Late Summer Reflections

I usually do a lot of complaining this time of year...I'm tired of the heat...I'm ready for Fall...my flowers are all dried up...I can go on and on. But this year I'm really missing the gradual change of season in my decorating, and I'm needing a little late Summer/early Fall inspiration. It's been a little hard for me to look back at all the photos from last year. It's not so much that I miss the house itself, but that I just miss being able to putter and play and decorate. As a friend said to me today, "It's hard being in a temporary nest". You can click on the individual photos for the "biggy" size.

Here are some highlights from Augusts past...

Yes, that's a pumpkin you see, don't tell anyone...

OK, I feel better...

just itching to get all my Fall Decor out.

gee, hope I can find it...

We just have two more weeks until we close on the house,

and I have some fun and exciting things to share once we do.

Joining in at 

Sundays at Home with Thoughts from Alice

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Junkin' Joe at The Cottage Market

The Scoop at Stone Gable

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Hope you have a great weekend.

xoxo,

Pick a Pair (pear) of Prints

Time for an update, can't believe I haven't posted in over a week...

We were in St. Louis last week for my followup cardiologist appointment, which went well. We had a great visit with the kiddos and had time for a little shopping one afternoon. They are in the middle of a major kitchen renovation to their 1906 home, which had last been redone in the 70's. It was really the perfect timing, since upon inspection, their electrical system was bordering on dangerous. They have a makeshift kitchen in the basement, so we stayed at a hotel to keep out of the way, and stress to a minimum.

There are a couple of side-by-side antique malls that we love to stop at if we have time that are about an hour south of St. Louis, in Cuba, Missouri. They always have a turnover of interesting things, as they are right off the highway and have quite a bit of traffic. Last month we stopped by, but I wasn't in the shopping mode. Hard to believe I could not be interested in shopping. A lot has happened this last month, one thing being that we bought the new house and now have a more solid plan for the future. Yay...

I saw these two vintage fruit prints last month and debated on buying them, but I have so many prints, that I just put them back. I loved the colors and the old frames, but Hubbs had been the one to pack away all the seemingly hundreds of my prints, so I spared myself the scrutiny and criticism of buying more...

But last week when we stopped back by, they were still there, and this time I didn't hesitate to make the purchase. They have some nicks and scratches on the wood, but nothing a little "Old English" didn't take care of. They are in my new color palette I'm going to be using at the new house. Grays, taupes, golds, browns, with a little chartreuse...maybe, if I can find the right color and not chicken out. A lot depends on finding the "right" rug, which will determine several color and fabric choices.

I have another set of vintage fruit botanicals that I may try to incorporate in a grouping. These will make wonderful companions, as the other ones include "pears" too. You can't see it, but the prints have some interesting foxing; no identifying marks, though.

I'm still gathering ideas on wall paint. The more I've looked, the more I think I'll go a lighter shade of gray/greige. Maybe this might be a little closer, Coastal Fog by Benjamin Moore. I don't want to get into anything that's too dark. Just a little contrast with the white woodwork and moldings. I'm going to be mixing some darker wood pieces with my chippy whites and soon-to-be-taupes at this new place. 

Gosh, can you tell I'm excited?...

now, to figure out what to do with the tv niche above the fireplace...yuk.

I'm not a tv above the fireplace kinda gal.

OK, just wanted to say Hi, and let you all know what I've been up to. 

more to come...

Joining in at these great parties:

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Junkin' Joe at The Cottage Market

xoxo,

Paint on the Brain

OK, I'm just going to come right out with it...I'm not a fan of the interior wall color in the new house. I'm just going to admit...up front...that I don't love those flesh colored walls. About 10 years ago that was one of the "it" wall colors, and I had it all over my other house. It took me 10 years to get it changed out and I don't want to go back. Please don't think I'm ungrateful...I'm super grateful for this wonderful house, but I'm still in love with all things "Greige".

(yes, I know the stairway downstairs looks like a big honkin' thing in the middle of the room. Well, it kinda is, but with furniture in the rooms, I know it will be balanced out.)

If you look closely you can see a pillow on the floor next to the front door. It's one of the pillows that came with my new linen-y Chesterfield Sofa, and honestly it looks "not so great" with this wall color. Hubbs and I had been making lists of all the things that we needed to take care of next month before we moved in and I was a little apprehensive to broach the subject. It's not like I can just say "Hey, let's paint the living room", since all the areas are open to each other. It's more like "Hey, let's paint the whole dang huge upstairs, we have nothing else to do or spend money on." I knew that if we didn't plan to do it now, it just wouldn't get done. He had a "moment", and then he said, "OK, what do you want to do?" I heaved a sigh of relief and ran for my Benjamin Moore paint color fan decks.

I just naturally head to Benjamin Moore for paint, as we've used it for most of our walls in our other houses. I've never had a problem with it, and they always have a huge selection of colors...down to the teensiest variations of Greige. I know what I'm up against since a couple of years ago when we painted the master bedroom and bath. At that point I wanted something darker and cozier. Now I want something lighter that's a combination of warm gray and beige. I gravitate toward "warmer" colors in decorating, and I find that a color that has elements of both can go a long way toward matching most anything.  

These are photos of my old master bedroom with Stone Hearth at 125%. They look pretty washed out. Sorry, these aren't professional, just my attempt to photograph a dark room.

I tried about 6 colors of paint on the wall behind the bed. Greige can be tricky because you can run into undertones...pink, blues, greens, browns, even purple. I had one paint picked out that looked wonderful during the daytime, but became purple at night...no thanks. I know you've probably read this on many blogs, but the way to be sure of the undertones is to be mindful of the darkest color on your paint swatch/card. That darkest color will be your base color and undertone. I just hadn't considered this easy method. Glad I know now, it will save a lot of time, money, and a bunch of frustration.

I know paint changes once it goes up on a wall, and there are so many reasons; size of the room, amount of light, other colors, such as rugs and furniture that may reflect off of it, time of day etc., but for now I'm looking at these colors and hoping one of them will work. Love how they're such a wonderful combination of both warm grays and tans. We have high ceilings and wide open spaces, so I think it can handle a slightly deeper hue of color. Plus I think this color will make the white woodwork and mouldings really stand out.

Revere Pewter: 

This is a good example of a Greige paired with "warm" furnishings.

and this photo shows it with lighter colored hardwoods.

Stone Hearth

(looks darker here)

I couldn't find room photos, but they are close, maybe just a little lighter.

Apparition

Shale

You can find all this info, sources, and more about Greige

 on my Pinterest Board Wall Colors.

source

Grays and Greige are the trend in wall colors now, but not one that I think will be going away soon. Any neutral that works well with all shades of woods and fabrics is definitely a mainstay in home decorating. I'm having fun making plans. Can't wait to get my hands on this place!

Joining in at these great parties:
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
WOW at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

P.S. I finally was able to see "Fixer Upper" on HGTV, gosh so addictive.
LOVE their style!
P.P.S. Benjamin Moore did not sponsor this post, just love their paint.

Ideas for a Cottage Look Lampshade

I'm giving you fair warning, I will probably be doing some random decor posts for awhile. My ""decor radar" is up for all kinds of new options and "finds". So I'll just be sharing with you what I'm thinking about and looking at for our new house that we'll be moving into sometime in September.

One of the things that's on my list is some new lighting for the Dining Room and Kitchen Dining Area. As I was looking through some websites for Pendant Lighting, I came across these fun drum shades just perfect for a Cottage /Bohemian look. I'm not thinking of my Kitchen or Dining Room, I sort of got off the path for a bit, but I love this look and I can see one of these patchwork drum shades in a creative space/office/craft room or girl's bedroom; really, any room that's shabby, cottage, or eclectic. Anyway, just wanted to share these, because I haven't looked at lighting for a long time and I thought they were pretty high up on the "adorable" scale.

I think the patchwork strips and the embroidered one above could be a fun DIY project. The one above makes me think of the vintage teatowels that we see at every flea market. And of course these below are made from old doilies, lace, and trim. love them...

I have several lampshade skeletons that this would work on.

Love the bright colored florals on this next one...

looks almost like a watercolor.

Using darker papers or fabrics gives this one a little more of a Living Room or Bedroom vibe.

Totally love this one with all the fabric 3D blooms.

and this last one just knocks my socks off!

You can find the sources for all these shades on my Pinterest Board

Lighten Up

Yes, these two will be going bye-bye in favor of something more "French".

More on these spaces later...

OK, that's what I'm up to today...

just looking at lighting and playing with some fun ideas...

Tomorrow we go for the inspection, and I have some measuring to do.

Maybe I can get some decent pics then.

On a blogging note, I finally have gotten my act together and fixed the No-Reply Blogger issue. I thought I took care of it a long time ago, but I hadn't figured it out so now I think it's fixed. Sorry, my brain has not been up to speed this last year.

Hope you're having a good week, I'm wearing out my computer and Pinterest, trying to put ideas together. Changing homes can cost and arm and a leg, and I'm going to try to be frugal (at least in some areas) I have lots of ideas for the Living Room and Kitchen that will need some tweaking.

I'm getting my creative/decorating mojo out of the mothballs...

it's going to be fun. 

Joining in on these parties:

Wow Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

Whoops...we bought a house!

I know that the "whoops" part sounds silly,

 but that's exactly how I feel.

Last weekend we cleared the rest of the stuff out of the garage of the old house, and even though we haven't closed yet, I felt like we turned a page...started a new chapter...like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. I've been waiting to start looking at houses, because we just didn't feel like it was the right time. The last thing I wanted to do was find a house and our other one not be sold. We've been busy and I've not felt 100% (shoot, I didn't even feel 50%) And we were "unsettled" in our hearts and minds about what we should do.

I started looking on the internet this week, and had a huge bucket of ice water thrown on me concerning house prices. We haven't looked at houses for 12 years and let's just say we had a rude awakening as to what's out there and the price you have to pay for it. yowsers. Our area has always been affordable, but this summer, houses are selling like proverbial hotcakes, and not having looked for over a decade, I was a little out of touch with the local housing market.

(I have no idea what that is on the mantle...?)

Matter of fact, it was down right depressing, of all the houses out there that needed tons of work in our price range. We could get a lot of space that came with lots of updates, or less space and newer with fewer updates, but then we have the issue of what we had left in our storage units...multiple storage units...as in many. We sold and gave away literally tons of stuff. But when we boil it all down, we just need to have a certain amount of space we feel comfortable in, and without it we both get whiny. He has his stuff, I have my stuff, and we don't like to trip over each other.

(This is the Dining Room and the stairway to the basement)

We spent an afternoon with our realtor making the rounds in the area we want to be in, (close to hubby's office) and were seeing house after house that just wasn't right. On a whim, we decided to go inside this one that we had seen as a drive by the night before. Hubby had grabbed a house info sheet and said he probably wasn't interested. The "distressed" shutters and front door effect just wasn't working for it. But the next day when we went inside we were more than pleasantly surprised.

The cabinets are pickled, but in need of a little more "pickle", so that's on my list of things to do. That's black granite on the countertops, which is really pretty, and a brand new stainless French Door fridge. So far I'm wondering where my white cabinets are and my dark hardwood floors I've been pinning on my Pinterest Boards... That glowy thing in the back is the microwave with a serious reflection from the windows. It has 11 ft. ceilings that make me feel like a munchkin, and a finished walkout basement. It really is a wonderful house.

OK, I have to tell you, light woods are not my first pick, but I wanted newer and white woodwork, and the funny thing was that when we walked in the front door my husband evidently heard angels singing and saw the clouds part. He was for sure that this was it. what...? He just doesn't get excited over houses...never...ever. I was ready to pace ourselves, keep looking, and stay current with new listings. But not Hubbs, he was fired up and ready to start negotiating. So negotiate he did and by the end of the day yesterday we signed up for another mortgage and the whole nine yards. go figure. 

We won't close until the end of next month, but I have to say I'm relieved that this house looking process was about as painless as it could be. We have a few repairs to do, some yard clean up, and painting the shutters and front door. I may need some ideas from you all on that.

God has blessed us for sure...

I took tons of photos today, but we were in a hurry and I didn't bring my tripod so they weren't the best. These are just a peek, so you can get a little idea of what it's like. I'm making steady progress with the new medication and have another appointment in a couple of weeks. So maybe by next month I'll be doing even better. I'm more than ready to be "settled". I'm super excited and my head is swimming with ideas. 

Gotta tell you, I'm looking forward to having some pumpkins on those steps, people. Hurry up Fall, 

linking up with:

Sundays at Home with Thoughts from Alice

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Wow Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,