When you just have to decorate something...

This Friday is the big move, but we had furniture delivered from the storage units last week, and it was good to see a few of my things that had been packed away. I've been taking bits and pieces over to the new house, like baskets and pillows and some odd things that could fit in the back of my car. But a few days ago my deep inner need for some sort of a vignette took over, and I grabbed what few things that were within arm's reach and put together something (even if temporary) in the living room. I know I can do better, but bear with me...I'm ready to decorate this dang house!

This sofa table won't stay against this wall, but it was a flat surface (that wasn't being painted), so it was fair game. The lanterns made it, but no candles to be found. The basket and corbels from the baker's rack, one of my Autumn Trays, some bittersweet, pumpkins, and a wonderful soup tureen from a garage sale for a dollar. really. yes, a dollar. (and it's not even busted!)

You can see that the rug is rolled up while I'm working on the coffee and end tables. They're turning out great, but taking more time than I'd figured. It took me quite a while to mix the exact color, but I'll have pics soon. 

I'm not sure why the walls look blue, but trust me, there's is no blue in them. Just a great neutral taupe. (Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe). I never knew there were so many grays, taupes, and whatevers. My advice if you're thinking of painting your walls...get sample pots of paint, lot's of samples, You won't know what color it really is until it's up on your wall.

Speaking of pillows, my two little squirrels made it to the new kitchen. 

The perfect time of year for them.

And my hat boxes and old hats are up on the hutch 

above my computer in my new office.

Here are a few pics from the Dining Room; it's snug in there. I've realized my chair slips are in "no man's land" somewhere in the depths of the last storage unit that was filled. I hope to have them located and in my possession before Christmas... hopefully that will be this Christmas.

My Staffordshire bowl with velvet pumpkins that I hand carried over. I think my table runners are all with my chair slips, so ditto for having some decor tablescapes on the big brown DR table.

The clock looks a little "white" and by itself, but with the chair slips and prints up, I think it will balance out.

And here's a sneak peek of my new antique mirror I found a few weeks ago in a great little shop in Ozark, Missouri. It will go above the buffet that you see here. It's my gold scroll-y French-y mirror that I had been looking for.

 

I'll be without email and the computer for a couple of days, while we get things transferred to the new house. Have a fun Halloween and weekend. I'll check back when the dust has settled!

xoxo,

A little "greige" for the coffee table....

or, how to make the elephant in the room 

not so "noticeable".

This is a project I could see coming a long time ago...

The Living Room at the old house was a little more formal than this one at the new house is turning out. The big difference is that I sold my two massive damask twin sofas to my sister (where they look fabulous), and we purchased the Chesterfield Sofa and Love seat in a gray-griege lineny fabric when we moved to the lease house. I loved my sofas, but I knew that wherever we moved they probably would not fit and that was certainly the case at the smaller lease house.

Antique white French-y coffee table and end table.

AKA Momma and baby Dumbo...

Living Room at the old house with the twin Damask Sofas

Living Room at the lease house with the new Chesterfield set.

The Chesterfield sofas are a little more "masculine" in their lines and appearance, than something French-y. I had to choose wall colors and the rugs based on the color of those sofa fabrics. So now to my predicament. I want to use my antique white French-y coffee table and end tables again, which by the way are massive. We had a huge space to fill at the other house, so it swollowed up any and all furniture that came in there. But the new house Living Room, even though it's larger, still has it's issues with traffic flow and TV viewing. So I want these massive things to "blend in" to the room and seating area; not stand out. They look like small white elephants right now, I'm hoping a coat or two of a gray-taupe ASCP mix will work.

I painted this little accent table (below) when we moved to the lease house, just to have a place to set a lamp. I'm hoping to come close to this color finish on the coffee table and end tables. (more taupe and less green) I'm using Coco and Paris Gray, maybe with a little Old White. I'm not sure of the ratios, but I'm getting started this afternoon. The little table is in Benjamin Moore with a coating of liquid poly on top, but latex paints just don't hold up on a tabletop. I love this kind of project, just not a few days before we move. We're planning on the big move this Friday...Trick or Treaters beware!

(see how this little table just melts into the background)

I'll check back in with you a little later on this project.

Keep a good thought for me, 

I'm hoping Greige is their color!

joining in on these parties:

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

Vintage October and a Give-Away Winner

Hey Everyone!

Hope you've had a wonderful week this beautiful October, and I imagine most of you have some fun plans this weekend. We're moving more things over to the new house (with the big move next week) but I wanted to take a minute and share some images from the last few years of some Fall and Halloween fun. This is my favorite time to decorate, but "Fall" was pretty minimal around my house this season. Since I didn't get to really "celebrate" my favorite month, I wanted to go back and see what was happening in years past. Here are some of my favorite images from this time of year. If you'd like to see more Fall Fun, then just type in Fall or Halloween on my blog search and you'll get tons more pics. You can click on any image for it to "biggify".

Congratulations to Jann from Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson in winning the pillow below from Elliott-Heath Designs! Thanks so much to everyone that entered!

OK, have a great weekend, 

we're having a warm up to about 80, 

so maybe we can get alot accomplished with the move. 

xoxo,

I have a tree, and other random house news...

Who would think I'd get excited over a little ol' tree!

But, my having a "tree" out here has become a pretty big deal. 

When we first put the contract in on the house, there was a beautiful maple in that exact spot. It was planted when the house was first built, so it was about 10 years old; just big enough to have a little shade and because it was a maple (my favorite tree), I was looking forward to a pretty show of leaves this Fall. Fast forward through the long dry spell we had here in Southwest Missouri, and an owner who had moved out, deciding that yard care and maintenance were no longer needed. By the time we closed on the house the yard was a disaster, the tree was dead, and the landscaping was a barren wasteland. Needless to say I was one unhappy camper.

(last week at the new place)

So once an official arborist had declared it long gone, we had to wait for the right time to transplant a new tree. Evidently October is a better time to plant as it's cooler, and the tree has a chance to settle in before freezes, and will be ready for the warmer Spring growing season. 

I didn't realize there were so many kinds of Maples, but my one request was that it be a showstopper for Fall. Here are a few facts about our pick:

The Shantung Maple is a midsize ornamental tree that is great for small yards and it tolerates alkaline soils, drought, and strong wind. The Shantung Maple steps up to autumn with leaves that are gorgeous golden yellow flecked with red before they launch into orange. The Shantung Maple differentiates from other maples (Red Maple and Silver Maple) in that the canopy is denser and the leaves are more delicate, which is reminiscent of a Japanese maple but with much greater toughness Tolerates full sun and drought resistant. 

Growth Rate	Evergreen or Deciduous	Height Mature	Width Mature
3' Per Year	Deciduous	25'	20'

(Next three images from Google Images)

This year, it only had a small leaf show, but the golds were gorgeous, until it decided that it was a little too stressed out to do much else. It was staked and mulch added, with a bag watering system that you fill once a week, for a measured release of water. Of course Hubbs was thrilled that I was adamant about us buying the most expensive little maple on the planet, but Hey, as a "leafpeeper" who only has one tree out front, it has to be a Fall Showstopper.

In other house news, the carpet is in and we moved furniture from the storage units into the Dining Room (or should I say "squeezed" into the Dining Room), downstairs family room, Kitchen (so nice to see my white farm table and china cabinet), and lot's of other random pieces of which I have no idea what to do with. We're in the process of trying to sort through boxes at the storage place that are priority. Right now I'm seeing lots of boxes that say "Basement Decor" and I'm just trying to imagine what kind of crap, junk, er, goodies, might be in them. This house is only about 2/3 the size of the old one, and I'm already thinking a Spring garage sale probably will be on the calender.

We've been in "move mode" for about a year now and I have to say I'm pretty darn worn out with the whole idea of it. And the way it's going, we might have things somewhat put together by Thanksgiving. Gosh, when I was younger I could decorate a new house in a few days. Remember "The Stepford Wives", uh yeah, sort of. Ugh, I was a lot younger then...

(I did locate a few boxes marked "Turkeys", so they came on over to the house.) OK, I'll have some pics of the basics in a few days. I won't be able to wait till the rooms are complete to share, otherwise I might have to give up blogging altogether...just kidding!

joining these parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's
Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

I'll be back later with the winner 

from the Elliott-Heath Pillow Give Away. 

Have a great week,

xoxo,

New Lighting for the Entry

One of the first things I noticed about our new house when it was on the market, was the lighting. How about you, do you look twice at the light fixtures?  Beautiful and functional lighting fixtures are like "house jewelry"; they add pizazz and set the mood for the spaces they're in. You can take a plain box of a room, and give it character and direction for decor with a chandelier, sconces, a pendant, and even table lamps. They can literally "light up" your rooms!

This was the Entry (below) when we first bought the house. The light fixtures, especially the one here in the Entry, were pretty much "Plain Jane". Nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't memorable. The Entry is our chance to make a statement, and this one really didn't have much to say.

I had packed up my chandelier from our previous Dining Room, and had found a small Frenchy chandy for the kitchen, but what I really needed for this house, was Entry Lighting. I had my heart set on a lantern, but it needed to be in a dark bronze finish to match the rest of the metal accents. So I started searching the Internet to see what was available. About that time, Lamps.Com contacted me about checking out their lighting. I was thrilled because they graciously sent me this wonderful lantern, the Larkin Three Light Pendant Lantern by Kichler that made my Entry go from blah to beautiful!

(I love the illumintation shadow on the ceiling!)

Just take a look at some of the wonderful Entry Pendants and Chandeliers that are available from Lamps.Com. On trend and beautiful... and they won't break your budget! This first one is my Entry Lantern, only in brushed nickel.

Here are more great Entry Pendants and Chandeliers from Lamps.Com that are available. These are some of my favorites and most are under $300.00.

As you can see, they have so many wonderful pieces;

 something for every decor style and budget.
Here's a direct link to the Kichler Lighting page.

If you've been thinking of updating your lighting, or just want something more functional or eye catching, check out Lamps.Com. Be sure and check out the new links for Furniture and Home Decor that Lamps.Com also has for you. I have a link on my sidebar to get you there.

Stay tuned for more on my new lantern when I decorate the Entry!

Joining in at these parties:

The Scoop at Worthing Court
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

( I was compensated for this blog post, but all the opinions are my own.)

Have you entered yet?
Then CLICK HERE