Restyling an Early Fall Premade Wreath

Hello to all my Fall lovin' Friends!!!

A few weeks ago my hubby took me to Hobby Lobby to look at Fall goodies. He was a trooper and trudged all over the store with me. I had it in my head to find a wreath for the front door during this early Fall season. I found a twiggy wreath and several floral items to use, but it was still going to cost a fortune. Even with 40% off, the total price of the individual pieces were starting to make me cringe. 

Around the house...

Hey you all...

hope you're having a good weekend!

I thought I'd just share some of the sunporch tweaking that's been going on this week. There's been a hint of Fall around here, as the weather has cooled off a little this week, and the "light" is changing. You know what I mean...the angle of the sun shifts just slightly and the light starts to change. Shadows and colors and even the blue in the sky takes on a subtle difference from Summer. 

This week has been a little slower and I've had time to think about a few things out here. One in particular is this basket hanging on an old screen door that I've had probably for about 10 years. It was a dark sage green and it really needed to be freshened up, so I gave it a coat of some taupe/gray "test" paint that I'd bought last year when painting the master bedroom.

then I did a wash in a darker gray craft paint mixture...

then highlighted it again in the taupe.

...an easy fix for something that was dusty and a little blah looking.

Some faux sunflowers brought it up to season.

I don't show this corner of the sunporch often 

as this little wicker tea cart has a habit of getting too cluttered.

hmmm... that might be why you're only seeing the top part...

(you might laugh at a funny story from my first few months of blogging.

and you'll also laugh at the photos.

 I think that was 3 cameras ago.Just click here)

But I have a cute little vintage metal shelf

 that holds a few of my English Cottages...

that I haven't shared for awhile.

sugar and creamer and salt and pepper.

a candle and another salt and pepper.

Here's an old celluloid thermometer and butterfly print

 that was a salesman sample for advertising...

is tucked into my wicker floral basket along with an ivy.

...and here are the last of the hydrangeas that

had already started to wilt on the shrub.

these purples are so pretty.

That bush started out white, 

then the tips started to change to pink

and now this deep magenta.

The blooms haven't been big this year,

 but the color has been spectacular.

You might have noticed that I've already changed out the quilts and pillows to more of an Autumn palette. I'll share more of the "Early Fall" sunporch changes this next week.

so tell me...what are you doing this weekend...?


Joining in on these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
A Stroll Thru Life
The Scoop at Cedarhill Ranch

xoxo,

Painting a tabletop and grainsacks...

Last Friday at 4 in the afternoon, I got the idea that I would paint my kitchen table top. I'm one of those people who always underestimates the amount of time and trouble a project will be. I think, "Let's see, that should only take a couple of hours, and I'm going to use chalk paint so it should be a piece of cake". I'm also the person who thinks she still looks 40, until I catch a passing glimpse of myself in the mirror... Actually, it wasn't a big deal, just took me longer than I thought since I wanted a more protected finish. And speaking of "finishes", I'd like a new one for that mirror reflection, please.

The table top was a light "Honey" stain manufacturer's finish that had seen lot's of wear and tear over these last eleven years and needed some help in the worst way. No kids or grandkids living here, just us two and the cats, but I DID have a run in with a bottle of scented oil that you use to refresh potpourri a few years ago, and after that the table wasn't the same. lesson learned the hard way.

You can't see all the places where the finish had actually worn off, scratches, dings, and not to mention I'm not a fan of "Honey" stained anything...least of all my table top. I bought this because of the pretty antique white paint finish and the fact that I fell in love with the chair backs.

I had reached my threshold of "blah" with it, and decided that paint was easier than stripping it and re-staining, even though a dark stain would have been beautiful. I used my palm sander for just a little extra help on getting rid of the inconsistencies of the finish.

Here's a pic from last Fall. Covering what I can of the table top has always been my way of dealing with the problem.

So I did 3 coats of ASCP in Old White and then 3 coats of Minwax Liquid Polyurethane, which I love, and is super fast and easy and gives great protection. I just "lightly" distressed it around the edges, it will have enough "distressing" on it's own.

The painted tabletop color is pretty close to the original finish on the rest of the table. Maybe just a hair lighter, but not noticeable. (The liquid poly adds a little depth of color) The chairs still have the stained finish, but I can live with that at the moment.

I'll continue to keep some sort of table runner on it just to ensure a little more protection. Things tend to float over here and land, like cell phones, mail, keys, etc. so I've told hubby, everything has to fit on the runner. Right now I have my antique heavy grainsack runner with the red stripe. This thing is durable and nubby and I love the look. I've ordered another one with a caramel stripe in the center, and it's on it's way from Austria. Christina from Grainsack on Etsy has beautiful antique grainsacks for great prices. You can take out the stitching like I did, and it becomes twice as long and works wonderfully as a tablerunner.

My tool caddy with vintage blue Ball Jars and faux hydrangeas

 is a staple here, year-round.

Wish I'd have done this sooner, because this looks so much better. Now, if the fur girls will just not attempt any crafting on the table top things will be good...

joining in on these great parties:

Inspiration Gallery at Yellow Bliss Road

WOW Us Wednesday at Savvy southern Style
It's a Party at DIY by Design
Homework at Worthing Court
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Blissful Whites at Timewashed
Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours
Tips and Tutorials at Stone Gable
House Party at No Minimalist Here
Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Redoux Interiors
French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home
Furniture Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Shabby Art Boutique
Blitzed on Pinterest at Debbiedoos
Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush
Funky Junk

hope you're having a great week,

xoxo,

Master Bedroom Paint Reveal

I can safely say that I am no longer embarrassed to share photos of my Master Bedroom. Not only am I not embarrassed, I'm really happy with the way it looks. The new taupe paint really hit the nail on the head. Just what I was hoping for, even though it took me several days of hard work to find it.

It's not too dark, not too light,

just right, as Goldilocks would say!

Now the gold paint doesn't overwhelm the room with color,

but the taupe lets the rest of the color and pattern balance out.

Nothing is overpowering now...

I even like the goldy-brassy accents. 

They highlight the room without clashing.

I changed up my llittle gallery areas, using some "new" old prints.

The pics aren't very good,

I should have been using my tripod.

It's still hard to take good photos in here.

Now my attempt to shake up the space with a sunburst mirror

does what I wanted it to do...look a little modern and stylish.

This area really is my favorite now with the old stacked suitcases

and the little French painted table with hat boxes.

I bought this table about 4 years ago from a good friend

that I shared a space with.

The painted scene has chipped and faded

but if you look closely it still has lots of frenchy charm.

I'll get better photos of this someday

 when I can move it to another place with better lighting.

There's a little balcony off the french door here.

I made the tapestry pillow last Fall and still have a lot of the fabric left. I need one more for my Dining Room church pew. I bought the vanity wicker bench from Pier 1 years ago and painted it out in Expresso. A faux mink throw is the seat cushion.

So just in case you didn't see the before photos here are a couple.

Ohmygosh, get your sunglasses on!

I'm thinking about some kind of valance for the blinds, but I want to make sure it's not so dated as what I had before, something more organic, like a heavy off white linen, maybe in a faux Roman Shade. I'm looking...

I think the best thing to come out of this, besides it's so much lighter and brighter is that I really do love my wood furniture now. Before it was all too dark and dreary in there. Now the furniture has some contrast to the walls not being overpowered by them.

(Paint is Stone Hearth at 125% by Benjamin Moore)

Actually the paint is just a bit darker than it reads in these photos.

I had to lighten them up in my photo editor.

I'll be linking up with these fun parties this week: 

Picture Perfect Room Reveal at Funky Junk

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll thru Life

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Primp Your Stuff at Primp

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Knick of Time Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Cowgirl Up at Cedar Hill Ranch

Share the Love Wednesday at Very Merry Vintage Style

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Thriftin' on a Thursday at Savvy City Farmer

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Simple and Sweet at Rooted in Thyme

Soooo glad this painting is done! 

Also remember the Monday Marketplace runs all week

so it's not too late to link up and feature 

your Etsy and Online Boutique items.

Hope you'll come by to shop too!

Just scroll down to the last post

xoxo,