Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Monogram

Last year I bought these wonderful wooden monogrammed letters for my sis and the girls for Christmas. They turned out so pretty; all scrolly and interesting. They loved them, but I didn't order one for myself because our initials are sort of boring... D-O-D (could be worse, it could be DUD). But after seeing so many people use these in different ways last year, I decided I'd have to go ahead.




I haven't been able to decorate or change things up after putting away the Christmas decor since everything is on it's way into a box. But I did have a sunny day because of all the blinding white stuff that's outside...that made for a great photo shoot day. I had to take a picture of something...



So I put together a little New Year vignette on the Hallway Sideboard. I don't know if I'll have room for this piece at the new "little house". My "vignette" days may be severely hampered.



But one thing I know for sure is all my sheep and lambies will be grazing around 
and that my scrolly chalkboard will be leaning against a wall somewhere.



We're supposed to get the keys on Friday. We've had so much crumby weather that we're hoping that the cleanup and painting has been done over there; if not we'll have to wait. But we're praying for better weather, so we're hoping it all goes as scheduled.

Just thought I'd throw in a few pics from last year this time...
























I've decided that I have way too much stuff stored in my office. I've had to go through and decide what is necessary and what is not. It's ridiculous. It's a good thing this move will be in stages, since I'm not making much headway. I told my husband that if I didn't finish this up soon that he had my permission to turn me in to Hoarders Anonymous. OK, back to work...

I'll be joining in on these fabulouso parties this week:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Inspiration Gallery at City Farmhouse
Blissful Whites at Timewashed
DIY By Design
House Party at No Minimalist Here
Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush
Fab Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo
Shabby Art Boutique

xoxo,

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Marketplace

Welcome to The Marketplace


I think most of us have been hit by this major cold and snowstorm. We've had about 6-8 inches which is nothing compared to a lot of you a little further north. So now that the Christmas decor is down and put away it's time to do some shopping! Yesterday between packing, I visited your links and was thrilled to see so many wonderful items listed and some sales. We're getting back to some great antiques and vintage items now that the Holidays are over. Here are a few that made me think of Spring, ahhhhh.....


Vintage Watering Can
Fresh Eggs Antiques





The Zoe Bird




The Gift Garden Shoppe






Gizmo and HooHa





Sew a Fine Seam


Thanks to all of you who come by to join in and do some browsing!


Party Guidelines:

This is a linky party that is for items that are FOR SALE only. You don't have to have a blog to link up. If you have a blog post about your items that's great too, but they need to be available to purchase. Please try to link to the individual item that you are selling if possible. Please be a follower of Common Ground and if you have a blog it would be so nice for you to grab the image below to share somewhere on your blog. (not mandatory, just nice). Remember the link is up all week, so please stop back by to check out new items being listed.





IF YOU LOVE SHABBY COTTAGE CHIC 
THEN YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.
SALE - Take $25% off, use coupon code "AWESOME" at checkout.
 $15.00 minimum purchase.





Time to link up,
and if you missed last week's Marketplace,
 then you can check it out HERE.



Sunday, January 5, 2014

New House Living Room Inspiration Board


Last night I needed a diversion from packing. Can I admit I'm already tired of it and I've only scratched the surface? I've spent most of this week in my office/studio trying to make some sense out of all the crap,  junk, supplies, treasures,  stuff that I have. I may not be at my all time "best" through this move. It's a good thing my husband is patient and longsuffering... 

So I hopped on Polyvore once he went to bed and thought I'd put together an inspiration board for the Living Room. Our "soon-to-be" house is small, folks, so nothing is going over there that isn't functional and doubles as storage. Let's just say that most of my furniture and fun stuff is destined for a very large storage unit.



The new little house has a lot of  "wood", in the form of cabinets, woodwork, trim, etc. not my favorite "white". So I'm having to go with a more masculine vibe. Maybe I can translate that into a little of my favorite, "English Country". I can't paint the walls or anything else, and frankly we'll probably only be there a year, so I'm not going to totally "decorate", but I have to feel like I have a "home". (we'll just be leasing until our house sells, then buy something permanent or build) So hubbs and I came up with a plan and we pooled our pocket change and bought a Chesterfield Sofa and Loveseat. Believe me, there is some great looking furniture out there that doesn't break the bank, and I was determined I'd find it.




So we purchased the sofa and loveseat and a couple of new lamps in a bronze tone with linen shades. I have to decide what I'm going to sell, but for now I'm justifying this purchase because all the downstairs furniture will likely be sold. (And it was our anniversary present to ourselves.) I was secretly wanting to do something different downstairs anyway, so please... be careful what you wish for.





These examples of furniture from Polyvore are just representative of what we're using. I have an old cedar chest that had a horrible finish that I painted a Country Gray, which I'm going to use as a coffee table. It's pretty rustic and not at all what you'd find in my current living room, but hey, I'm making the most of this and using or repurposing what I have. 





I have a beautiful black area rug that hopefully will work
 under the coffee table/trunk. If not I have my taupe-y one.




Then, I'm hoping to use some stacked suitcases and a few decorative tole trays and wooden boxes for end tables. I also have a really wonderful very old school desk from Atlanta that's like a tea table. It's been hidden downstairs the whole time we've lived here; I think that will work with a lamp for an end table.








Hubbs has a great leather recliner that we'll use 
and I have another chair that hopefully will fit.





I love me some leopard/cheetah print so I'm going to try to find some throw pillows, cause the pillows that came with the loveseat and sofa are not what I'm going for. 





Love that chair above, but like I said, just "representative" of what I'll be using, something that I already have. How many of you bought the "required" massive entertainment center when big screen tvs first came out? Oh yeah, we bought a doozy, but it's still pretty, and we have one large wall that needs to be filled, plus we need the storage, so we'll be using that puppy.








Every time I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and try to remember why we're doing this. Let's see...do I remember why? Oh yeah, we're downsizing so we'll be ready for retirement and whatever else that might bring. Actually, this house is adorable, and I'm super grateful that we found it. It will be perfect for us, I just need to get used to this downsizing business. 


you get the idea?


Hope you're having a great weekend, 


xoxo,



and 




Friday, January 3, 2014

Be Inspired #171 Link Up Your Top Posts of 2013

Hope 2014 is getting off to a good start at your house. We have a fresh blanket of snow which makes for such a pretty picture, but I'll be here packing my studio today. In case you've missed my last couple of posts, we have big changes coming with this New Year. We'll be downsizing and leasing a smaller house in order to do updates to this one before putting it on the market. We're planning to move within the next month or so. I'm hoping you'll be along for all the changes and craziness. I may need a hug and a "snap out of it" slap in the face occasionally. LOL!! 

I imagine a lot of you are getting back to "regular life" after the Holidays today, so if you have a few favorite posts or a Review Post hope you'll link up for a look back at 2013!





I wanted to share a few more Christmas posts that were linked last week;
if you haven't checked them out, you won't want to miss them.

Take a peek into a "Merry and Bright" Christmas




Snuggle up on the Christmas Front Porch
from Barbara of 21 Rosemary Lane.



Love the Cardinals at the Christmas Tablescape
from Ann from the Corner of Plaid and Paisley.



Elizabeth from Just Following Jesus in My Real Life



and more wonderful home made snow globes from Miss Kopy Kat


thanks so much gals!


Party Guidelines



  • Please have an individual link back to Common Ground within your post. I'd love to feature you. This is just part of the Party Etiquette.
  • Please remember to turn off word verification. I've tried leaving comments that didn't go through. I'm sure others have tried also.
  • Please no direct links to Etsy or Advertising.
  • Link up to three of your Favorite posts or your Year in Review.
  • Take a minute to visit a few of the other links.
  • Please be a follower of Common Ground.
  • Thank you to all of you who come over each week to link up to the party, I may not get to leave a comment, but I try to visit each of your posts. You are a never ending source of inspiration to me and others, so just know how much I appreciate each one of you!


    OK, let's get the party started!




    Today's Sponsor



    Wednesday, January 1, 2014

    Looking forward...

    If you happened to read my post "2013: The Year in Review", you know I had some news about what's coming early in the New Year. If you didn't catch it then, here goes...

    One thing I've learned in my Spiritual walk is not to spend too much time revisiting the past. God keeps us continually growing and moving. Maybe not always in the physical sense, but allowing Him to change and challenge us, is part of His plan for our life. He always has a plan that is for the "good"; sometimes it's hard to see exactly how that works, especially if we are hanging on too tightly to the past. So I'm looking forward, and not focusing on the past, except to take some wonderful memories, and times of blessing with me.




    My husband and I have known for at least two years that there would come a day when we would need to downsize and be in a more manageable home. We live in a wooded area and have a pool, both of which need to have a young family to take care of the maintenance. My husband is thinking about retirement and this is not the place to do that. 



    So after months of prayer and waiting we've taken the first step toward our goals and have leased a smaller house so that we can move in and get settled, then take the time to have some updates made to this house before we put it on the market. We need to lighten up and thin out our load of "stuff". I'm actually excited to be in a place where I don't have to yell at my husband to find him, and that I don't have to spend all day watering flowers and shrubs in the heat of the summer.


    (Aren't these plaid tea towels adorable?
     My mom made these for me for Christmas with her new Monogram machine.) 



    Now comes the part that I don't like even a little bit,
    and that's the sorting and purging and packing.



    (I mentioned earlier that I ordered 80 Paperwhite bulbs this year, so it's kind of a sea of Paperwhites around here. The ones below are planted in recycled candle jars. This is one of my problems...I hate to throw perfectly good "things" away, when there might be a way to reuse them later.)



    This year will be a year of change, and right now we are heading for the first move. Hopefully, after this house sells we'll be able to start thinking about buying another home or building one. As much as I love the character of an older home, my husband and I both know we want and need new construction. I grew up in a 1840's farmhouse and it was cold and hot and unpredictable at best. 




    We can't see the "big picture" here, except to know that God has called us out of this place and is asking us to be ready to move forward with whatever he asks us to do. Being "available" to God is what I've always been about. I don't want to miss out on the good plan for our future in any way. If it looks a little scary and overwhelming, then I'm trusting God to give us daily direction and wisdom. He sees the big picture so to speak, when I can only see what's right in front of me.



    I'm still planning on blogging, but it may change up just a little. I had to crop out boxes and packing materials just to get these photos today. I'll keep you updated on how things are going, and you may even see some of the day-to-day work going on around here. Can you stand wading through cabinets filled with vintage decor and sorting my stash of magazines? My posts may be shorter, but you'll be with me through it all. As I said in the Review post, I consider this more of a "lifestyle" blog than a decor blog. It may not be all pretty pictures, but it will be "real life"...and right now I need to stay connected with you all through this blog. Hope you'll stick with me while we take on this new year of change, and blessing. 

    sharing at:


    Wishing all of you a wonderful New Year.
    love y'all bunches,