Something I Loved...

Typically I'm not a let-me-share-this-quote-I-found kind of person. But on rare occasions, I find one that speaks to me. This one especially spoke to me in the Christmas season. 

You see, I tend to be a real neat freak. And the more I look at everyone's blogs with their catalog-worthy rooms and professional-looking crafts, I start to feel very inadequate. So I inevitably end up on a cleaning frenzy, trying to make my house look like a magazine (only to find anything I need is tucked away, which is quite inconvenient). 

I decorate and and agonize over the angle of each item until satisfied, take photos and then post them with pride. Not bad, right? Well, then I sit down and decide to catch up on some other people's blogs, mind you some of them are professional decorators, but while reading them, all I can think, is "Wow." And then I feel completely deflated because even after all that cleaning and hiding of things, my house still looks like a house. 

Ah-hah! This is where the quote comes into play. Not that I dismiss the amazing jobs all these women do, and if I could do it and make my house look like that, I totally would. However, this quote somewhat assuaged my feelings, and made me feel a bit better about being less than perfect.

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"Clutter is the poetry of our homes. It is an intimate view that is not always perfect--a few dishes in the sink, books piled next to the bed. Everything in its place may give a certain satisfaction, but a lived-in room exudes comfort and warmth."

-Mary Randolph Carter

author of A Perfectly Kept House Is the Sign of a Misspent Life

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Hallway/Stairway to...

It's wasn't to Heaven. Well, we'll just leave it at that. 

We're halfway done, though, and things are really looking quite heavenly now.

So here is where we are to date. Hopefully, Thanksgiving will give Husband and I time to varnish the hallway and strip the stairs. After that, we'll just need to sand, and then varnish, the stairs sometime soon. That's not near as daunting as the hallway.

New light fixtures for the hallway! Old ones were horrid.
New brushed-nickel trimmed ones.

 Where we started

I should tell you we haven't replaced the 1980s doors yet. They'll be white, but for now the hallway will seem a bit dark, and decidedly not cottagey. And the steps will have white backs, too, by the way, which with both whitenings, will help immensely.

Upper main stairs

Lower stairs

Hallway. Yes, they dripped paint all over and
then covered over with carpet. We ripped it
up and this was there.

More drippy paint in the hallway's corner.

See what our progress has been after the jump.

Where Have I Been?

Dear fellow friends,

I apologize for being away. I was a little behind because, as some of you may know, Husband and I were refinishing our hallway and stairs. However, that, as I've mentioned, turned out a liiiiiiiiittle bit bigger of a project, as sometimes projects do.

Yet, in the midst of all that, my step-grandmother passed away, and I just didn't have time to blog.

I just wanted you all to know where I've been, and not to think me a fickle blogger. I appreciate each one of you lovely friends & followers. I felt I needed to give you some sort of explanation, lest you think I abandoned you and petered out. Not so!

I promise to come back with fervor this week, and I'll be posting pictures of where we are now on the hall/stairs, and show you the craft closet I've fashioned, which I'm working away in getting ready for Christmas.

I've got lots of projects on my wanna-do list, so I'm really getting ready to have lots to show. I just can't wait to share everything with y'all, and finally catch up on reading all your blogs as well! I've missed reading them!!!

Thank you, and I hope y'all understand my reasons of being a little slow on blogging. :)

See you tomorrow!

xoxo

That's the Spirit! (of Christmas)

Ballard or PB I think. I lost the source. Forgive me. :)

 Hello everyone! I saw this entryway, and it led to some not very productive, but well-needed down time (cursed stairs...) ogling over Christmas items. This particular entry seemed ever-festive, but simple enough it wouldn't take a lot of money to recreate. Thus, I thought I'd share it. Especially if you're in a new home, or just want to start from scratch.

Like I said, I wandered. But my internet toodling has brought forth some lovely finds. Share in the bounty of my wanderings!

Steal:  Wisteria's mercury glass tree topper $19. 

(Other styles available or buy all four together)

 Splurge: Wisteria/Victorian Trading Co. Corinthian tree base.

(I know!!!! Isn't it drool-worthy?--$199)

If you figure out how to replicate, pleeeease share with us all!

 

"Oh, yeah, I could totally make that for less than wherever-it's-being-sold":

  

Glittery/frosted pinecones! Sno-Tex, Epsom salt, glitter...Oh, my!

Keep reading to see more!

Inspiring Interiors Tuesday

 I just had to throw a little Christmas in there for you! 

Enjoy! And apparently wintry wonderlands are on my mind, since I picked three predominantly white rooms!

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BTW: the stairs, they are-ah, comin' along...tuuuuuurttttlllle speeeeeeeddddd d d d.)

Pics of the up-til-now probably coming tomorrow. It's ugly now, I'll warn you, but it's going to soooo pretty once it's done! :D

xoxo

this week via prettyspace @ tumblr

Christmas Crafts (For Less of Course)

This is my first official post about Christmas. I realized, in order to make my house the wonderland I hope it to be, I'd better get a jump on some of these fabulous ideas I'm having. Mind you, many of them come from seeing great things on favorite sites, e.g., Pottery Barn, Ballards, Wisteria.

Now, sadly, the amazing camera I'd like to journal these Christmas-crafting projects with, is, alas, a Christmas present. So, I will do my utmost to take decent pictures and ask you be kind and bear with me until December 26th.

And now to the inspirations.

This is post one. I'm sure there will be two or three more. This hopefully will give you not only some great ideas yourself, but also save you some time scouring the sites.

I'm not going to tackle them all, though I imagine myself with limitless funds and time to accomplish them, winning the laud of hundreds...

Ahem. Back to reality...Alright, here we go. Ladies, prepare to get crafting!

burlap tree skirt

Okay, now aren't these the most wonderful Christmas items? I'm sure after seeing them, your mind is whirring with, "Oh, I could make that by..." Yay! Christmas ideas.

(Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering why I haven't been posting my own crafts, I've been refinishing my two sets of stairs and upstairs hallway with Husband. This two-day project, which I allotted four days for--because, well, you know how projects go--has actually morphed into a project of epic proportions of which there is seemingly no hope. Argh!!! I'll give you a sneak peak here soon, and then follow up with what actually happens once I figure it out myself!) :D Wish me luck!

xoxo

Inspiring Interiors Tuesday (night...)

I just had to share these great spaces with y'all. They're swoon-worthy to be sure.

Red in a kitchen, with white and a rustic touch, makes me really excited. It's one of my favorite combinations.

 

Isn't this just the most inventive way to show a clock? With more clocks! 

Via Pretty Space on Tumblr.com. She's the go to, along with Casa, where I frequently find great interiors. 

LED Candle Redo

Remember when I showed Party Puff's tutorial for making over LED candles? Well, I just HAD to make them myself.

I found the candles in a three-pack at my local Sam's Club for $15. They were 3x6", so a perfect size. I really wanted to have some of these made up before Christmas, because I like to have candles on my mantle with real boughs, but am always really nervous about flames and dry pine needles. LED candles seemed like a perfect solution. The only reason I hadn't used them before was that they looked so sterile.

Now that I'd found some reasonably priced candles, I broke out my heat gun and waxed paper and got to work!

So here are my candles and my heat gun...

Mwahahaha....

Here is what they looked like after I set me heat gun to them.

Isn't this soooo much better? I feel it's so very Charles Dickens.

(I know there are pumpkins in these shots, but I can already see my candles surrounded in evergreen and holly...carols and cocoa...Yep, I'm excited for Christmas.)

Tell me what you think, or if you've had similar luck doing a project with LED candles. I'd love to see them!

xoxo

Sorting Laundry

I was doing some laundry today, like many people do on the weekend, and was thinking about this poem. It's one of my absolute favorites. I even have it framed above my washer. Since I figured y'all might be doing laundry this weekend too, I decided share it.

Folding clothes,
I think of folding you
into my life.

Our king-sized sheets
like tablecloths
for the banquets of giants,

pillowcases, despite so many
washings, seems still
holding our dreams.

Towels patterned orange and green,
flowered pink and lavender,
gaudy, bought on sale,

reserved, we said, for the beach,
refusing, even after years,
to bleach into respectability.

So many shirts and skirts and pants
recycling week after week, head over heels
recapitulating themselves.

All those wrinkles
To be smoothed, or else
ignored; they're in style.

Myriad uncoupled socks
which went paired into the foam
like those creatures in the ark.

And what's shrunk
is tough to discard
even for Goodwill.

In pockets, surprises:
forgotten matches,
lost screws clinking the drain;

well-washed dollars, legal tender
for all debts public and private,
intact despite agitation;

and, gleaming in the maelstrom,
one bright dime,
broken necklace of good gold

you brought from Kuwait,
the strangely tailored shirt
left by a former lover…

If you were to leave me,
if I were to fold
only my own clothes,

the convexes and concaves
of my blouses, panties, stockings, bras
turned upon themselves,

a mountain of unsorted wash
could not fill
the empty side of the bed.

- Elisavietta Ritchie

See y'all tomorrow/Monday. I've been shopping and doing some crafty stuff today that I'm looking forward to showing you! Gearing up for Christmas!!! 

xoxo

Coveting

I know the good Lord says I shouldn't. But there are some things I really want. I see things and just think, Oh I wish I had that!

And now that Halloween is over, we're officially into the "holiday" spirit--as November is full of thanksgiving and Christmas is around the corner (so we'd better start preparing). Both months are full of warmth, home and family. I think that's why they're so wonderful. And, as I was thinking about what to get everyone for Christmas, I ran across so many beautiful things. I simply just had to share. :)

So here are the things I'm coveting right now. ;)

!!! A new-for-me DSLR. Maybe Rebel XT?

Clear lamps. I like these and pretty much all kinds, but limiting my pics, for there are far too many.

Wine/water jugs

Large glass containers/vases

Chandelier: teacups, pitcher and spoons. Napastyle.com

Chandeliers. Any and all!

Vintage seltzer bottles

Grain sacks

Burlap grain sacks

Vintage locker baskets

Egg-gathering basket

   

I hope you like some of the darling things I ran across on the web. If you want to know exactly where I found something, I'd be happy to send you a link, just hit me up in the comments section and I'll get it right to you. :)