Mid-Summer Roost in the Cupboard

The end of July signals a change in the atmosphere for me. I'm one of those people that while I enjoy summer, I don't enjoy the heat and I have always looked forward to the slow slide to early fall. Don't get me wrong, summer has beautiful memories and moments, but the promise of more moderate temps of autumn pull me along. 

French Country Dining Room for Fall

Hello Friends, welcome to the Fall Dining Room, where shortly it will make the transition to Thanksgiving. The mini French wagon is joining my Pottery Barn urn this season for a late fall look, that can easily transition to the Thanksgiving holiday with just a few minor change ups.

Farm Animals in French Country Decor

Somewhere deep in my DNA I have the Farmer/Shepherd gene that has been dormant for many years. When I was growing up my dad always kept a few beef cattle at the farmhouse, but we weren't allowed to name them or pet them because well, you know why...  So, next best thing is to just collect cows and sheep to decorate with in my vintage Cottage, Farmhouse, and French Country decor.

Summer French Country Wagon In the Dining Room

It's mid summer and I was ready for a dining room refresh from my Spring look, which meant adding in some sunflowers, late summer pears, and changing up my floral table runner from a spring-y brown floral to a summery one with reds, golds, and taupe. 

Elegant Gold Gilt Pears

A few years ago I found myself getting into a bit of a rut in my Dining Room with Christmas decor. If I find pieces that I like, it's easy for me to rely on the same look from one year to the next. I have a lot of vintage "kitch-y" fun stuff that I use in the Garden Room, but in the Dining Room I like to do something a little more French Country. Tartan plaid can still be found in here, but I've wanted to try some new/different ideas with a more elegant country vibe.

The After-Easter French Country Mantel

Hi Friends, I hope you had a wonderful Easter. 

Were you able to be with family and friends?

We were on our own still, 

but we did have a lovely day.

Vintage Etagere in the Garden Room

I've been feeling the need to putter a bit, so I turned my attention to the vintage plant stand in the Garden Room. I bought this metal etagere when we first got married, so it definitely qualifies as "vintage". (better described as a piece of vintage "junk".) It's had many lives, the last one being outside on the covered back porch here at the new house.

Happy Mother's Day and a Blog Note.

Hi Friends, I'm hoping you're having a lovely Mother's Day, even though it might not look like usual. It's a beautiful sunshine-y day around here so that helps brighten the mood. I told my girls we would just put off celebrating till we could hopefully all be together sometime this summer. I think we're all feeling a little isolated. I just cannot take any chances even though our town is opening back up this week. It may be awhile till I get back out there to public places. I also plan on wearing a mask.

Early March Mantel

I have a confession... 

I struggle with mantels. 

Do I use more, or less?

French Farmhouse Table in the Dining Room

My last post I was telling you all about my after Christmas need for a more neutral palette. I always love a lot of color at the Holidays and I sort of overdid it this year here at the new place. I'm kinda over red/green for now. I'll be ready for some red again next month for Valentine's Day, but for now, my eyeballs need a break.

French Country Elements in the Dining Room

My focus on getting back in the decor groove after the Holidays has been on my Dining Room table. At the beginning of the New Year I tend to want to go with more neutral elements since I'm usually oversaturated with color from Christmas. I've been gathering inspiration for a French Country Farmhouse feel that I could use in my Dining Room without going shopping.

Welcome to my Cottage / Farmhouse Kitchen!

You might have noticed that my kitchen has been absent from the blog. My only excuse is that I wanted to wait until I had things a little more put together. It took me a while to find a rug that I liked, and to get up a few prints. But as I was taking some pics of the Patriotic Hearth Room, I realized there would never be a "perfect" time. It's not a showhouse, or really even styled; it's my working kitchen. I'm not a fan of "the Reveal" because that's too much pressure to be fabulous.

New House Journal: Dining Room Chandy

We're making progress through the process of buying this house. This last week we've negotiated the inspection results; nothing major or deal breaking, just little things that need to be taken care of. This is an older home, built in the 60's, and even though it's been partially renovated there are still lots of updates we need to finish. Looks like it needs a small amount of roof repair, some tree limbs hanging on electrical lines... the things I never wanted to worry about again. We realized a while back that to get the usable space on one level we need, we have to go with an older home. We've researched the new custom home route and that's not something we want to go through now. We don't want to be further out of town, and that's what we'd be getting with a subdivision of new builds. I talked some about our decision making process in my last post. I'm excited about all that's ahead with this big project, but I still feel I need to explain our decision. Maybe I'm still trying to convince myself, haha. I know that sometimes our big life choices are not so easy to make. But then again, that IS life isn't it? Stepping out in Faith to do what we feel God is directing us to do.

French Country Styling on the Baker's Rack

As we head towards August the color scheme sees some subtle changes around here. I like to bring in the deeper colors of golds and greens; more neutral tones. Sort of "harvest-y" colors. In the Spring and Summer the kitchen sitting area is all about bright fresh color and a garden feel; now I'm ready for something different.

French Wagon Vignette

Earlier in the Spring you might remember that I decided to paint my little black Frenchy wagon a light gray. Since then it's become my favorite tabletop decor piece for the Dining Room. I had put off painting it for years, even though I knew I would like it much better. Now it sort of "disappears" on the tabletop, which helps it blend in with all the other elements I love to use.

The Irish Cupboard

It's time to do a little celebrating the Irish way,

so I thought I'd try something a little different this year,

and share some decor inspiration with an iconic kitchen staple

...the Irish Cupboard.

A Winter Dining Room in Neutrals

Since packing up the Christmas decor I've been bringing out my light and neutral decor pieces. In the Dining Room that meant changing out the table runner and doing something a little different on the table. 

French Cottage

Hi Friends, I wanted to share a new publication by Hoffman Media that I think many of you will really enjoy, but may not have heard about. It's from the company that puts out two of my favorites, Victoria Magazine and The Cottage Journal. Last Spring they released a Special Issue called French Cottage. It was in magazine form, but could have been a hardcover "coffee table" edition. This year Hoffman came out with a second edition, this time in the hard cover.

Ideas on Styling a Cabinet or Cupboard Top

I started a little "project"on top of my Dining Room China Cabinet right after we moved into this house last November. We have really high ceilings here, and I love them, but sometimes the furniture looks lost. Believe me, these pieces are huge (this one is about 7 1/2 feet tall) but there is still a big distance between the ceiling and the top of this cabinet. So now 3/4 of a year later, I finally have some kind of decor up there to help fill in this space.

Summer Mantel with Sunflowers

This time of year I'm captivated by Sunflowers.

They are the symbol for late Summer, relaxation, casual dinners al Fresco, 

and all things French Country...

and I love to have them taking the stage on the mantel.