House Affairs

The Kitchen - Before and After

2011-11-13T15:15:00.003-05:00

Before I get started with this post, I have a little disclaimer...

I have debated and debated about showing the inside of our house. To me, it's very personal, and while I love seeing the inside of other people's homes, I feel very vulnerable about showing ours. I'm not out to "brag" or "show off." But if you know me (and most of you don't), then you know that I have a passion for anything house related. Since I can remember, I have poured over shelter magazines, taken every tour of homes I've had time for, and generally adored all things "house." I scoured the internet for ideas when we were renovating this house.

So I made up my mind to show you the inside. You don't have to like it. By no means am I a professional designer or decorator. But I want to share to hopefully give some inspiration and ideas to anyone who may be looking for them. Also, I want to show family and friends who may be interested what we've done. You may notice I interchange "we" and "I." While my husband was involved in the decisions, I had the majority of the opinions and I'm fortunate that he trusts me. Ok, I'm finished. Thank you.

When we bought the house, the kitchen consisted of one wall of cabinets with a sink, a free standing range and a refrigerator. It was added on in the late 1930's when the house was converted to a two-flat. We took out a wall that separated the kitchen from the back stairs (which were also removed) and entry to make a larger space. (You can make each photo larger by clicking on it.)

Before:

After:

Before:

After: (Please ignore the black hole, a.k.a. the television...we have a strict no food in the living room rule and this is the easiest way to keep the crumb crunchers corralled.)

Before:

After:

We tried to keep a vintage feel to the kitchen while adding modern conveniences. We were also working within the original four walls, so we had limited choices on where to place appliances.

We really wanted a vintage-looking range, but most of them are waaayyyy out of our budget. I found a Fratelli Onofri Royal Chiantishire with a vintage appeal. As far as performance goes, the gas burners are powerful enough for what I cook. The oven had a slight learning curve (it's convection) but I've gotten used to it.

We wanted to go with something other than subway tile for the backsplash to be "different." Now I'm seeing lantern tile all over the place. Go figure. I still love it, though!

One of the hardest decisions we made involved the countertops. I wanted Carrara marble. Got talked out of that one pretty quickly by just about everyone. We ended up with Coast Green granite on the perimeter and walnut on the island. I'm happy about our choices, although the walnut is almost as hard to maintain as the marble would have been. We keep it oiled and haven't had any major mishaps so far.

Again, keeping with the vintage look, we went with a bridge faucet and farmhouse sink. You can see a closer view of the lantern tile. In case you're wondering (cause who doesn't?), the Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap in Lemon Verbena smells so good!

Paneled refrigerator=no fingerprints! Although I still obsess over prints on the handles. Oh, well. Can't win 'em all. Another vintage detail...we reused the original wavy window glass in the upper cabinets.

I absolutely love the spice cabinet and microwave drawer in the island. Keeps everything hidden, yet still handy.

We hope you enjoyed the tour. If you have any questions about specific products or materials, please feel free to ask. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday!

At Last...The Front Porch

2011-10-08T21:23:00.002-04:00

I'm baaack! Did you give up on me? I have to tell you that moving into, unpacking and decorating a house with three children (and one is a baby) is no cakewalk. But we did it and I'm ready to share! I hope my friends/family who have been waiting to see will be inspired to come visit. Hint, hint!

*If you are visiting from the Fall Outdoor Spaces linky party and want to skip ahead to the porch, please feel free to scroll down.

A brief synopsis for newcomers, we purchased a two-flat in August 2010 with plans to rehab over time back into a single family home. The original house, located in a small Midwestern town, was built in 1904 and was converted into apartments in the late 1930's. We ended up redoing the entire house all at once and moved in around Memorial Day. Our main goal was to return the house closely to the original. We had an old photograph to use as a reference.

So here she is around 1904:

And here's what we started with:

And finally:

We are thrilled with the results! We are so happy and feel like this house is finally "home."

I was so excited to get my porch to decorate for the holidays! I've filed tons of inspiration photos and the minute I saw the Pottery Barn porch with grapevine pumpkins and crows, I knew I wanted to recreate it. (Forgive me for not showing you the PB porch. It's all over blogland so you've probably seen it. My file uploader isn't cooperating.) I already had the leaf and berry garland, crows, urns and lanterns. I just had to add the grapevine pumpkins and real pumpkins. I used the grapevine pumpkins from Target. They are close to the PB versions and are much less. I also got them on sale, always a bonus!

Here's my version:

Closer view:

On the left side of the porch we have a conversation area. Of course, being the good Southerners we are, we had to paint the ceiling blue! Our builder looked at me like I had two heads when I told him we wanted a blue porch ceiling. I guess it's not that common in the Midwest.

On the right side, we have the swing. It's everyone's favorite! I could sit out here all day. Unfortunately I can't, but if I could, I would!

Thanks for visiting! I hope to return with interior photos soon!

Thanks to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for hosting the Fall Outdoor Spaces Party (which I'm late to but better late than never!) and to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday! Also linking up to 3 Mango Seeds Motivational Monday Party...Thanks, Clydia!

Patiently Waiting....

2011-08-20T20:53:00.000-04:00

I first want to thank all of you for being so patient! I KNOW you want to see the finished product, but I'm just not quite there yet. Unlike having one room to decorate, I have an entire house. I have decorating A.D.D. so I can't just focus on one room. And I don't want to show you the rooms until I feel they are complete, or at least close to it. I promise I'm almost there and I will be back very soon!

On top of all of the house stuff, we've had a crazy busy summer. The boys start back to school on Monday so I'm hoping to concentrate on the house in the next few weeks!

In the Final Stretch It's...Animal Kingdom!??

2011-05-14T14:28:00.003-04:00

Warning: Lots of pictures!

So I'm a little late with the Derby reference, but I had to wait on a few things to get done in order to write this post. We are in the final stretch (more on Animal Kingdom at the end)! We move into the house this Friday! ...Pause while I freak out... I'm sharing little snippets of different rooms because I just can't show you the entire rooms until they're all put together. So sorry to tease! :)

Kitchen:

Dining room:

Library:

Children's bath:

Master bath (mirror not installed yet):

Nursery:

Powder room:

Doors:

The painters still have some work to do. Our kitchen backsplash is to be installed this week as well. Then carpet in the basement and a final coat on the hardwoods. We're so excited!

Now for the animals...who knew that we would have so much wildlife living so close to town? "Town" is literally right across the street but the critters seem to have adapted. These are some of our wild friends...

Sally the Squirrel. Sally hangs out in the hollow of our huge star magnolia. I really want to tame her (don't worry, I won't). I miss having a pet!

Foxy the Fox. Foxy was right outside our door one day. One of the boys said, "Mom, there is a fox outside!" I thought, yeah, right. But there she was five feet from our door!

Gordon the Groundhog. Gordon was running through the neighbor's backyard and I snapped him in motion.

Love it! I'll probably be MIA for a few weeks while we're unpacking. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday!

All the Trimmings

2011-04-17T22:02:00.000-04:00

The end is in sight! The majority of the trim work is complete and the painters start spraying tomorrow! I'm holding the baby as I type one handed, so I'm short on words. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

I do want to note the newel post at the staircase. The original stair parts were in the attic and the "stair guys" were able to salvage two posts and turn them into one. It's beautiful! The stairs themselves, not so much. They still need to be stripped of the yucky carpet glue.

Thanks for stopping by! And thanks to Susan for hosting Met Monday!

You Can't Always Get What You Want

2011-04-03T17:23:00.002-04:00

I had originally planned to do a post about our master bathroom, but I decided to wait for the tub to be installed before posting. So this week you'll see where we're headed in the kitchen.

When designing the kitchen for our house, we wanted to go with a look that would be appropriate for an early 1900's Victorian. The kitchen that came with the house was circa 1940's so we didn't know what the original looked like.

This is the vintage/classic look we had in mind for our house:

Image via Southern Accents, photography by Tria Giovan.

I'm sure almost all of you who frequent the home blogosphere have seen this kitchen by Frank Babb Randolf. I love everything about it. So naturally I had my heart set on recreating this kitchen, including the marble counters. Everyone and their brother tried to talk me out of marble. It stains. Yes, I know. I'll seal it and wipe up spills right away. It etches. Yes, I know. It will be honed to help hide etching. It's not kid-friendly. We're putting walnut on the island, where the monkeys eat. But, alas, my honed Carrara marble tops weren't meant to be. It's not available at any stone yard in our immediate area. I almost cried when I heard this news. Too bad statuary is out of our price range! We just weren't sold on quartz look-a-likes. We wanted light, uniform counters, so we just weren't sure about granite, as it's mostly dark and speckled.

During my visit to the stone yard I became increasingly worried. Nothing much light or uniform...except for the gorgeous statuary we can't afford. But then I spotted something beautiful and...green? We never planned to have green counters, but a slab of Coast Green granite was calling my name. Dear Hubs liked it, too, (he really wanted granite to begin with) so Coast Green it is! Although I really wanted marble, I probably will be happier with granite in the long run. Especially after one of the monkeys spills juice and doesn't clean it up (which is a daily occurrence). Soon the Coast Green granite (on the perimeter) and walnut (on the island) will be installed on these:

Getting closer! Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday!

Fabulous Floors

2011-03-27T20:34:00.000-04:00

I never thought choosing a stain color for floors would be so incredibly difficult! I mean this was harder than coming up with our daughter's name. Okay, maybe not, because we deliberated that for months. But it was still a tough decision and one that's not easy to reverse. We wanted a darker stain than what was previously on the floors. Every sample looked too light or too dark or too red or too green or too brown or too charcoal. Plus, we had the added problem of matching the first floor to the second floor. The first floor is red oak and the second floor is pine. The floors are all original except for the kitchen, office, foyer and downstairs hall. These were mismatched and we replaced them to match the living room and dining room.

Here's the kitchen with the new naked floors (and drywall!):

You may be able to see the test patches on the floor under the board. So after much debate and worry, here are the floors with the first coat of stain. We had the floor guy custom mix two parts Red Mahogany to one part Ebony.

I'm in love! Once they're completely finished, they'll be just the right combination of red and brown. The reflection is throwing off the color a little but trust me...they rock! Who knew this would be so exciting? It's the little things.

These get installed this week:

Woo hoo! Now we're cookin'!

Thanks to Susan for hosting Met Monday! And thanks to you for checking in! Next up...the master bath!

Uncovering the Past

2011-03-19T23:00:00.000-04:00

I'm back...finally! I started this post over a week ago and typed most of it one-handed. Little Miss Priss doesn't like to be put down. :)

When we first started the renovations, we hoped to uncover a treasure. We've all heard the stories of people finding old coins, photographs or newspapers during renos. No such luck for us. Apparently past owners never had a hide-y hole or else things have been previously unearthed by others. We did, however, find a date.

We were (and still are) unsure of the exact date the house was built. But from this discovery we learned that these timbers were delivered on or around August 20, 1904.

The previous owners told us that they heard our house was one of the first in town to have electricity. One thing that prompted our total overhaul was the fact that the knob and tube wiring was still being used in some locations! To some of you this may be no biggie, but we were kinda scared of it! All that's left if it now are some of the knobs and tubes.

I'll be back soon with pics of drywall and new floors. Exciting stuff!

Three Rooms and a Baby

2011-02-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

I'll get right to the BIG news...our baby girl just couldn't wait until her due date and was born smack dab in the middle of the Great Blizzard of 2011! We're all doing well and she's as sweet as she looks!

Welcome to the world, precious girl!

Now for the house...

The Foyer
Our house was a two-flat when we purchased it. The front staircase had been walled off so the only way to access the upstairs from the inside of the house was via the rear stairs. This room was used as a bedroom. Here is what the "foyer" looked like before:

And here's the foyer now:

There were stairs hiding behind that wall! The original newel post was left in the attic, so we're having it refinished and reinstalled. The original treads are in good shape under the carpet, so we're having them refinished, also. There is a window seat with a hinged lid in the landing which doesn't appear to be original to the house, but we like it so it will stay.

The Living Room
In the previous foyer/bedroom, there was no opening into the living room. This is the view of the living room before the foyer was opened up:

Now here's the same view with the wall opened up in the foyer:

It's very hard to tell with these photos, but opening up that wall makes a world of difference! The living room seems so much larger. Although we're fairly sure the mantel isn't original to the house, we're going to reuse it for now. The biggest challenge with this room will be arranging furniture with that corner fireplace. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

The Kitchen
Ready for some retro? Here's the vintage 1940's kitchen that came with the house:

While the kitchen was cute and had vintage potential, these were the only cabinets and the space was very small. We removed the wall between the former kitchen and mudroom/back stairs and here's the space now:

It's now almost twice the size. I can't wait for cabinets to be installed! We're a while from that, though!

Thanks for stopping by to view our progress! Only a few more months and I'll be ready for what you really want to see...the decorating!

Thanks to Susan at BNOTP for hosting Met Monday!

Now We're Getting Somewhere

2011-01-30T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone! I'm so, so sorry for being absent for soooo long! I'll try not to be a deadbeat blogger from now on!

If you're new to House Affairs, I'll catch you up to speed. We bought this early 1900's Victorian in a small Mid-Western town last summer. We moved from GA to our town in August. Our original plans were to renovate the house a little bit at a time, but when we started investigating, we learned the house needed more than we thought (of course) and it would be best to do everything at once. So we spent the fall getting bids, choosing a contractor and getting permit approval from the village. We started construction January 4 and have made a lot of progress since then! Almost all of our possessions are in storage while we live in our 700 sq. ft. garage apartment. Oh, and by the way, on top of it all, we're expecting our third child (a girl!) in about two weeks! Yeah, the more chaos, the better! I hope that explains my absence! Plus, I was waiting for something cool to show you and here it is...

Not very pretty, but it's progress! One of our main goals for the house is to return her to her former glory. Sometime in the late 1930's/early 1940's, the house was converted from a single family to a two-flat. The front porch was ~~mutilated~~ enclosed as part of that conversion. Here's what we started with:

As you can see, we've opened up the porch so it will look more like the original house. I blogged about the original porch here. We had to get the village to approve the changes so it was a tedious process, but worth it!

The house needed a small addition on the back for a mudroom. It's no fun living in the snowy Mid-West without one. We're expanding the kitchen into what used to be the mudroom. Here's what the back looked like before:

And now:

It looks kind of ~~ugly~~ goofy without the deck and the siding, but you get the idea. I also just noticed that it looks like it's leaning. It's not. It's just the angle of the photo (and the photographer). Dear Hubs says I always stand crooked.

A lot of people are interested in our coach house. So I'll show you the outside loveliness (haha). You don't get to see the inside until we move out. Two adults + two active boys + soon-to-be baby + 700 sq. ft. = A LOT of mess.

Don't ya just love the blue powder room? I'm thinking the purple refuse receptacle is my fave! What I always dreamed of in my yard! But, seriously, the coach house was one of the reasons we fell in love with this property. It's very unusual to have a detached living space in this town. It will be perfect for out-of-town visitors (we have many) and it is great that we have a place to live while the house is under construction. It's also warm and dry, something for which we are thankful.

By the way, did you notice the new header photo? That is the cupola and weather vane on top of the coach house. It really was the horse barn and was converted to a garage and apartment in the mid-1940's. In the distance to the right, you can see our neighbor's barn that hasn't been touched. A little bit of country in town!

Thanks for stopping by! Stay with me...we'll get to the "pretty" pics soon (I hope)!

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Metamorphosis Monday! Once I get all of my tableware unpacked I'll be back for Tablescape Thursday as well!

Updates!

2010-12-11T17:49:00.000-05:00

Hello to my few followers! Thanks for hanging in there with me. The past several months have been a whirlwind, to say the least. We moved to IL and are shacked up (almost literally) in our garage apartment. We decided to do all of the construction on the house at once, so we've been getting bids and going through the village for permit approval. Everything should be finalized next week and we'll begin construction the first week of January. I promise to start posting pics once things get moving along!

Our episode of HGTV's "Bang for Your Buck" will air on Saturday, December 18 at 3:30e/2:30c. Tune in to get a good laugh at our expense. :-)

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season!

Bang for Your Buck and More!

2010-08-06T10:53:00.000-04:00

I'm baaaack! Finally! Sorry to be away for so long, but things have been quite an adventure around here. Where to start? Well, I guess I'll go ahead and let you know that we're going to welcome our THIRD (!!!) child in February. As a result, I've been feeling very rocky the past several weeks. Turns out Little Bit doesn't care for the food I eat. Enough said.

And sadly, our beloved Weimaraner, Seal, passed away on July 17. It was very tragic and sudden, but we are healing.

Oh, and our house sold! We close in about a week and the movers are coming Wednesday. So, I've been getting ready for that.

And, oh yeah, we had that little television shoot the week of July 20 (which also happens to be my birthday). That's what you're here for, right? Ok, ok.

If you don't know, the premise for HGTV's Bang for Your Buck is they pick three similar spaces (in our case, entertainment spaces) in the same geographic area (Atlanta) and compare them to see which homeowners got the most for their money with the choices they made. An HGTV designer and a local real estate agent critique the spaces. For our show, Vern Yip was the designer and Collette McDonald was the agent. They went through our game room, media room and wine cellar and talked about what we did right and wrong (nothing, imho, but they have to find something to pick on).

Horrible picture of me, but great of Vern! He is so nice but unfortunately I didn't have much time to chat because he was rushing to something else.

For the first day of filming, a small crew shot us walking through the space telling about why we did what we did. The second day a larger crew shot Vern and Colleen's critique and our reaction. I can't give anything away, but I can say that overall it was a great experience. Although I don't see how people on reality shows live with cameras all over the place 24/7.

This is the set-up in our kitchen for our reaction to the critique. Can you imagine living with this every day?

Sorry, I'm purposely not showing you any photos of the spaces. You'll have to tune in this Fall to see!

I'll be out of touch for another few weeks with the move. I can't wait to come back to share all of my new projects!

I'm Still Here!

2010-07-15T17:17:00.000-04:00

Hi, all! Just wanted to let my followers know that I'm still here! I've been super busy over the past few weeks. We had a wonderful beach vacation in the Carolinas. This week I've been getting ready for the HGTV "Bang for Your Buck" shoot. The crew will be here on Monday. I'm sooo excited!

Oh, AND we sold our house!! Now we have to get through the appraisal...

I'll be back next week with a recap of the shoot. Have a great weekend!

The Way She Was

2010-06-28T09:11:00.000-04:00

Last week I shared a photo of what our soon-to-be house looks like today. Here's what she looked like 100 years ago...

Thanks to the current owners for providing us with this photo.

I'm a porch enthusiast. I grew up in a house with a front porch (swing included). All three of the houses we have lived in since we married have had porches (ok, one was little more than a stoop, but it was covered!). Call me silly or whatever, but I can't wait to have a front porch like this! I can just imagine it festooned with garlands and lights at Christmas, bunting for the Fourth of July, and creepy crawlies at Halloween. This house is "in town" so I long to sit out on the porch to watch the passers-by and hopefully meet some new neighbors.

Dear Hubs is excited, too. Here's a composite he put together of the current house with the old porch:

Ok, I'll admit that it looks a little weird. But it helps to imagine what can be (and hopefully will be soon).

Only another month until we make the move! I'd better start packing!

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday. And, thank you for stopping by!

Something Old, But New To Us

2010-06-20T20:55:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I posted Something Old, Something New and showed you this picture and hinted of things to come.

Now I can finally tell you about it! That shot is the back of this...

Our soon-to-be new old house!! We are moving to Illinois this summer and we are buying this 1903 (approximately) Victorian! Right now it is divided into two flats (notice the two front doors) but we are going to open it back up and restore the porch and the interior to it's original state. It is in very good condition as is, so it won't need too much right away. We're going to do things in stages and hopefully one day end up with our dream home.

While we're doing some renovations on the house, we'll be living in this...

The coach house behind the main house. (Sorry for the bad photo. I took this from a video and didn't have a full shot.) This was the original stable for the house and was converted to a garage/workshop/apartment in the 1940's. It's so charming inside and will be so fun to decorate!

So hop along for the ride! I'll have A LOT to blog about with this project!

I'm posting to Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday this week because this is a MAJOR change for us! Thanks to Susan for hosting!

By the Shore

2010-06-15T15:46:00.000-04:00

Before I write any more, I want to tell you that I am sick about the crisis in the Gulf, as I'm sure you are, too. My intent for this blog is purely for entertainment purposes, but I just couldn't post this tablescape today without acknowledging my heartbreak over the people and wildlife that are suffering. I pray that it won't get any worse and the long term effects won't be catastrophic.

Now, like I said, this is about entertainment...a little escape for us all, so please join me for dinner by the shore.

We are beach people! I'm an East Coast girl and grew up visiting the coasts of North and South Carolina. Dear Hubs frequented the Gulf shore. We are continuing the tradition with our boys and have a trip planned to the Carolinas later this summer. I'm getting a little antsy and can't wait so I had to put together a beachy scape!

Most of the things on the table came from shopping the house. I already had the place mats, dinner plates, napkins and tableware. I found the lovely salad plates earlier this year at HomeGoods. Last week, I was there and spotted the seaglass-colored goblets. I couldn't resist them for their color!

The goblets are made in Spain from recycled glass. So perfect for a beach theme!

I love the relief detail on the salad plates.

For the centerpiece, I used a glass vase with shells I already had, some starfish tea lights, a smaller bowl with shells and some ornamental maiden grass from the yard. Does anyone remember my allergy to daffodils? Well, turns out I'm evidently allergic to maiden grass, too! After I cut the blades, my arms started to itch and break out. Fortunately, it only lasted about 30 minutes. I'm really going to have to be careful with live plants from now on!

I can feel the ocean breeze, hear the gulls crying, see the waves crashing, smell the salty air and taste the fresh fish now!

Thanks for stopping by! Many thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Tablescape Thursday! Come back on Monday (I'll be linking up to BNOTP's Met Monday) for some more BIG news (to add to the big news from last week)!

Something New

2010-06-06T21:42:00.003-04:00

Hi, everyone! I'm back after several weeks of endless adventures. End of school, family vacation, trying to keep the boys entertained now that they are out of school...you know the drill.

Anyway, I teased you a couple of weeks ago with things to come. Now I can finally tell you part of the super exciting news! How many of you watch HGTV? I'm willing to bet most of you. Have you seen Bang for Your Buck? Well.....our basement is going to be featured on Bang for Your Buck!!!! And Vern Yip is going to be the designer for our episode!!! If you could hear me now, I'd be saying this in my high-pitched-excited-voice.

Long story short, our basement contractor contacted us to see if we'd be interested. We said sure and went through the interview process. Our basement was one of three selected in the Atlanta area. The show will tape in mid-July and will air sometime in early Fall.

As you may know, our house is for sale and I kind of quit decorating when we put it on the market. But for television, now that's a different story. I can't very well leave the basement unaccessorized. Oh, the HORROR!

My first project was the console table in our game room. This is what it looked like before:

Kind of naked. Until now, this table was used as a place for people to place their drinks while they shot pool.

I shopped the house and some stores, too, and now it looks like this:

Not so naked. I'm still debating on putting filler in the bottom of the candleholders, but I think with everything else it would be too much.

I love the mossy and wood balls! They were a new purchase and unfortunately not inexpensive*, so I'll definitely have to find a place for them in the new house. You read that right...new house. Well, new, old house but I'll tell you about that another day. *I'm editing here to add that I'm confident that many of you could have made these balls for cents on the dollar. But I was in a time crunch and didn't really want to sit and saw little logs into discs to glue on styrofoam.* :-)

Thanks for coming by! Thanks to Susan for hosting Met Monday!

Something Old, Something New

2010-05-20T07:03:00.000-04:00

For several reasons, this week and next week are super busy so I'm taking a little time off of tablescaping. I just wanted to give you hints of EXCITING things to come...

Something old. Hint: It's NOT the tree!

Something new. Hint: I now have to officially organize the playroom!

And, no, the old and new aren't related. Stay tuned!!!!

Banzai!

2010-05-12T21:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary to us! Today marks our ninth wedding anniversary and we celebrated with one of our favorite meals...sushi! I know some of you are thinking "yuck" instead of "yum" and that's okay. It's not for everyone. But we (boys included) love it!

My mother-in-law gave us this lovely blue and black Japanese pottery several years ago. In addition to the sushi plates and dipping bowls, the set includes salad plates and dinner plates.

The solid black plates, sake cups and napkins are from World Market. Dear Hubs brought the sushi home and I arranged it on the plates. Unfortunately, I'm not as artful as the sushi chef! We ordered a caribbean roll, kamikaze roll, salmon nigiri, and a rainbow roll. Instead of the rainbow roll, we received something else (far left) but it was good, nonetheless.

The chopsticks, chopstick rests and place mats were also gifts from my MIL. I cut some azaleas from the yard for the bud vases. In the spirit of Japanese simplicity, I tried to keep things sparse, yet still wanted to add color.

Isn't that a beautiful blue? The boys enjoyed drinking their apple juice out of the sake cups. Of course, I had to refill them about four times!

When I took this picture, I noticed how the center platter placed on top of the black bowl (melamine from Target) looks like a graduation cap. So if you have any graduation parties coming up, here's an idea for you!

Thanks for stopping by! This week I'm linking up to Marla's Woo Hoo Wednesday in honor of our anniversary and Susan's Tablescape Thursday. Thanks to both ladies for hosting!

Mexico On My Mind

2010-04-28T21:03:00.002-04:00

Ever since Cinco de Mayo became commercially popular in the United States, I have wanted to celebrate it. I'm not quite sure why. I'm not Mexican. But I do love to visit Mexico. I also like Mexican food and drinks. Any excuse to have a pretty party, right?

During a trip to Playa del Carmen, I bought a beautiful hand embroidered blanket. It was love at first sight and I HAD to have it. Well, lots of dollars and several years later, the blanket was still folded in the closet. Until now.

Bienvenido! Tonight we're having an intimate Cinco de Mayo celebration on the lower patio. What do you think of the tablecloth? Yep. That's the blanket. Do you love it like I do? And to answer your questions about why it's been in a closet, it's a little too colorful for my usual decorating style. But I love it nonetheless.

We're only set for three tonight (because I didn't feel like dragging out a bigger table...sorry) but I have settings for four. I found these gorgeous talavera style salad plates on clearance at Marshall's recently. The yellow dinner plates were Goodwill finds. They are originally from Crate and Barrel. Margarita glasses (can't leave out those), beaded flatware, white napkins and red napkin rings round out the place settings. Because the table is small, I just used small colorful votives instead of a centerpiece.

Here's a closer look at the plates. I hope I can find some more!

If I had a bigger table, this would be the centerpiece. The lanterns were part of the centerpieces on our wedding reception tables almost nine years ago.

This patio is normally decorated with a cabin/camp feel. I replaced the fishing creel on the ladder with a sombrero and some tissue paper sunflowers. Don't look too closely at the sunflowers. I made them in about five minutes. The sombrero was a Dollar Tree find. Our six-year-old son has asked me repeatedly when he can have the "umbrello." Am I the only one who thinks that's cute?

*Carol at Serendipity asked how I made the sunflowers. I should clarify that the flowers in the tin bucket are real. The flowers on the ladder are tissue. I made them by following this tutorial. I used four sheets of yellow and three sheets of black (cut shorter) for the center. I tied them off in the center with floral wire. Hope this helps!*

A proper fiesta goes into the night (so I say). This is my attempt to create a dreamy, nighttime feel. We had a Halloween party last year and strung these lights under the porch. I love how they look at night and they illuminate the patio perfectly. I dream of a backyard party with these and paper lanterns strung over the tables. Sigh. Maybe one day....

Thank you for stopping by! Seal says hi! Please visit all of the other great tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday. Come again!

Al Fresco on a Budget

2010-04-21T20:58:00.003-04:00

Before I get into my tablescape for Susan's super fantastic Tablescape Thursday, I want all of you to know that I REALLY want to do more than just tablescapes. Don't get me wrong, I love tablescaping, but my main goal for this blog is to showcase my decorating projects around our house (why I named the blog House Affairs). The problem is that our house is for sale (if any of you want to move to Marietta, GA, I'll make you a deal!) and I'm not changing anything right now. I hope (pray, fingers crossed, the whole nine yards) that we will move this summer, at which time I can get into decorating/remodeling a new home. But in the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun with my tablescapes. It helps keep my mind off of our house situation and the best part is we get to take it all with us when we move!

Since we are planning a move this summer, I am on a strict budget. When I told dear hubs that I was shopping for a new tablescape, he groaned. "I promise," I said. "I will keep it under $20." That's pretty reasonable, right? I did better than $20 but I'll wait to tell you the total.

Please join me on the deck for lunch.

The moment I saw these gorgeous tangerine roses, I knew I had to plan a table around them. Must Have Roses. Must Do Orange and Turquoise Table. I was on a mission. Keep in mind, I only had $20 to work with. The roses were spray roses, so they had multiple blooms per stem. I picked up a bunch of them that had just been marked down to $3.99 at Kroger. Score!

I knew I wanted to do a table on the deck, so I had to work around the umbrella. I found circular floral foam at Dollar Tree. I cut it in half and soaked it in water (although I'm not so sure this foam is really meant for fresh flowers). Then I cut the blooms down leaving about an inch of stem and poked them in the foam until it was covered on top and around the sides. I put a paper plate under the foam so it wouldn't soak the "tablecloth." I think this ring would also be beautiful around a glass hurricane. Or it could go under a cake stand to make a unique "riser" for a cake.

Um...yeah...the tablecloth. Also known as a white sheet. I found it in a box in the garage. We used to have it hanging as a partition in our (previously) unfinished basement. I cut a slit up one side so it would fit around the umbrella. Then I took some orange fabric I found at Goodwill for $3 and made strips to hide the split. I didn't have time to hem the strips so I just ironed under the unfinished edges (now you know all of my secrets).

On my hunt for turquoise colored things, I remembered these cute acrylic plates and bowls at Dollar Tree. Guess what?!? They were marked down to 50 cents a piece! I got four place settings for $4! Score again! Then I went on a hunt for cheap turquoise napkins. Well, I didn't find napkins exactly, but I did get these fat quarters at Walmart for $1 each. I'll hem them up later so I can really use them as napkins, but for now they are actually pieces of fabric in glasses. Oh, well. See the magic of photography? If I hadn't told you, you'd never know. But I am under full disclosure today. And of course I have to note Seal the Weimaraner's appearance. Once again, she got tired of following me.

So let's go over what I spent today. I'm not counting the glasses, flatware and white sheet since I already had them. $4 for napkins, $3 for orange fabric, $3.99 for flowers, $5 for floral foam, plates and bowls. $15.99 + tax! Dear hubs can breathe easy. For now! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Please visit all of the other great tablescapes at Between Naps On the Porch's Tablescape Thursday! I'm a little late to join the party, but I'm also linking up to Woo Hoo! Wednesday at Always Nesting. Thanks for inviting me, Marla!

Coming Up Daisies

2010-04-14T20:49:00.000-04:00

Hi, everyone! I'm back! We had a very enjoyable Easter and Spring Break. Hope you all did, too! During our vacation to North Carolina, I had every intention of doing some tablescapes at my parents' houses, but you know how that goes...too much to do, too many people to visit, and too little time. My mother and stepmother both have some pretty impressive tableware, so hopefully I can try again sometime.

If you live in the South (especially GA) you know you can't escape the pollen! As allergic as I am to pollen, I am still glad it's here because with it comes flowers! So this week's tablescape is dedicated to flowers. Specifically to gerbera daisies, my favorite spring annual.

I found these cute gerbera daisy plates at Big Shanty Antique Market in Kennesaw, GA recently. While they are not old, they caught my eye because of the daisies.

I really wanted grass place mats or runners, but since those were NOWHERE to be found (I didn't try online because I didn't have time) I went with coordinating straw mats. I was lucky enough to find them for each plate color at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Blue.

Orange.

Pink.

And yellow. I found the cute flower napkin rings at Hobby Lobby. They came in a set of four and instead of a yellow flower, it is green. But it's close enough. I've had the aluminum tumblers for years and thought they added some color. I didn't have an orange one, so I substituted silver. Again, it works. I layered the salad plates with plain white dinner plates I got a few years ago from World Market.

For the centerpiece, I used a candelier (also found at Big Shanty Antique Market), mini frosted glass flowerpot tea lights, and gerbera daisy plants. I bought three plants in all that I'll plant in the yard tomorrow. Hopefully they won't die. I can decorate all day long, but unfortunately I wasn't blessed with a green thumb!

A flower close-up for good measure.

Notice anything different? I traded the tumblers for the glass goblets. I got them this morning at Dollar Tree. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they are new arrivals. For a dollar a piece, they don't look too shabby! Which do you like better? The aluminum tumblers or the glasses?

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our furry child, Seal. See her sacked out on the floor in the background? She finally got tired of following me around. She's a ten-year-old Weimaraner. If you've ever had one or known one, then you know they rarely just go lie down! Or maybe ours is just neurotic...kinda like us!

Thanks for joining me today! Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more great tablescapes!

For the Birds

2010-03-31T21:11:00.001-04:00

I have always loved birds. Maybe it's because I grew up on Cardinal Loop. In our previous homes, I had feeders. I would now, if not for our plans to move. (Our neighbors are avid bird enthusiasts, so they take very good care of the birds.) I would have a bird as a pet if I knew our dog wouldn't eat it. Eww. Anyway, when I saw the Brown Bird Toile dinnerware from Andrea by Sadek, I fell in love.

Please join me in the kitchen for a casual dinner.

I only bought the bird toile salad plates, because already had the cream dinnerware to compliment them. The cream dinnerware is our everyday dinnerware from Bombay (RIP). The rattan chargers came from Walmart for $3 each. Hopefully the stain isn't toxic! I used simple flatware by Gibson with a beaded edge pattern and plain Riedel stemware. The cream napkins are a Goodwill find. Six for about $3! Washed, ironed, and good to go!

I love the detail! Each plate has a slightly different scene.

For the centerpiece, I shopped the house to find bird/natural pieces. I used my new glass cloche with a nest and my bronze bird. You can read about my cloche project here. I borrowed the faux fern from another room to put on the barley twist pedestal. I normally don't like fake flowers and plants, but I can't keep an indoor fern alive to save my life. My talents are few and gardening isn't one of them. I'll just stick to tablescaping for now!

Thank you for coming by! Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday to view more beautiful tables.

The Bell Tolls For Me!

2010-03-28T20:42:00.003-04:00

For about three years (before the bird craze hit), I have had a nest on a shelf in our living room. I covered the nest with a small glass cheese dome and I change it with the seasons. For winter the nest is covered with ice crystals, spring with eggs, summer bare and fall with leaves. I never thought the cheese dome was good enough, but didn't want to pay $30+ for a large cloche. Here it is before:

Kind of squat, right?

I have seen several bloggers (sorry, can't remember who) make their own cloches so I thought, "Gee, I can do that, too!"

*Edit* Joan at Anything Goes Here was one of my inspirations. Check out one of her cloches here.

I found this beauty at Goodwill recently for $1.51! Perfect cloche shape!

It was originally a hurricane globe, but I easily removed the brass candle poker-thingamajig.

I found this crystal ball wine stopper in a drawer, long forgotten (if you are reading this and gave us this as a gift, at least it's now being used, right?). I thought it would be perfect for the topper.

I cut away the rubber piece. All I had to do was hot glue the stopper into the opening. Easy peasy.

The end result. My $1.51 (+ tax) cloche! You like? Me, too!

Thank you for stopping by! And many thanks to Susan, Rhoda, Cindy and Linda for hosting me! Please stop by their sites to view many other great projects and thrifty finds!

Easter's On Its Way

2010-03-24T20:08:00.000-04:00

We are hosting my husband's family for Easter lunch this year and I wanted to set an extra-special table. Since tablescaping seems to be a newfound hobby, I can't let them down.

Welcome to Easter lunch.

I fell in love with the Bordallo Pinheiro dishes the first time I saw them. After my awesome thrifty find of the cabbage soup tureen and bowls (read about that here), I broke down and bought the green dinner plates and bowl at Ross. Couldn't stop there. Nooo-oh. I had to have the pink salad plates, too. As luck would have it, I found a great deal on them on eBay. They just arrived today (yes, I washed them before I put them out, thankyouverymuch).

In addition to the new plates and bowls, I purchased the placemats to accent the pink at JC Penny. I used our wedding crystal (Miller Rogaska, Soho Platinum) and flatware (Lenox Federal Platinum). We won't be having wine for lunch, but the table looked naked with just one glass.

I feel like now's the time to let you know that I DEEPLY regret not registering for real silver. I also kinda wish I didn't pick out crystal with a metallic rim, but I don't want to complain too much! At least we have it, right? For that I'm very thankful!

This is a better look at the pink plates.

I found these cute egg picks at Michaels. I alternated pink and green and stuck them in napkin pockets. Have you noticed the tablecloth? My grandmother crocheted it for us when we got married. She made it to fit our table perfectly. Guess we can never get a new table!

I had to include my bunny with his basket full of Easter joys! I placed him on some paper leaves and put some reproduction vintage eggs in his basket.

A view of Bunny's eggs.

I scattered my bunny tealights around the table.

My mom gave me this little crystal bunny. I put him at big bunny's feet.

Now that I have the table set, I need to plan my menu. Anything that requires the least amount of cooking sounds good to me!

Thank you for stopping by! If you're not coming from Susan's, please visit her at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday!

$5 Challenge - Matchstick Candle and Coasters

2010-03-24T18:56:00.000-04:00

Just call me Miss Piggy. This is my third and final project for Lindsay's Five Dollar Challenge. She did say we could do as many as we wanted, right? Maybe I got a little carried away...

During my Dollar Tree shopping extravaganza, I picked up a colorful matchstick placemat, a pillar candle, a glass cylinder vase and some foam gripper pads. I only spent $4 for the $5 challenge, so I'm not sure if that's grounds for disqualification.

Sorry, I lit the candle before I took the picture. Gotta remember I'm new at this! What to do, what to do?

First, I rolled the glass vase in the placemat to measure where to cut.

Then I cut the placemat to fit around the vase. I cut the length as well as the length because I didn't want the placemat to be taller than the vase.

I rolled the vase in the placemat and hot glued the ends in place.

Here's the finished product with the lit candle. Purdy, huh? I think this would look great on a patio or porch!

I decided to make coasters with the leftover placemat. I cut the scrap pieces to size.

I hot glued the threads to keep the sticks in place.

In order to give the coasters some support, I hot glued the gripper pads to the back. Without the pads, the matchstick pieces were flimsy and slippery.

Finally, I trimmed the gripper pads to fit. Ok, they're not so pretty from this side, but who's going to be looking here anyway?

Four coasters and a candle holder for $4. And they only took about 10 minutes to make! I definitely think I'll be using these on my porch this spring and summer!

I know this post was long, but if you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me! (No pun intended.) Merci, Lindsay for hosting this fun challenge!

$5 Challenge - Twine Tealight

2010-03-24T14:56:00.000-04:00

This is my second project for Lindsay's Five Dollar Challenge. Please visit her and the other participants to see all of the great, budget friendly ideas!

It seems like everyone is covering everything in twine these days, so I jumped on the bandwagon, too. I won't say that this idea is very original, but it's so cute and easy!

I guess this is technically a $2 challenge (since I'm using a leftover pot from another challenge project), but I suppose I could have purchased more pots/twine/candles to total $5. All of these items came from Dollar Tree.

I started by hot gluing the end of the twine to the side of the pot at the bottom.

Then I tightly wrapped the twine around the pot.

When I got to the lip of the top of the pot, I added some more glue so the twine wouldn't slip off the rim.

After the pot was covered, I glued down the end of the twine and tucked it in so it would not be as noticeable.

(I feel a little "like duh" giving this disclaimer but I feel it's necessary!) *VERY IMPORTANT* Twine CAN and WILL catch on fire! Be sure to cut off all of the loose fibers that will be around the top of the pot so it doesn't catch on fire if you use this as a tealight! And do not leave lit candles unattended! Ok, I feel better.

Yes, I need to follow my own advice and snip around the top of mine. But don't these make the cutest little tealights? These would look great with a country farmhouse look or a beach theme. I have tons of twine left over so now I need to find something else to wrap!

Thanks for stopping by! Again, muchas gracias, Lindsay for hosting the Five Dollar Challenge!

$5 Challenge - Spring Topiaries

2010-03-24T13:42:00.000-04:00

If you've read my blog before (chances are you haven't), you know that I'm new to this. I didn't start reading home decor blogs until late last year (I know...I know...been missing out)! When I did discover them, however, Living With Lindsay quickly became one of my favorites. I later found out that Lindsay is friends with my best friend in TX! What a small world! She encouraged me to start a blog, so I did. And of course I had to participate in her Five Dollar Challenge!

At first, I was overwhelmed with the task of creating something with only $5 of supplies from the dollar store. But when I looked around Dollar Tree, I got all kinds of ideas. Once I started, I couldn't stop! (I hope I'm not being a challenge hog!)

These spring topiaries are first in a series of three crafts.

I bought a package of floral foam blocks, floral moss, mini terra cotta pots and two yellow/white bead ball thingies from Dollar Tree. I rooted through the woods behind our house to find two sticks of similar size. Don't tell him, but I "borrowed" some of my oldest son's paint and paint brush.

First, I lightly brushed some white paint onto the pots. I rubbed them with a paper towel before they were dry to give them an aged look.

Next, I cut blocks of foam down to fit inside the pots.

I made sure the foam was tight so the topiaries wouldn't wobble.

I snipped the ribbon off of the balls. Exactly what these balls are intended for, I'm not sure, but they make really cute topiary toppers!

I shoved the free backyard sticks into the balls and then hot glued the sticks into the foam.

I wanted to make sure the topiaries wouldn't fall out!

To finish, I covered the foam with moss and hot glued the scrap ribbon to the pots. Voila! Two spring topiaries for $5! I think these would be super cute on a spring dining table as decorations or place card holders.

Thanks for stopping by. Also, many thanks to Lindsay for hosting the Five Dollar Challenge!

Another's Trash is My Treasure

2010-03-21T19:50:00.002-04:00

I am new to the home decor blog world and I never imagined the treasures that awaited me at Goodwill or other thrift stores. I always just assumed that I wouldn't find anything worth buying, so I didn't go. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I have turned into a thrift-aholic! I have found soooo many goodies, but I will only share one per post just in case the well runs dry!

Here is my favorite find to date from my Goodwill:

A white cabbage head soup tureen with lid, ladle, plate, and four bowls for $10!!!!!! In PERFECT condition!!! When I saw these babies taped together up on the shelf, I literally squealed with excitement. For my friends who know me reading this, can't you just imagine me doing that?? I didn't have a shopping cart, so I ran to the front of the store to grab one and then ran to the back of the store to get them. Luckily they were still there! (I am sure the other people there thought I was crazy.)

I checked the bottoms of the bowls and they are marked Made in the USA. The bottom of the platter is marked Made in Calif, Poppytrail. I did a little research, and found that Metlox Pottery in California made Poppytrail pottery, but I really don't think this is authentic. Do any of you know? How awesome would it be if they were authentic Metlox?

At any rate, $10 for a tureen, ladle and bowls is a pretty good deal, even if they are not really old or authentic. They are good enough for me! Come back to see me use them in an Easter tablescape!

Thank you for visiting and many thanks to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for hosting Today's Thrifty Treasures!

Rainy Day Sunshine

2010-03-17T18:43:00.000-04:00

We are having a yuck, blah day here in Georgia. So I thought I would bring some sunshine inside and onto the table. Please join me for a springtime brunch...

I used a yellow, blue and white color scheme for the table today. I love this combination. It's so cheery.

The only thing I purchased new for this tablescape were the daffodils. Unfortunately (or fortunately...keep reading), I do not have them growing in my yard like many of my neighbors. There is a beautiful old farmhouse down the street with a field of daffodils out front, but I just couldn't bring myself to knock on the door. "Excuse me, sir, but do you mind if I cut your field of daffodils?" I'm outgoing and everything, but that crosses the line, even for me. So off to Kroger I went.

After I set the table, my eyes started watering and my throat got tight. Oh, no. I'm allergic to the daffodils! Same thing happens with lilies. So, I took a Zyrtec (good stuff) and now I'm fine. Who knew tablescaping is a health hazard?

For the place setting, I used plain white dinner plates and cobalt blue salad plates from World Market. The cup and saucer are from my Oneida Basketweave set. I found the blue butterfly napkin rings almost 10 years ago at Walmart. The cobalt champagne glasses (for mimosas, of course!) were a gift and the little juice glasses came from Home Goods many moons ago. The flatware is the same as last week, stainless from Hampton Silversmiths. I really need to work on my flatware collection.

Aren't the antennae cute? I suppose if you wanted to be super crafty (as many of you are) you could make these out of some wire and beads. I just noticed that the basket weave pattern on the napkin compliments the cup and saucer. Some of the best things are by pure accident!

In addition to the daffodils in a white pitcher, I used my bird lanterns for the centerpiece. The lanterns usually reside on my mantel. You can read more about them here. So sorry I forgot to light the candles. In addition to being hazardous to your health, this tablescaping business has a pretty steep learning curve!

The "tablecloth" is actually a remnant of some Sunbrella fabric we used eons ago for outdoor cushions. It has been rolled up in plastic in our basement for a long, long time and I have often thought of ways I could use it. Well, here ya go...a tablecloth. By the magic of photography, you can't see the extra four feet of fabric hanging over the table. If I ever use this for a real meal, then I would sew it properly, of course. What sort of hostess would I be with raw edges?

Come on over! I'll save a mimosa for you!

Thank you for stopping by. And many thanks to Susan for hosting Tablescape Thursday!

Keeping Room Take Two

2010-03-13T17:04:00.004-05:00

The keeping room, hearth room, den or whatever-you-want-to-call-it room in our house has been a thorn in my side since we moved in two and a half years ago. It became the catch-all for extra furniture that didn't really have a place. Here's a photo of the keeping room when we purchased the house.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it after we moved in because I never knew I'd be doing this. And I never liked it enough to photograph it. At any rate, take a journey into your imagination with me...it had a red sofa facing the fireplace, a red chair to the right, a red and gold hooked rug, and a brown wood/woven chair with gold cushions to the left of the fireplace. The brown wicker storage trunks that you will see in the photos below were pushed together in front of the couch to make a coffee table. The pine cabinet that you will see below had a red and gold silk flower arrangement on top and random pottery pieces inside the glass doors. Basically the room was very red and gold French country looking, and while I like that look, those colors are not found at all in the rest of our house. It also was very dark, as the room faces south.

We have two young boys and a dog, so we mulled over what to do about the furniture. Leather cleans well, but it is also dark. I wasn't sure about upholstery. After much consideration, here's the room now:

So airy and light! And, yes, that is the head of a little boy hiding behind the pillow. He's son #2 (age 5) and I'll call him Monkey Boy from here on out because he climbs all over everything.

Anyway, back to the room. That's right folks, WHITE slipcovers! WITH TWO BOYS AND A DOG! I must be CRAZY! At least, that what some others think. But, they are the best thing EVER! We already had the Ektorp sofa and chair from IKEA so the most economical thing to do was just buy new slips for them. We did have to retrain the boys not to eat in there because I didn't want to have to wash them everyday, but they have been on for about three months now and I haven't washed them yet. I take a lint roller and go over them weekly, but so far they still look great.

The new jute rug is also from IKEA. I pushed the dark brown wicker trunks that we use for toy storage in front of each window flanking the fireplace. That opened up the room tremendously and gives the boys a place to set up their Hot Wheels tracks and Monster Truck shows (the activities du jour).

Ok. Yes. I'm a sucker. I bought the Pottery Barn bird pillows. When I saw them in the spring catalog, I instantly loved them and had to have them. I'm usually too cheap to shop there, but I knew they'd look great in the room as it was already painted yellow. As for the green pillows, I did go cheap. They are from IKEA. The wall color doesn't come across very well in these photos, but it is one of the Laura Ashley cowslip colors. Can't remember exactly which number, though. It isn't nearly as bright and loud as it looks here.

Wheeeere's Monkey Boy?

Another look at the chair with the embroidered bird pillow.

We've had this pine cabinet for a few years and it is currently houses the boys' art supplies and random crap, junk, stuff that I'm sure we don't need. It used to have a very nice, but very traditional/French country flower arrangement on top. I was perusing Ballard's Back Room (the Ballard's catalog outlet) and found these cute olive trees. The room has a vaulted ceiling so I felt I needed some height. I'm still not sure about them. What do you think?

Behind the glass doors, I changed out the random pottery with some of my ironstone pieces. The picture propped up is kind of an accident. I was going to hang it somewhere else, but I decided to leave it there because it hides a basket full of more stuff the boys can't seem to part with. I'm not sure it looks great, but it's better than the eyesore behind it.

Time to play Can You Tell What Monkey Boy Destroyed? Look closely at the lower cabinet door. Now do you know why we call him Monkey Boy? He used the knobs as a step one too many times. (Don't judge...yes, dangerous, I know...he did it when no one was looking, k?)

This is another can't-decide-what-to-do-with-it spot in the room. The t.v. is housed behind the doors so I can't put anything on the mantel in front of them. I found the lanterns at Home Goods and loved the little birds on top (see below) but now I'm not sure about them. Again, any suggestions? I'm more than happy to take them! By the way, the clock was on clearance at Target.

And before you tell me I need curtains...yes, I know. However, the house is for sale (another post for another day) and I don't want to put them up now.

Close up of the bird lantern. Should they stay or should they go?

Overall, I'm very happy with the way the room looks now. Maybe just a few accessory changes and THEN it will be finished. And then we'll sell the house and have to move. One thing at a time....

I'm joining the Slipcover Party at Pink and Polka Dot and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. I'm pretty sure you're visiting from one of those two places since I don't have many readers yet, so thanks for coming!

Getting My Feet Wet

2010-03-09T18:24:00.006-05:00

Well, here goes nothing. My first post EVER on my first blog EVER! I chose to do a St. Patrick's Day tablescape and link to Susan's Tablescape Thursday as my first post because she's part of the reason I'm here. I have recently discovered decorating Blogworld and I admire what all of you do. Susan's blog is one of my favorites because 1. I LOVE tablescapes and 2. she lives in my town. So without further adieu, my tablescape...

Join me in the kitchen for a St. Patrick's Day lunch. (Please bear with my lack of photography skills. I'm still learning!)

I don't own any white chargers (yet) and didn't want to use a tablecloth, so I decided to use round green and white braided placemats from Kohl's. The white plates are Oneida Basketweave. I love this pattern because it goes with everything. The flatware is stamped Hampton Silversmiths but I have no idea of the pattern. I've had it a few years. I recently purchased the green depression glass sherbet cups at a local antique mall. I picked up the cut glass goblets this week from Dollar Tree! I thought they resembled Irish crystal and if one of the boys breaks one, I'll only be out a buck! I found the napkins from World Market on clearance. At first, I had a hard time deciding on the napkin rings. Then I remembered the cute ornaments hanging on my little St. Pat's tree and borrowed them. Two of them are reproduction vintage Irish cards and the other two say "Kiss Me I'm Irish" in green glittered letters and have dangly decorations.

Am I doing okay so far?

On to the centerpiece. Ok, y'all. I searched HIGH and low for a shamrock plant. And clover. Obviously, I didn't succeed. So we have tulips. Which are beautiful, don't get me wrong, but they just don't scream St. Patrick's Day. So please pretend I have a lovely shamrock plant in the middle, okay? (I added the shamrock beads to help you visualize.)

My name is Erin. So naturally I love things that say "Erin Go Bragh." For those of you who don't know, it means "Ireland Forever." And, no, I'm not Irish. Well, not completely. I have some Irish blood in me way back, but mostly I'm pure-bred USA mutt.

A close-up of my sweet little Tom Clark gnome, Erin. Can you make out "Erin Go Bragh" across the front of the tray she's holding?

A closer look at one of the ornaments...err, I mean, napkin rings. I spy my name again!

The other ornament-turned-napkin ring.

The complete package. So how'd I do? Should I keep blogging or hang up my hat now?

I would love your comments! If you've visiting from Susan's BNOTP Tablescape Thursday, Thank You! If you're one of my friends or family members who's reading because I begged you to, it means more to me than you'll ever know! And please make sure to visit Susan! Come again!