Farmhouse style sofa table

We are loving the fact that Farmhouse style is all the rage right now. The simple elegance of the classic blend of natural wood and painted wood goes is a perfect fit for our own home and what we like to create.

This sofa table was pretty outdated. We discovered that the top was removable. With a fresh coat of paint for the legs and some light distressing, we made it look fresh. The top was replaced with some reclaimed wood and was stained and lightly sealed.

We were so happy with the finished product and debated the age old question, "Should we keep or sell?"

In the end, we passed this piece along to a great couple who we met through The Market. We were so excited when they sent a picture of the table in their home.

New year, new finds

 One of my ambitions in the new year is to do some updating and editing around our home.  I am inspired by the idea to surround yourself with things that bring you joy.  My new questions when either purchasing something or deciding whether to keep to sell/donate/toss something are:

Does it bring you joy?

Is it useful?

Is it beautiful or delightfully odd?  (All lovers of vintage items have to have the "odd and unusual" disclaimer.)

My other ambition is that when we decide on something, we do it Examples:  Buy a new picture, hang it. Decide to let something go, sell/donate/toss it.

Maybe with some time, I can knock down the piles.  Send me good thoughts!

When we were in Asheville, we found so many really great items.  I was so excited to *finally* get our box of goods we had shipped home.  Yes, we had that much stuff!  We outgrew our suitcases pretty early in the trip and decided to just get a flat rate box and carefully wrap all of the breakables and take our chances.  Our two day delivery turned into about ten days and one item did break in transit.  In the end, it all worked out.

Some of my favorite finds included some new decor for the house.  And, it's early in the year and I am still on the "get things done" bandwagon.  I wanted to share three new pieces with you and I am proud to report, they are all on the wall.

The farm kid with the dairy cow caught my eye right away in the Antique Tobacco Barn.  The base is a burlap wrapped frame and I am guessing someone enlarged a black and white photo and decoupaged it to the top, roughing up the corners.  It was dusty and tucked above a door frame.  It caught my eye - love at first sight.  But, I decided to walk around and think about it.  In the end, it went home with me and I am so glad.

I knew it was a good buy because so many people have commented on it.  It hangs in our kitchen and I really, really love it.
 

 For years we have had this vintage frame hanging in the half-bath off of our bedroom.  It is the perfect color - a light cream - and has beautiful age.  A family member gave it to me and we have really treasured it.  I had ideas about adding a mirror or framing some family hankies, including the one my grandma gave me to carry for my wedding.  In the end, I just decided to hang it for what it was - a beautiful vintage family piece. 

While we were roaming around in the Antique Tobacco Barn, we found this set of angel wings. We had been on the hunt for some wings and had considered everything from giant wooden versions to tiny metal options.  We found something in the middle.  They are mid-sized and are a metal base with some texture.  I am not sure exactly how they created the layers and texture, but it makes them look really cool.

When our box finally arrived, I was so anxious to see if the wings and the frame made a good pairing and luckily, the wings fit!  I am happy with how this turned out.

We found this beautiful woodcut print at the arts center off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We had a great time walking around the usual exhibits of local artists and was surprised to see that they had a separate area for an expanded show.  We browsed through the booths and discovered Nancy Darrell's work.  We bought this framed print and two sets of note cards.  She called the bull "Ferdinand" and that name has stuck.  So, meet Ferdinand who has a prominent spot in our kitchen.

I feel like I get extra gold stars for making progress on my updating.  Now, for more editing!

Plant geek: holiday wreaths

 For the past three years, we have been able to sneak away for short vacations before the Christmas holiday.  It has been a blessing for many reason - primarily because we need the time away.  However, I have been surprised to learn that I can enjoy the holidays in a different way when we take the time to break up the regular routine and slow down just a bit.  When we return, we always jump right back into the madness of our schedules, but for a few days, we can just soak up some of the season.

On each of these trips, I found inspiration in the decor.  Asheville's wreaths just blew me away!

You might know that the Biltmore is a huge attraction for Asheville.  We went on the night tour and our tickets also provided access to the grounds for the following day.  We spent several hours walking the gardens and trails and hanging out in the conservatory.  The wreaths on the doors of the conservatory were out of this world - big and beautiful and full of natural elements.

 I am a big fan of the dried hydrangea.

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 Check out the use of the dried wasp nest for the top focal point.

 Here is an idea of how the wasp nest wreaths looked on the main entry to the conservatory.

 These wreaths were on the backside of the conservatory - closest to the gift shop.

 I like the "messiness" of this wreath - free form and lovely.

 We ventured up to the barns and stables and found this great barn and a wreath accent.  We loved the tin star in the center.

 The burlap bow with red accents was perfect for this wreath.

 We found this great wreath at the farmstead near the winery.

I really like the unique way of using the ribbon (burlap is hot, folks!) and the bells.  Super simple and cute.

I have a few more posts planned to geek out over the plants and holiday decor from our trip.  You have been warned!

New knife blocks and a game of pick up sticks

We outgrew our knife block some time ago and have been making our set up work as best we could.  On more than one night, we have been jolted awake by a knife or my kitchen scissors dropping onto the counter.  Once we figured out that no one was breaking into the house, we settled back into sleep.  And, I kept thinking that we had to replace that knife block.

I found a collection that I really loved in Viva Terra.  These bamboo boxes hold hundreds of small bamboo sticks.  The knife blades rest between the bamboo sticks and the blades are protected.  This option was a thousand times more stylish than our old set up and much more secure.   I loved the color options and settled on the large knife block in the bright red to hold our bread knives and other large knives.  The small block is in a dark gun metal grey and is perfect for our steak and paring knives.

These arrived in the middle of the week and I was not in the right frame of mind to unpack them on the first evening.  I let the box sit in our dining room and we walked around it time and again.  I decided to tackle the unpacking one morning.

I, of course, decided that I would keep my promise to unpack the box on the designated morning, even though I was running a little later than usual for work.  I thought, how long can this take?  I told myself to be very careful when unpacking the box which included each block in a separate box (clearly marked to show which way was up), cushioned by packing material and carefully wrapped in tissue paper.

This is how the sticks look when they are nestled appropriately in the blocks.  Nice and orderly.

This is how the sticks look when the new owner temporarily loses her mind and turns one of the blocks upside down while taking off the final layer of tissue paper on the last block she was unwrapping.  Then, the new owner gets to recruit her husband to help pick up hundreds of sticks before work at approximately 7 a.m. when she should already be driving to work.  Hmmm...this project should just take a minute.

 

Later that day, I was in a meeting and someone cited a great literary work that expresses that one might endure a disaster to avoid a larger Disaster later.  I was reminded that my mom always tells me that an unexpected delay may be the Universe's way of keeping us safe (protecting us from a Disaster ahead).  I tend to be ok with missed exits and needing to drive ahead to circle back, turning around when I have the nagging feeling that I left something on at the house or forgot to pack something for a trip, or to stop to pick up sticks before work.  I was extra thoughtful when I drove by a fellow commuter on a motorcycle that was having a one-on-one chat with our county sheriff that morning.  Perhaps, my mishap kept me from a speeding ticket?

I do really like my knife blocks.

Home solution: Our entry way

We feel really lucky.  We fell in love with a beautiful piece of furniture that would solve all of our problems related to coat storage.  The new problem - the price and the shipping costs were way more than we wanted to pay.  I did my usually waiting for a sale and finding coupons, but we were still not comfortable with the price.

We were still highly motivated to fix our coat problem.  Our previous "coat closet" was also the closet in one of our guest rooms in the back of the house.  The proximity of the closet to the front door caused us to just drop our coats on the backs of chairs around the house.

What to do?

We took a closer look at our catalog solution and discovered that it was metal square tubing and angle iron.  If we could find a good welder, we could replicate the design.  We did some asking around and found one of parents in my husband's school district.  He took a look at our pictures, took the dimensions we had in mind for the space, and talked to us about price.  He was going to charge about as much as the shipping cost of the catalog piece.  Sold!

My husband bought the wood for the bench and storage shelf.  Our neighbor helped him glue and plane them.  My husband put on the finish and spray painted the metal frame.

And, we have a completed project!

I added a leather storage box with a lid for all of our scarves, hats and gloves.  I am thinking of adding another for umbrellas.

We are super happy with how this turned out and look forward to paring down our coats since now we can see them all at once.

Depression-era cookbook

While in Chicago and shopping one of my favorite little stores, P.O.S.H. on State Street, I found another cookbook to add to my collection.  You might know that I was under a self-imposed ban on buying cookbooks and then I broke it twice right before the holidays.  Both cookbooks are great finds and will result in a lot of good recipes and fun times while cooking and baking from their pages.  In the end, I am glad that I broke my rule.

First let me rave about P.O.S.H.  It is a little boutique in a historic building with vintage wares and a European vibe.  The inventory includes vintage hotel glassware, old postcards and maps, new linens, great stationery, and a lot of cute gifts.  We stumbled on this store a year or so ago while walking to one of our favorite restaurants.  We try to stop by when we are in the city.

This cookbook is both about the recipes and the story of the Great Depression.  As you read through the book, you will find sections of food (and a whole section devoted to pickles!) and stories from people who lived through the Depression.  Some stories drive home exactly how tough it was for some families and others share a funny memory or details about life at home, school or church.

The recipes are easy to read and very straight forward.  The style of cooking reminds me of dishes my grandma considered staples in her kitchen.

I really enjoyed reading the cookbook during the flight home.  The stories made this time in our history come alive and the personal accounts were heart warming and heart wrenching at the same time.

Eco-chic

 I am surrounded by creative, talented friends.  A dear friend from college has a growing business in which she sells her glass creations.  She takes glassware that you might find in an antique store or thrift shop and transforms it into beautiful and functional works of art.

My Christmas gift from her was this elegant two tier stand.  It is small enough in size and the pattern on the plates subtle enough to be cute and classic all at once.

I can see several different uses - in the kitchen and dining rooms to display treats, in our bathroom to hold soaps and lotions, and in my studio for scrapbooking and craft supplies.

I am really excited to have some of her work in my home!

She displays her work at festivals and fairs during the warmer months. If you would like to see more of her creations, let me know.

The alpaca stockings were hung...

My husband has the best luck in Secret Santa exchanges.  Every year his school gives the staff the chance to participate.  Everyone who is in draws a name and gets a completed questionnaire with some of the favorites of the person.  Instead of the usual boring stuff, my husband comes away with some awesome gifts.  This year was no different.

His Secret Santa gave him a Christmas stocking that was hand knitted with alpaca yarn and features a felted alpaca.  His colleague is an awesome knitter.  She also made the super cute and cuddly bear that I blogged about over a year ago.

We love this stocking - super cute and very meaningful. Thanks, Ashley!

Finally getting organized...jewelry

A couple of weekends ago, I finally had a moment to catch my breath from the fall craziness.  We had more than a couple hour stretch at home and I was determined to finish a multi-part project.  The end game was to get my jewelry more organized.

I tend to wear a few pieces - usually those that I can see easily while I am getting ready.  My former storage was a couple of inadequate organizers on top of my dresser, a few small drawers built into my dresser, and lots and lots of piles on top of my dresser.  It really wasn't working very well.  (Someday I will remember to take a before picture.  Trust me, it wasn't pretty.)

I had this awesome Coca-cola crate in yellow and red that was from my husband's grandma and had been stored in our garage for years.  It looked like it could serve as a set of shelves and with a little work, it cleaned up really well. I put some old watch tins, a favorite vase from our trip to Oregon, some vintage milk glass containers with green lids from a pharmacy near my hometown, and a couple of other favorite knickknacks.  My goal was to get more surface area and to have beautiful things in this space, as it is the first thing I see when I wake up and the last things I see before I fall asleep.

I also had a really sweet set of owl hooks that were a gift from a friend.  These hooks are perfect for my longer necklaces.  I had been waiting for the perfect spot to use this gift and as usual, my desire for perfection stopped me from making any progress.  It all started to come together when I found the three owls in the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" poses - the owls were in the perfect colors.  Together, the owl hooks and the ceramic owls look right at home.

A note on the owls...the accidental collector strikes again.  Years ago, I attended a summer institute for women in higher education.  One of my dear friends and I latched onto the mascot of the host campus - the owl.  The architecture on the buildings had owls incorporated into the detail.  I loved to find a "surprise" owl during my walks and early morning jogs around the campus.  I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the found owls.  Since then, my friend and I exchange owl gifts as a remembrance of how we met and the owl is one of my good luck symbols.

Overall, I think a lot of women struggle with how to organize their jewelry.  The Pioneer Woman had several posts talking about her own search for jewelry organizers.  She blogged about this option and this option and this option.  There are a lot of different solutions available and it's hard to know what might work.  I was especially proud that I didn't buy anything new, except the owls.  Every part of the organizing effort used items we already had at our home and actually put two items that we really liked, but had in storage, into use.

The biggest difference maker in the process was that I cleaned out a bunch of stuff that I didn't wear any longer and moved some special pieces that I didn't wear for everyday to a different location.  It took some time, but I was really glad to sort through everything and think through what to keep, where to keep it, and how to best store it to keep it nice.  It was a good feeling to have a cleaner and nicer looking bedroom.

Now, I have about a dozen other organizational problems to solve - winter break is coming soon!

Fuchsia - who knew?

 Who knew I could fall in love with a plant that I have always known, but apparently never really considered?

Over the past week, I stopped at different garden centers to pick up a few plants each night after work.  This strategy was a new approach.  Usually, we go to town on a weekend and purchase a whole truck full of plants, drive home and then plant for hours on end.  Our old mode of operation usually meant we ended up with rash buying decisions, too many of one thing and not enough of another, and sunburns.

We thought that by buying a few plants each night, we might better plan for what we needed, save some money by buying just what we needed, and be a little more sane when it was all said and done.

The first night I stopped, I fell in love with these lovely plants with pink blossoms.  The few that had actually bloomed revealed this awesome purple center.  I thought this - when put with a spike for some height and some bright yellow zinnas for some contrast - would be beautiful in the large planters near our front door.

 The fuchsia will drape really nicely over the side of the pot.  And, I just can't get enough of these show stopping blooms.

I am still blown away that I have known about fuchsia for years, but never really paid attention.

Once everything begins to settle in and really take off, I think this might be a new favorite combination of plants.

Where Women Cook magazine

My mom and I share subscriptions to several magazines.  There are two magazines in particular that we are always excited to see in our mailboxes - Where Women Create and Where Women Cook.

The most recent issue of Where Women Cook was another great collection of profiles of female bloggers, authors, cooks, chefs, and even artists who cook!  They include at least one profile of a male cook in a feature called, "the men we crave."

I am a huge fan of the photography in these magazines.  The images inspire me.  Even if the article is about cooking, I am soaking up great ideas for entertaining and home decor.  Plus, these magazines just fit my style and interests so perfectly.

It is always a treat to settle in with an inspiring read with great images.

Loved these cute little cones of flowers.

Inspiration about canning and preserving food.

Lilacs in a mason jar - simple and beautiful.

I love this old truck and the chalkboard menu.