Adding More Color to the Guest Room

I am still tweaking our guest room. I am not a neutral person and even though the Braemore Wonderland fabric has lots of color, I needed a little more color in this room. The first photo shows the redo before I added more color.

I decided to paint the table between the twin beds a pretty coral.

A little color goes a long way! I like that so much better than the white table. There is also a table in the sitting area.

I gave that table a coat of coral too.

Much better! I also made a “slip cover” of blue silk for the lamp shade. (On a side note, the cabbage patch doll in the antique wicker stroller is an original before they were mass produced. It is more than 30 years old!) My next little project was making a colorful window treatment.

I used more of the Braemore Wonderland and added a coordinating coral trellis print for the lining, and a green trellis print for the covered button accents and edged it entirely with blue cording.

I’m not quite calling this room finished yet. I would still like to add a little something around the mirrors above the beds and I will be adding some type of art to one of the walls in this room.

Meanwhile, I am helping prepare for my niece’s wedding in 2 weeks, pulling together some final details.

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style. Click on the link for lots of inspiration!

New Life for Another Old Chair

A couple of weeks ago I ran across a pair of chairs at an antique store in Charleston and purchased them to use as extra dining seating at our summer cottage. They were in original condition and are oak. I don’t usually care for oak but for some reason these really appealed to me. They are very sturdy and quite comfortable. I gave them a good wipe down with Murphy’s oil soap and checked the webbing which was still in good shape.

Let’s take a closer look at the back.

Because it takes less than a yard of fabric to cover two chair seats, I splurged for an embroidered linen and covered the seats.

Compared to most projects that I do, this one was very quick, easy, and affordable! I am very pleased with how they turned out!

I’ll be sharing with Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and with Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.

The DC Cherry Blossoms

This past week my daughter and I made a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC to see the cherry blossoms. We were lucky to catch them at their peak, and they did not disappoint.

We began our day with a brief visit to the capitol to see the new statue of Rosa Parks.

 

If any American deserves a statue, Rosa Parks certainly does!

We love our capitol building! I couldn’t help but snap a couple of other photos.

The statuary is great and we are always amazed at the beauty of the capitol rotunda.

We rented bicycles and road down to the tidal basin to view the cherry blossoms.

You can see in the photo above, that it was very crowded. We had to walk our bikes part of the time.

There I am in the photo above on my rental bike.

The weather was spectacular and a great day for outdoor painting!

We thoroughly enjoyed our quick visit. If you would like more details with better pictures you can visit my daughter’s blog by clicking here.

Have a great week!

I’ll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Updating the Living Room Furniture

Otherwise known as: Welcome to the 21st Century!!

For a while now, I have been in the process of updating our formal living room.  The update is long overdue but has not been at the top of my priority list due to more important things.

Take a look at the  living room furniture a la 1988…..

I understand that floral chintz is supposed to be timeless in traditional interiors, but I had reached my limit.  I keep things the same for a very long time then suddenly reach my breaking point.  Such was the case with this furniture.  Let’s take a look without the tea table in the way.

Since it is rarely used, the sofa is still in very good shape. I chose a linen blend in white this time. It’s a BIG change!

Quite a difference!

I chose to use the same fabric for the chairs since I haven’t yet chosen a new color scheme. The new color/décor will be based on my new yet to be chosen dining room wallpaper.

The drapes will definitely be going and the rug is yet to be decided too.

I am slowly making baby steps of progress. You can read about how I updated the lamp tables here and you can read about the thrifted lamps here.

I hope that you are having a productive week. The weather has been wonderful and I have gotten some gardening tasks marked off my list!

I’ll be linking to Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and Hookin Up with House of Hepworths. I’m also linking to Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings the Heart of Your Home.

Spring Vignette

Years ago I decorated for a holiday almost every month but as my children have gotten older I now do well to change a few things around each season.  If I get it done it’s good and if I don’t get to it, that’s OK too. This year I was able to get something together for spring.

We have a large coffee table in our den so that we can prop our feet up! My family doesn’t cooperate with unrealistic styling so the “lived in” look is for real. The wooden box and the urn are almost always on the table. The topiary rabbit and small basket have been added for spring.

The remote should be in the wooden box but rarely finds its way there and the photographer failed to put it there before the photo shoot. The box also holds pens and notepads and other coffee table clutter.

I debated between this faux moss covered rabbit and a topiary rabbit but decided on this one thinking that it would last longer. I purchased it at Scott’s Antiques earlier this month.

The basket is holding vintage chocolate molds for Easter eggs. If you look closely, you can see the Man in the Moon on one on the left side.  I also purchased these at Scott’s and the dealer told me that she purchased these at an outdoor market in Belgium. Lucky her! Sounds like my kind of place!

The pansies are awfully droopy but hopefully will perk up again and last a few more weeks!

Now if we can just have some WARM spring weather!

I’ll be linking to Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life. Click the link to see lots of inspiration.

New Life for an Old Chair

I have several projects in process but I have managed to check a few off my long list. My project for last week was giving a makeover to an old chair. My sweet friend has asked me to help her prepare a nursery. She wanted an upholstered chair which rocks and swivels. We had been on the lookout for an affordable candidate. I happened to be in a thrift store one day when I spotted 4 possible candidates so I sent her a text to go there after work. She went and was able to purchase one at a very reasonable price. I gave her some fabric samples to show her the appropriate weight of fabric that she needed and she purchased a nice denim weight fabric for the chair. Because she chose stripes, it took a little more fabric than it would for a pattern that would not require a match in the upholstery.

Let me show you what we started with. Step into my studio garage.

Mauve upholstery velvet in all of her glory. A little worn but in very good shape. I won’t bore you with the details of the upholstery process but I did strip it down to the bare frame which was in excellent condition. My friend chose to leave off the tufting on the re-do.

It turned out very well. Of course I forgot to take my camera when I delivered it to its new home. I hope to get pictures there since it coordinates with the room better than it does here in my den.

It is my understanding that this chair has already been approved by grandmother as she spent a little time rocking and praying for her future grandchild! How precious is that! Thanks NP for letting me come alongside you on this journey!

I hope that you have a great week as we prepare for Easter!

I’ll be sharing with Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and with Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.