Decorating the Living Room

I seem to be making some headway in this house the last 2 days. But wouldn't ya know it; I had to stop and resuscitate the mouse!! She's been giving me a fit lately and I usually just dust her off - her belly button, ya know, that scroll wheel. But she's been sucking some serious dust around here so it's been a miracle that I can revive the little darling. *Sigh*.........................

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This was 2 days ago. I was so tired I didn't know whether to climb the ladder to paint/hang pix or get on my knees and put stuff back that was to be "lower"! My feet are killing me from standing on that ladder, chicks.

Do you realize that I "shopped" right outta this house??? Yep, old things placed in different places seem new again. Besides, hubs said to keep it to a minimum. They're just no fun when it comes to remodeling and redecorating. Actually, this whole remodel was his idea. Ya woulda expected me to say nuuuuuuuu?!?! Get a grip, chicks, this was decorating and spending money here. It's our lot in liiiiIIIIiiiiiffffffffee. (When I type the words that way you'll know I'm RAISING my voice and lowering it. Hah...No matter.......on with the show.)

Anyway, today shows a marked improvement.....in the living room. The family room??? Pfffffffffttttt. It's trashed! Now, I'm not so proud that I wouldn't show you but there's nothing to show in there at the moment. I've pretty much stripped the pix off the walls and brought them into living room.

Notice the french wire baskets. I don't know where to put them! I'll have hubs help me decide tonight. He's actually pretty good at noticing things and recommending things when I'm stymied. You all have been a big help with your email suggestions also. Thank you!

Clock was moved last night but moving a grandfather clock is a delicate matter. We had to almost disassemble it to move it - take out the weights and pendulum. But it's there. I've added 2 pix above it and some pretty little boxes on the overhead. Being from California I'm squeamish about putting things "UP" when they could "FALL" on your head! These are light however and not a problem.

The print on the left of the photo is 1 of 3 of my favorites. It's a Susan Rios print. The one in the middle below the painting of the girl (more on that in a moment) is my absolutely favorite of all times. When we lived in California I had a huge family room and had slipcovers made for a sofa I had. It was a wide pink and white stripe. That thing cost me a fortune! That was over 20 years ago and cost me $800.00. I could actually have bought a new sofa for less at that time. I loved it though.

One day when I was at the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose I went into the Martin Lawrence Gallery there and found this print. I immediately bought it because I absolutely adored it and it looked a great deal like my home with that sofa and the lace curtains. My heart was stolen, little sweets. But when we moved up here and then to this new house 3 years ago we didn't have room for it. I sold it for $100.00 and included 2 outdoor wrought iron chairs. Pathetic.

Anyway, the limited edition on the far right with a white frame is another of Susan's prints. So I grouped them all together.

Now, about that painting. I purchased it recently at Goodwill for a couple of dollars because it touched my heart and it has pink roses on her hat. BUT the thing is Susan Rios did a self-portrait once and that is a lot like her portrait. I have a book of her painting and prints in it and that portrait is in there. Except for the hat it could almost be her. It is truly amazing. So I hung it with her paintings. I've also included her self-portrait for you to see the similarities - the pose, the hair, the white blouse, the direction in which she's looking. You'll have to enlarge the pix of living room to see that portrait better.

My new sink!!!!!! I love it. I like stainless steel and it's not as deep as the old porcelain one. I did put one pix over the sink that I can look at. Still much more to do there but I had to get some of them off the floor and hung! I'll get Love Bunny to put a shelf in there - I have no "shortage" of shelves or I'll hang that little french country shelf for miscellany.

This is a mosaic my daughter and granddaughter made me. She never got a photo of it 3 years ago and is updating her portfolio of mosaics. So I had to photograph it for her. If you want to see some of her pieces for sale go visit Nan. This is a hobby for her. She's like me and CANNOT do nothing!

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Now I want to share with you a special gift that Katie recently sent me! She just started a selling blog. But I have to tell you also that she recently has taken up silk ribbon embroidery. (We've created a monster!! Aaaack!) AND she's recently had her first grandchild, Syllah May, which was a terrific thrill for her. We followed the journey with her from the announcement of her daughter's pregnancy to the delivery of Miss Syllah. She's a beauty also, but has the most extensive wardrobe of any new chick I've ever seen!! Anyway, Katie made this quilted tote for me and it's lovely. You have got to go to her blog and see her exquisite silk ribbon embroidery! That new baby had the most exquisite first wardrobe I've ever seen. Goooooo! Ooooh and why the tote???? I guess she just "loves" me for some crazy reason! :-)~*~

*UPDATE at 10:15 pm TONIGHT!*
I composed this post tonight at 6 pm or so after working all day (but I wanted you to view the "latest" of the kitchen) and adding to the draft of this post and scheduling it to come on line at midnight, but hubs put up a couple of shelves for me tonight so it's 10:15 pm and I've been up for 20 hours now and still going strong............ Hah! If you believe that you're nuts because you can tell by the run on sentence!!!!! I'm about to keel over. BUT I'll just post this and go because hubs is tired.*Fini* Bon nuit!