St. Patrick's Day Ironstone

I ran into a Goodwill on the way home from my parents yesterday and what did I see on the bottom shelf? This beautiful ironstone platter with SHAMROCKS on it, for $1.99! I couldn't believe it! What St. Patrick's  Day luck!  I looked it up in my ironstone book and it is the "Wheat and Clover" pattern.

And at the Goodwill near my parents house I found the other platters pictured below. I love the way they look all stacked together.

It has been snowy and cold here the last week, but that is okay with me, I have so much to do inside still before I start focusing my efforts outside.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Decorating

No signs of Spring here yet, it has been snowing the last couple of days actually. I thought maybe a little bit of color here and there might make it seem a bit more like Spring, on the inside at least. I am always on the search for subtle tasteful decorations come the holidays but I find they just aren't out there so I try and come up with my own. 

I filled this basket with the packing paper that comes with our Christmas oranges every year and then placed some darning eggs in it. They remind me of Easter eggs and have a wonderful patina to them. Best part? No money spent! 

For our mantle I wanted a light and Spring inspired feeling. 

My husband made me this adorable bunny out of reclaimed wood. I wish he had more time on his hands because I would love to sell these in my Etsy shop.

An antique quilt in subtle pastel colors is the perfect way to bring some Spring color into the house.

I can't wait till my own flowers start coming up outside...in the meantime store bought ones will have to do the trick. 

Joining "It's A Spring Thing Linky Party" over at Jennifer Rizzo!

www.jenniferrizzo.com

Lucky

One of my sister-in-laws many talents is crafting and I was lucky enough to get this hand made banner from her for St. Patty's Day. Isn't it so cute? It fits perfectly across the top of my little chippy door.

She is a teacher, in grad school and planning a wedding so she doesn't have much time on her hands but if she did I would have her make so many things! She has a blog you should check out, Elementallybound.com.

And speaking of lucky, I was so excited to find yesterday that my blogger friend Amy from All Things Home (Kinserhome.blogspot.com) featured me in her very first Girl Time Tuesday post! I was overjoyed and it made my day I must say! Welcome to all of the new followers that Amy lead over here!

More of Our Farmhouse Kitchen

Here are some more pictures of our kitchen! The sun wasn't cooperating but I actually had 20 minutes that I didn't need to be somewhere so I had to take advantage of the time while I had it.

The bottom and top cabinets pictured here actually came out of my parents kitchen. They just happened to be remodeling their kitchen at the same time we were doing ours and they were getting all new cabinets. At first I told my mom that we wouldn't be able to use them but once we took the wall down they ended up fitting perfectly! Plus I love reaching in to get my crackers out of the same place my mom always kept them. The cabinets were red and I painted them white to match the ones over by the sink. We bought the longest piece of Ikea butcher block counter top they sell and it seemed to all come together.

 This counter is where I often set up a buffet when we entertain. It is perfect because the two doorways allow for people to come in the one side and go out the other with their food. Any hostess knows that good flow is important!

Whites, wood tones, and some blue here and there help to keep this space cohesive and calm. I am not big on clutter, actually that is an understatement, I HATE clutter. I try to use cute things to hide everyday objects when they are not in use as much as possible. For example the chippy can holds our cell phone and computer chargers. And the stacked boxes on the floor hold things like my tools and candles. I know not everyone keeps there hammer and level in their dining room but I use them so much I like them to be close by.

Through the doorway pictured is a room that we have not done one thing with, basically all that we go  in there for is to get a beer from the fridge we have back there. It is definitely the room that is in the worst shape in our house, the ceiling and the walls are crumbling and its not level. So, our Spring/Summer project this year is to gut it. Actually we are going to take down the wall with the cow pictures on it and make it one big room. As soon as the weather warms up a bit I will be back there starting to rip things out and I can't wait!

It doesn't quite feel like Spring is coming just yet, we have snow flurries just about every day, so I bought some flowers to get me in the Spring mode. At least the sun decided to come out today.

There is still more of the kitchen to show you next time! Happy Friday!

Farmhouse Chair

I always like sharing my most recent finds and today I have one that I am especially excited about.....

a beautiful very old and very heavy chair. I ran into the thrift store today and I saw this beauty. 

I just knew it would be perfect at the desk we have in our living room. We have lots of white in this room and I have been on the search for some pieces that have their original wood tones for some contrast.

And the sun is supposed to shine most of the week here so more kitchen pictures coming soon!

Transferware Bowl and Kitchen Befores

 I thought I would show pictures of something pretty first to ease you into the before pictures of my kitchen. My best friend that I went shopping with this past weekend was looking for something special for the center of her dining room table and she decided on this transferware bowl. However upon bringing it home she decided it wasn't for her. Lucky for me because I was in love with it and so I bought it from her. It has a large crack so it was super cheap but you know how I feel about cracks, they don't bother me any! It fits right in in our farmhouse, there is even a beautiful picture of a farmhouse on it.

The place we found all of our amazing purchases is the Shawnee Country Barns Antique Co Op in North Tonawanda, NY. It is huge and takes quite a while to walk through but oh so worth it, and the prices on most items are unbelievable. It is were I bought most of the ironstone seen in my most recent kitchen pictures. Afterwards we happen to just run into the thrift store in that area and I found some amazing ironstone pieces in there too. It was a good shopping day to say the least.

Okay so here goes...these pictures should give you a greater appreciation of our kitchen as it looks now.

This is the corner where our stove is now as seen below.

This is me getting ready to get back into my scraping the floor position...good times.

This picture can give you an idea of where the wall we took down was. Where that chair is is where we have the long counter with the cutting boards in the basket at the end now. It was so dark in this house when we first bought it. The wood was dark brown, the walls were dark, the ceilings were low...no one could understand what I loved about it. I knew it just needed some light and lots of white paint (and to be scrubbed).

Thanks to all of my followers for your sweet comments, I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to hear that you guys find my blog inspiring.