Day 2, The View From My Couch…

When thinking about my blessings and the “little” things I am thankful for, I was thinking back to a day not very long ago (my birthday) when I was really sick and couldn’t move much so I was stuck on the couch all day. I live in an old house and have large windows everywhere. Sometimes that makes it hard to place furniture and it can get drafty in the winter, but when the sun streams in those windows and I can watch the world outside it makes it all worth it. I love those big windows. Laying on the couch that day curled up in an immobile ball I was looking out the window facing the street and thought to myself, “This is a really great view.”

The leaves in the trees across the street were all shades of orange, red and yellow, I could see my neighbors walking their dogs, cars going by and the sun was shining. It was just beautiful.

Even in less than ideal situations, beauty can be found and blessings can be counted.

I am thankful for beautiful fall days and the view from my sofa.

Antlers…Not Just For Boys Anymore

Antlers used to creep me out. Especially when they were still attached to a head with fur and glass eyes following you around the room.

One year, more than a few years ago, I went into a customer’s home to hang drapes and she had an entire wall of antlers. No furry heads and glass eyes, just the antlers. Her husband was a hunter and it was his collection that she had out in an effort to compromise with him. To put her spin on it, she had hung snowflakes off the antlers. Beaded snowflakes and glittery snowflakes and glass snowflakes. All kinds of snowflakes. (It was winter, after all.)

I loved it.

A lot.

Ever since then, I wanted some antlers of my own. She came into my store one day with a big smile on her face and a small set of antlers of my own! She had hung a crystal from a ribbon off one of the antlers and it was fabulous!

It hangs above my vanity with my favorite necklaces hanging from it. Everyday when I see it, it reminds me of her and her friendship.

I started to see antlers pop up in the glossy decorator magazines as the new chic thing and Ballard design started selling their own version of them. They were appearing in all the wholesale catalogs and in all varieties even cardboard!

I found a few at tag sales, never paying over $6 for a set. I knew they would look great all grouped together, I just didn’t know where, what color to paint them, etc. I knew I was going to paint them because I didn’t want them to look like creepy bones and I wanted them all to match.

My first reaction when painting is to think white but I wanted them to pop on the wall and the walls are tiffany blue and I have a lot of white already. I knew if I did another color like orange or red I would tire of it very quickly so I went with a glossy black.

I grouped them above the TV.

I love them glossy black. Fake or real, they blend well together but I think I may need a couple more…

What do you think of antlers?

UT-OH, She’s At It AGAIN…

These are the words I’m sure the hunny bunny was thinking as he came home Saturday night. He took the son out for some “man” time and I took advantage of the time alone in the house to (what else?) rearrange the dining room again.

I know, I know. I have a problem. I can admit it and I can quit anytime I want.

I just don’t want to. (heehee.)

The new idea for the dining room has been brewing in the back of my mind for some time now, almost since the last time I rearranged it. I was actually going to use the time alone in the house to maybe watch some girlie TV but I couldn’t stop thinking about that dang dining room and I ate ice cream and figured throwing furniture around would be a good way to burn up some of those calories.

So here’s where I started from…

I like (actually love) that long table (not the one in the pic, a different one that used to be in the living room and ended up in there after this was taken) and it was too long to fit in the kitchen and still be able to open cupboard doors, so I knew it had to stay in the dining room. I wanted to go back to using it as a desk. I was using it that way before it ended up as the dining room table. So I moved it to the “damask” wall in the dining room.

The only shape that would make sense with all the square in the dining room would be round for a table.

Dang. I just moved the round oak claw foot table into the kitchen. This is not easy. The top has to be removed from the base with 6 nuts and bolts.

Also, the bolts don’t stay in place when you move it. They fall out of their perfect little spot where the holes are for the table top to fit into. It takes some time alone to put each of the 6 bolts into their holes so the washers and nuts can be placed. I basically crawl around on the floor lifting the tabletop with my shoulders so I can use both hands to feel around for the bolt and drop it into place.

Have I mentioned the table is solid oak? I can really put my crossfit classes to use when moving this table. It is not light, not even in 2 pieces.

I moved the huge mirror that used to be leaned against the wall on the floor on top of the long table/desk and I like how it makes my already tall walls even taller.

I even like the chandelier hanging off the mirror at this height….

I have the chandelier plugged into a box that is controlled by a remote so I can turn the chandelier on with a remote with one button. It’s pretty cool and much easier than crawling on the floor under the table to plug it in and unplug it when I want it on.

The kitchen is table-less at the moment. I was in the basement in my old office looking for a tray to put in the dining room when I spied this table buried under piles of stuff from a class I taught for many years.

It’s perfect! And since I don’t teach that class anymore, I can clean it off and bring it up into the kitchen. (Ugh, now I have to clean it off rather than just continue to ignore it.)

Also, when you move things in your home, you have to find new homes for all the “smalls” that get displaced like picture frames, trays, that cute little jar of glitter you like to look at, stuff like that. So I still have styling in the dining room to do also. (After all my years in retail I almost said “merchandising” and for the life of me couldn’t think of the word of what it was called to do that in your house.)

So, 2 more things for the ever growing, everchanging TO DO list. Oh well, if I don’t get to it right away, where’s it going to go? I’m going for a bike ride while the sun is shining…..

 

 

 

OH! Silly me! I forgot to show you what the dining room looks like now…(minus the styling I haven’t done yet)

Another Day, Another Project

Projects always rear their heads when you have the least amount of time for them. Summer brings outdoor projects like gardening, painting, home repairs and lawn maintenance just to name a few.

A few postings back when I was talking about my closet, I mentioned that I wanted a piece to “float” in my closet with extra shelving for shoes or gym clothes. A piece I could put my glass jewelry display shelf on.

I was out Saturday checking out yard sales and stopped by my favorite second hand shop and found this little cupboard that I thought may work. It was only $30 so if it didn’t work for me, I could sell it.

It had a cute shape along the bottom and these charming queen anne legs.

It had a dark stain and a few coats of oil based poly on top. Oil base can be tricky because the general rule is to cover oil with oil. There are a couple times that rule doesn’t apply. With chalk paint or milk paint. Or you could strip it and start over, but who has time for that, when you plan on painting it anyway?

Since I don’t have any milk or chalk paint in the house right now, I put a coat of oil base paint on top. Here is one coat done.

24 hours later and another coat of paint…

Then I sanded the edges and random spots for a worn look. I concentrated around the handle especially.

My original thought was to throw out and replace the original knob. But after looking closer at it and realizing it has a latch that keeps the door shut and a very nice patina, I decided to keep it.

It looks striking against fresh white paint.

I just need to find a tassel to hang from it!

The only way to truly see if a piece will work in a space is to put it there and live with it for a few days.

So far, so good. The size feels right and I’m not banging into it in the morning. I need to get some baskets for the inside and decoupage the inside of the door with some fun paper.

Another project for another day…

Leave me a comment and let me know what projects you are working on…

When the Husband is Away, the Wife will……Rearrange!

My husband had to go to California for a week for business. I have been itching to rearrange and now the perfect opportunity to make a mess without the grumbling or eye rolling had presented itself! Don’t get me wrong, he’s very patient and has helped me move furniture around for years. He probably can’t wait to get old and arthritic so he won’t have to do it anymore. Problem is, I married younger so that won’t happen for awhile. Hehe, maybe I was planning ahead….

Anyway, remember how I mentioned in my first post (I love fireplaces) that one room I’m never happy with? My dining room? (Yes, that’s the one.) I thought I could move the round oak claw foot table into the kitchen and the white table with all the leaves in the dining room.

I could open the table, put some leaves in and make it a long, harvest style table. I could put the tables on their sides under towels and just push them into the rooms. At least that’s the way it went in my head.

Here’s how it went in reality…

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my house is old. Really old. Over 130 years old. The doorways are more narrow than most houses. The tables would not fit through the doorways with the legs on. (insert deep sigh here) I would have to take the legs off both tables.

The white table hasn’t really been the table of my dreams. I really, really, really (REALLY) want a harvest table with farmhouse table legs. I thought since the legs were off this one already, maybe I could move the legs so I would like the table a little longer. The legs were turned in a weird angle and I wanted them more straight.

It was waaaaaay harder and more time consuming than I thought. The table is old which makes the wood old and dry and the leg tops were pegged. Meaning, they had a round notched top that fit into a round hole and were nailed in with 100 year old rusty 12 inch nails. (Not really, probably only 4”)

My heavens, I hammered the first two out, turned them and hammered them back in but didn’t have the energy to do the next 2. I started the next night on the next 2, but the wood started to split so I left them. It wasn’t meant to be. I would just put those legs on the side I won’t see.
So now I have a table with 2 legs I like and 2 I don’t. Oh well, I’ll probably have a different table by the end of summer anyway. Here is the kitchen before and after…

I added the settee and took the chairs to the basement to use later or sell. I have sat more there in the past week than the past 9 months.

Here is the dining room before and after…

Problem! I still didn’t like the table. OHMYGOSH! Sell the house and start over! I walked through it for a few days trying not to make a sour face every time I passed through, when I went to my friend Susan’s house and noticed her table was at an angle. Intriguing! Genius! Why had I not thought of that?

So here it is at an angle….

Check out that cool blue box on the table! It’s the perfect amount of distress. What should I put in it? Flowers? Dried hydrangeas? Magazines? Fruit? Dirty socks?

So, leave me a comment letting me know if you like the rooms before or after and what you think I should put in the blue box. Hmmmm…..