Who Chooses Who?

How do we choose

the houses we live in?

And why do we choose

 the ones we do?

Is it the money,

the location, the space,

the curb appeal

or is it a feeling?

I believe there are

certain tangible things

that lead us, but it's

the feeling you get when

you walk into a house

and know your home

that truly makes our decision!

Which leads me to who chooses who?

Do we choose our house or does it choose us?

I knew this was our house just by reading the ad...

it said "house surrounded by big oak trees"

Sounds PERFECT! 

Sweet husband said I was cracked.

But how can a house be bad if it's

surrounded by big strong oak trees?

We haven't regreted our decision yet

Throw in some Spanish moss...and you have me!

(this is our street)

I love the lines from this song....it makes

me think of our little house..

"And my house it's not much to talk about,

but it's filled with love that's grown in southern ground"

(okay so south florida is a bit of a southern stretch...but i'm still a Georgia girl so it counts)

someone should really trim the hedges....are you reading this sweet husband???

While we are on the subject of houses....

i've been internet house stalking this morning

Take a look

thehouseplanshop.com

aroomsomewhere.net

heritagebuilt.com

southernliving.com

flickr.com

OOOOHHHHH...Lanterns!

My favorite!!!!!!

I would choose any of these houses

any day!

"Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest."

~Henry Van Dyke

Dream Kitchen

While flipping through the

recent edition of House Beautiful

Magazine...my heart skipped a beat!

I do believe I am completely and

totally in LOVE with this kitchen!

Sorry the picture quality isn't that great

I couldn't find it anywhere on the Internet

so I had to scan it...



True Love......

from the marble counter tops to the glass door refrigerator!

Look at the french door...LOVE the hardware!

It's hard to tell from my poorly scanned picture

but there is chicken wire on the cabinet doors

Seriously, what is not to love in this kitchen? 

Dear owners of this house,

if by some miracle you read this blog....

and if I ever make it to San Francisco

I am so going to be peaking through

your windows to get a better look at your kitchen!

It's Gorgeous

picture from June 2011 House Beautiful Magazine

Designer Ken Fulk

Nice Job Ken...if I ever win the lottery i'm giving you a call~

Porch Inspiration

I am in need of serious

inspiration for this

next project!

The Back Porch....

Anytime we try to re-do it

a little it never turns out

exactly like I envisioned..

So this time I intend

to research and plan!

Here is a picture of our back porch currently...
well minus the candles hanging from the ceiling!
They had a tendency to drip on unsuspecting
dinner guest...sorry again Dad!

I would really like to paint the ceiling a blue color
I think it would really brighten up the back porch

(shelterpop.com)


And lighten up some of the dark furniture....
by painting a few things and changing the
color of the cushions on other things

(countryliving)

(countryliving)

And of course add lanterns!
I am completely obsessed with them right now~

(southernliving.com)

Put back the curtains....

although I think I would like white

ones better this time

(megmcghee.wordpress)

Now if only I could change the view from my

back porch to this view...i'd be all set...sigh

(veranda)

It's going to be a big project! 

Wish me luck!!!!

Estate sale treasures..now what to do with them??

So I told you how on Mother's Day

we happened upon an Estate Sale..

Well I found some really cool things!

Now I just need to figure out what

in the world to do with them...

Big jar of old keys....some I will use to make

pendants and stuff with. 

 But that's a lot of keys....

Look how cute this is....

(gadgets.boingboing.net)

That would be really awesome to do with the keys...

but I would need to find a few more skeleton keys.

We also found 40 glass insulators...

you should have heard sweet husband suck wind

when I asked the lady how much for the whole lot...

it was kinda funny....thank goodness it was

Mother's Day or else he might have told me no



Two people stopped and asked me

what I planned to do with them...

okay folks...i'm not that smart...I have no idea

But I bought them anyways...

Sweet husband suggested making lighting out of them

Sounds good to me....

(betsyanco.com)

Love Love Love these....

really need to have a bigger kitchen first though

(theinteriorevolution.com)

We also found this old wooden rocker for $5

I think it will look great once it's sanded

& painted or maybe stained dark.

Our next project is fixing up the back porch

so this will fit in just perfectly!

This stuff always comes in handy for something.

Then on our way out I saw this trunk....

It turns out that this trunk belonged to the man who

lived in the house.  He had passed away and his

children were holding the Estate Sale....

sometimes Estate Sales can be sad. 

Anyways...this was his foot trunk from

when he was in the Marine's during

World War II.  It went with him to Iwo Jima.

Isn't that incredible....

I love that I know the story behind this trunk

and that I was able to meet his family.

And I am very honored that they allowed us

to bring it into our home.

We will always cherish it.

"Among the men who fought on

Iwo Jima uncommon valor

was a common virtue"

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

16th March 1945



My new set of wheels..

I hope everyone had a wonderful

Mother's Day weekend!

It's been one thing after another

around here.....

Sunday was Mother's Day

Monday was our 13th wedding anniversary,

Thursday is my parents wedding anniversary

and the day our oldest will turn 10

YIKES! 

Where does the time go?

Back to Mother's Day....

I had a lovely day

sweet husband and the children

were very good to me!

They bought me something i've been wanting

A shiny new bike with a basket in front!

Isn't she pretty! 

We had a great time biking up and

down the streets surrounding us

(well if you can ignore sweet husband humming the

song from the wizard of oz as he rides behind me...

you know what song i'm talking about! The one where the

witch is riding the bike....yes he is just sooooo funny)

I brought my camera and took a few pictures of

houses, flowers and stuff....

Wouldn't it be so cool to pass through this to get to your

front door!  Inside the big hedge I could see

 a fountain with a big pond. 

This house is actually for sale!

Do you think the people who live in this house would

mind if I came and had tea in their little gazebo? 

I'll take a picture of the big house one day....it's gorgeous

but the neighbor was watching me when I took this one.

Yep...you are going to see me on the news one day...

crazy lady on bike taking pictures and

stalking her neighbor's houses tonight at 5!

And then there is this curious house....

It's a castle! 

With gargoyles and everything...it's very odd

But hey...to each his own!

Look how beautiful this tree we saw is...



We made it all the way to the beach...

And then after our bike ride...the best thing happened!

We found an estate sale.....

Really, do days get any better than that?

Here I am riding home from the sale

with a new treasure.

 

Stay tuned....tomorrow i'll show

you everything else I found! 

As my son likes to say.....

It was the BEST DAY EVER!

Last week in a nut shell...

Here is last week in a nut shell...

or maybe it was a nut house

I can't be certain!

I've been trying to figure out why

I haven't had time for blogging lately

And then I downloaded all the pictures from my

camera and I realized...it's been crazy around here!

So here goes my last week in pictures...

Saturday:  finished up prep for Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt

Easter Totes, Easter Pins, 50 mini desserts

Little League game

Then went to see Jimmy Buffett in concert

(On the night before Easter...who does that? But it was a blast!)

Sunday:  Hosted Brunch for 32 family and friends

Loved every minute of it!

Monday: cleaned house top to bottom

Tuesday - Wednesday:

painted mirror frames, placed thrift store items

found the week before Easter...prepared for the Royal Wedding!!

Thursday: Little League and spend the night party with

Mom and Sister! 

Friday:  Up at 4 am! 

Tea Party and Scones at 6 am

Just in time to watch the wedding!

Then went flower shopping and found

these beautiful Peony's..

my favorite of all flowers!

Friday night....dinner Al Fresco...seafood pasta

Saturday:  Up at 6 am!  Flea Market at fairgrounds

Another Little League game

Then it's time to put sweet husband to work..

hanging new mirror...pictures and relocating lantern

So here is whats new....

Found this Horse Canvas Print at a garage sale

 put on by our Baseball Stadium! 

Completely out of character for me

but I LOVE it! 

Reaction from the household...

boys...really?? horses?? with funny looks on their faces

girls...squeals of giddiness and gushing over the horses 



Sofa table found at Goodwill for $25!  Really had all

intentions of cleaning it up and reselling it...but

now I think I might keep it for awhile (shocked I know)

This gorgeous mirror I found at the flea market...

I do believe it's official now, I have an addiction to mirrors!

The frames are all so beautiful...like works of art...I just

can't help myself!

Found these bottles at the flea market also...

added a starfish and a piece of coral to the tops

Relocated the lantern that Sondra and I found

while in Sea Island.  Had sweet husband move

it from the garden to here...

What do you think of it here?  Is it to much?

Or is it just right?

Last but not least...found this at the garage sale

and hung it in our daughter's room. 

Added some moss and a few of her fairy's and

it makes a sweet little fairy garden!



Now it's Sunday and i'm exhausted!

But I think i'll go and catch up on

every one's blogs that i've missed this

last week....who knows what

inspirations i'll discover for

next weeks redecorating escapades!

P.S.....For those of you keeping count

I was able to fit ANOTHER piece of furniture

into the living room...but that's it....I SWEAR!