New Lighting for the Entry

One of the first things I noticed about our new house when it was on the market, was the lighting. How about you, do you look twice at the light fixtures?  Beautiful and functional lighting fixtures are like "house jewelry"; they add pizazz and set the mood for the spaces they're in. You can take a plain box of a room, and give it character and direction for decor with a chandelier, sconces, a pendant, and even table lamps. They can literally "light up" your rooms!

This was the Entry (below) when we first bought the house. The light fixtures, especially the one here in the Entry, were pretty much "Plain Jane". Nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't memorable. The Entry is our chance to make a statement, and this one really didn't have much to say.

I had packed up my chandelier from our previous Dining Room, and had found a small Frenchy chandy for the kitchen, but what I really needed for this house, was Entry Lighting. I had my heart set on a lantern, but it needed to be in a dark bronze finish to match the rest of the metal accents. So I started searching the Internet to see what was available. About that time, Lamps.Com contacted me about checking out their lighting. I was thrilled because they graciously sent me this wonderful lantern, the Larkin Three Light Pendant Lantern by Kichler that made my Entry go from blah to beautiful!

(I love the illumintation shadow on the ceiling!)

Just take a look at some of the wonderful Entry Pendants and Chandeliers that are available from Lamps.Com. On trend and beautiful... and they won't break your budget! This first one is my Entry Lantern, only in brushed nickel.

Here are more great Entry Pendants and Chandeliers from Lamps.Com that are available. These are some of my favorites and most are under $300.00.

As you can see, they have so many wonderful pieces;

 something for every decor style and budget.
Here's a direct link to the Kichler Lighting page.

If you've been thinking of updating your lighting, or just want something more functional or eye catching, check out Lamps.Com. Be sure and check out the new links for Furniture and Home Decor that Lamps.Com also has for you. I have a link on my sidebar to get you there.

Stay tuned for more on my new lantern when I decorate the Entry!

Joining in at these parties:

The Scoop at Worthing Court
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

( I was compensated for this blog post, but all the opinions are my own.)

Have you entered yet?
Then CLICK HERE

Vintage Pottery Bowl with Pumpkins

I wanted to share what will be my last vignette on the coffee table/trunk that's here in the Living Room. We've been here at the lease house since the middle of January, and if all goes to plan, we'll start moving some things over to the new house this weekend. We're waiting on carpet for the upstairs bedrooms that has been delayed. That's thrown us back about 3 weeks, but at the same time gave me more time to finish up the kitchen cabinets. Last weekend I touched up woodwork throughout the house, while Aly  (our younger daughter and right hand helper) was on floor cleaning duty. So, all in all we're done, other than waiting for the carpet.

So I have to tell you about this amazing find from last Spring. It's the bowl to what I assume was a "bowl and pitcher" set. I found it for just a few dollars because it has a pretty big crack running along the center half of it. But I'm promising to be extra careful with it.  I thought I had a photo of the mark, but I didn't and now it's too late to turn it over and shoot it.

It's Doulton Pomegranate Burslem. I did a little research and Burslem is the name of one of the towns in the Staffordshire Pottery region of England. I couldn't date it exactly because I couldn't find an accurate image of the exact markings.

It's similar to this one but says Doulton Pomegranate Burslem on the banner instead of what's pictured. It has the letter A and then 1717, which dates it to the 1880's or 1890's. I fell in love with the Autumnal colors and designs.

I had packed all my velvet pumpkins in my wicker trunk that we're using in the entry, so I just scooped them up with some bittersweet to fill this wonderful bowl for a fresh Fall look for the Living Room.

My paper mache squirrel is still in the Pottery Barn lantern.

...chewing on an acorn from a couple of years ago. I heard horror stories of nasty little creatures in the acorns, but thankfully I didn't have that problem.

 Here's a few photos from a couple of years ago of my little squirrel

with a vintage muffin tin and some tea light candles.

I've been bummed because I couldn't decorate much for Fall, which is my favorite time of the year. I've had to get my inspiration and Fall Fix from you all and Pinterest. So, thanks for being there for me! 

And Hey, if you haven't entered 

the Pillow Give Away 

with Elliott-Heath Designs

then CLICK HERE!

Dining Room, Kitchen, and Family Room furniture will be heading to the house; wow, I've missed those pieces! Hopefully from now on my posts will be coming from the new place. YAY!

Joining in on these great parties:

Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

xoxo,

It's a Pillow Thing...and you can win!

Fall is definitely here in the MidWest and there's no better way to add some warmth and coziness to your home, than with a few fun pillows in Autumnal colors and designs. Let's just say that I have a Thing for these great graphic pillows from Elliott-Heath Designs!

The super talented Heather of Elliott-Heath Designs has been a sponsor of Common Ground since I found her wonderful pillow creations several years ago. I've had several Pillow Give-Aways with Heather, the first of many, her Sunflower Pillow, has become iconic for Late Summer decor.

I have quite a few of Heather's wonderful pillow covers, and I've purchased several for gifts too. She has beautiful and unique designs for every Holiday, Season, and Occasion. Here's my latest, just waiting for the new house and the start of the Christmas Season.

Here are just a few more designs for the Christmas and Holiday Season.

... it's the perfect time to start thinking of snuggling by the fire this Fall.

Heather has so many fun designs for Halloween and Thanksgiving, 

you'll want to check them out, too!

This is a super easy Give Away with 3 chances to win:

1. Run by Elliott-Heath on Facebook and "Like" her page. Let me know in a comment if you have done this in the past, or if you're new to the page.
2. Head over to the Elliott-Heath Etsy Shop and Pin at least 3 Pillows for one of your boards, like Fall Decor or Christmas. Then come back and leave a comment saying you did.
3. Post on your own Facebook Page about the Give Away here at Common Ground, then let me know in a comment.

Hope you'll enter to win this beautiful pillow cover,

 it's perfect for Autumn into Winter.

Give Away ends a week from today, Monday, October 20.

xoxo,

Fall Front Porch at the New House

The landscaping is in (except for the new maple we're waiting for) and I had time to run by the pumpkin market for a few mums and pumpkins. It's not a huge display, but just enough to make it feel like "home". It's pretty sparse compared to year's past, but all my concrete urns are still hiding out in storage. I also still have to figure out what will fit on the small front porch. I will probably just paint one of my wooden benches the charcoal gray like the door and new shutters. I need some little something out here, but I don't want to clutter up the small space. We still have to repaint the outside lanterns, they have a pretty tired finish that needs spiffing up.

If you missed the before shots of the sad shutters and front door, you can see how the new Benjamin Moore paint, Iron Mountain, really enhances the brick and railing, and pulls it all together.

before

As our contractor so aptly put it. 

"The shutters and door are beyond "distressed, this is "neglect". 

New paint and newly built shutters...so much better.

I had a few Fallish silk florals that I stashed in my basket, then grabbed some wide bright orange ribbon. It helps dress up the porch a little, give some Fall color, and it also keeps someone from being able to see inside, when you're standing at the door. Sorry, I don't like people peeking inside....eck. (I just used one of the large "Command" hooks for this basket)

Hubbs carted over my concrete bench for the rocked area... What do you call this space between the walkway and the garage? This is a popular landscape feature around here. Anyway, I'm hoping to plant some lillies and a few perennials out there when I get time. The boxwood shrubs are baby size, but will grow fast. Now you can see the rock accent areas under the windows, instead of ugly dead shrubbery. yay!

Just imagine that there are lanterns, my concrete squirrels, and a few watering cans... but since we haven't moved in yet, I didn't want to have too much out here.

I found this big concrete container at Lowe's, I hope to use it for seasonal flowers, maybe adding some perennial ivy, next Spring. I'd like to add more to the porch and stairs, but probably will have to wait for Christmas. 

We're just so happy to have all this cleaned up and replanted.

 It was such a mess with dead plants and shrubs. 

OK, that's the extent of my Outdoor Fall Decor, 

not much, but better than nothing...

joining in on these parties:

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest at French Country Cottage
The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

Cabinet Painting....Done!

Hurray! the cabinets are "finished"! 

I'm just so excited on how the kitchen is turning out. We started last weekend and then I came over to the house and painted in the afternoons last week. Thank goodness, it's not a big kitchen! It's pretty compact, but after living in the lease house, I think I can get organized and make it work.

Remember, this is how it looked when we first got the keys.

There are still a few changes I'd like to make in here; the first being subway tile on the back splash. But we've been at this 6 weeks now, and the backsplash is just not a priority. We need to get moved in. The problem is that I'm not fond of the granite horizontal stripe, (I think it looks too "modern"), but I'm going to use my black tole trays again over here, (I've added a couple to my collection this week) so hopefully those will break it up a little bit.

I brought a few of them over to see how they work. By the time I get my other goodies on the counters, I'm hoping that stripe no longer jumps out and smacks me upside the head. There's still an option of painting the tile, so that might happen. I have to live with this for a bit before I'll know.

My new kitchen is starting to remind me of the old one,

 I just love a black and white kitchen!

Christmas 2013

Although technically, the cabinets aren't white, they are a light warm gray. (Benjamin Moore, Pale Oak) You might wonder why I didn't just use the same color as the wood work, and that would be because to me, that color just looks "dirty", and I wanted a crisper color for the cabinets.

Here's the kitchen eating area, just a few weeks ago...

Now it's painted and cleared out for my white kitchen china cabinet.We have the chandy raised up until the furniture gets here. How many times have I seen the movers knock around a light fixture?  (And we still have to get covers for the cable line).

We found the brushed satin nickel pulls at Lowe's. I thought about using bin pulls on the lower cabinet drawers, until I realized they weren't practical for bottom drawers. You'd have to get down underneath to pull them out, so I just went with the same pulls for everything.

The cabinets were a lot of work to paint, but I'm glad we had the time to do it. I'm so much happier with the kitchen now, it feels more like "my" kitchen. Hubbs had to agree; so much better than before. It just looks and feels "cleaner".

This week we're working on the deep clean, and I have to get the hardwood floors cleaned up. Paint splatters, workmen, and lot's of previous spills are making for some "on your hands and knees" time. The new carpet will be installed this week upstairs, then we're getting close to move-in. Hopefully, we'll start moving some of the furniture from storage in a week or two, then move our current furniture when that gets in.  

Hubbs was working in the garage with the doors up, when someone drove by and asked if we were going to put the house back on the market...  ahhhh, that would be a big, "NO". 

I have landscape and front porch photos, 

so I'll share those in a day or two.

Hope you're off to a wonderful Fall week!

Joining in on these parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

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