I know it must seem like FOREVER since I began the living room makeover... but working slowly really pays off...
Each piece is like a puzzle... flooring, paint, furniture, case goods, rug, paintings, accessories and a few more pieces that I have yet to make and find. Each piece needs to fit... as perfectly as I can fit it!
A big piece of the decor puzzle finally was put into place today!
I have some news. This will be the last week for ON THE MENU MONDAY. I still will be posting my menu each week... but running two linky parties every week is getting to be too much for me.
Now, here's the good news.
Please share your wonderful recipes at TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS my other linky party. TTT is where you can share all your creativity... and what is more creative than cooking. I hope you will join me here every Wednesday evening and link up all your yummy posts.
So, instead of getting together Sundays and Mondays we will get together Wednesdays and Thursdays!!! I hope to see you at TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS this week!
I loved my grandmother's house. I loved the way it looked and smelled and the way it was cool and dark in the hot humid summers. I loved sitting on her front porch rocking away in one of her sturdy green rocking chairs during thunderstorms and feeling so safe!
My grandmother's house was really nothing special... not fancy or palatial. Really very ordinary!!!
But to me, it was a treasure trove of beautiful things... unusual and old things. I spent many hours in her attic trying on her flapper wedding gown and looking through old photos and yellowed newspaper clippings. Each piled-to-the-ceiling box held mysterious things from ages past just waiting to be discovered...
In two week's TTT will be trying something new... a guest host!
And it could be YOU
It's easy, fun, brings traffic to your blog and let's you participate in a new way! Don't worry if you have never done anything like this before... I'll walk you through it!
If you are interested in being a TTT guest host drop me an e-mail at stonegable333@gmail.com
We are now in the MIDDLE of the dining room makeover. After many detours...Christmas... a wedding... a wedding reception... decorating the living room... etc...
We are selling Hamilton Beach products at prices you just can't beat!
If you need to refresh, replace or just want to buy an appliances you've had your eye on... now is the time to do it! There are some innovative kitchen appliances that make preparing and cooking food a whole lot easier... and enjoyable!
I'm thinking G-I-F-T-S... and buying for weddings, birthdays anniversaries and Christmas!
And I'm getting a new blender and toaster...mine are shot! I also have my eye on the that espresso machine!
As you can see, my blog is having big trouble! My layout must be on strike and won't show up to work! I'm also finding all sorts of unusual things happening!!!!
Thank you for bearing with me... hopefully in a day or two (oh, please!) things will be back to normal!
So glad the posts are working... here's what's ON THE MENU...
I was not always certain I was a true child of God.
This really bothered me. I thought that if I was a child of God I should know. Not just guess I was... or think I was...or have someone else tell me I was. Shouldn't I be certain of this very basic and very important fact?
Yes, I needed to be certain and I hope you do too...
This beautiful boat picture done by Robin atALL THINGS HEART AND HOME can be done by you too... seriously! She will show you how! You need to check this out...amazing!
Here's more inspirational features from last week's TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS!
Strawberries are still growing like mad in my area. They are sooooo short lived. I try to take advantage of them while they are in season here! That means more strawberry recipes!
The veggie garden at StoneGable is off to a great start! All the veggies are happy and healthy! I still have to plant carrots and beans. Hopefully I will get to them this week.
You can find me after dinner most days with coffee in hand fussing over the garden and enjoying the early summer evenings!
This morning was perfect for taking pictures! Coolish and overcast. It had rained most of the day yesterday so everything was green and lush.
I have never really shown pictures of the whole front of StoneGable on my blog... only snippets. And I have never shared StoneGable's history.
So dressed in my pj's and crocks with a camera in hand I went across the street and into the neighboring farm field to share StoneGable on an early summer morning...
It's not always a good thing to live so close to a POTTERY BARN OUTLET! My car, if left to it's own devices, could probably find it's way there all by itself! When I go into PBO I feel a little like Norm from the old sitcom "CHEERS". "Everyone knows my name" and there's hugs all 'round!
These chunky white pottery jars are just one example of the great summer finds that end up at StoneGable...
Lots of little changes going on in my family room... especially on my mantle.
Here is a before picture...
This picture was taken in January.. can you see the changes?
And AFTER...
First to go was the paint color. Although I loved the Benjamin Moore Springfield Tan it made my family room and kitchen very dark.
After painting my living room and dining room with Benjamin Moore Sonnet, I was convinced that I need to lighten up the back rooms of StoneGable too!
So we painted the family room and kitchen in Sonnet also. What a difference!!!
The mantle needed some depth of color and texture, so I started my hunt for a pair of chippy shutters.
My friend Fiffer, who is the best treasure hunter I know, had a pair in her barn. They were old and authentic and the original black paint was chipped off just perfectly! They were just what I was looking for. Thanks, Fiffer!!!!
Bobby cut them down to size and refitted the bottoms and we hung them on either side of the clock.
Then I brought back in the candlestick lamps I repainted and layered them in front of the shutters.
I'm still playing with the rest of the mantle vignette...
To see how to make the Rustic Summer Topiary... and see how my mantle originally looked... click HERE
The trio of pitchers came from the Pottery Barn outlet a few years ago.
Bobby painted the brass portion of the fireplace with Rustoleum High Heat Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.
I don't know what I am more thrilled with... the chippy shutters or no more shiny brass strips on the fireplace!!!
The next family room project... new hardwood floors... will hopefully be done this summer!