Under a blue moon

Waiting

 

Muffins are made.  Pillows are fluffed.  We are all set for our weekend guests.  My sisters Nicki and Kate and my niece Sara are coming up for a little quilting retreat.

I swear the only time the house ever gets cleaned is if we invite someone over. 

 

Of course it promises to be the hottest weekend yet.  Temps are supposed to get up to 106 today.  I think I might have to break down and turn on the A/C this afternoon.

I have gazpacho chilling in the fridge and watermelon in the freezer (for margaritas).  We'll do what we have to in order to keep cool.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll be working on this weekend but I do know that it will be from my list of unfinished projects on the left hand sidebar.  I have to whittle that list down.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Chair makeover

 

It would help to have a before shot but just imagine these chairs as 1980's oak.  That's how they started out. 

I bought them off of Craigslist - four chairs for $50.  I just wanted to find inexpensive chairs that I could paint white for our kitchen eating area.  I didn't care so much about the style of the chairs - just as long and they weren't hideous and they could be painted.

So when I saw these on Craiglist I knew they would fit the bill.   Okay they are a little bit faux Early American/80's style but I think the white paint helps.

 

I am happy to report that I am still the undisputed title holder of the world's worst painter.  But the chairs are pretty forgiving.  We'll just pretend I was going for that gloppy, chippy kind of look. 

Not bad for $12.50 a piece.

The jasmine whisperer

 

The trellis has been painted, the wall fountain rehung (and brought back to life with a new pump) and the jasmine has been rewoven into the new lattice.

Before the painters came Rick painstakingly cut the trellis away from the jasmine so the painters could paint behind the trellis.  We didn't want to just hack out the jasmine and start over again so he cut the trellis into little bits and he carefully disengaged the jasmine and piled it up in the flower bed.

About 15 years ago Rick made me two gated archways in our backyard of our old house.  One archway had a Sombruiel rose growing over it and the other one had a wisteria.  I remarked to him how it was amazing that the rose and wistera perfectly wove themselves through the lattice.  I could picture them growing during the night and sinuously weaving their way through the boards.  He just laughed at me and informed me *he* was weaving them through the lattice.  

He did the same thing with the jasmine when we first moved to this house and he just spent the morning redoing it on the new trellis.  The jasmine is a little droopy looking but a few days of sunshine and watering and it will perk right back up again.  It smells heavenly when you walk up to the front door.

Paint's dry!

 

The house is all freshly painted.   I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  The work went quickly, especially for me since I just watched three guys sweat in the 97 degree heat for three and half days, while I stayed out of their way.

So to refresh your memory the house color started out an orangy tan.   Here you can see the original color along with a swatch of the new color.  The new color is called "Tumbled Stone" by Kelly Moore.  The trim is "Swiss Coffee."  The old color is called "Ugly."

 

Here's a good before and after -

Exhibit A - Before:

 

Exhibit B - After:

 

Here is a picture of the front of the house - It's kind of a boring 70's ranch style.  When the roses and hydrangeas are blooming out front it looks prettier.  Rick trimmed everything back before the painters came so the plants along the house were out of the way as much as possible.

 

We have a little bit of work still to do by the front door.  We had to cut out a trellis that our jasmine was growing on and it's sitting in a heap at the moment.  We need to get a new trellis, painted it, mount it and then string the jasmine back up.  Then we'll put the wall fountain back up and we'll be back in business. 

Here's a closer look - you can't see where the jasmine and wall fountain go in this picture though - it is on the left hand wall in the entry way, opposite the window.  Oh I guess we need to put the urns back too.  They go in front of the two long windows on either side of the front door.  My black "Kitty Kitty" door.

Please, do come in.

 

I redid my entry way table.  I do realize that it is just another reiteration of my standard entry way tablescapes but the colors are pleasing.  And the Easter rabbit has been put away.  Finally.

This table has been in my life since I was ten years old.  My sister Trish and I shared a room and this table was where we were, conceivably, supposed to do our homework.  I think we used it mostly to pile clothes.

When she and I went our separate ways (into separate bedrooms) the table stayed with me and it's where I sat during my teen-aged years, applying makeup.

 

Now it's the very first thing you see when you walk into the house so I try to keep it looking welcoming.  You would think, since it's in the entry way, that's where we would plop our keys or mail or anything else we've carried in but we almost always come in through the garage so the table stays unsullied by day to day detritus.

Next on my agenda to address the living room mantle.  It just hasn't looked right to me since Christmas. 

And again....

 

That's better.  Kind of the same though, eh?  I guess it's best to stick with what is soothing and familiar sometimes.

Sara gave me the print last year on my birthday.  It's by an Etsy seller named fieryeyed and the shots are mostly done with vintage Polaroids and then printed on archival paper.  They have a dreamy, ethereal quality to them. 

Mantel redux

 

I've been playing with the mantel again.  I'm really looking for a fresher, less cluttered look.  I haven't quite hit upon it yet but I'm working on it.

I think these metal squares will go back into the eating area.  I think the overall effect is too square and boxy looking.

Plus when I was trimming the wicks on my new IKEA candles I noticed they have metal in the wicks.  Zinc and tin are reputedly not as harmful as lead wicks (which are no longer manufactured in the US but can be found in some imported candles) but I'm not sure what the metal is in these candles.  So I'm going to relegate these to outdoors.  Better safe than sorry.   

Back to the drawing board.

More hall decking

 

It's always a challenge to get a decent picture of the entryway.  The light stinks and unless I stand outside and take a picture through the door you can't quite get the effect. 

There is the infamous silver tree I was see marching down Main St. in Pleasanton with.  My own little Christmas parade. 

 

Please ignore the plant which appears to be in ill-health.  It's not, in fact it is taking over the entryway.  I just needs a bit of a haircut.

I think I need more of those silver tabletop decorations, don't you?  Maybe a couple of shorter ones.

 

This was kind of tricky and could have easily ended in disaster.  I just turned the cloche upside down and filled it with ornaments then put the cake stand on top and very s..l..o..w..l..y turned it over. 

Friday we'll get the big tree and set it up over the weekend.  I'll post pictures but it will look EXACTLY like the tree last year and the year before.  Some traditions you just don't mess with.

Deck the halls

 

I decided to mix things up a bit this year.  Well as much as I can mix things up since I pretty much decorate with silver and white.  This year the mantel is all creamy whites and the entryway is, well it's silver like it usually is but WAY more silver than usual.

You'll get silver pictures tomorrow.

 

I started off with a string of white lights that I just haphazardly placed on top of the mantel.  Then I covered it with a lacy table runner.  I took the two small glass lamps that Kelly gave me and bought $4 lampshades at Target.  I added some cluny lace to them and placed them on either end of the mantel.

Then anything I had that was creamy white was placed amongst the lights.  Those snowflakes don't want to stay up there.  I have double sided foam tape and sticks great to the wall but doesn't like the gritty surface of the snowflakes.  Every now and then one will plop down and I'll just hot glue it back to the double-sided tape.  That seems to work.

I like those lamps up there.  They may stay up after the new year.  I just have to figure out how to hide the cords better.

Last linen post

 

For a while anyway.  Seriously, Kelly is going to call me up and tell me to give everything back if I don't come up with a different topic now and then. 

Rick and I took all the assorted china out of this cabinet and then lined it was some old grey and white striped wallpaper I have been hanging on too (Laura Ashley circa 1991). 

 

I would love to paint that cabinet white but Rick's mother gave it to us and there is a matching piece floating around somewhere. 

I want to find some of that paper lace trim for the shelving.  Where does one buy that?  I covered the shelves with white paper (and you can see on the top shelf) so that the linens on the bottom of the pile don't get discolored.

 

I only put table linens and the hankies in here.  I figure since it is in the dining room that putting sheets or pillowcases wasn't really appropriate....

 

The hankies are so pretty I couldn't hide them away, now could I?

I promise the next post will be about Christmas decorating.  I am going to bring out the silver tree tomorrow.  I just need to figure out what to put on it, if anything.  It is about three feet tall and I do have some small, vintage glass ornaments I could use.  Or I could do all crystally things on it.  Or maybe nothing at all.  Just have it be naked.

One last linen shot: