Homemaking

Today, I celebrate the day with all things homemaking. I have tidied the house, puttered, played with my 4 year old, and made a favorite pot of soup. You see, I do this all in the celebration of a woman's life, who's favorite days were filled with these seemingly mundane activities.

My Grandmother, whose furniture you've heard me talk about time and again, passed away this morning. She had a glorious home filled with antique treasures, and always the scents of wonderful home made foods. Everyone in our family loved her warm and welcoming home. I recall that she used to take photos of her house, and all the rooms and accessories. I used to think this was very strange, yet look at all the photos that I take of my own home now. I think my Grandma would have been a home decor blogger if only it was around in her time! Her favorite thing to do was putter in her home, and celebrate the art of homemaking. Today, I felt it only right to do this in her honour; after all, it's one of my favorite ways to spend a day too.

Miss you Grandma, but happy you are not suffering any longer, and are in a better place.


(Also, a quick note to let you all know that I seem to be jinxed in the past few days with leaving any comments on blogger. The occasional comment gets through, but most just poof off my screen once I submit the comment. I try again and again, reboot etc but to no avail. Has anyone had this happen to them, or know how to fix it?)

Hydrangeas

It seems I have a love affair with hydrangeas. I have them dried, all over my house. Many of these dried arrangments are from my Grandmother's house. They were cut and dried 25 years ago and are still gorgeous!

I recently filled an urn near the front entry with a faux variety. I'll have to go faux until we're able to get our gardens in order and plant some real ones!

Whether fresh, faux, or dried, Hydrangeas make a beautiful addition to any home. I admittedly love the fact that I don't have to try to keep these ones alive.....my green thumb has proven a tad untrustworthy as far as indoor plants are concerned.

Have a wonderful day!

Autumn Lovelies, take 2

I bought this tiered stand last autumn.  Remember how it looked then?  Well, this year I pulled out all my fall goodies for my stand.  Prepare for picture overload...I got a little camera happy!

I used a hodge podge of pretty much anything I had that was fall-ish.  Gourds, leaves, 'sugared' pumpkins, faux pears....

Ha! you made it through all those pictures =)  I am pretty much done my fall decorating, with the exception of my front porch.  I'm still on the hunt for some great green and white pumpkins for my urn topiaries.  I'll share the rest of my fall decor with you soon. I'm sure enjoying seeing all the wonderful fall decor in your homes!  I'm particularly smitten with these beauties.

Linking to my Favorite Parties!

I finally did it!

I finally tried out what so many bloggers have been blogging about: Chalk Paint. My first victim was a small table that I'm using in my sunroom as a coffee table. It was a freebie, and the stain was in rough shape. You can see a before here.

I took to heart that you don't need to sand or prep the piece before painting, and just slapped on the paint. It covered well, although it took 4 coats (as opposed to one, which is what many say is all that's needed). I used the clear wax, distressed, then re-waxed. I used Old White. I'm definately happy with how it turned out.

I also made a few little changes to the Sunroom.  I added this rag rug, in more autumn shades, and removed the firescreen that was here before.  It just wasn't in keeping with the rest of the room.

I added a button fern to the silver planter. It's sure enjoying all the sun this room gets.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep this one alive.  My past record with ferns isn't too great!

I also switched out the pillows, although I'm going to need another switch to some more earthy colours to keep up with the season!

This room is slowly coming along.  There's another large space on the other side of the sunroom which is not at all set up.  I hope to get that space completed by Christmas.  I am on the lookout for the perfect comfy reading chair, as well as a chest to store some linens such as tablecloths and placematts. 

Linking to my Favorite Parties!

A Lonely Armoire

Here is another piece in my quick tour of our new (sparse) Master Bedroom.

Today I wanted to show you an armoire that was in my Grandmother's home. She likely got it at a garage sale, and refinished it. It was given to my Mother, who then passed it down to me.

It has a slightly art deco feel to it. The hardware is original, and a few repairs need to be made so that the doors actually latch shut. Sould be an easy fix. I love the details of the piece; it's so unique.

Now I just need to get the rest of the room furnished so the armoire doesn't feel so lonely!
(and why, oh why do all the homes we buy have pukey mustard yellow walls in the Master?? I can't wait to get those painted!)

Linking to my Favorite Parties!

New Bedding for our Master

I found the jumping off point for the colours and fabrics in our new room with this new bedding:

The duvet, shams, euro shams and dust ruffle are from Pottery Barn.  The coverlet is from Home Sense and the large neck roll is from Ikea.

The soft colours, and feminine pattern were just what I was looking for. I am not sure if the bench at the end of the bed will stay in this spot.  The craftsman style isn't in keeping with the rest of the room, but the bench is special to us as it was a wedding gift.  It is upholstered with William Morris fabric.

The headboard was found on Kijiji, and was very inexpensive.  I bought it intending to put it in the Master 'for now' and then the guest room once I've found a permanent headboard for us; however, I've grown quite fond of it, and it just may stay put!  It's hard to see with all those pillows, so I've stripped them down to give you a better look.

Now I need to find some curtains, settle on a paint colour, change out the overhead lighting, add some art, and put in some more furniture (perhaps a reading corner??).  I have a lot of work still to do in this room!

I'll share my one and only other piece of furniture I have in this room, an antique armoire, in another post.

Have a wonderful day!

Linking to my Favorite Parties!

A New Table (and some progress in the Master!)

Remember my old, boring, matchy-matchy bedroom in our last house? Remember my inspiration folder for how I'd love our new Master to look? Well, over the weekend, I found another piece that puts me closer to having my pretty over-the-top girly bedroom.

We sold our bed frame, and put the rest of our bedroom set in the guest room where it's looking perfectly lovely and cozy. Trouble is, all we had was a metal bed frame and a gorgeous armoire that my Mother gave to me (score!). The Master in our new house isn't too entirely obnoxiously huge, but it's a fairly large space, and looks awfully empty now.

I was willing to live with it like this for a while (and we still are!) until the perfect pieces came along. We found a new-to-us headboard and new bedding, which I'll share another day. Now I was on the hunt for bedside tables, so we don't have to stash our things on the floor by the bed (or use cardboard boxes, for that matter!). I knew I didn't want actual bedside tables. I was thinking either a table with a drawer, a small chest, or a round table with a cloth over it. I also didn't want the two sides to match.

While cruising Kijiji over the weekend, I spotted it. My new bedside table, that isn't actually a bedside table. It's meant to be a desk. Yes, it's a small desk, but makes for a large 'bedside table'. It is in beautiful condition. We paid $170 which may not be a steal, but I dare you to find a solid wood desk as nice as this in a retail shop for that price.

Here she is:

Love the lines, the ledge down below, and the pendant handles.  You can just catch a glimpse of our new bed and bedding.  I look forward to sharing that with you soon!

I started to style the top a bit, but still would like to find a vintage-looking alarm clock (to replace the ugly digital one I've had for umteen years!) and am working out the details of what to put on the bottom shelf.  It will need to be large enough to cover those pesky cords from the bedside lamp, etc.

As you can see, I've been testing out some paint colours, but have decided to go with something completely different. 

The bedside lamps were found by my Mom at a garage sale for $2 for the pair!! They are a very heavy cast material.

I think the other 'bedside table' will end up being a round table covered by a cloth.  I think the contrast of the round table on one side and the rectangular one on the other will look lovely.


I also wanted to just quickly thank you for sticking with me while I've been such an absentee blogger.  I'm reading and commenting on your blogs as much as \I can, but this pregnancy has taken a lot out of me.  I'm in the second trimester now, so here's hoping that those pesky early pregnancy symptoms will subside so I can get on with life!!

I'll be back soon to show you some more new finds.  I have so much to share with you all!


Linking to my Favorite Parties!