Vintage door all gussied up

Sister Jane (whose blog is:Life from my point of view ) came over to help me clean the house and make up some good nachos for my Bunko party. She thought my white door, which I had leaned up against the wall, needed some oomph. So she asked for a piece of fabric and she did this:

I think it looks great and I will keep it that way. Thanks Jane!

My house dusty??? Most likely.

Dust Bunnies don't bother me and I have scientific proof. A while back I went to the allergist to do the whole schmear of allergy tests. And like most people, the results showed that I'm mildly sensitive to most of the categories on the list. EXCEPT...... get this .... dust mites! Hee-hee. So we can co-exist and live in perfect harmony. I just think that's so funny. Must have built up a tolerance over the years???
Oh, and the dust bunny pic is not mine...that beauty came from flickr.

Deacon's Bench - Craigslist find

Hey guys, this is my 200th post! And I celebrated that today by getting a nifty deacon's bench for the front porch. It fits in perfectly and will hold pumpkins in the fall and a garland of mittens in the winter. It was just $35 and it will be fun to decorate it during the seasons.



That purply door is about gone...I'm repainting it a gleaming white. Won't that look fab against that black bench? Don't I sound all Hollywoody, darlinks?

For now, a simple green wreath will do.

Blanket Cabinet touch up

Sometimes, it's just the little details that make or break a look. Take this blanket cabinet, for example. In an earlier post, I shown where I added the black embellishments and painted the wood knobs black. Now that I have had a chance to live with it...I knew it needed a little more sprucing.

So last night I painted in the boxy trim. I do think it looks better and it was just a small change....but one that helps to finish off the look.

Don't cha think?

Keep calm and carry on

I took this wood frame with a wood back that had some 1980's style vegetable painting on it and made my own signage that is hot right now. Just printed out the motto in Word and glued on some vintage music paper and it's ready to be hung.

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of World War II, and was intended as a "last case scenario" in order to stiffen resolve should the Nazis succeed in invading Great Britain .

Two-and-a-half million copies were printed, although the poster was distributed only in limited numbers. It was rediscovered in 2000 and has been re-issued by a number of private sector companies, and used as the decorative theme for a range of other products. Below is the original poster:

This saying is my mantra at present because this year has been so difficult and challenging. So it helps to be reminded to "stay calm" and carry on with life.
Yeah, I used to have snackies in those jars...but I'm on a diet, so I'm shopping the house for fillers for these. But maybe, come Christmas, they will be filled with cookies again. :-)

Nora, the piano cat

Food Gawker

Have you been to Food Gawker yet? It is my latest favorite food site! There is a picture for every recipe and there are THOUSANDS!!
http://foodgawker.com/ You will LOVE it!

Bench from Craigslist

I just couldn't pass up this neat bench for $20! My son has a rather large family (8 of them!) and is in need of more dining table and chair space. He talked about needing maybe a bench. Well, hey, that gave me something to hunt and I'm glad I saw this right away after posting. I know he will love it! And if he doesn't.....I will swoop it back in a heartbeat! :-)

Hall Bath Reveal

I found the neatest way to store extra toilet tissue and kleenex in this walmart item. I had been searching the net for a lovely storage cabinet and who wouldda thunk?

I treasure these vintage drapes with the black grosgrain ribbon and fringe. I also replaced the uninteresting door stop with this screw-in topper.

I love polka-dot ribbon and included some on top of the drapery. I painted the nautical star on the ceiling and am undecided on adding a quote around it, or Directional Letters (NSEW)

I originally tiled the shower with earth-colored broken tiles, but later decided on a crisp white. No problem - a coat of sealant and then 2 coats of glossy white paint did the trick!

This is where my wall mounted paper towel holder will go when I get one. See post below about that. For now, this will do. I also love the ceramic switch plate - you can feel the difference when you turn on and off the lights....it's a tactile thing and one of the little pleasures.

Bathroom reveal, Part Deux

Here are some more pictures of my hall bath that I have been working on for the last few months. We have a new cookie-cutter ranch house that yearned for (ok, it didn't, I did) some unique atmosphere. I love toile wallpaper in bathrooms. Especially a dark grey and white.

I put up millwork pieces above the window and doors to help beef up the moldings. Very inexpensive and easy to do.




I found a fabulous 8' long piece of chair rail curb side one night that was brand new! I turned it upside down and placed in atop the chair rail that we installed earlier. This beefed up the railing tremendously. And it also provides a small ledge for maybe a nice starfish, perhaps?

The builder's fake cherry wood finish was sooo boring. I added some embellishes and painted the whole thing with a half bottle of hobby paint - in gloss black. Why not?

I did this mirror frame all by my little self. Again, this was one of those big, honkin' plate glass mirrors without any interest, what-so-evva!

SimpleHuman Paper Towel Holder

For the hall bathroom, I have decided to not use cloth hand towels. The reason for this is to prevent germs. And I have this "ick" thing about drying my hands on a towel that is still wet from another's use. I believe I found the towel rack that will be suitable for the bathroom. (I bought a cheapo, plastic wall mount, but really hesitated to use - everything else in the room has been so carefully chosen to reflect a bygone era. Plastic-y things would fall short.)

This wall mount is from SimpleHuman at http://www.simplehuman.com/index1.html

The description says: To maximize space, the wall mount paper towel holder can be mounted to a cabinet or a wall in any position. The quick release knob detaches with a light squeeze of the buttons when changing the roll. A tension spring prevents unraveling and creates slight resistance to allow pulling off one paper towel at a time. The extra-strong mounting bracket provides superior durability.

Another pic of the hallway

Which is more like a big rectangle, with 5 doorways. Here is another side of the beadboard project that I just completed. I've been wondering lately how this hallway would look with dark doors. I've seen some others in older houses and they looked great. What do you think?

Revealing hallway beadboard

Putting the finishing touches on our hallway upgrade. We installed beadboard 3/4 up the wall and added molding on top, then painted. It really brightens up the hallway and adds much needed architectual detail. For this project, we used beadboard paneling - it looks just the same as the pricey stuff and we were able to bring it up to the 3/4 look. I really like the way this turned out and we have started putting up the beadboard on the kitchen cabinets. I'll be posting that project very soon.


Oh, and I'm finishing up the bathroom's new wood moldings, beadboard and toile wallpaper. I'll be revealing that tomorrow.

Violin from Craigslist

Decided to learn the violin as a hobby. In fact, the whole family will be learning. It's funny how we all sound so awful, here at first! But we've got instruction books and the internet to help us sound even worse!

Eat Right 4 a Good Life

I have started another blog just for healthy eating. The focus will be on the best food and drink we should consume in order for our bodies to maintain a healthy, disease-free life. This blog will be a compilation of information gleened from the internet and books that I'm reading. I need an anti-inflammatory diet - because inflammation leads to cancer and so food will be my greatest medicine to ward off any potential diseases. You are welcome to learn along with me: http://eatright4agoodlife.blogspot.com/

Brickettes on Craigslist

Yes, I know that the 70's look of fake brick can be dreadful, but if one is careful of the design it can looks rustic or "up-to-the-minute" loft-like. These are my favorite because I don't have to worry about the weight of the bricks. And they're also hard to find - usually when someone cleans out their basement or garage. Then they advertise on Craigslist and I swoop down to snap them up! 9+ boxes for only $25 - that's a good deal!




My plan is to use them on a wall when we enclose the patio to bring a cozy feel to the space. The trick is to not use them whole - break them up like they were tumbled and used brick. Then use lots of off-white paint smeared across them to create a "grouty" old-world, look. You'll be seeing me use these later this year. Stay tuned....
If you want to see how I've used them in the kitchen, click here:Bricked Pantry

Bathroom redo peek....

I have been working on the hall bath and wanted to show some of the details (with lots more coming later) Some toile wallpaper, some black painted cabinets with molding, and some gleaming white trim:



Yes, the ceiling is painted a light green. Painted the old light fixture from a copper color to matte black. Replaced the globes with the square kind. I'll show more tomorrow....stay tuned....