Can We Say Summer!

This key lime cake looked so good posted on the The Lettered Cottage I had to share it with my niece Naomi, who is THE undisputed cook in the family.  She bought an awesome lemon pie from the Virginia Farmer's market for our family get-together on Sunday.  She made a fabulous potato salad to go with a great pulled pork roast she slow cooked for BBQ. She also made this unique macaroni salad with cucumber. Can we say yum! With all of the wedding happenings, I couldn't believe she managed to pull all of that together, but she takes after her Grandmother Sandy--the Wonder Woman of hospitality. As we devoured our lemon pie, of course we then chatted about how much we love key lime pie.  So Naomi, we just have to try this key lime cake!

And in keeping with the green theme, I like this gray and green combo posted on Desire to Inspire.  Very contemporary and soothing. What do you think?

Hey Little Sister Shotgun!

Enjoyed seeing my family so much at the wedding. All of my nieces are so beautiful, but the bride was breathtaking!  It is always good to go home and remember where you came from. I love Winchester, Virginia and West Virginia so much. Ailise, the bride, did all of her own decorations and I thought...hmm...if there is a way to make a firehouse gorgeous...you did it Ailise! And what's not to love about this cake?

Here is a pic of my other two beautiful nieces.  The crazy brunette did a rolling-in-the-aisle funny parody solo to Billy Idol's "White Wedding." The whole place was rocking and I almost peed myself! It was great seeing my niece Naomi's first townhome too.  It is all builder grade so on the DL between festivities, we talked design and potential. Can't wait to see what she does to the place.

Nothing like a side of sauce ladies! See you the week of July 4.

Road Trip

Sorry I have nothing new to share.  Last night was small groups at my house and today I am leaving to attend my youngest niece's nuptials tomorrow. Congratulations Ailise and Robbie! I will be going to one of the most beautiful spots on earth--Winchester, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Have a great weekend everyone!

Trad Home | Lonnymag.com

I am in love! I mean swooney, looney love! I enjoyed every bit of this beautiful eye candy!

Trad Home | Lonnymag.com

Toille Love

I love my new black and white toille curtains. They really sing against my spring green walls.

I am also liking the eclectic modern with the old-fashioned toille:

I really NEED those two white Lindsey chairs from Ikea! They would really look great in this room and the scale is perfect.

I am still looking for my white writing desk. I think I want to pair it with a great banana chair and an outdoor rug I have been coveting at Lowes.

Dining Room Dreaming

Thanks to Karen at Strictly Simple Style, I have hope for my inherited traditional dining set. Now I just have to work on the vision. She suggested finding some chairs I wouldn't feel guilty about painting (my mother would kill me if I painted her set) . I love bright colors but I have to match the blue in my dining room to the blue in my living room (maybe, I guess! LOL!) I thought I just finished my living room, but I am feeling this turquoise soooo much!  I can see that I will be on a quest for chairs soon! I am in love with Tommy Bahama right now. Both the wallpaper and chair fabrics I am considering are his. Question is, can the walls be a light blue without clashing with the turquoise and, if so, what shade of blue?

I think painting my sideboard a bright turquoise would be pretty too.  Is a light blue on the walls just too much blue?  And what to do with the china cupboard?  Okay, simmer down, one thing at a time girl.

Sweet Privacy!

So it's done! I have a fence. These two sweeties are my dachsunds Harley and Rudy. While I was distracted taking pictures they were busy peeing on my flowers, which they know I don't like.  They have already killed one of my Sweet Williams.  And speaking of William, you are sweet and it would not have happened without you!

Pottery Barn Knock Off

I loved this lantern hanging on the wall in Pottery Barn but the price was steep:

I created my own version with two lanterns I purchased from Ikea.  The lanters were $8 a piece and the rope was $5 with much to spare for other projects.

I then made this center piece using the sand I originally purchased for the lanterns with shells and candles I had around the house.  I had planned to fill the lanterns with the sand but the glass doesn't meet the base at the bottom so unless I wanted sand spilling out of the bottom....

I'm off to mow the grass before my fence help (reinforcement!) arrives this morning.  I hope to post some after pics tonight!

Forgive Me while I Change into Something More Comfortable

If I am driving , like, my only two followers crazy changing up the blog site, it is because this is the first time I have had the chance to play with Blogger.  I am finally test driving this baby! Also want to say Congratulations to our local Rock Thrill thrifter Mr. Goodwill Hunting  -- he's on the Nate Berkus show today. 

Midweek Inspiration

While I am still hunting for the perfect writing desk and artwork for my room, I stumbled across some inspiration photos I saved that used the a) bright color and b) black and white scheme. Pretty, huh?

The furnishings are too modern for my taste but I still love the design, especially the ceiling and the wallpaper. They totally make the room. 

In this photo, I like how the designer took a small space and small budget and really made it look put together. Notice the side table is actually plastic storage bins:

 

I especially like the wall art in this photo. Not too fond of the carpet color, way too 70s for me, but I love the texture of the shag. 

Although I did my bedroom in the bright spring green, I like how this black and white with bright blue looks.  It also has that gorgeous use of red I will be using in my own room. Love, love, love it:

I got my inspiration for my Spring Green paint color from HGTVs Sara's House. Tommy chose these vases and turned them into lamps. What a clever boy!  The white chair is just so gorgeous. I haven't done anything like this candle holder and frame but I do like it!

I am planning to recover my dining chairs in the next month or so and have been browsing fabrics. My dining set is an inherited one and very traditional.  My taste runs to eclectic rustic with some glam thrown in for a surprise, so trying to fit this set into my home is a challenge.  I'd really love to paint it a distressed white but my mother would have a cow!  Right now, the whole dining space is traditional and, sigh, bores me. Here's some current pictures that I hope to be one day "before" pictures:

Please, please, please, send me some suggestions!  The only piece I really love is the blue sideboard I picked up at a used furniture store a few years ago for $30.  I do kinda like the lamps but would throw them out of the mix if I can find the right direction to go in. I was browsing fabrics and came across this Tommy Bahama fabric that I kind of like but not love. Because the finish of the dining set is dark cherry I am thinking light fabric. I am also drawn to really light blues but haven't found one I like yet. What do you think?

 

Leave some suggestions or pics of traditional dining sets made over. I need some inspiration.

Twoeth by Sea

Got the Ikea lanterns up and liking them so much!  Unfortunately I couldn't center them because the studs were not in the right places.  I hung a star fish to fill the space and I think that works.  I patched last night all my holes so I have a little painting touch up tonight. Got two holes dug for the new fence last night so I am feeling it this morning!

Laura's Garden

My friend Laura has such a beautiful court yard and flower gardens that I asked her if I could snap some pictures and share them with you.  Every single corner of her yard and garden has a vinette of some kind so come on in and take a peek:

This is her new fountain she purchased at Lowes about two weeks ago.  Looking at a picture just doesn't do it justice. The sound is divine! These two pictures are of her small court yard:

Who wouldn't want to swing here? Below is another angle of the court yard.  I still haven't gotten to her yard!

 Here's a pic of her side yard. Can you believe how beautiful her grass is?

If you think you could never do something like this yourself, I have to tell you that Laura is a beautiful 80+ something gal who has and does plant everything herself and mows her own lawn. Here's a sweet little sign she recently picked up and hung on her work shed.  Cute:

Here's a few shots of her beautiful barn birdhouses.  She recently painted them a brighter red to stand out in the woods.  It works!

And who wouldn't want to have coffee in this little cafe?

Or settle in to read a book here:

Thanks for sharing your garden, Laura.  So no excuses ladies.  If this mature beautiful lady can do it--you can too!

Ikea Fever

Happy Mother's Day to all my special ladies! I spent Saturday at Ikea with my mother for Mother's Day.  I treated her to lunch and then got her hair done.  I haven't stepped foot in an Ikea in at least 20 years.  I was blown away in a good way! I especially loved the textiles. I tried to take some pictures of some unusual or eye-catching fabrics but only one pic really came out.  Believe it or not, they used this fun fabric in a dining vinette as the drapes--Fabulous!

 

What's not to love about these:

I did really well not blowing my budget.  I purchased a great wedding gift for my niece (can't post that just yet or I'll spoil the surprise).  I have been coveting some lanterns I spied in Potter Barn's catalog and picked these up at Ikea for just $7.97 a piece:

I am going to put some sand in the bottom and put a candle in them.  I'll post them when I get them on the wall (always a challenge!) Here's the shelf in my kitchen my daughter gave me I mentioned in an earlier post. I really want a shaker-style cupboard I can paint a washed out red, but I like free.  In the meantime, I AM the Queen of Make Do.  I am still playing with arranging it.  Here's the first go round:

 

What can I say except I am a cliche when it comes to Roosters--I just can't get enough of them.  What's not to love:

And of course, displaying the vino makes me all warm inside:

Ikea and Mom

Mom and I have an Ikea trip planned today so I am sure I am going to find some beautiful goodies to share with you.  Going to hunt for a nice wedding gift for my niece who is getting married in a few weeks. My son asked me to find him some curtains so I am sure I will be able to post some pics of some beautiful textiles later.  Have a great day!

Brrrr!

Wow is it ever cold to be May, but the sky is a beautiful blue and the air is crisp and in South Carolina, I will be dreaming of days like this very soon!  I wanted to share another corner of my bedroom redo with you:

Don't you just love the look of this white driftwood against the bright green.  Makes my eyes happy!  I moved the free-standing seashell from hiding and put it on the table.  I think it looks really pretty:

Yesterday I helped my daughter move some things from her storage unit and she gave me a really nice bookshelf she doesn't have room for now.  I have been playing with it in my kitchen and I'll share it with you later.  Tonight is my small group Bible study so I will be baking brownies instead of playing with my new bookshelf "toy." Have a great day ladies!

Inspiration

I am so going to make this lamp!  Has anyone tried working with rope and glue before?  My decoupaging was a disaster!

Free = Sweet!

Hmm...she's a little bit country but she's as sturdy as a cedar tree and built to last.  I was a little unsure of the plaid but the colors are not screaming and a) she is green like my walls; b) according to original owner never sat in but once; and c) she's free! Red is one of my favorite colors and was the third color I was going to introduce to my room.

I love to mix styles but this may present a challenge.  I have decided to put up a privacy fence in my backyard between my duplex unit and my neighbor.  You know what they say, fences make for good neighbors! I really need to create an oasis.  I called the powers that be to come mark the lines.  Here's what I came home to:

I think I may be in over my head.  Gee, is it green=sewer and orange=electric, no no, orange=communication lines.  Yellow=dang! I forgot.  Seriously, I wrote it all down.  Everyone has come by except for the first place I called--the power company. I really hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew.  You know when you start a project and you're pretty confident you can pull it off.  I was doing okay until I realized I couldn't even lift the 80-pound bags of Quickcrete off the truck.  The young man who put it in the truck didn't even break a sweat, grimace, or almost drop the whole bag!