"Summerizing the House"

I don't know if "summerize" is a word, but every year, when the weather takes a turn towards summer, and you know this time it's going to stick, usually sometime around Memorial Day, I get an urge to clear out all the heavy, dark accessories that are still left after the Spring purge.

Things like quilts and dark pillows and too many chotchkies.

 In the dining room, I went all white with just a little color.

 I brought in 6 white chairs and 2 turquoise chairs for the ends.

A white cloth on the table with white candles and a 

white pitcher filled with lavender keeps it simple and fresh.

In the guest room, I replaced the pink quilt with one that feels like summer:

Grandmother's Flower Garden in reds and yellows and blues.

 The mantle felt too heavy, so I lightened it up by 

removing some of the stuff.

Much more "summery"!

Pillows and quilts were removed or changed out

in the family room as well.

Maybe it only makes a little difference,

but to me it feels lighter and less cluttered and ready for summer!

Guest Room Reveal

It's finally finished! (if you want to see the before, click here)
Well, except for the crown molding, new closet doors and trim. But that's Husband's part.

I love the extra bookcase under the window that Husband built for me. It is a great place to store all those decorating and craft/quilt books.

It's great storage for a small room.

This little cabinet holds towels and guest supplies,

like little shampoos and lotions and even note cards.

I really love the white furniture against the grey walls.

All the color comes from quilts and accessories.

 I used a Battenburg lace shower curtain for the window, just hemmed it from the top.

Finished just in time for a visit from some of my favorite aunts!

Furniture Project: Antique Headboard

This is another family antique that I have wanted to paint forever!

It was my parents bed for years. That was in the days when couples often slept in just a double bed, not those huge king size things we sleep in now!

It has some really beautiful details!
But it was so big and dark, I didn't have a place for it, so it sat in the shed.

 When I decided to paint my old oak dresser for the new guest room, I thought this would be the perfect headboard, if I painted it to match the dresser.

The pretty details are still there,

but they are a little more noticeable.

It looks really good against the grey wall, and I can use any color bedding and accents that suits my fancy and change it any time I want.

Here are a couple sneak peaks of the new room.

More of That Old House

More walking down memory lane with pictures of the old house and reminding myself that it didn't  look this good when we moved in, so I need to hang in there with this house!

This is the only picture I can find of the living room. It was a really big space, open to the dining room and kitchen. You can't see the alcove with the piano from this angle, it's just around the corner behind the couch.


When my daughter moved out, her room became a guest room. At first all I had was this log bed, the top of a bunkbed, (my kids all take their nice beds with them, leaving me with whatever I can find).  I made new black and white bedding and curtains to freshen it up.


But it wasn't  long before I needed a double bed to accommodate guests. It's hard to see, but all I did was hang two different fabrics for a headboard and hang a wreath over that.


I had a plethora of dressers for some reason, so 2 of them made it in here. I tried to keep the clutter/decor to a minimum.


This must have been a bigger room than I remember, with a double bed, 2 dressers, this table and chairs, and a wing chair! You can see the curtains I made to match the "headboard" on the left.

 

 

Last of all, I had a really big laundry room that was also my craft room. It was filled with quilts and many of my old favorites that didn't fit anywhere else, but made me happy when I was here either doing laundry or sewing!

 

 It's good to be reminded about this last house that started out a lot like this new one, but ended up so cute!

Craft Room: An Empty Nest Has Its Upside

This year we became official empty-nesters. It has been coming for a while; one by one, each kid went off to college, lived in the dorms, but came home for vacations and summers. So their rooms remained theirs and I got the pleasure of cleaning them, but not using them.

 Then the oldest got married and I gained an office.    

           

   That was nice.

 Then the second moved out of the dorms and into an apartment. She took most of her furniture and some of her stuff, and I gained a guest room.

I could get used to this.

Then we sold the house and bought a smaller one. I lost my office, my guestroom, and my laundry/craft room.

 
 I set up a space in the garage for my sewing machine and fabric. It was often too cold or too hot to actually work there, but any port in a storm, right?

 After some consideration, the third bedroom became a bedroom/playroom for my grandson, rather than a grown-up guest room. It made me happy to have a totally kid space again and, frankly, I was hoping to lure him over as much as possible. And a grownup could still use it if necessary.

I  still had one kid living at home. Then he decided he wanted to get married. I thought about the fact that he still had 2 years of college to go, that he only had a part time job, that he had never lived away from home and was very young; then I thought about gaining a craft room. hmm...what to do?

      It was a lovely wedding.


Coming soon: my new craft room!