Refeathering the nest

Summer is coming to an end soon and I've been getting the urge

to put away the seashells and beach things and move towards the fall.

Now, since even I know that it's too soon to decorate for fall

(although no one said anything about Christmas...Just Kidding...Kinda)

I decided it was time to bring out warmer colors in my accessories.

So out came the eggs, nests, moss and different lamps.

I've been wanting to make these moss urns for a while now.

So glad I finally got around to it.

Now that I'm done refeathering....I need to relax!

My favorite magazine of all time is Victoria,
the ones from when Nancy Lindemeyer was the editor in chief.
While I am so happy that Phyllis Hoffman brought the magazine back and she
does a fine job, nothing can compare to the beauty of the older issues. I could get lost in their pages for hours on end. So imagine my delight today when I saw this on the stands....



It is a look back at some of the rooms in those first issues. So if you are looking for me this evening you know where to find me. Curled up with my new/old Victoria Magazine savoring each and every picture.

I'm dreaming of a white kitchen.....

My house is a WRECK!!!

The entire contents of my son's room sits in the living room,

while we await the new furniture and the paint dries.

So, since there is nothing I can do at the moment about the giant mess that is causing me to lose sleep at night I've decided to day dream about a new kitchen.

One that's all white, clean and sparkly.

The best kitchen ever, of course, is from the movie "Something's Gotta Give"!

I really like this kitchen, very plain but pretty.

Love this picture! Every time I see it I love it even more.

How can you ever go wrong with Ironstone, chalkboards and glass jars....makes my heart beat faster.

And this would be the picture that years ago caused me to hunt for days on

Ebay for authentic egg prints and have them framed.

Not to mention the Ikea delivery that brought the cute bench that's also in this picture.

Funny how one little magazine picture can do so much damage to your bank account.

UMMMM.....yes to the lights, grocery sign, locker baskets and shelving.

No problem fitting those in somewhere if I was ever lucky enough to find all that good stuff!

Alright back to reality...one project at a time.

(All pictures from Country Living Magazine. Except first one which is from "Something's Gotta Give")

Bienvenue Wreath

The other day I was looking on one of my favorite blogs

French Larkspur

and she had visited The French Flea Market in Indiana.

Well in one of the pictures that she took was this really cute wreath that I just had to copy. So off to Michael's craft store I promptly went. They have this wreath form now that's flat, I hadn't seen it before. It may just be one of my new favorite things. Anyways, I rolled and taped up a bunch of pages out of an old book I had that was falling apart, then just started hot gluing them to the form until I achieved the look I wanted.

After that I took a piece of scrap burlap, cut it and stamped the words onto it.

Total investment~ $5.00

And it makes me incredibly happy

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Decorator Challenge

Lately I have felt like a contestant on one of those HGTV decorating shows.

I've been given a room, budget and client to work with.

The room is my son's bedroom. The budget is basically non existent.

And the client has a list of wishes that's a mile long.

Let's just say that designing a room for Martha Stewart would stress me out less.His list includes the following:

A Big Bed - he prefers the Thomas bed from Pottery Barn (did I mention the budget?)

Green walls

The Madras Quilt from Pottery Barn (really who raised this kid)

A Bean Bag Chair

Nautical Boats

Framed Map of the animals of the world

His favorite Phillie's Jersey framed for display

A School locker

Desk with Chair
A Rug of his choosing

(he has been leaning over me the entire time I was Internet shopping rugs)

And last but not least a Temper Pedic Mattress

(I'm so removing his TV from his room)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are currently in debates on the color of the bed. Dark wood or white, I prefer white.

And let's be honest, since sweet husband and I are paying the bill I'm gonna guess it will be white.

Since the Pottery Barn bed is out of the budget I spent 3 hours yesterday trying to find a similar one online. And HALLELUJAH I think I've found one! I'll keep you posted on that after I call and confirm availability.

This is his room currently, and it was fine when he was smaller, but now he barely fits in the twin bed. Did I mention the entire top bunk is Lego Land, good luck finding a spot for all those!

Silly decorator....who signs up for this sort of challenge?

Oh and by the way, he does have pillows, they were just being used as walls for a tent in my living room at the time I was taking these pictures...gosh don't you just love summer break!

Hmmmm...perhaps some sort of storage with doors would be a good idea.

We will be keeping the curtains and rods, so I would really like to see him keep the Nautical look.
I think I'll make the husband tell him NO to the framed jersey. Not that I'm afraid of my little client or anything, nope not at all!

Painting starts this weekend.

We have reached a compromise on the green color,

he picked out two and I gritted my teeth and let him choose his favorite.

Yeah I'm not sure where the compromise comes in either.

Stay tuned.....

(top two pictures from Pottery Barn Kids)

Treasures

We are finally back and settled from our trip to North Carolina.

All the treasures we found have now been placed in their homes,

and I wanted to show them to you.

This is a statue we found at a beautiful antique store called Dovetail Antiques in Cashiers, North Carolina. The store was filled with all these wonderful french antiques. Everything was in shades of grey, creamy whites, a few (very) muted blues and browns.

Just a really gorgeous store. Wish I had thought to bring my camera.....I know blogging 101 right, don't forget the camera.

I was just so excited about getting to go to town and shop what can I say.

He is Fall from the Four Seasons. Which is really kinda cool because that's when we plan to really start the planting of all the vegetables. Let's hope he is full of good gardening luck....cause I really need it!

This is the pillar that we also found at Dovetail Antiques.

Isn't it positively yummy...love the wreath design.

And here it is folks......the items I spotted from the car as we pulled in and I didn't even wait for the engine to be off....I jumped right out to get to these.

Aren't they the most beautiful things you have seen...the picture really doesn't even do them justice. And they are heavy as all get out! Wish you could have seen the look I got from sweet husband when I told him that these were coming home with us (along with the heavy statues, pond yacht that rode on my feet home for 14 hours, the cabinet I'm about to show you, the 4 foot wrought iron candle holder and a few other odds and ends). Remember we were driving up and down mountains with all this loaded in the back of the truck. He really is a good husband...he never said a word.

We found them at Vivianne Metzger Antiques in Cashiers. She told me that she obtained them through a dealer in Birmingham, England and that he found them in a town called Wolverhampton, England. That's so cool....my urns are from across the pond!

They had lots of beautiful garden statues and urns along with antiques for your home. She is such a lovely and kind person...with lots of southern hospitality. If you are looking for anything like this give her a call 828-743-0642, I know she would be happy to help.

And last but not least here is the cabinet we found at a side of the road tent sale.

Sweet husband says it looks like a bird cage.

I bought it having absolutely NO idea where I was going to put it.

Then when we got it home, I went well DUHHH it matches the table in the glass house.

So now it sits on top.

All my summer vacations are over and it's back to reality.

It's time to really get started on my son's new room (I'll show you the pond yacht then).

And I really need to relocate the fairy garden because it's just not doing well in it's current spot.

Which brings me to what I bought for you in North Carolina .....keep an eye out in the next few weeks...I have a special giveaway coming.....something the fairies would like!

Delighted to be an American

Happy 4th of July!!!

This boat went by our balcony this morning and I was able to catch the back of it as it sailed past me. At first I was disappointed not to have caught the whole boat...because she is a beauty!

But then as a was looking at the picture I realized just how lucky I was...

What a great picture for the 4th of July!

The flag on the back of the boat with the name of the boat being Dellited

(now i'm gonna guess that this guy either is a ceo of dell or owner?? Or something like that...because a lot of wealthy people own summer homes here..and given the name of his boat that's what i'm going with)

But for me I would like to interpret it as a lovely sign for the day....I am DELIGHTED to be given the chance to live in the land of the free.

I thank each and everyone of you who serve or have served our country so that we have that freedom.

Especially to my Dad who is a Vietnam Veteran!

Thank you!
So tonight as you are surrounded by your family, friends and loved ones.
I hope you are as delighted as I am and say a big thank you to those who sacrifice their own lives and safety so that we may share this holiday with those we love.

Yes I am a tourist!

I admit I just can't help myself, when we are away on vacation

I take lots of pictures.

But not of my family (just kidding I take pictures of them too)

I take tons of pictures of things!

Like windows, doors, stones, gates, lamps....you name it...if it has to do with architecture or decor I take a picture to remember it.

We are at the Greystone Inn on Lake Toxaway in North Carolina and this afternoon I walked around and took these pictures to share with you all.

I think I may need some window boxes like this...aren't they cool.

And OF COURSE I LOVE the windows.

Do you see the bright red door....

The front of the Inn....even the 2nd story has window boxes.


Side of the Inn, facing the lake. This is where we have afternoon tea and before dinner
appetizers. So very lovely!

But the reason I took this picture is I love the flagstone (i think that's what they are) paths, they are all over the property and they are so gorgeous.



Love this screen door....it's huge!
And it makes the most wonderful squeaky noise when it closes.

This is part of the front porch.

Wouldn't you just love to have these french doors in a house. Look how they open.

The hardware on the doors and windows are incredible....maybe tomorrow I'll try to get better pictures of them.

Looking down off the side porch onto the lake. I just love that path!

More paths...

I didn't even make it around to the other side....there is a beautiful little garden over there.

WAIT until you see what we found for the garden today....I literally had tears in my eyes, they are absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait to get them home and show them to you all....good thing we brought the truck!

I'm hoping we go shopping again....I'm thinking this would be a cool place to pick something up for a giveaway....don't you think that's a good idea!