Family Room Refurbishing Part 3

A few closeups of the items in the family room. This is the ladder with the finials tucked in nicely and the pink sparkly glittered starfish. I bought these little cupcakes from Shannon and just love them. I have several from different people as well as do my own, but I'd rather buy them than make them. It's much more fun to see other chick's delights! So go visit with her.

I also need faux plants as I love greenery around the house but everyone knows I can NOT grow a thing...well, maybe, mold, but plants? Nope, nada, zip. Then you'll spy a little darling bottle I got from Cathy. I don't have a passion for little decorated bottles; I have a passion for anything beautiful! Hence, the bottles. :-)
As I've said before: be adventuresome, or in come circles creative, in making pictures work for you if you're on a budget and the highly expensive picture framing industry drives you nuts like me. I use calendars, print pretty images off the internet (as long as I don't sell them, it's fine) and then hang them on my walls in old frames or use the mats to "frame" them.

This spot in the family room is not done. It's not visible from the dining area but that's no excuse for not finishing it off except I'm not sure what else I want to do with it. I have dozens of books I no longer use and am giving them to the thrift stores. Mostly decorating books. I'm keeping all my old favorites though and have put them back in the shelves but I'm thinking of pictures or knick knacks in there also. If you enlarge the photo and look on the 3rd shelf down from the top in the middle, you'll see my crayon box. Yes, I color in my books!

I have no other place for that pink chair I refinished years ago but I love it and am not selling it. I'll probably end up putting it somewhere in the living room eventually and stack books on it. It's an additional chair for holidays anyway. The baby shoes of mine on that little shelf will be changed out as soon as I figure out what will go on those tiny shelves. The bookcase houses most of Love Bunny's books and church books. The other one is for my froufrou and decorating books.

This little thermometer isn't my style but it is so cute I hate to get rid of it. Come to think of it, it really is a shabby chic style, isn't it? Anything goes with shabby and romantic!

~*~

Random Thought:

Peppercorn steak is one of my favorite meals and I make it for us a lot. But I got to thinking—again—about it being in heaven. If it's not in heaven, then I'm taking all my "Take Out" menus with me and ordering in!

Family Room Refurbishing Part 1

Several women have emailed and asked to see the refurbishing of the family room since we painted all the walls in the house pink and, since many of you are new to my blog, I thought I'd do it again. I've changed things around a bit. I've also added a tour of it to my sidebar which you can see also.

Most of you know I love decorating my home and doing different things occasionally....OCCASIONALLY?!?!....ok, a lot then. Sheesh, calm down, chicks. It's my lot in life, ya know. Gotta keep Love Bunny guessing where he sits each morning.

Anyway, here is the first round of the redo.

I had hubs make the faux fireplace screen and then I went to work decorating it with fabric. A plaid and a roses barkcloth fabric. I love how it turned out even though I wouldn't want to lift it very often as it's plywood. Clicking any photo will enlarge it for greater detail.

This is the sofa with the slipcover I purchased for $300.00 about 3 years ago and it still looks like new after several washings. I decorate my lamps with roses, lace and ribbon and anything else I want to throw on it. I'm adventuresome. Also, notice the pictures in the background that aren't in frames. I just painted some old mats and fun-tacked them to the wall around the little pictures when I decided that frames were out of sight in price.

I've covered these chairs that are about 25 years old and still in great shape, although, the upholstery is sort of a kilim looking fabric and not truly shabby chic. No, that's not true; I think they'd definitely fit in with the shabby chic romantic look, but I was tired of the fabric and there is no way Love Bunny would let me get them upholstered yet another time. I had the extra quilts as I stopped trying to compete on eBay with my items, and I think they are cozier for the house.

The little footstool is still the same but I've been thinking of doing it over again. Who knows? *Wink*

I found the little ladder at Goodwill....squeeeeeeal.....for $2.00 and painted it pink not knowing what in the world I'd do with it. This is it. I like the juxtaposition of the vintage finials and starfish that I painted pink and added "sparkle" glitter. More wall fluff either given to me or found at thrift shops was given a fresh coat of white paint and hung on the wall. I am a FIRM believer in hanging things low on the wall, such as the mirror, and even propping it up against the wall on the floor as seen in the photos of my living room and the architectural renderings of our home that I had framed and brought with me. I wasn't about to leave them there for the new owners!

I think that's all I'll show for today. I'll put more on later.
~*~

Sheer Rosettes For the Gazebo

I started off making little rosettes out of the sheers I bought at WM for $4.75 each, tied them with gossamer sheer pink organza ribbon over a rubber band that secured them while I tied on the ribbon. I'm going to find pretty roses that aren't too expensive to put on there also.

They look lovely hanging and blowing in the freeze. Hubs suggested little string lights and I'm going to do that along with some pretty ivy or some kind of foliage that doesn't look too cheap either if I can find some this afternoon.

A close up of the top of the sheer rosette. If you look closely you can see the hook on which I plan on hanging some candle lanterns I made out of old jars. I just have to figure out how to hang all 5 of them! Trust me, I can do it.

Here you can see the huge finial at the top. Squeeeeeeal..... I'm loving this in my back yard.

Okay, so patience isn't a virtue I've conquered yet! I went out this afternoon, found some ivy at WM and went ahead and added the faux ivy garland since hubs is not home yet for dinner. This chick is on a roll today! Found some pretty flowers but didn't have time to add them at the same time. I'm loving it even more!

Closer view of the top.

I even bought this little wind chime at Michaels at 50% off and it produces the most melodious tinkling sound.

~*~

Random Thought:

Fettucini Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.

~*~

Vignettes Can Be a Lot of Different Things

People think vignettes have to be a book and a vase of roses or something similar. Not necessarily true, chicks, although that can be quite stunning and original if taken the time to think it out "creatively." It can be anything you want it to be as long as you assemble items in one particular space - a little space with items that evoke emotion is what works best for me. Something pleasing to the eye. I've gone around my home and just photographed some little descriptive vignettes to show as examples.

A pedestal rose plate with bars of fragrant soaps - some hand painted - and some little fizzie bath hearts given to me. They are absolutely sweet smelling and fragrance my guest bathroom.

A stack of white towels in a little pink wire basket. They are in there for guest's immediate pleasure and convenience so as not to have to go rummaging around underneath the cabinets. Just a thought to the comfort of my guests and family. ;-) I have a friend with a teenage boy who is meticulous in his personal grooming and will not use a towel after someone else. So I decided to do this with him in mind. Always a fresh and scented one for that young man. He steals my heart with being so well groomed.

Some little birdhouses on my mantel - one I made and three my friend, Rhea, made. Hers are stunning and I have a lot of items from her - so many, in fact, that I may have to dedicate a room to her! ;-)

Some old vintage rusty finials on my mantel also. I love the patina and rust of these old iron objects. These don't have much verdigris on them but I especially love the verdigris on old copper objects. And, of course, the proverbial "rose" to add to their beauty. If you knew how many roses I have in this house you'd faint. I have several hundred ribbon roses, many silk roses, dozens of paper roses, millinery roses and porcelain roses. I should call this the Rose House. Well, actually some of my friends do call it that.

Starfish that I spray painted pink and sprinkled on german glass glitter. I just love the look of them on the mantle. I love "fluff" everywhere I can arrange to have it.

Even my craft paints and paint swatches from a paint store can be a vignette when arranged on a vintage old shelf with snippets of leftover lace tacked on the shelf. I think you'll have to agree it adds "color" to the place!

As simple as some vintage salt and pepper shakers painted pink and set on the shelf with paints.

Even little sachets scented with fragrance oils lined along another shelf can add not only beauty but a wonderful scent to enjoy in any room. Yes, I actually do this in every single room - living room, family room, baths, office, bedroom......every room. And these certainly add beauty to the room.

And then there are the tops of book cases that aren't really conducive to hold actual book on the top so I just put some vintage sewing drawers with CDs or DVDs in them and little boxes I've tried selling but didn't. So buyers loss is my room's gain! LOL

One of my favorite vignettes is artist paint brushes. I just love seeing all the brushes in a pretty vase or container. These are mine and I would NOT call my self an artist. I call myself a BEGINNER!! ;-)

I have a bowl on my coffee table that has some pink sea shells (I painted them pink) and I love the juxtaposition of them with the roses and faux desserts I have on there. This one below is not in my home but I think it's stunning. Just simple everyday things gathered together in one spot for a lovely vignette. Rocks in a vintage yellow bowl, starfish and old ephemera.

The roses, sea shells, starfish, a wicker basket leaning against a wall, attractive statues, a container of nails and a plate of fruit.

I liked this room when I first saw it and was drawn back to it because of the table vignette near the dormer. I also stack pictures on the floor leaning up against a baseboard. I just love the look of "high" and "low" pictures. Most people hang their pictures too high on a wall. That's fine if there are other pictures below it but the room looks out of whack if all pictures are at one level in a room and that level is 6 feet up the wall. Lower your pictures so that the lowest part of the frame is no more than 46 - 48" from the floor. It will make quite a cozy difference in the look.