Drum Roll, Please

I shared in a previous blog the two chairs

we bought for a song.  With the second chair completely

refinished and reupholstered,

I was determined to find a home for them today

as I cleaned and rearranged the house.

I had it all planned out in my head,

but ya know, plans change. 

Here's the living room before the new chairs.

My windows are clean and bare

awaiting the arrival of new plantation shutters.

I can hardly wait!

This chair has a new home today -

it has moved upstairs to the bedroom.

A comfy, cozy place to sneak away

and read a book in a quiet corner of my room.

This chair moved from this corner to

this corner - to be closer to its mate.

Then the "NEW" chairs came in.

And, for now, I'm happy with them here.



I think the new chairs sitting here

"link" the living room to the

dining room -

I found these birds on canvas at a local shop.

See the crazy indents in the carpet

from where the other chair sat.

I'll get the iron and steam these out.

This is a note card and a frame I had on-hand
so I decided to put the two together.

I'm thinking I like this since I

have this "bird" theme going on (today).



And this little birdie.

I found this feathered-friend

 is a box of "stuff"  treasurers

I bought for $2

from an estate sale. 

It's an oil painting.

And, it's just too cute!!!

The easel was in the box, too.

A great find!

This cardinal figurine was a gift from my

husband many, many Christmases ago.

It's before we had the big chain stores.

I have always cherished these birds.

Thanks for stopping by, blogging friends.

I'm linking to:http:// http://www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/



/2011/01/tarnished-silver-feathered-nest-friday.html





http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

My Foyer Chest

A couple of years ago I went on a "hunt"

for a new piece of furniture for the foyer.

I always check out the local

antique shops first and usually have good luck there.

But after our search, we came home empty handed.

We finally found this new piece and

I am pleased with it. 

Although it doesn't have the character or an old piece.

I found this parrot lamp at Kirklands

on sale and knew right away he

needed to fly to my house.

He's just a character and keeps

watch at the front door

to welcome our friends

when they come to visit.

Hubby spotted this pretty plate on an expedition I took him on. 
I was proud of his "good eye" that day.

I admire orchids but have

never brought one home - except for this silk one.

I found these in a local shop
and added them to this
metal container with reindeer moss.

I wanted to show the pretty detail

of the legs of the chest.

(And, yep, I used the flash - had to.)

I'm linking to

Painted is Better

Just wanted to show you the new paint.

I was inspired by Kim at Savvy Southern Style

and painted the back of the cabinet in the kitchen.

Honestly, I didn't do anything - hubby did. 

Our cabinets are custom-built oak and I really

didn't want to paint the actual back wall of the cabinet.

I have a tendency to change my mind and who knows

what I will want down the road - I knew it wouldn't be

an easy fix, if I wanted to have the "wood look" again.

So, we took a trip to Lowe's on a search

for something thin to paint

and to fit behind the shelves. 

And, we found it. 

After measuring,

cutting and painting -

it's in and I'm lovin' the color,

especially with

my new dishes.

(This cabinet used to have solid doors

until sweetie removed the oak and

installed the glass doors. 

Made such a difference!)

I know y'all told me and my DIL said

"NEVER, EVER",

but I just couldn't get a good

picture without using the FLASH. 

So, y'all are just gonna have to forgive me

because I wanted you to see the

pretty kiwi green.

See how my new dishes

POP

with the backdrop of green!

The framed pic in the back

of this cabinet is actually

a box top from a box

of lemon cookies my daughter

brought me from

Italy.

Yea, my daughter went to Italy and I stayed

home and got a box of cookies.

But, I love the box!!!!

Cookies weren't bad either!!!

And, this is where I BLOG,

so I can enjoy my

"new" cabinet while I visit with y'all.

This shows a good pic

of the tile backsplash

hubby put up after

we replaced our

laminate countertops

with granite a couple

of years ago.

He's so handy to have around!

More sunny lemons and daffodils -

reminds me of spring. 

The weather sure doesn't say

spring today. 

We have snow and 11 degree temp

 in Kentucky today.

Been cleaning our closets and found

these tea towels my Mom embroidered several

years ago. 

I've been saving them.

For WHAT?

Now, I am enjoying them in my kitchen.

Aren't they the cutest?

This little rooster is watering his flowers.

And Mr.  & Mrs. are

on their way to church. 

Look at her little purse.

This little glass vase was a yard sale

find some months ago.

I love the unusual shape and the

little spreaders (had these) peeking out

match all my "new" stuff.

Thank you all so much for stopping by.

I am so enjoying blogging and all of your

sweet comments.

I'm a long way from being an expert blogger and

often times can't figure out how to respond to your comments - just know I appreciate each one.

But, I visit your blog frequently

and enjoy seeing what you are up to.

Have a great week-end!

From :"Not So Pretty" to "Really Pretty"

What is that mess on the floor?

Well, you might remember these bargain chairs

(two of them) we bought for $11 each.

This is a pic before it was completely

ripped apart to begin the transformation.

He has recovered simple chairs before

but this was a bit more difficult.

We are a Do-It-Yourself" couple.

Saves $$$ and we must admit -

we just like a project.

But, as we tore each part of the upholstery

off the wooden frame, we made a picture

so we could remember how to put it back together.

Pink and Green

I still like this color combination - but

for a little girl's room - and not on these chairs.

Excuse me, I forgot to rotate this one,

but you can see the back of the chair in its

pinky state.

Although the wood wasn't too bad, it did

have several scratches and areas

where the finish was worn.

At one time in this chair's life,

it had been covered with burgandy.

(Had that at color in my house once, too.)

Details of the pretty leg after

hubby got hold of it with the sander.

It took lots of sanding. 

His paint stripper doesn't work when it's cold. 

And, cold it is and getting colder.

B-r-r-r

A trip in search of just the right fabric

and I found these options. 

I really like the wide stripe fabric with

the print,

but the small stripe was heavier and

doesn't wrinkle.

Sweet friends helped me decide.

Yeah for friends and advice!!!

Our "upholstery shop" sewing room.

What a mess!

My sweet husband did all the refinishing,

fitting, stapling and gluing to get

to this state.

I did the cutting out -

using the old pieces as patterns,

which we marked as we took them off the chair.

And, I made the cushion -

which was a bit more challenging than I anticipated.

I wanted the contrast and fell in love

 with this chenille-feeling floral to go with the stripe.

Here she is all spiffy and sittin' pretty.

(My sweet daughter told me to redo the chairs in a

natural linen.  I looked and couldn't find the right neutral, and you know what - that just

seemed boring to me.)  She's got a wonderful eye for decorating and I might be sorry I didn't follow her advise.  (Sorry sweet daughter.) 

Her reasoning was that I

could use these chairs anywhere in my house.

TRUE, but

I have reds and golds throughout and I

don't see myself changing my color theme

anytime soon - unless we win the lottery or

the Reader's Digest guy shows up at my door

with a big check for me.  And, if that happens,

I will just be like some of you fellow bloggers

and give these chairs away.

Now, I've cleaned the "upholstery shop"

sewing room and we've (he has)

stripped the other chair - it sits

naked in the garage waiting for

the sanding,

staining

and finishing coats.

Then, they will both have a new home in

my home somewhere - now, I've just gotta

decide exactly where that is going to be.

I'm linking to A La Carte:  Junkin Finds

http://ljm-alacarte.blogspot.com/2011/01/junkin-finds-friday-12.html

Southern in My Heart Inspiration Friday

http://southerninmyheart.blogspot.com/

My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2011/01/show-and-tell-friday_20.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20MyRomanticHome%20(My%20Romantic%20Home)