common ground : Summer Entry wih a New Vintage Print

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Summer Entry wih a New Vintage Print

I like to keep things changed up... well, you all know that about me. With the patriotic flags put away, it was time to bring out something different for the next month. So here's a new light and bright vintage print in one of my favorite chippy white vintage frames. I've had this traditional British print of an old engraving for awhile, but haven't taken the time to find it a frame that did it justice.

This Entry Hall has turned out to be a lovely light filled space. It feels right at home with my chippy, shabby, white French pieces. I like to keep the main elements and then change up a print or a small vintage accessory.

I'd had another botanical print in this frame, but it was of Tulips, which are very seasonally specific. It was basically a Spring print, that by July or August looks a little out of place. Even though this is labeled as "November", it's full of Sunflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Marigolds and many Summer flowers.

One of my little vintage Japanese Majolica teapots is holding ivy cuttings

to take advantage of the light.

On the other side of the room nothing much has changed,

but the gray washed wall basket has some Sunflowers added to the Hydrangeas.

My bright orange door looks so much better to me

in this new deeper persimmon hue.

I've had to keep myself busy this last several weeks doing small projects as we've had work going on here at the house. We have a 2/3's basement, with the rest of the house sitting on a "crawl space". This is where the furnace, plumbing, etc. are located. When we were looking at the house and first got possession we noticed a strong smell which we assumed was "eau de old carpet". As it turned out (long story, short) we had a wet and musty crawl space with disgusting insulation, which has all needed to come out. We've had a company come in and remove it all, and seal the space. This has been a long process with many steps to ensure no moisture comes back in. Then we've found a few small leaks under my bathroom which are hopefully going to be fixed this weekend. Thank goodness it has not turned into a mold-fest, but it feels like we have caught this situation just in time.

Next comes a reworking of the drains outside from the guttering around the house. French drains were installed several years ago, but the old landscaping with ancient mulch and old liner isn't functioning properly. This will all have to be redone when we do the frontyard shrubs and backyard flowerbeds.

We knew this first year would be a year of making repairs and improvements, but when you're in the middle of it, it becomes a little tedious. I'm not complaining, ...just sayin'. I can't really do bigger projects or get busy on anything much bigger than "playing" because I have to be available to answer questions and monitor the ins and outs.

This is the fun of renovating an older home. The not-so-much-fun projects that suck up money and never really show. But we know it will all be worthwhile once it's finished!