Family Room Redecoration

Well, I can't remember now just how long it's been but the family room redecoration process is complete! Following, in no particular order are pictures:

This first set is the floor installation by Dr. Love, a random picture of chairs & ottoman, the console table and the chandelier that Dr. Love installed against the ceiling.  I decided to go a swatch darker on the ceiling than the walls and I am very happy with the results!  

This next set is random pictures that don't match up with any of my "befores." FYI-the blank from is waiting for Andrew's senior picture this fall and there will be another 8x10 under the current one then also.

And now we have "before & afters"

Thank you especially to my old friend Yvonne (living in FL now!) who received and replied to countless text messages asking for her opinions on how this or that looks.  She seemed almost as eager as I was to try this or that and just helped me tremendously!

Details:  

All paint is Benjamin Moore--walls are Palladian Blue, Ceiling is Wythe Blue and fireplace and trim are Alpine White.  I went through many different colors of paint swatches on the walls before finally seeing one of my considerations in House Beautiful.  That clinched the decision for me!

I didn't follow any patterns in sewing up the ottoman cover, window treatments & throw pillows.  I used Rowley's Clip & Wave tape on the tops of the window treatments.  It worked beautifully!  I purchased new feather & down pillow inserts and I am so glad I did--they are much more comfortable than all the different polyester fiberfill forms I had.

The round red ottoman was a Goodwill find after I started the project.  It is just so sweet and perfect that I paid a little more than I like to pay at Goodwill but I'm glad I brought it home.

The black chandelier, red pendant lights and white furniture covers are all from Overstock.com  The table lamps are all from Target.

Nothing else was purchased new but I did pick up a couple of other things from Goodwill and I moved in things from storage that I was saving or from other rooms.  Also, I used paint to change the color of the tv table and the yellow tray on the fireplace.  Dr. Love built the tv stand to raise it up and get the cable boxes under it.  Those things cost over $50 on Amazon!

Any questions?  Just ask and I will respond by return comment :)

Whew!  

Felted Wool

I must admit to being enamoured of late with felted wool. This post on The Purl Bee blog is gorgeous and I would dearly love to make one of these! Just look at this! The textures, the colors, swoon......

DIY Thursday - sconce makeover

This is my first time to participate in DIY day at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land. I follow Kimba's blog and enjoy seeing what everyone does but I usually haven't taken pictures of my own projects to share.

I painted the sconces in my hallway. I forgot to take a before photo but you can see the gold (brass?) in this picture of the bracket & globe:

Here's how it looks now on the wall. I left off the nasty brackets. I think these were hanging facing down when Dr. Love took them off for me and I wasn't here when he put them back up last night. I was thinking to try them this way though, so I'm glad he faced them up--they provide much more light this way.

Here's the celiling light that's in proximity to the sconces. It's coming down tonight and getting the black treatment too. (yes, I'll clean off the cobwebs first)

Thank you Kimba for hosting DIY Thursday!

Hugs to you all, Leslie

My Week

Since tomorrow is a holiday for my dear Dr. Love, today is officially the end of my week! I was very busy...SmallPeoples House (my new in-home childcare business got off the ground, I did some sewing and I tried three new recipes (no, I haven't ironed anything this week).

Here's a picture of the flowers Dr. Love brought home to me. He knows that I looooooove tulips, and slightly used flowers (these were the centerpiece at a dinner he attended) don't bother me in the least (I worked for a funeral home & got "used" flowers all the time!). These white tulips are particularly beautiful to me, especially against my red wall.

Here's a couple of pictures of the new pillow slipcovers that I did (except for the crocheted-looking one):

I gave myself a pat on my back for thinking to remove the previous cover on that bolster, tear it apart and use it for a pattern!

And here are SmallPeoples House pictures:

My $15 Craigslist changing table with the new changing pad I purchased and a .99 cent Henry the Octopus toy from Goodwill.

The $1.00 garage sale high chair with the towel that I used for a bib. I need to sew ties onto it!

Two of four gates to limit access around the house. The wooden gate I purchased new to fit the wide entryway to the game room where there are numerous Legos and other assorted choking-sized toys. The plastic gate keeps my second story off-limits and was $1.00 at the same garage sale as the high chair.

Toys, all from Goodwill or Once Upon A Child. The basket has a bunch in it too.

Little Missy K's favorite toy (I like it, too!):

And, best of all, our napping chair!

Wishing you all a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Grace & Peace,

Leslie

Tuesday Ramblings

I just read a great post by Brenda at Cozy Little House about home decorating entitled "What Does Our Home Say About Us?" and it started me thinking.

I'm drawn to old stuff. Not antique furniture, just old junk. But my house is filled with the things that I love (my apologies to Randy Travis). Old things that once belonged to my Mother; vintage finds given to me by friends who "just knew" that I would appreciate that particular bric-a-brac; pretty things that I find interesting... A friend once told me that my decorating style is "interesting." Sadly, I took that as a personal criticism and every so often I bring that back up and chew on it again. But really, what's bad about being interesting?!

More important to me than what my home reflects about me is what does my life reflect about me? I say that I love God more than anything & anyone : does that show in my day-to-day life? Can Dr. Love, Miss B & Charlie get a glimpse of Him? What about the people who live on my street or those I run into at the grocery store, library, Goodwill? Sometimes I get so caught up with "being" the right person or "doing" the right things that He is nowhere to be found! Please forgive me Lord Jesus for my selfishness, renew my heart one more time and help me to live my life for You!

On another note, here's a slideshow of my sun room. I think Dr. Love & I have finally gotten those pesky old tins to stay perched above the windows. A little fishing line, a few self-stick velcro coins.... Most of the tins once contained Mrs. Steven's candy. Her company was in business in Chicago from the early 1900's through the early 1960's as far as I can tell. The glass fishing weights are from our family vacation is Seattle a few years ago; they've been in a bowl on my coffee table and were finally hung this weekend. The leaves windchime is one that Dr. Love picked up many many years ago when he was traveling internationally for his job. He had never unwrapped it and I was pleased to find & hang it for him to enjoy! The sweet little gourd birdhouse was made by and given to me as a birthday gift this year by a friend. All of my plants have to be out of Mudgie's reach...she is a real plant afficianado and every time she manages to taste one she gets sick on my carpeting! The last picture is of Henry-she is more skittish than Mudgie is so I don't have a chance to snap a picture of her face very often.
If you'd like, you can play "I Spy" as you watch....find some dust, a toy gun, a pair of flip-flops, some nail polish, an ant trap and a paint color sample.

Grace & Peace,
Leslie

Pink Saturday

Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ always hosts Pink Saturday for us. Click the link to go to her blog and find a list of this week's participants. Great job Beverly and Thank you!


I have three pictures for this week's edition. This first one is my new family room window treatment. The fabric was $4/yd at Wal-Mart and a kind friend sent me some muslin that she picked up thrifting so I used that for the lining. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I have big plans for that room....new paint on the walls and some slipcovers for that blue love seat & ottoman and the matching couch.

This next picture is the cake at the wedding reception I attended last Saturday. I like how the couple's first initials are shown in the frosting and I think the K (which is the first initial of their last name) as a topper is very elegant.

Lastly, I met this sweet baby boy tonight for the first time...he's about 40 hours old! I'll have to come up with a blog name for him as I'll get to have him every day to play with when his Mommy goes back to work in November.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Leslie

Pink Saturday/Independence Day

It's Pink Saturday once again. And Happy Birthday America! Be sure to head over to Beverly's blog for links to all the celebrators! http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Two years ago when we were looking for our home, one of the features that stood out to me was the sunroom. It's heated & air-conditioned and is on the north side of the house where there are a lot of trees so it's really always bright & breezy but never suffers from too much intense sunlight. This little chest was given to me by my friend J, she decopauged it and dressed it up. I had the movers put it in this spot in the sunroom and it hasn't moved from here. I store my sewing & craft stuff in it (but not my fabric....it wouldn't begin to hold that!).
Here's a close-up of the vignette on the top. The plate on the left was a birthday gift from J, the little framed saying was from another friend. I found the pink Lefton vases on the right at an antique store a long time ago and I still love them! The same with the little dark pink powder box (I think that what that is). The little campodimonte basket of flowers is a gift I gave my mother when I was in college. Way in the back is an unused vintage bridal shower giftcard that I found in my Mother's things.


And because it's Independence Day too, I thought I'd show you my entryway vignette:


There you have it. Happy Pink Saturday! Celebrate safely!
Love, Leslie

A Thoughtful Neighbor

A few weeks ago I helped my neighbor K strip wallpaper from what will be her nursery. She & her husband are expecting their first baby in August. A little backstory: her husband bought the house as a single guy; I think the home was vacant when he purchased it; the rooms he didn't use were left shut up. He & K were married last October. Back to the present: the paper was old & dirty-ish, the carpet was a blue-green horrendus stuff, the window treatments were dusty but I could see that they were beautiful once upon a time and I commented on that as we were taking them down.
So yesterday K called me to come over & view their progress so far. As she was showing me the room, she opened the closet and pulled out a roll of fabric! It's the rest of the bolt that the window treatments were down up in. She found it as she was cleaning her hubby's stuff out the closet and knew that I'd appreciate having it.




I'm lazy and don't want to re-roll the fabric so I don't know how much is here but it looks like a lot!


I tried to figure out just how "vintage" the fabric is. Maybe from the 70's? It doesn't look 80's to me. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it. I can definately see it in a quilt! I'll be making some baby things for K and will be sure to at least include a small swatch of the fabric someplace on one of them!

Happy Friday and be sure to stop back tomorrow for Pink Saturday!

Miss B had her last day of summer school today. It was actually a make-up day because she missed the theatre clean-up day on Sunday afternoon. So while she was spending 3 hours on the south side at McCutcheon, Charlie and I scoped out the Goodwill down there and a resale shop or two. He found two shirts, one is collared to wear for school in the fall and the other is a tshirt. Here's a Talbot's (still looks brand new, never worn!) skirt that I scored at GW.

When she was finished and we were on our way home, we noticed a small-ish garage sale. Normally I wouldn't stop but there's been a waste container in the driveway for a few days and from the road it looked as if the house was being cleaned out. It was! I got the following for $7.

The canisters are ceramic and are marked "Holiday Designs, USA." This could just be someone's own trademark. I'll do a search for it in a bit. I know the orange lids are atrocious! I'm not sure that I'll even keep them and if I do, I'll figure out how to paint them the right color red for my country french kitchen. Does anyone know what paint to use? The glass jar is marked on the bottom "Made in Italy Crownford China Co 1966." It's in perfect shape! The letters also had an N, obviously to be used for some directional thing. Someday I'll have a sewing room to call my own and when I do, the ones spelling SEW will go on the wall! Here's another picture of the cannisters without the horrible lids.
I really do have two cats but little Henry-girl is more skittish than her sister and it's harder to snap a photo of her. I've still got this pack & play up in my room for my nephew's return visit on Friday. Mudgie says "I is a baby Momma, I is!"

End of the School Year Ramblings

Today is the last full day of sch.ool....tomorrow is a short day and then "no more cla.sses, no more books..." The summer is pretty much planned to the hilt: Unless God has other things in mind for us, Miss B is taking summer PE & theatre and will be tied up with those for 8 hours every weekday in June. Charlie goes to technology camp at Purdue for a week in June. Dr. Love is busily getting the finishing touches on his High Sch.ool Entrepreneurship Academy that will have him gone for an entire June week too. Towards the end of the month we will have visitors from Alabama. Then in July the kids will be gone on a Texas trip for 12 days. We'll be in Michigan for vacation the first week of August and then school (High School for Miss B!) starts back up the very next Wednesday. Somewhere in there we hope to do a little visiting up in the Region and also get to Wisconsin to see Aunt Joe.

Yesterday was my 45th birthday. I woke up to a big zit on the end of my nose!
Dr. Love and the kids plus Miss M took me to Turkey Run State Park for a day of kayaking (Charlie & I) & canoeing (Dr. Love and the girlies) plus a cook out. We took the short trip so we'd have time for hiking too. I'd never been in a kayak before; now I don't think I'll ever sit in a canoe again! I loved being closer to the water & able to move about the water more freely plus I could stop & look for rocks at will. I really liked having the backrest too! Just as we got to putting the boats in the water the rain began so I don't have any pictures of the actual trip down the creek. It was a nice gentle rain so we weren't too bothered.
Afterwards we changed into dry clothes & headed for the part itself. As Dr. Love started the charcoal, the rain came down in earnest so we huddled around the grill under umbrellas while the hot dogs cooked. Since it was still raining off & on, we decided to not hike on this trip. We did stop & make a reservation to spend one night at the Inn next Memorial Day weekend. After napping (me) on the way home, we leaded up the wash machine & then napped (me & Dr. Love) again! The day ended with Kentucky GRILLED chicken, presents (a red rooster for my kitchen counter and a very generous gift cert.ificate to my local quilt store) and a chocolate cake that Miss B made all by herself.

Our family devotions have moved on to the book of Esther at Miss B's request. Since I finished Beth Moore's 10 week study of Esther back in April, Dr. Love has me co-leading our discussions. Today we talked about Xerxes' command that all husbands should be mas.ters in their own homes and cross-referenced that with the passage in Ephesians that tells husbands to love their wives. We discussed the idea that love is an action, not a feeling. I also brought up the verse that instructs older women to teach the younger ones to love their husbands & children, etc. One of the kids was taken with the idea that loving someone is not always easy. I think we may have more discussion on this topic during dinner tonight.

The robin in the slide show has built a nest on my front porch. I opened the door to take a picture of the chair cushion that I made and saw Momma feeding the babies. She was none to happy with me for intruding and she flew around & chewed me out but good! I'm glad that the nest is high enough to keep the neighborhood cats from accessing it.

Miss B's new skirt took just a couple of hours to make. There's a dress on the way for her too but I need to get some housework done before I start on it. We're also working on a backpack for her 1-year-old baby (1/2) brother. She wanted one with Elmo on it but we couldn't find one in the stores. I'll post pictures of both the dress & the pack when they're finished. I've got a second quilt going too.

I was thrilled to find the rug on Craigslist! I was a bit worried about the color--it looked sort of peachy in the sun. But I think it blends in really nicely with the room and is just right.

Wishing a happy day to you all...Grace & Peace,
Leslie

p.s. Once I posted this, links showed up! I don't like that, so I added some periods in the words. I really do know proper punctuation!

Friday Favorites

Calling Elvis.....

I Christmas-ized my mirror of many colors in an attempt to help it blend in better for the season. What do you think? Are you looking for the sleazy lounge singer too?

Finishing Touches

These old canning jars needed
"something" so I filled a few with various dried beans & others with popcorn. Then I cut fabric for the ones without lids. Much better!

A Random Autumn Day

Here is trusty Jaxs guarding over my mums.

I love this time of year when it's cool out but not really cold (except it was 34 degrees this morning at 7:20!). I love the pumpkins on my neighbors' porches and the rustle of falling leaves and the shouts of the children as they play in them. I love the smell of apple pie baking and the feel of the fireplace when it's lit for the first time. However, I don't love the squirrel or the walnut that he dropped down my vent, thereby blocking it and causing my furnace all sorts of trouble!

Next week Miss B and Charlie will be 14! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday they were toddling around and at other times I can barely remember when they were small. Dr. Love and I were very proud of them this morning when their names' were called for the distinguished honor roll list but we refrained from the cheering and hollering that comes naturally to us--Miss B didn't want to be embarrassed!

And now I'm off the to laundromat to wash a comforter that the cat.......I'll leave the rest of that phrase for you to picture in your own mind.

Leslie