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.

Early Summer Entry with Bovine Beauties

Despite the gray, rainy weather (and poor light) I wanted to share my late Spring/early Summer entry. Late May is the perfect time to decorate using lovely lush pastel Hydrangeas with a hint of summer that's on the way. 

Cows in the January Cupboard

How do you feel about January?

Are you excited about a clean slate and look forward 

to putting together some fun fresh decor 

or does it take a while to get out of the post Holiday season blahs?

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. 

I love the  excitement and cozy Christmas decor with lots of color and twinkle lights,

but I'm usually ready to put it all away and look forward to 

a more pared down and neutral look.

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.

Summer Door Decor in the Sitting Room

I've been "Summer-fying" the kitchen sitting area this weekend, and you all know that means changing up the quilt, pillows, and the florals that decorate the old door and mirror behind the wicker settee. I had this post named "Summer Swag in the Sitting Room", but it dawned on me some of you all might not be familiar with that term... a swag... meaning a gathered bunch of flower stems.  It's not a wreath and it's not in a basket. I guess it gets it's name from being similar to a swag curtain. Fabric that drapes down and is gathered together and sometimes tied with a ribbon. OK, whatever we call it, I have one here on the old door.

Kitchen China Cupboard for Fall

Before we moved to this house, my kitchen china cupboard, had always been just that... a china cupboard. It held china, and some colored crystal and a few antique floral teapots. It never changed, no matter what the Season or Holiday. I had lots of other places to "play" and decorate, so this one I left alone...

Snippets from the China Cabinet

I hope you're having a wonderful Fall Day.

The treetops are changing to various hues of red, orange, and yellows.

It's warm, but you can feel the Fall changes.

I've been adding Autumn to my Kitchen China Cabinet...

The mismatched plates, cups, saucers, and tureens each become a work of art

...when Bittersweet and Leaves nestle around them.

Both the bovine and the birds...

are celebrating the wild garden within the walls of glass.

xoxo,

Painting Antique Frames

What a joy it was to turn over those calender pages, to see what March will bring. February was cold and snowy and brutal for so many of us. March is my Birthday Month, and it always signals the start of Spring. I feel my optimism and mood lighten with that one little flip of a calender page.

A week or so ago, Hubbs and I hung up a few oil paintings that he's given me over the years. They are my favorites, but I was just guessing at where they should be. Wall space in this house is scarce, and I'm trying to be selective about what I'm putting up. So we ended up changing things around because the space really needed something bigger.

Kitchen China Cabinet with a New Look

You've heard the old saying "It's got to get worse before it gets better." That's exactly what happened here at the new house this weekend. We rented a U-Haul trailer and made several trips from the 3 storage units back to the house with all kinds of boxes...kitchen dishes, decor, china, crystal, pillows...etc. Hubbs brought some of his fun stuff, and it all ended up opened and stacked on every flat surface available. After 6 loads of china and crystal going through the dishwasher, we started putting it all away.

Of course it took longer because I decided that I wanted to put my transferware into the kitchen china cabinet instead of my French Faience. (You can see this cabinet at the old house decorated for Christmas).That meant having some kind of a plan. I'm still missing some of my Old British Castles in Brown, but when they show up I'll just rearrange a little. Decorating can slow you down, you know...

And this morning before taking pics,

 I knew I needed something on top of the cabinet

So I added a few pumpkins to the mix and some bittersweet.

This cupboard has glass doors that stay closed, but I opened them up so you could see inside without at bunch of glare. I'm having to figure out the best time of day for photos at this new house, because this room has south facing windows and the blinds cause a lot of issues for photographing.

This is a newer cabinet that we purchased when we moved into the other house 12 years ago. I went back and forth on this one or a hutch and top cupboard, but in the end I chose this one. It matches the kitchen table and chairs with a somewhat creamy distressed finish.

I really enjoyed putting this all together, it's just a mix of my brown and red random pieces. I'd had the Faience in it for a long time, so I wanted to change things up a little. In the Spring I may go back to the florals and pastel dishes, but for the Holidays I wanted to stick with predominately brown.

A few of my old friends are here too, like the cows and cottage ware teapots and sugar and creamers. I have more of these...somewhere. Oh, and good news...Hubbs found the Dining Room chair slips (YAY!!) and they are now waiting to be washed and ironed. We literally looked for that specific box for hours, and of course it was hiding at the very back behind my outdoor garden goodies. He had packed that last storage unit with all kinds of various random boxes, and he knew not to come back home without it.

If you noticed, a few pieces of wicker found a spot here in the kitchen dining area. It makes me feel a little better for not having a sunporch at this house. Now, if I can just not "over-decorate"...I don't know if that's possible.

I'll be a part of Sherry's (No Minimalist Here) Thanksgiving Vignette Blog Hop this week, starting Wednesday November 12 through Friday November 14. Please come visit us for some Thanksgiving fun and inspiration. 

I'll see you again on Thursday for my Thanksgiving Vignette

 with the rest of the gals.

I'm linking up here this week:

Dwellings

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Coastal Charm

A Stroll Through Life

Cozy Little House

Stone Gable

Have a great week!

xoxo,

Bovine Beauties

Last week in my post on the downstairs mantel I mentioned I had a fondness for vintage landscapes, especially with a few cows and sheep sprinkled in. I'm always on the lookout for a sweet vintage sheep or cow print, and a few weeks ago hubbs and I found this one in it's original frame on one of our trips home from St. Louis.

I have it in the Living Room, but the glare from the windows is so bad I couldn't do a straight-on shot. I'm generally a little wonky anyway, and this just proves it. 

The antique clock is a family piece that my mom and dad had

 in their Dining Room  for as long as I can remember.

Here's another old print in the Living Room that I painted the frame. It had been dark and not attractive, so it got a shabby paint treatment. My husband gulped hard at my painting it, but didn't voice his opinion. He's learned...when it's gotta be painted...it's "gotta be painted!"

This old print, also in it's original feather painted frame,

is in the Master Bath above the tub.

(sorry...no bathroom "reveal" at the moment)

And here is the little milk maid, "Amalie", that my husband gave to me for Valentine's Day last year. She's in the kitchen. Also tricky for a photo without glare.

 I had to move her to another spot for a good look.

She's so sweet.

 These old prints make me think of the French Countryside. Today I just shared a few of my cows...now the sheep are another whole blog post.

joining in for these weekly parties:

 Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
A Stroll Thru Life
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Knick of Time
The Scoop at CedarHill Ranch
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend,