Guest Bedroom Part 1

This is our guest bedroom, it is the room right off of the dining room that you can see into in my last post.

Calming and cozy were what I was going for with this room. 

I change up what my accent color is in this room quite a bit. Most of the time I like it without any color but with lots of different whites and textures. Right now I just have a little bit of red here and there, along with my usual creamy whites and dark wood tones. 

I just got this amazing pillow with the year our house was built on it. I purchased it from The Blue Attic an Etsy shop that is full of the most wonderful French linens and hand made items. I bought a couple really great things from Nathalie that I plan to show. 

The year our house was built on an antique piece of French ticking, what could be better?

I found a scrap of this red and white fabric at the thrift store the other day and it is perfect for inside the pillow case.

I also found this adorable lamp at the thrift store for $10, it is perfect for when our guests want to read, specifically my mom.

Neal built the little beside cupboard and I keep books and other things a guest might need in it. He also built the little bench that sits at the end of the bed. The antique bed frame is a hand me down from my parents and the tall bookcase is a $20 Ikea "as is" find that I painted. The molding behind the bed is out of an old farmhouse, I bought it for $7 last summer at an antique sale. So all in all this room was very inexpensive to do, but who could tell?

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon!

Ironstone Cabinet

Well it sure doesn't feel like the first day of Spring, it has been a blizzard here the last couple of days. That is okay by me because it allowed me some time to get some things accomplished. I have a list a mile long of inside projects that I would like to get to before the Spring madness begins.

It probably doesn't look any different to you but I painted this cabinet the color that I had already painted the inside shelves, it's a grayish white. The pure white cabinet on the pure white wall was bugging me. I love lots of different whites in a room but I am not a fan of everything being just pure white.

And of course I changed around some things after I had it all painted.

And the sun came out just as I was putting everything back...maybe Spring is on it's way?

Happy First Day Of Spring!!!

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!