Fall In Love With The Cottage Look

Ya'll are in for a real treat. Remember a few posts back when I told about running into my friend Linda in the Wal Mart parking lot, followed her home and bought my gorgeous kitchen table from her? If you want to read about that, you can click here. Linda is a very talented decorator and artist. She has one of the most interesting and beautiful booths in a local flea market/antique mall and is very successful (as you can imagine). In addition to her decorating skills, she also does custom furniture painting for the home, she can provide lamps, pictures, architectural pieces, and just about anything you need. Her services for custom work are very much in demand so she is one busy lady. She was kind enough to allow me to photograph some of the rooms in her home. Get ready to feast your eyes!



We'll start out in the foyer. Her entire house is painted in this yummy gray color which is a wonderful backdrop for her white pieces.

This bench is one of her latest finds. I love the way she uses the pop of turquoise/aqua for contrast.

Now for some photos of the master bath....I could live in here!

Hey ya'll!

What a clever idea....she took an old mantle piece and hung it upside down over her tub

Now let's go to the master bedroom. Love this floor lamp that she painted white and added the shade with crystal dangly things. She uses those EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING!

Bottom of the lamp, I believe she added these feet

Gorgeous bed and bedding

What a wonderful piece this is. A little linen sofa (where you can toss pillows at night)

Moving into the dining room, she spray painted her gold chandy white and added more danglys. I have this exact chandy in my dining room but for now it will remain gold

She uses this aqua color throughout for a pop of color. This mirror is another example of her painting talents

A little peek into her den

And last but not least is the kitchen. Notice all the architectural elements she uses over the doors, or anywhere they fit. She is looking for some of these pieces for my kitchen and bedroom

Collection of white pitchers against the background of that aqua


Going out the backdoor is this sweet angel


This piece is also in her kitchen facing you as you walk in the back door

Some of her artwork can be seen here (picture of the two girls near the bar area)

I want that screen!

I took a lot more pictures but I think you get the idea of how beautiful her house is. She has recently been asked to participate in our local Junior League Holiday Market being held here in October. Not sure what all she is showing, art and possibly some furniture. If you live in my area, I hope you can make the Holiday Market and be sure to check out Linda's space. Also, if any of you are interested in getting some custom pieces done for your home, please e-mail me and I will get you in touch with Linda.

Now let me go look around my house for how I can incorporate the cottage look.

Yard Sale Time!

For all you Montgomery area bloggers and yard sale divas, I'm having a big blow out yard sale this Saturday, October 18th beginning at 7:00 a.m. If you are interested in checking it out, please e-mail me for directions to my house.

Our Anniversary

Sunday, October 12th, is my 5 year anniversary. At times it seems we've been married longer than that and at other times, I wonder what in the heck was I thinking?!?!?!? My first marriage ended in a very dramatic divorce after being separated for 3 years from my husband of 23 years. Any of you girls out there who have experienced divorce after a long term marriage can relate to the depression and heartache that brings....especially when it comes out of the blue. Of course, upon reflection, there were red flags and signs but I chose to ignore them. But this post is not about that time in my life, but the life that my 2nd husband has given me.

I did not date for the 7 years I was single. After my divorce, and because I worked for a domestic relations attorney, I had no desire to enter the single scene. After all, I was 40-something and had not been on a date since I was 19 years old! How to act, what to say, and at the time I could not be myself, cause I didn't even know who I was. So I trudged along in my life, getting stronger and more secure about myself, until one day David came out of the blue. If you want to know "How I Met My Husband" you can read all about it here.


My husband works two jobs to provide for us. While we do not live a lavish lifestyle, neither do we go without. I have everything I need and more. There is nothing I have ever asked for that he has not given me. Of course, I have lots of "wants" vs. "needs" according to him! I'm sure it has not always been easy for him to understand why I "need" to repaint and redecorate on a fairly regular basis but he just goes along with whatever I want to do. He does have to put the brakes on me from time to time cause I might tend to get a little overboard (I can't believe I'm saying that!). The most precious gift he has given me, beyond his love and concern for me, is that he truly loves my grown children and their children. These are his grandkids as much as if they were his blood relation. He also sees about the comfort of my 88 year old mother. She loves him and as a matter of fact, she told my best friend that she "prayed him up" for me. Apparently, she was praying that I would meet someone in my life so that I wouldn't be alone.


It has not always been an easy five years. We were both single for a long time and both somewhat set in our ways and no one likes to change. We certainly don't see eye to eye on a lot of matters but at the end of the day, there is no one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. I can't imagine life without him. I guess I'll keep him!!!!



A few weeks before we got married, we went to Fairhope, Alabama (a beautiful town near Mobile) for beach pictures with my children and their spouses. Here is our picture, taken at the end of a long day on the beach (guess that's why I have that goofy look!). Oh, did I mention, he's 12 years younger than me! I call him my "boy toy"!

Now ya'll know I can't have a post without a little decorating thrown in. I picked up my monogrammed euro shams today for our bedroom. Still a lot to do but I wanted you to see how pretty they turned out.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend!

I'm In Headboard Heaven!

Today my headboard finally arrived from Ballard's! I ordered it back mid-August and while I realize that "custom orders" take some time, I was getting a little tired of waiting. But it was worth the wait as you'll see further down.



First up, let me show ya'll another project I'm working on. Shannon has been looking for an armoire type cabinet for Taylor's room for her TV....not too big and not too expensive! I stopped in at the Goodwill last week and found this little cabinet for $50! It appeared to be a new piece that someone had painted over (not a very good job either) and made this little louvered door and cut out a hole in the back for all the cord things to run through. I called Shannon and she said to go ahead and get it. Started painting it over the weekend but ran out of time and paint so I'll get it finished up this coming weekend (I hope). We are going to use the gel stain on top to give it a dark wood finish instead of painting the top of it. For $50, I thought it was a pretty good deal.


There are two drawers that go in that space at the bottom which will be great for storage.





Now for more stuff I'm working on STILL in the kitchen. It has been real slow coming together because the look is new for me and I'm taking it one step at a time, not rushing and making sure everything that goes in there makes me happy. My decorator friend Linda was here recently to help me a little because her house is real cottagy and she has an eye for that kind of design. I had dug out lots of things I found in storage or around the house to see if we could use what I already had. This was a gold frame that I put a little mirror in. I had some Oops paint in a deep turquoise that I base coated it in before glazing it with Ralph Lauren Tobacco. I'm really not sure I like it but here's what it looks like before the glazing...

...and here it is after glazing. I'm using the aqua/turquoise color as an accent so that's why we did it this color.

Now for the big news......THE BALLARD'S HEADBOARD WAS DELIVERED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's upholstered in creamy pintuck. I was afraid it would be too yellow-y with my white bedding but it works out beautifully. Here is how the delivery people left it, upside down, but you can see how pretty it is.

The bedroom and bathroom were painted Sandy Hook Gray last Friday and I've taken two euro shams to be monogrammed in a color similar to the wall color. I'm trying to talk hubby into letting me order plantation shutters for the windows and then using a billowy white drape over those. I have some beautiful linen fabric that I will use to sew a wide band at the bottom of the drapes to puddle on the floor and make a dust ruffle using a standard white dust ruffle adding the linen band at the bottom. In the bathroom there will be white shower curtain which I might have monogrammed, and fluffy white towels, and chunky white candlesticks with white candles. I'm planning on making a white roll up shade for the narrow window and will use white ribbon to roll/tie it up. Okay, by now, you know everything will be shades of white!!!!

I'm sure ya'll can't wait to see how this turns out (ha ha) and neither can I! If only there was more than 24 hours in the day, I might get all of this accomplished in the near future.

Now for some non-decorating news: We just booked our Mexican cruise for February 16, 2009! My sister and her husband are going with us and I can't wait. We are going to have so much fun.

Ladies That Lunch Bunch!

Saturday a bunch of local bloggers go together at a restaurant to meet and eat! We had a great time. Kristi is the sweet girl that had the idea and I think I speak for everyone there that we all had a wonderful time.....

Some of the girls brought their kids and in one instance, grandkids, and these little munchkins really enjoyed themselves and were so well behaved. Some of these little ones might be future bloggers, who knows?

Melissa was there with her beautiful little girls, Mary Ashley and Emma. Kristi's precious little girl Kate came along and Nancy brought her two precious little grandsons. Ian, her oldest grandson, really enjoyed himself with the ladies!

Ian (far left), Taylor (center), Mary Ashley (behind Taylor to the left) and Emma

Here's Melissa, the most talented "event" person I know! She's got a wonderful birthday party planned for her daughter in January.....you'll just have to wait and see all the "loveliness" she has in mind

All that playing made Taylor thirsty!

Wonder what the girls are up to? (Mary Ashley, Emma, Taylor) Mary Ashley and Taylor take ballet at the same place, same day

I tried to get a picture of the goodie basket Haley made for everyone....how sweet. She sells PartyLite candles and we all got the yummiest smelling votive candle

Ian was outnumbered 4-1 but he didn't seem to mind!

Nancy and her grandson, Ian

You can see how serious we were about ordering our food

Here's Haley with her goodie basket

Two of the sweetest girls I know (Mary Ashley and Emma)

Taylor, Mary Ashley, Emma and mom Melissa

And finally a group shot taken by our waiter - Ty Pennington (at least that's who he looked like)!
Back row: Leigh (left) and Shannon (right)
Next row (from left to right) Melissa, me, Nancy

Next: Heidi (left) and Kristi (holding her daughter Kate)

In front of Kristi is Haley and last but not least, Rebecca

I hope I got everyone's link right and if not, please e-mail me and I will correct it right away! Also, I hope I identified everyone correctly!

If you live near any of your fellow bloggers, I would encourage ya'll to try and get as many together as possible to meet and visit....it's so much fun!

Can't wait to see you girls again!

Hugs!

Tag, You're It!

I've been tagged by Blessed Mama to tell 7 random or weird facts about myself....I've never done this before so here goes.....



1. I am extremely claustraphopic. I think I got this way because when I was a little girl, I cut my head open on a swing (I walked into someone swinging on the old metal swings we used to have). When they took me to the hospital for stitches, I was wrapped, mummy-like, in a sheet so they could sew up my head....it gives me chills just typing about that!


2. I am a BIG procrastinator....I have all these big ideas and projects but tend to put them off until.....sometimes I never get around to doing them.


3. I am a decorating magazine and book-a-holic. I'd probably spend my last dime on a good decorating magazine or decorating book.


4. I love being by myself. It's not a problem for me if I have a day or night to myself to just putter around and do absolutely nothing except what I want to do when I want to do it.


5. I love to read. I usually have at least two books that I'm reading at one time.


6. I always think every season change is my favorite....when spring comes, I love the planting new things and seeing all the lush plants come alive after the dead of winter; when summer gets here, I can't wait to go to the beach and spend time outside; when fall arrives, I think it is the most gorgeous time of year and when the winter finally comes, I get all excited thinking about the upcoming holidays.


7. I love watching Everyone Loves Raymond!


Now you know my dark little secrets, not very exciting, I know!



Now I'm going to tag the following bloggers:



MiMi Lee at Fleur-De Lees

Tam at Gypsy Corner

N.M.B. at Monogrammed Life

Santa Maker at Santamakersjourney

Debra K. at The Bunnys Bungalow

Mrs. Cherrylicious at Cherrys Jubilee Home

and Julia at Hooked On Houses

Kitchen Update

Last Friday as I was walking through the Wal Mart parking lot I heard someone call my name. I looked up and saw my friend Linda coming through the parking lot so I stopped to talk to her. Linda is a very talented lady who has a couple of booths at the antique mall where I used to have mine. We got to talking and I was telling her what changes I was making in my kitchen. I told her that I had tried to use a lot of what I already had and that I was using a pedestal table base and glass top that was not really working for me. Not only that, but I could just imagine my little grandchildren and their Cheetos sticky hands on that glass top everytime they come to visit! I told her what I wanted was a dark wood old farm-type table. She said she had one at home she thought I might be interested in and I was welcome to follow her to her house! Well, duh, of course I did! The table had been stripped and sanded but when I saw the barley-twist type legs and the beauty of the wood, I knew I'd found my table......we got it loaded up (with a little help) in the back of hubby's truck (which I've been driving due to high gas prices) and she told me to use this great stuff to refinish it.......

I headed off to the local paint store which carried this product and let me tell ya'll, it is one of the best stains I've ever used and so easy. I just rubbed it on with a regular sponge (which Linda recommended I do) and look at how that table shines! It is Old Masters Gel Stain and the color I used is Dark Walnut.

See the black frame with "Love" spelled out? This was a very inexpensive frame I've had....took the mat out and sprayed it white and taped scrapbook paper to the back. That will do until I can put some black and white photos in there...

I'm loving the dark wood with the white slipcovers! They are being sent for monogramming this week. I have decided to just mongram them in white so I can use them with anything later on. Plus, the white-on-white is so classy, don't you think?

I whipped up these little zebra pillows Friday night while waiting for hubby to get home. I only had pillow forms for two chairs but I'm thinking I might not do all four.....do ya'll think two or four?

Then Saturday morning before we left for the Auburn-LSU game (don't want to talk about THAT!) the cabinet guy and painter were here to work their magic. When we got home Saturday night (after midnight) the cabinet had been installed and painted. I bought brackets to use under this cabinet and also some really neat scrolly (is that a word) ones for under the plate rack. It really makes a big difference and makes them look like honest-to-goodness pieces of furniture. The paint color I selected is not black but bronze. My decorator friend at the paint store suggested we use the bronze color vs. black and I'm glad she did.

I wanted to use cremeware in the newly installed cabinet and I had most of this stuff around the house already.

These two tea/coffee pots were part of a set we picked up last year at auction. It came with a tray (which is now on my dining room table) these two tea pots and a creamer. Someone had used a craft kit on them trying to make them look like old copper but they just looked yuck! So I got out one of my favorite spray paint colors - Heirloom White - and here's the result.

Got to do a little work on this lid....you can see it doesn't close completely

Put a little fall punkin' on my NEW cake plate. I love this cake plate! I've been looking for one that I could thread ribbon through and use for different holidays and celebrations. This one came from QVC with 4 plates and a bread basket-type thing. Won't this plate be pretty at Christmas with ribbon threaded through the holes?

Here you can see the brackets we added.

Speaking of my friend Linda, I'm hoping to go back to her house this week and take some pictures.....her place is to die for! She is so talented and sweet. I also plan to take pictures of her booths at the antique mall so ya'll can see how pretty that is as well.

Until then, ya'll take care......

EDITED TO ADD: Some of you have asked about the bronze paint color. The paint is by Coronado. It also has on the can "Rust Scat Latex Satin Enamel; 80-424 Duronodic Bronze." I hope this helps!

The Women

Sunday afternoon Shannon picked me up to take me out to eat and a movie for my birthday. I had seen the previews to the movie "The Women" and it looked so cute..... a real chick flick! I couldn't tell you last time hubby and I went to a movie....first, there's not much out there worth seeing! And then the cost is sky-high! We usually go to a matinee. They keep the theaters so cold that it's almost unbearable....of course, you have to have popcorn and a drink (about $20 for two to eat, and that's the "small" size). Anyway, I digress....

Run, do not walk, and take thyself to see "The Women". The cast is wonderful and the story line was easy to follow and rated PG13. This is a great movie to see, I highly recommend it.

By the way, I think there were two guys in the whole theater!

A Sign of the Times

THANKS IKE!