Flea Market Lamp Redo

OKAY, SWEET CHICKS, I'M KEEPING IT!!!
:-)


Got this little lampshade for a song, my little cupcakes! Whadda ya think??? I may sell the lampshade and I just may keep it. It casts a very romantic glow with the light on!

On Decorating.....................

I stayed up late last night trying to decide which curtains and arrangement I liked best for this window. I tried 2 or 3 different ways of adding a freshness to it. The first picture was last night with the fragonard and the Waverly Tiny Toile and the sheer voile with the lace panels in the center drawn up with my handmade ribbon roses. I wanted the sheers for 2 reasons - privacy and softness. Lace and sheers provide an element of privacy while still allowing light and views to come through. I like that. I need that! If you've seen my home on Flickr by clicking on the little icon to the right here and at the top of the page you can see the old curtains I made several years ago. I love those curtains but I wanted something fresh, lighter and different. The fragonard fabric was my choice because it is at the top of the list of favorite fabrics.

I've ordered some more fragonard fabric because I think it looks a tad "skimpy" and I like "lushness" in most things for my home. It is very difficult for amateur photographers to get the beauty of the room and fabrics. (Let me say here that I have the greatest respect for stylists of those photo shoots also. Arranging it for magazines can NOT be easy, my chickadees!) On just about any photo I've taken I can look at it later and say "why didn't I remove this or that" or "how did that get in the picture"?! Something is always wrong but it's just for blogging so I don't fret about it.

Anyway, when seen in photographs we sometimes don't see the fabrics closely and might say to ourselves I don't think that goes at all. Soooo in that vein I'm showing you that the fabrics do indeed "go" together when seen as a whole. They do in my eye and that's the person I'm trying to please. Keep that in mind when you are decorating - you have only one person to please: yourself.

As I was composing this post I thought about that sofa and how old it was. I purchased it just before I was hosting a baby shower for a friend. The "baby" is now 13! So the sofa is 13 years old and looks like it came off the showroom floor yesterday. That's what happens when you buy from a good company - Ethan Allen - and when you buy "timeless" furniture. I absolutely love that sofa and the fabric I chose. You can see the closeup in the very last photo. Plus I take excellent care of my home, furnishings and Love Bunny!

Last night.

This morning!

Closeup of chair fabric. It's like a vintage kilim and I love it with it's mustard yellow, sage green, lavender (yes, there is lavender in there!) and pink.

This chair is only 3 years old but I love the look and the checks on the side with the floral on the front. It's a dark red but soooo beautiful in person.

I thought you like to see the true brightness of the pink of this fabric. It is an absolutely gorgeous fabric and does indeed add a freshness to that room. Oooooh, I wish all our you could come and visit and experience this room. Well, I like it anyway!

I chose this fabric myself when ordering the sofa. I knew it would last, was a taupe and would go with just about anything I'd put with it and looked elegant but not so much that I couldn't dress it down. Plus it looks like embroidery.

Now I'm off to iron shirts for hubby and kick around a few more ideas. I'm up to my eyeballs in sheer voile though and can't wait to put it out on the back patio!! Plus tomorrow I'll show you the new window treatment in our bedroom.

What a Day!!

I started out at 5:30 am. (I'm an early riser.) I got a massage at 10 and then went to WM to pick up some more voile sheers to hang in bedroom. Remember I talked about getting them for the patio or did I?? Hmmm.....anyway I went back and got 4 more after the 6 pairs I got saturday. It brightened up the bedroom considerably! So I still have enough for the patio. But then I decided to change my curtains in the living room. I was just ready for a change and have some fabric I'm thinking of using - 2 toiles, one a pale Laura Ashley and one a brighter pink with a girl and a boy on it. It's a very popular fabric and difficult to find even though I did find a place to buy it and I ain't telling!!! So I only have 3 1/2 yds of each fabric. I'm up and down the ladder hanging more sheers on each side along with some absolutely gorgeous lace purchased many years ago at Spiegels. Okay, lace in middle pulled up with my handmade roses, then the sheer voile on the sides and then a "color fabric" to anchor it all on the side but not on the glass part because I need more light in there. So "color fabric" will be on the walls not windows. After hiking up and down and testing the fabric I came up with this:

Now, as I said, I'm limited with the fabric so it won't work unless I cut it down the middle and use just 1/2 width or about 27" not including the hemming on the sides. So I thought of combining the 2 fabrics like this: end will be bright pink toile, next the light pink toile, sheer voile all on a small rod (look at pix to see it) and then still keep the lace curtains tacked to the woodwork and drawn up like seen here. I usually create my own style anyway and don't give a whit what other people think. Somehow it all comes together for me and usually draws rave reviews and gasps from people. I need a bit more fullness in the width; that's why I'm thinking of doing it like this. Full and lush instead of skimpy. I will make a short width of both fabrics to be enough for both sides.

Then while fussing around with all that I decided to paint a little corner cabinet my daughter was going to throw out!! It was dark and kind of country looking but I threw a couple coats of paint on it today and put it back in hubby's corner of the bedroom. I let just enough of the green show through to give it that shabby chippy look. Looks much better in that corner.

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful!!!

Oh my sweet little birdies, I didn't mean ME; I meant the chair covers!!! And some people have emailed me asking where the slip/chair cover comes from. Okay, here is that sweet lady's website. She is an absolute doll and she MOST affordable covers I've ever seen!!!!!!!

Ronda's Chair Covers

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There's a story behind this!!

The last couple of years I've gone through 2 or 3 of those "el cheapo" chair floor pads because our floor is carpet with thick padding and they keep breaking. I'm tired of giving Mr. Costco so much money so I had an idea! Nuuuuuuuuu, some of my ideas are quite good actually!!!! Be nice. :-)

Okay, a couple of weeks ago I asked my little Love Bunny if he'd take some of the scraps left from his model train room in the 3rd car garage and put it down in my office. Nice thick plywood, right?! Well, it started "splintering" with these rollers on the chair. Hmmmm, so I got to thinkin' again! Nuuuuuuuuuuuu, good idea, chicks! I asked him to paint it and then we'd varnish it to protect it from further "splintering."

Now, I wanted this done friday and saturday because hubs was to leave for northern Idaho for a convention and be gone for 3 days. (I must say here that I'm not a patient person when I get one of my hare-brained........uhhhhhhh, I mean BRILLIANT ideas! Sooooo the only color of paint he had a full can of was bright red. I said that'll do because I didn't want him running to Home Depot, just wanted the job done. It is truly a TRUE red and not at all orangish as in the pix. Candy Apple Red!! Then he quickly sprayed it and saturday gave it 2 coats of varnish because he'd be leaving sunday morning. The pix below is the result. This was a "quick fix" and if it starts splintering again hubs said we'll get better plywood and paint and varnish BEFORE the wheels of the chair crunch it! But I really love it now that I'm used to it. However, if it has to be redone I'm going "PINK"!!!!!!

Now, the other pix...........squeeeeeaaalllllllllll........is of the roses office chair cover I ordered and it arrived today!!! I couldn't have been more delighted with it!!! il est adorable, non?!?! I absolutely adore it and just had to share as quickly as these fingers could type, my little cupcakes!!!!!!!! Isn't this space just beautiful?!?!?!?!?! I love it!

I Lead a Charmed Blessed Life!!

I just thought that first of all I'd share what I did yesterday with some jars of olives and marshmallow creme when we finished with them. Easy to do and you have an endless supply of jars from which to choose, my sweet chickees! I have the old salt and pepper shakers a "Pink Redo" also!!

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I am so grateful to the Lord for all of my blessings that I've decided to thank him on my blog today and to put some things in perspective.

I am soooooo incredibly blessed! I have a husband who loves me beyond reason and puts up with my shenanigans and moods on an hourly basis! I have a home with more bedrooms than there are people in the house. I have 2 bathrooms while some people don't even have one. I have 2 cars paid for: a 12 years old Mitsubishi Montero and an 8 years old Camry and don't lust after a new car which won't get me where I want to go any faster or better than those 2 cars and saves me car payments. I have roses in my front yard. I have a private back yard with a fence. Since we bought this home new 3 years ago I have a new refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher and soft water. Never in my life have I had every appliance in my kitchen new! I have a soft water system. I have a power mower for hubs(!) to cut our grass. I have my 2 kids and 4 grandkids. I have more than a couple changes of clothing in my closet and dresser. I have furniture in my home with carpet for my tootsies. I have a washer and dryer and they're still working marvelously after 10 years. I have computers and books. I have enough food that I could help my neighbors if they were in need. I have ears, nose and eyes that can work exquisitely well for ANY age but certainly for MY age! I have shoes to wear - they may not ALL fit these feet now after the surgery last year, but some of them DO and for that I'm very grateful!!! I have an iron and an ironing board. I have more fabric than one chick should be allowed to have! I have so much craft stuff it's pathetic. :-) I have the love of my church family and if I ever needed something I know they'd be here within minutes. I have enough money for every possible NEED I have and some for WANTS, which are few! I have a brand new church building that is exquisite. I have a sense of humor and trust me, I don't see that in a LOT of people. I am blessed with incredible good health, for which some people have told me that they'd give up any and every thing they have to have good health. My kids and grandkids are well, happy and are blessed with the good things in life and still have a love for the gospel. I am blessed to be able to pay tithing and have that blessing be returned to me in ways that are unbelievable and extraordinary and even inconceivable. I have love and compassion in my heart for everyone. (Now, lest you think I'm perfect; I'M NOT but I'm on the road!) I have a group of ebay friends who bring joy to my life by just putting up with me, which isn't always easy, my little kumquats! And last, but not in the least the least, I love the Lord and he loves me much more than I can even imagine. Beyond anything else I want to have that kind of love for everyone. That is my goal.

Yes, I lead a charmed life and am incredibly blessed and especially for being born in this country of which I am so very, very proud!! God truly does bless the USA!