room and even parts of it from the family room, so I like to change it with the seasons.

I got this beautiful bunch of alstroemeria at the grocery store this week. When I was looking up the spelling I saw that they're poisonous so maybe they're not the best choice for the kitchen! Ha!

I got this little chalk board at Tuesday Morning when we were in Auburn, AL. I managed to fit it in my suitcase and bring it back home! lol It was a little brighter turquoise than this when I bought it and I gave it a coat of SW Interesting Aqua.
It's perfect for a simple message or to help me remember what's important.
This part of our island is right above our sink. If you're like me, you spend a lot of time right here so it's nice to have things here you enjoy.
I got this set of canisters many years ago at HomeGoods.
Our island divides our kitchen, dining room and family room. It's shaped kind of like a 'Y.'
It's always a challenge to try and make the center of it look nice from all directions and I have to travel all around it to clean it. I can't reach the whole thing from one side.
I have always loved this area when we have holidays or family dinners. I can fill this whole counter with snacks and desserts and still have counter space to prepare a meal.

The little wet bar was intended for mixed drinks and there used to be an ice maker in this area. It didn't work when we bought the house and when we redid our kitchen, we took it out and built a niche in this area. This picture is a flash back to when I had this area painted brown. I am really liking the blue now.
We have added some fun changes to our living room lately. I'm adding some Spring to the decor and will be back soon to show you the room.

Have a wonderful day!
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

A Romantic French Kitchen

We put all new cabinet fronts on our kitchen almost two years ago. It was a major change and since our kitchen is open to our living room, dining area and family room, it has made such a big difference.

I started out a little too farmhouse but eventually found my way back to French Country. I've been adding a little romance to our kitchen lately with blue and white and some other accessories.

This framed canvas of roses is one of my favorite things.

It's been in our master bedroom but it was on the wall where our barn door opens so I've moved it to the kitchen.  An ivy planted in a little blue and white watering can and a small urn complete the vignette.
Our back splash is bead board. I hung a little frieze of angels above the stove that I've had forever.

I edited my Ode de Charles Faudree a bit by taking away a few plates and adding another corbel. (I thought it all looked really straight but I don't think it does in this picture!)
I also recently painted this small section of our island again. If you remember, it was Seal Brown by SW. Now it's SW Rain which is one of the colors I've used on our family room shutters. With our shutters in the dining room and living room being brown, I decided now I wanted this to be blue. lol Someone suggested this when I was trying to decide what color to paint this. Thank you!

My husband told my daughter, "When I left the house this morning some things were brown and some things were blue. When I came home, the things that were brown are now blue and vice versa." Poor man!

You can see from these pictures why I would want our kitchen to be a little more formal than most kitchens. We can see it from every room.
I'm on the hunt for some new bar stools. I've never loved these but I also need three now for our three grand children. They come over often for lunch during the week and our youngest little guy (10 mos) needs a bar stool now. :)  Fitting three in here might be a little close but I'm going to try it.

I keep thinking that I'd like to have different hardware on this blue section just to dress it up a bit and also make it feel like a separate cabinet. Maybe I'll see if I can find some the next time I go to Grand Rapids HobbyLobby.


I had done an antiquing glaze to our cabinets a while back. It added some nice depth from far away but up close, it just looked dirty to me. So I also gave our doors a fresh coat of SW Sand.
It feels so much fresher to me now and I love a kitchen that feels really clean.

I'll be back soon with more changes. Have a wonderful day!

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

Cabinet color: SW Sand in Satin and SW Rain in Satin

I'm joining these parties:

thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
addisonmeadowslane
creative-circle-week-61
frenchcountrycottage
impartinggrace
handmade-hangout-97
foodie-friday-and-everything-else
home/sweet-inspiration-link-party-2
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog
betweennapsontheporch
astrollthrulife
savvysouthernstyle
diybydesign
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

A Romantic French Kitchen

We put all new cabinet fronts on our kitchen almost two years ago. It was a major change and since our kitchen is open to our living room, dining area and family room, it has made such a big difference.

I started out a little too farmhouse but eventually found my way back to French Country. I've been adding a little romance to our kitchen lately with blue and white and some other accessories.

This framed canvas of roses is one of my favorite things.

It's been in our master bedroom but it was on the wall where our barn door opens so I've moved it to the kitchen.  An ivy planted in a little blue and white watering can and a small urn complete the vignette.
Our back splash is bead board. I hung a little frieze of angels above the stove that I've had forever.

I edited my Ode de Charles Faudree a bit by taking away a few plates and adding another corbel. (I thought it all looked really straight but I don't think it does in this picture!)
I also recently painted this small section of our island again. If you remember, it was Seal Brown by SW. Now it's SW Rain which is one of the colors I've used on our family room shutters. With our shutters in the dining room and living room being brown, I decided now I wanted this to be blue. lol Someone suggested this when I was trying to decide what color to paint this. Thank you!

My husband told my daughter, "When I left the house this morning some things were brown and some things were blue. When I came home, the things that were brown are now blue and vice versa." Poor man!

You can see from these pictures why I would want our kitchen to be a little more formal than most kitchens. We can see it from every room.
I'm on the hunt for some new bar stools. I've never loved these but I also need three now for our three grand children. They come over often for lunch during the week and our youngest little guy (10 mos) needs a bar stool now. :)  Fitting three in here might be a little close but I'm going to try it.

I keep thinking that I'd like to have different hardware on this blue section just to dress it up a bit and also make it feel like a separate cabinet. Maybe I'll see if I can find some the next time I go to Grand Rapids HobbyLobby.


I had done an antiquing glaze to our cabinets a while back. It added some nice depth from far away but up close, it just looked dirty to me. So I also gave our doors a fresh coat of SW Sand.
It feels so much fresher to me now and I love a kitchen that feels really clean.

I'll be back soon with more changes. Have a wonderful day!

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

Cabinet color: SW Sand in Satin and SW Rain in Satin

I'm joining these parties:

thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
addisonmeadowslane
creative-circle-week-61
frenchcountrycottage
impartinggrace
handmade-hangout-97
foodie-friday-and-everything-else
home/sweet-inspiration-link-party-2
myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
stonegableblog
betweennapsontheporch
astrollthrulife
savvysouthernstyle
diybydesign
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

New Dining Room Chairs

There's something so romantic to me about big solid dining room tables. I always imagine families and friends gathered there for hours, after the children have run off to play, enjoying wine by candlelight and sharing stories and laughter. Our family is in the growing stage; husbands, grandchildren, girl friends, etc. When we're all together for holidays and family dinners, there's twelve of us now.

Our upholstered dining room chairs are one of the few things we purchased new. We bought six of them a few years ago and within no time, we didn't have enough. So when I spotted these six cane-back chairs on Craig's list for $125, I was thrilled. And it doesn't hurt that they are very French Country.

They echo the lines of our china cabinet and even the mirror that I recently put across the room, which I will share soon.

The lovely couple that was selling them live about an hour away and when I showed up at their house, they were so kind. The husband insisted on putting every chair in the back of my vehicle for me and the sweet wife and I shared our faith in Christ.

She told me that the chairs had belonged to her mother and were about sixty years old.  They are so well made and sturdy and were in almost perfect condition. I was so happy that when I brought them home that the height and scale of these chairs worked so well with our existing chairs.

I painted them with chalk paint. I have two paint colors that I mixed several months ago for our furniture. After I mixed them to get the color I want, I took them to Lowe's and had them match them. I add chalk paint additive to them that I purchased through Amazon. It's a lot cheaper this way and means I have chalk paint in whatever color I want, when I want it.

I first put a coat of the darker shade on them and then brushed the lighter shade over that here and there, to get an uneven finish.  Then I lightly sanded them and added a coat of chalk paint wax that I purchased at Lowe's.  I recovered the chair pads in drop cloths, since we have little grandchildren.

I'm using our old dining room chairs at the head and foot of the table and now there's room for all six of the new chairs on the sides. I usually have slipcovers on these chairs but I took them off for these photos. I'm thinking about making some new ones.

I put the rest of our old chairs around the game table in the basement and it's easy to bring up any extras when we need them for big dinners.

My husband built our dining room table a few years ago. To our family, it's a treasure. He signed the bottom and dated it. Someday, I imagine it will be a family heirloom.

I got these two ginger jars at HomeGoods a few weeks ago.

I just never seem to get tired of blue and white.

You may have noticed that the shutters and wood finish seem lighter. They are! And I've got lots more changes coming up! Don't ya just love paint!

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

Sources:
New dining room chairs - second hand
Dining room table - my husband made it
Dining room chairs at head and foot - Ebay
China cabinet - second hand
Blue and white - HomeGoods and HobbyLobby
Large white vase - Joss&Main
French sign - Joss&Main
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

New Dining Room Chairs

There's something so romantic to me about big solid dining room tables. I always imagine families and friends gathered there for hours, after the children have run off to play, enjoying wine by candlelight and sharing stories and laughter. Our family is in the growing stage; husbands, grandchildren, girl friends, etc. When we're all together for holidays and family dinners, there's twelve of us now.

Our upholstered dining room chairs are one of the few things we purchased new. We bought six of them a few years ago and within no time, we didn't have enough. So when I spotted these six cane-back chairs on Craig's list for $125, I was thrilled. And it doesn't hurt that they are very French Country.

They echo the lines of our china cabinet and even the mirror that I recently put across the room, which I will share soon.

The lovely couple that was selling them live about an hour away and when I showed up at their house, they were so kind. The husband insisted on putting every chair in the back of my vehicle for me and the sweet wife and I shared our faith in Christ.

She told me that the chairs had belonged to her mother and were about sixty years old.  They are so well made and sturdy and were in almost perfect condition. I was so happy that when I brought them home that the height and scale of these chairs worked so well with our existing chairs.

I painted them with chalk paint. I have two paint colors that I mixed several months ago for our furniture. After I mixed them to get the color I want, I took them to Lowe's and had them match them. I add chalk paint additive to them that I purchased through Amazon. It's a lot cheaper this way and means I have chalk paint in whatever color I want, when I want it.

I first put a coat of the darker shade on them and then brushed the lighter shade over that here and there, to get an uneven finish.  Then I lightly sanded them and added a coat of chalk paint wax that I purchased at Lowe's.  I recovered the chair pads in drop cloths, since we have little grandchildren.

I'm using our old dining room chairs at the head and foot of the table and now there's room for all six of the new chairs on the sides. I usually have slipcovers on these chairs but I took them off for these photos. I'm thinking about making some new ones.

I put the rest of our old chairs around the game table in the basement and it's easy to bring up any extras when we need them for big dinners.

My husband built our dining room table a few years ago. To our family, it's a treasure. He signed the bottom and dated it. Someday, I imagine it will be a family heirloom.

I got these two ginger jars at HomeGoods a few weeks ago.

I just never seem to get tired of blue and white.

You may have noticed that the shutters and wood finish seem lighter. They are! And I've got lots more changes coming up! Don't ya just love paint!

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

Sources:
New dining room chairs - second hand
Dining room table - my husband made it
Dining room chairs at head and foot - Ebay
China cabinet - second hand
Blue and white - HomeGoods and HobbyLobby
Large white vase - Joss&Main
French sign - Joss&Main
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

A New Barn Door in the Master Bedroom

Our master bedroom make over is done except a few little details and we are enjoying the changes! The last big item was getting our barn door hung and we can finally mark that off the list.

We've never had doors on this opening between our bedroom and bath and in reality, we don't really need them but we've always liked the look of barn doors and this was a perfect place.

They were a challenge to get hung but it was more our situation than a problem with the hardware.  As you can imagine, these metal pieces are heavy-duty and add the weight of the doors and you need to be sure everything is securely hung. The tract had pre-drilled holes to hang it on the wall but these holes did not line up with the studs in the wall. The molly bolts that came with the hardware set would not stay set - they twirled when we tried to put the bolts in.

In an effort to make a long story short, we made several trips to the store getting new molly bolts, new screws, trying to fix the molly bolts into the wall, etc. We finally gave up and attached a board to the wall under the tract. And that worked!

I still need to find picture hangers for this large piece of art that are flatter to the wall.  The ones we have now are causing the picture to stick out too far for the door to open all the way but I think when I change that, it will.

I bought these doors at Menard's. I would have loved to have had antique doors with some wonderful details but I like these. They're just regular 28 1/2" doors without the predrilled holes. I like them so much that I wish we had found this style when we replaced all the doors in our house but these are a fun difference. These doors are hollow. The solid doors were a lot more expensive but also a lot heavier. Mark added reinforcements to each door where the hardware was attached.

I painted them with SW Rain with a tiny bit of black added to the paint to make the color a little grayer. Then I added a deeper blue in places and blended it out. I had a mix of SW Deer Valley mixed with a little gold glaze from another project and I painted that into the details and blended it out.

When I was done, the color coordinated well with our new draperies.

We got our hardware from Amazon. It came very quickly and it's a good solid quality. Straight-Rustic-Double-Sliding-Hardware.   I would give it 4 stars instead of 5. The holes that were predrilled in all the pieces were not evenly spaced so the first time we put everything on the doors, they were uneven. In other words, the uneven holes caused the doors to hang crookedly. We had to mark where each hole should go and redo it to make everything plumb.


Here's a before picture to remind you. I liked this but it wasn't really my style - I got too influenced by what was popular right now.  Here are the links to my past posts on this room makeover.

Update on Our Master Bedroom

Making Pillows for the Master Bedroom

Beams In the Bedroom


Oh! and in case you're wondering, nothing's happened in our master bathroom yet. In fact, I'm waiting on the contractor to get back to me again. We have had him come out and measure, we've picked our tile, and now we're waiting on an estimate.
Our Master Bathroom

I've been busy 'tweaking' lots of things in our house lately.I also got some new dining room chairs a couple of weeks ago and have refinished them. I'll be back soon to show them to you!


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
Sources:
Bedspread and shams - Overstock.com
curtain fabric, pillow fabric and tassel fringe - warehousefabrics.com
rug - QVC, Royal Palace about 12 years ago
French chaise - second hand
doors - Menards
barn door track - Amazon



Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

A New Barn Door in the Master Bedroom

Our master bedroom make over is done except a few little details and we are enjoying the changes! The last big item was getting our barn door hung and we can finally mark that off the list.

We've never had doors on this opening between our bedroom and bath and in reality, we don't really need them but we've always liked the look of barn doors and this was a perfect place.

They were a challenge to get hung but it was more our situation than a problem with the hardware.  As you can imagine, these metal pieces are heavy-duty and add the weight of the doors and you need to be sure everything is securely hung. The tract had pre-drilled holes to hang it on the wall but these holes did not line up with the studs in the wall. The molly bolts that came with the hardware set would not stay set - they twirled when we tried to put the bolts in.

In an effort to make a long story short, we made several trips to the store getting new molly bolts, new screws, trying to fix the molly bolts into the wall, etc. We finally gave up and attached a board to the wall under the tract. And that worked!

I still need to find picture hangers for this large piece of art that are flatter to the wall.  The ones we have now are causing the picture to stick out too far for the door to open all the way but I think when I change that, it will.

I bought these doors at Menard's. I would have loved to have had antique doors with some wonderful details but I like these. They're just regular 28 1/2" doors without the predrilled holes. I like them so much that I wish we had found this style when we replaced all the doors in our house but these are a fun difference. These doors are hollow. The solid doors were a lot more expensive but also a lot heavier. Mark added reinforcements to each door where the hardware was attached.

I painted them with SW Rain with a tiny bit of black added to the paint to make the color a little grayer. Then I added a deeper blue in places and blended it out. I had a mix of SW Deer Valley mixed with a little gold glaze from another project and I painted that into the details and blended it out.

When I was done, the color coordinated well with our new draperies.

We got our hardware from Amazon. It came very quickly and it's a good solid quality. Straight-Rustic-Double-Sliding-Hardware.   I would give it 4 stars instead of 5. The holes that were predrilled in all the pieces were not evenly spaced so the first time we put everything on the doors, they were uneven. In other words, the uneven holes caused the doors to hang crookedly. We had to mark where each hole should go and redo it to make everything plumb.


Here's a before picture to remind you. I liked this but it wasn't really my style - I got too influenced by what was popular right now.  Here are the links to my past posts on this room makeover.

Update on Our Master Bedroom

Making Pillows for the Master Bedroom

Beams In the Bedroom


Oh! and in case you're wondering, nothing's happened in our master bathroom yet. In fact, I'm waiting on the contractor to get back to me again. We have had him come out and measure, we've picked our tile, and now we're waiting on an estimate.
Our Master Bathroom

I've been busy 'tweaking' lots of things in our house lately.I also got some new dining room chairs a couple of weeks ago and have refinished them. I'll be back soon to show them to you!


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
Sources:
Bedspread and shams - Overstock.com
curtain fabric, pillow fabric and tassel fringe - warehousefabrics.com
rug - QVC, Royal Palace about 12 years ago
French chaise - second hand
doors - Menards
barn door track - Amazon



Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our New Chaise Makeover

I bought this French chaise from a photography studio here in town. It had never been in a home and was used only for photographs so it was in perfect condition. I have always wanted one of these and was thrilled when I saw it for sale. 


When you last saw it, it looked like this. And even though it was perfect, I didn't want to leave it pink.

So, I painted the upholstery and the wood frame with chalk paint and covered the cushions with drop cloths. I used the same methods I used on these chairs. (The secret is to sand the fabric after you paint it!) I liked the way they turned out and nobody has ever suspected that the fabric was painted. I used the same colors on this chaise.

And I covered the cushions with drop cloths using the same steps I used for slip covering my couch.
How to Make a Slip Cover - Part Two

This makeover was free - I already had the paint and the drop cloth but you could buy enough paint and a drop cloth for less than $20.

This chaise is super comfy! My son was here for a visit and when he spotted this, he immediately flopped down on it and looked out the window.  And that's what I do, too!
We're almost done with our bedroom makeover. You can see the edge of the track for the barn door in this picture. My husband has worked and worked to get it up. The end screws don't hit a stud and he's had to change the molly bolts several times to try to get it securely on the wall.

He made another trip to the store this weekend for more bolts and hopefully he'll get it figured out this week. In the meantime, he's been working on putting rustic wood all around our house. I'm excited to show it to you when we get it done.


Find out how I made this pillow here: Making Pillows for the Master Bedroom and our progress on our master bedroom here.

Have a wonderful week!

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:
thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
diy-collective-no-12
Rattlebridge Farm



Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our New Chaise Makeover

I bought this French chaise from a photography studio here in town. It had never been in a home and was used only for photographs so it was in perfect condition. I have always wanted one of these and was thrilled when I saw it for sale. 


When you last saw it, it looked like this. And even though it was perfect, I didn't want to leave it pink.

So, I painted the upholstery and the wood frame with chalk paint and covered the cushions with drop cloths. I used the same methods I used on these chairs. (The secret is to sand the fabric after you paint it!) I liked the way they turned out and nobody has ever suspected that the fabric was painted. I used the same colors on this chaise.

And I covered the cushions with drop cloths using the same steps I used for slip covering my couch.
How to Make a Slip Cover - Part Two

This makeover was free - I already had the paint and the drop cloth but you could buy enough paint and a drop cloth for less than $20.

This chaise is super comfy! My son was here for a visit and when he spotted this, he immediately flopped down on it and looked out the window.  And that's what I do, too!
We're almost done with our bedroom makeover. You can see the edge of the track for the barn door in this picture. My husband has worked and worked to get it up. The end screws don't hit a stud and he's had to change the molly bolts several times to try to get it securely on the wall.

He made another trip to the store this weekend for more bolts and hopefully he'll get it figured out this week. In the meantime, he's been working on putting rustic wood all around our house. I'm excited to show it to you when we get it done.


Find out how I made this pillow here: Making Pillows for the Master Bedroom and our progress on our master bedroom here.

Have a wonderful week!

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:
thoughts-of-home-on-thursday
diy-collective-no-12
Rattlebridge Farm



Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Happy Spring!

Don't you just love Spring! I know I do!

We've had some really mild weather here in Michigan but we all know that warm weather is probably a good month away. So, I've decided to pay more attention to the calendar than the weather report and add some Spring to our family room.

I haven't made any big changes in here for a while.  We're adding some rustic touches with wood trim and beams in some of the house and I think I'll soon do the same in here.
But to celebrate Spring, I've added some pink blooms.

A Spring mix on the coffee table and some cherry blossoms behind the couch add just a soft touch of color.
I bought this ginger jar at HomeGoods. It's a lighter blue than my other blue and white and I love it in here. Because it's lighter, it doesn't seem to be quite so formal and traditional so it's perfect in our casual family room.
I had gotten influenced by how popular silver was recently but gold has always been my favorite so I changed all my picture frames and accents back to gold all around our house.


I found this little pot at HobbyLobby. It's kind of rustic finish. There were a couple of different shapes and sizes and I bought a couple for the deck this summer.





We're supposed to get snow later this week so I'm enjoying the sun today. Have a wonderful week!

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

Happy Spring!

Don't you just love Spring! I know I do!

We've had some really mild weather here in Michigan but we all know that warm weather is probably a good month away. So, I've decided to pay more attention to the calendar than the weather report and add some Spring to our family room.

I haven't made any big changes in here for a while.  We're adding some rustic touches with wood trim and beams in some of the house and I think I'll soon do the same in here.
But to celebrate Spring, I've added some pink blooms.

A Spring mix on the coffee table and some cherry blossoms behind the couch add just a soft touch of color.
I bought this ginger jar at HomeGoods. It's a lighter blue than my other blue and white and I love it in here. Because it's lighter, it doesn't seem to be quite so formal and traditional so it's perfect in our casual family room.
I had gotten influenced by how popular silver was recently but gold has always been my favorite so I changed all my picture frames and accents back to gold all around our house.


I found this little pot at HobbyLobby. It's kind of rustic finish. There were a couple of different shapes and sizes and I bought a couple for the deck this summer.





We're supposed to get snow later this week so I'm enjoying the sun today. Have a wonderful week!

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
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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Fireplace Screen for the Livingroom

I've been looking for a fireplace screen for our living room for a long, long time.  I got one several years ago.  I ordered it online and when it arrived, I hated it immediately! ha! But it was too heavy to pay shipping and send it back.  

I spotted this one at HomeGoods in Grand Rapids around Christmas. It cost more than I wanted to spend - especially because of my previous fail.
When I went back a month later it was cheaper and when I went back last week, it was a bargain!
It's just what I wanted to soften this fireplace a little.  I like that it's a single panel.  We don't use this fireplace much. It's a gas log and really puts out the heat but we tend to sit in the family room more than in here. I turn it on when we have guests over for dinner- just for the ambiance.

HomeGoods had two of these screens and after I got home, I wondered if I should have gotten the second one for the family room.  I think I'll look for it the next trip to Grand Rapids. Maybe it'll be even cheaper!

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."
Standard
Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Fireplace Screen for the Livingroom

I've been looking for a fireplace screen for our living room for a long, long time.  I got one several years ago.  I ordered it online and when it arrived, I hated it immediately! ha! But it was too heavy to pay shipping and send it back.  

I spotted this one at HomeGoods in Grand Rapids around Christmas. It cost more than I wanted to spend - especially because of my previous fail.
When I went back a month later it was cheaper and when I went back last week, it was a bargain!
It's just what I wanted to soften this fireplace a little.  I like that it's a single panel.  We don't use this fireplace much. It's a gas log and really puts out the heat but we tend to sit in the family room more than in here. I turn it on when we have guests over for dinner- just for the ambiance.

HomeGoods had two of these screens and after I got home, I wondered if I should have gotten the second one for the family room.  I think I'll look for it the next trip to Grand Rapids. Maybe it'll be even cheaper!

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."
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