Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Farmhouse Christmas Part 3

Merry Christmas! I hope your stockings are hung by the chimney with care!


Wanted to share some more of how I decorated the house for Christmas...enjoy!






















And our new room isn't quite "showable yet" but I did want to give you a sneak peak!


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Farmhouse Christmas Part 2


So I finally had a bit more time to do some Christmas decorating today. We have two feet of snow outside and it just keeps coming so today seemed like a good day to stay inside and make things festive. For all of you bloggers that have whole house Christmas tours I give you major credit because I can barely find the time to do a single blog post of one room. My days have been spent packaging and painting but my head is full ideas that I just can't seem to find the time for!


This is the corner of the living room that we had the round table in it, we moved one of the tables that I bought at the flea market this past summer (for $15!) into the space.


We used to put our big Christmas tree in here but we put it in the kitchen this year so this space felt empty to me. I decided to go with a table top tree, yes it is fake but it is the tree that I have had since I was a little girl and I always find a place for it every year. I placed it in a bushel basket with some scrap burlap around it and then decorated it with little tin ornaments.




I did have time to start wrapping some presents and placed them in my big ironstone bowl. 



I got it in my head that I wanted to use blue stripe ribbon on my packages this year and knew I would be able to find some on Etsy. I bought this ribbon from https://www.etsy.com/shop/homesteadtreasures, Mary the shop owner hand stamps the ribbon and it is absolutely beautiful. 








Some pine boughs and my larger ironstone pitchers line the mantel this year. 






On our coffee table I placed an over sized crate I bought at the flea market and put some pine boughs and candles in it.





And are you wondering about the new rocking chair? I bought it at the flea market for $7 and I am so glad I did. I just recently brought it inside from the garage and painted it "Sisal" by Martha Stewart and I couldn't be happier with the way it looks in this room.


I am fascinated with the history of things and whenever I bring a new "old" chair home I am always curious about it's history and what period it came from. Then I get out my big stack of early american furniture books and try to find something similar to what I have. Well that is no longer necessary thanks to the online shop One Kings Lane. They wanted me to help spread the word about their Home Decor Resource Guide, https://www.onekingslane.com/info/. It is full of all kinds of great information on different types and styles of furniture, it can also help you find the right piece depending on what statement you are trying to make.


For me the statement I am always trying to make is simple and unfussy, I think my old rocker here fits right in with that.




We have the great room almost completely finished but I don't want to show it until we make some finishing touches. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out and can't wait to share it with you guys, hopefully it will be before Christmas!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Farmhouse Christmas Part One

It's that time...Christmas time is here! We have been quite busy with traveling and working but I am determined to get some Christmas spirit into the house! As usual I am feeling like less is more though and feel the need for a calming cozy look this year.


We moved the couch that was in our keeping room into the new great room and moved the round table and chairs into the space it was in. On the table are some of the new goodies that I bought on our Thanksgiving visit to Brooklyn.




We went to one of my favorite shops Moon River Chattel for Small Business Saturday, can't beat getting $10 back on your purchase! I bought the homespun hemp runner pictured, it was actually marked as a bath mat but I would never let it touch my bathroom floor, it is way too pretty for that! I knew it would be just the right size for this table and the ones that were actually sold as runners were out of my budget anyways.


The little ironstone pitcher is from the shop Junk, which has a great assortment of odds and ends, some over priced but I found this beauty for a steal!






My favorite stockings are hung in the same place again this year, why mess with a good thing?

They are from Mountain Mamma Designs on Etsy in case you are a new follower.










We plan to get our Christmas tree this weekend, I really wanted to put it in our great room but it is not finished yet. I have found that you have to actually be home to get renovations done:)


Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Our Welsh Dresser

Well I finished staining and polyurethaning the floor of our great room and I also finished up painting the giant wall cupboard known as a Welsh dresser or a kitchen dresser. This giant cupboard was here when we bought the house and I longed for the day that I would be able to put cute things in it!


This cupboard was hand made specifically for this space probably by one of the farmers who lived here and I love everything about it. I painted it and the new beaded board we just put up Martha Stewarts "Bone Folder", you are shocked I know:) The beaded board on the walls outside of the cupboard is Gliddens "Swan White".

This is the cupboard before we gutted the room...






I only wanted to use antique hardware on this piece and had picked up a handle and a drawer pull at the flea market over the summer that were exactly what I had in mind. I thought it might be a challenge to find more of the exact same hardware in the quantity I needed but Etsy made it a snap! What did we ever do before Etsy?:) I found four bin/drawer pulls that matched exactly to the one I had already! And then I found three handles that also matched exactly to the one I had! I love when stuff works out like that. The one door on the bottom has a bin pull because it is an old potato bin, another wonderful thing about this cupboard!


I made short work of filling the shelves with all of my favorite things like ironstone, wire baskets, crocks and old jars and tins. When Neal came home from work he said "Wow you sure filled that up in no time":) Well yeah! This is what I live for!


Sadly I am probably going to have put more practical things like canned goods in here because we need the storage, but for now I just had to make it pretty.







And I know you are wondering about this amazing sign...it is from Knick Of Time on Etsy. I am very particular about reproduction signs but Angie does such an amazing job on these that you would never know they weren't the real thing. I am constantly on the search for late 1800's early 1900's well done reproduction signs but they are hard to find so when she listed this one I snatched it up!





I am so happy with the way this room is coming together, it is just how I always pictured it. We are still finishing up LOTS of things in here so no pictures of the whole room yet but hopefully soon!



Bin Pulls ~ Fairy Home  Etsy
Handles~ My Serious Side Etsy

Cupboard Color~ "Bone Folder" in high gloss finish by Martha Stewart