New Furniture

I have been obsessing about a kitchen island for some time now. After reviewing several candidates I had pretty much decided on converting an existing piece for the cause. However, a trip to see my furniture guy Vince made me reconsider. Vince is the easiest guy ever to deal with, he will change anything to make sure you have exactly what you want. I told him what I wanted, and here it is:

Yay! It is the perfect size and looks good with my existing stuff. I'm storing my pots and pans below, and large collection of dish towels in the drawers.

He also made a pantry cabinet for me, below left. This is also a custom piece, a foot higher than the standard one he makes and with the top shelf tall enough for cereal boxes. My girls love their cereal. The piece on the right is also new (to me), I got it at an auction last week, and I LOVE it. I am considering painting it black, but it is really nice as is. What do you think? It is holding my collection of pink transferware and depression glass, but it needs a little bit of work before the display is working for me. Have you noticed my canister obsession?

The new pantry cabinet fits loads of stuff and is not as deep as the closet. Plus now I can use the closet for other stuff! I might have to get another one like this, though, because I like the idea of stocking up. (And it was less than $200). Vince makes one twice as wide, but tall and wide does not work in my stairwell, it can only be one or the other :(

Have a great weekend!

Raining again

I'm home sick today :( My daughter brought home a cold from college last week and lovingly passed it on to me. What a sweetie. I came down this morning to find I forgot to check the weather, and it's rained all over my chair cushions. Durn it.

Hope your day is less gloomy than mine!

Pretty Pots of Plants

It's so green here right now from all the rain we are having, and the flowering trees are just beautiful. It is a little cold this week but I had to get some plants for my little deck. Here are some herbs I potted up as well as a double impatiens which will be the permanent centerpiece on my tiny table.
I have a little plant stand that I want to spray black before I bring it out, and that will hold the herbs and some other plants I want to get. Of course, the stand WAS black several years ago but I painted it green. I'm fickle, aren't I?
I had to get a black eyed susan vine again this year, I loved it so much last year. I repotted it in a coco planter to match my other hanging baskets. The white plastic takes too much attention away from the plant. I like how these look unobtrusive, you don't really notice them.

***EDIT*** Here is the fully grown vine from last year, for those who were interested in it. Much of the time, this vine was just covered in yellow flowers, here it must have had some wind because there are not as many as usual on it. Can you see the white pot? ha-ha

My oldest friend Trish, who I knew since I was 5, came to see the house this weekend and she brought me this beautiful hibiscus. I might have to bring it in tonight, it's going down into the 40's.

Last week I visited my parents and the weeping cherry in their front yard was blooming. This does not do it any justice at all:
The flowers are just beautiful. By the time I visit again this weekend, they will be gone. I guess if they were always this pretty we would take them for granted.
Hope everyone is having a colorful springtime!

Curio, Cut Glass Perfume Bottle 3 or more and the Server

I am late for 3 or more Tuesday but posting anyway. I had painted this curio a few weeks back prior to my move, and I finally got to hang it up and put my things in it. It's on the wall in the bedroom between my bed and the window, and I'm planning to put a chair under it with a nice reading lamp. It's holding a few of my treasures. On top is a picture that hung in my room as a child, and a set of figurines that my brother won at a carnival game when we were teenagers.

I have several miniature tea sets that I had collected or given to me over the years, a little ceramic bear having tea that I got from my mom, and a collection of cut glass perfume bottles. I have quite a few perfume bottles that mom started me collecting, and these are some of the prettiest ones.

I love my new curtains reflecting in the glass from the curio.

Below is the server that I had painted last week, it has found a purpose not only for storage but as a breakfast bar, holding my cereal canisters, fiber bars, etc., where they can be picked up on the run out the door in the morning. Though I have a LOT of "stuff", this looks so bare to me without my pictures hung! I really need to take some time off work and paint so I can finish "moving in". But this is the week we are moving to a new office at work, so I am too busy with that to take time off. Hopefully soon!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a nice mid-week, everyone!

Met Monday - Server Before and After

Once again, I am participating in Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com.

I bought a few things from Craigslist recently to help with my kitchen storage issues. There was a large hutch, small server and a big mirror all for one price - $80. Daughter Manda and I made 3 trips to get it all home in my little Honda, Zippy, 2 of the trips with the hatch up and furniture hanging out. The server is a perfect fit for a little spot in the dining area, one more inch and it would be too big! My dad dropped by the other night, and he helped me carry it upstairs from the garage. I painted it this weekend and it turned out pretty well.

I'm going to let the paint rest for a day before I start piling stuff on top, but I couldn't wait to fill the inside and get 2 of the last 4 boxes out of my sunroom. Happy Monday everyone!

Before and during...

Here is the "before" and "during" of my dining room area. I piled my stuff in, but I have not painted or hung pictures. I'm not painting the main floor til last because it's going to be a lot of work, so do I hang my stuff up now, or wait?


I am planning to work on a little furniture project this weekend. Not sure it will be done for Met Monday, but I'll try. Have a great weekend!

I'm Back!

Wow, moving is sure a lot of hard work. I learned a very important lesson - don't throw your camera cord in some random box! I have been unable to find it all this time, I just located it this morning before work. I guess that is ok because I've been too busy unpacking to take many photos. So much has happened in the last 2 weeks! I bought a few new pieces of furniture:


I got this made for me, believe it or not, in just 3 days by a great little local furniture place. The center cabinet is a computer armoire with 3 slide outs and multiple shelves. I love being able to hide my computer mess! The bookshelves hold all my mish-mash of junk collected over many years, and this is now my home office corner of the living room.

The new photo in my header is my pie safe, now placed in the corner of the dining room. I'll be taking more photos soon, and catching up on all your blogs. Have a nice weekend!