Um...Another House Tour..?

Hello again!...Welcome !..I wanted to show you one of my favorite rooms in the house.....Now quit dragging your feet and try to keep up...

It's not really a room at all..an entry,... a foyer,... a hallway...but it's one of my favorite places.

Perhaps it's because it is more muted than the rest of the house. The other rooms are filled with color but the walls here are a soft, creamy, vanilla. It's sort of soothing.... Did you HEAR me? I said it was SOOTHING! just making sure you were paying attention. Now then...


(She supposedly came from a church.... )

(I recovered the bench in this wonderful embroidered fabric I had found in an eBay auction. I don't know what the name or brand is but my heart goes pitty pat whenever I see it....)



It might also be that this room houses my most favorite possession. How can anyone have a love affair with lamps? But I do!.. and I always joke that in an emergency (aside from the family & pets of course ) that I would run back in for these lamps.



I think they were meant just for me.... (sigh)


Is all of this confusing you? Let me start at the begining of the house. Come on now, up off that bench! Try to keep up with the rest of the group...



If you walk in through the front doors...



You will see the Living / Dining room on the left...




And thru this little door on the right...




Is the office.....



If you venture up the stairs ......

(Another favorite of mine - Chandelier courtesy of the Kathy Ireland Collection - who knew a swimsuit model and I could have the same taste? )

You will come upon this sweet little corner chair....

But if you don't feel like hiking upstairs and you walk thru the entry......


You may or may not notice this....

(It's a raised plaster stencil. I wanted something there but nothing really jarring out at you.....)



Oh! you will see these too....


Then you will come across this little table....

(That I am trying to update seasonally....but even I have to admit it needs a little help! I'll be off to Michael's shortly!)

( I don't really know what you call this...it's some sort of framed "book"...)

(This little lady was $14.99! I am looking forward to filling the basket she carries on her back - currently with wheat - to suit the seasons. )

(These plaques were my Great Grandmothers....)

An opening into the dining room is on the left......Tea will be served later.

But if you turn to the right....

You can either dash into the kitchen on the left.....

(A little bit of a view on the way......)

Or continue down the hall to the sitting room....




....and if you turn around you are looking at the kitchen!

Confusing..? I know, I apologize. Did I mention there is a second set of stairs..? it's off of the kitchen...now if you follow me...hey wait! Where are you going? ..What?! You don't want to follow me on any more of my house tour?...well okay, you don't have to go running off screaming like that! But you might have to ask me for directions on how to get out of the house...and no refunds!

(I apologize if my posts lately are a little redundant and you are probably banging your head against your desk over me doing another house tour but I am just trying to stall until I can finish up my latest project : ) but it kind of involves the same thing - Decorating!)

The Kitchen.....

I am not crazy about cooking. Seriously. It's one of my least favorite things to do - but I do enjoy it more when we have a crowd - isn't that strange? I've got a few picky eaters in the house but when you've got people over who enjoy eating what you cook, then it's a pleasure and not a chore.

But I LOVE to bake! Sweet muffins on a Saturday morning. Ooey Gooey Cinnamon rolls lulling you down the stairs on Sunday. That's more ME! All about the baked goods!

The kitchen is open to our sitting room (previous post) and as with any other room in my house it was an opportunity for decorating!

Let me give you a little tour....

The butcher block that makes it so convenient to pour yourself a glass of milk to go with those baked goods!

Over here is a glass front cabinet that stores my "pretty" dishes or as my 4 year old calls it "Show & Tell". Doesn't matter that I have to stoop down to the cabinet below to get our "everyday" dishes but as long as I have something nice to look at then I can deal with the back problems this causes....;)

To further enhance my "pretty view" -I lined the back of the cabinet with a subtle fruit & bird toile wallpaper. It makes the dishes stand out a bit more and it appears that I have more than I really do! another wink! ;)

Uh Oh! Do you spy another Rooster lamp...? Don't you just love HomeGoods!?......

Then to address the looming space above the cabinets (but I was the only one in the house to think this) I think I have made the most of the soffet..no Wasted decorating space in this house!

An old painting that I carried from room to room for months trying to find just the right spot for...how about above the pantry door?! I enjoy looking at when I am lounging on the couch in the adjacent room...and I do like to lounge!

A pretty antique platter above the stove.... it's mounted with a plate hanger attached with wire to a nail that I hammered into the cabinet -my hubby wasn't too happy with that part! - then I used that poster putty on the backside so it doesn't shift all around.

An iron bull's head that my kids get a kick out of!

I wish I had some exotic story about him being from a French Boucherie' as an advertising sign... but (sigh)... no... He was originally a towel rack with a huge ring through his nose! I would have used him in his original condition but I don't have wall space by the kitchen sink. So we hacksawed off the metal ring and I puttied up his rather large nose holes and dabbed on some paint. So now can I "fib" about his origins?

A little transferware here and there.....

And my sweet hubby brought me back those copper pots from a trip...Now he's finally getting the real me after 12 years of marriage!

The nook that my husband and I spent one loooonnng weekend building benches for....(can you say marriage counseling?)

Had to throw in my favorite pillow - there is a hen & chicks one down at the other side of the bench - the kids know NOT to wipe their grubby fingers on these! Still working on the husband...;)

And finally back around to the sitting room....

Oh! one more thing before you go - How many of you have stainless steel refrigerators? Then you know you can't attach any little notes or cute magnets to it right?




Well I applied a couple coats of magnetic paint & then chalkboard paint to the other side of the fridge cabinet (gasp! I know I had reservations at first too!) to make a sort of message center. Had my husband install some trim around it and I painted it to match the cabinets.

It looks like it was always there... I get a little more organization and the four year old usually doodles up the lower half and leaves us little masterpieces!

Well, I think that about concludes the tour - Now I've got some Baking to do! See you next time!

65 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Tonight we celebrated my Grandparents 65th Wedding Anniversary!

A few months ago I posted a prayer request. My 90 year old Grandfather, whom we call "Poppy" had fallen and broken his hip. After surgery and a very long stay in a rehab center he has been home for awhile now and doing well. He can't walk without a walker but he still has his sense of humor and my dear Grandmother, "Granny" has been taking good care of him. He will be 91 in January and "Granny" will be 90 next June.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening of them telling stories about the good ole' days and the ups & downs of married life. One involving my Grandmother throwing a glass baby bottle at my Grandfather's head when he once proclaimed "just because YOU had a baby doesn't mean I have to stay home" . Needless to say he didn't get to go out that night and I don't think he ever tried that again!

Another story that had us all laughing,was of them on their Honeymoon to Niagra Falls, when my Grandfather had awoken to the shadow of a man looming over the bed. He jumped up to defend his bride and tackled the "man" to the floor only to discover that he had defeated his coat hanging on the coat rack!

Yes, there have been many ups & downs in this couple's life but they are an inspiration to us and I see many similarities within my own marriage - except I haven't had to throw any baby bottles! But I only hope that my husband and I will make it to our 65th!

Please help us wish these Love Birds many more years of married bliss!

Welcome Changes!

I am constantly changing things in my rooms, I add or subtract, decide the curtain rods need to be hung higher, find a new piece that I can't live without (well, in the moment with my heart pounding upon discovering a new treasure, I convince myself this is true!) that I can't keep any current pictures of the house. The rooms change daily. My husband is so used to this that he no longer notices. Still not sure if that's good or bad....

I've also found that if you take pictures of your rooms, you can see what works or not - things you might not ordinarily notice. I have caught things from seriously crooked pictures to cob webs dangling in the corners and nothing spurs on a cleaning spree like taking pictures for all to see! ;)


So here are a few recent pictures - things may or may not look the same in there tomorrow, but I think it keeps it interesting!

(Mommy didn't buy a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch this year, no siree - she was too busy digging through the gourd bins trying to find just the right ones for the mantle!)

Can you believe "HE" was a $15 clearance section find at Homegoods?! He had a small crack which I wood puttied (sp?) up and dabbed on some paint! I think he was regularly priced around $80. This was one treasure I was proud to show my husband - "Look honey, he was on sale!"

Struck gold again at Homegoods...this heavy wood carved table was $149. I still think that was a great deal! (you should have heard me rambling off like an auctioneer the reasons WHY this was such a good steal to my husband when I was trying to convince him to unload it from the car!)

That little corner of the room needed something ...so I found this little cabinet and thought it was perfect! .. and the bonus was that I could fill it with little treasures that were scattered all over the house...nice & tidy. Makes perfect sense to me....

My husband still hasn't noticed this and it's been several months now. I've learned to be self sufficient at hanging pictures, cabinets & curtain rods!

I retired my former rooster lamp when I found this dressed up version in a store closing sale. He's a little more "glammy" and the size and shape compliments the lamp on the other side of the room (see pic with little cabinet, if you don't take my word for it! ;)

And that concludes the tour of the sitting room - next week it might look different. I'm crossing my fingers that my Hubby never notices! :)