Jan 10, 2013

It’s Personal…A Photo Gallery

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If you are fortunate enough to have done some extensive traveling to some fabulous places, it only seems natural to want to have a few photos around your space to show to your visitors. Recently, my daughter asked for my help in putting together a gallery wall in her hallway. Along with the photos are the word “love” in many languages, including Swedish (Karlek) and Dinosaur (rwrrrr)- so cute, and so personal to their space.

Kablek Gallery Wall

She had been collecting travel photos of she and her boyfriend for quite some time, chronicaling their global adventures. Recently, she had some of her fav black and white 4 x 6′s printed to hang. Rather than using a heavy frame, she went with the clear, frameless glass ones from Ikea. So being frameless, the photos appear almost collage-like, rather than individually framed pieces. The trick is getting them into order and then hanging symmetrically on the wall! Now it would have been a bit easier if we had this nifty Iphone Tapeulator app

gallery wall tapeulator

(download available free from Crate and Barrel!). Not wanting an entire wall of black and white, she added just a pop of color.

Memory Gallery Frenchie

In this case a super cute graphic of a french bulldog representing their beloved little guy, Bartlet (note the resemblance?!?)

by Marc Roulstone of Marcart.  We discovered him at the SOWA market last summer : ) The bright yellow helps to break up the otherwise blue, black and white wall. Gallery Wall

Imagine my delight when I opened the January 2013 Pottery Barn catalog and spotted this:

Create A Memory Wall

Create A Memory Wall

create a memory wall, under Style Resolutions No.15. Same idea, essentially the same color scheme (except for her Bartlet pics : ). I guess she was on the right track! Have a memorable Thursday everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Inspiration, Moments and Memories · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Nov 16, 2012

Rejuvenating Your Space

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It’s Friday again?!? This week’s High Five for Friday goes to a vintage lighting company called Rejuvenation. LOVE. I mean like heart palpatation love. Their motto? “History Is Our Designer”. This Portland, Oregon company creates hand-crafted vintage-inspired lighting. If you are redecorating and redesigning your older home or building a new “old” home, the pieces they offer are simply stunning and can be custom-designed just for your space!

Upon receiving their gorgeous glossy catalog in the mail, I immediately fell in love with this glamorous cover girl: Meteor.

Perfect for a mid-century modern space, inspired by out of this world styles of the 50′s and 60′s (anyone reading this remember Sputnik?).

Thumbing through page after page of styles and spaces, I could envision many of these fixtures in my country-style home. This McCoy pendant is simple and elegant.

And this “Hood” pendant can be customized with your choice of metals, globes and bulbs to give your space your own personal style.

Industrial chic is all the rage right now, and all of the items in this picture are offered,

including the salvage table and the wire chairs. This Bar Cart was fashioned from a salvaged metal aircraft mechanics tool chest- amazing!

So after looking through the catalog, I did a little online research and discovered that Rejuvenation was founded by Jim Kelly in 1977 with a few bucks and an idea to open a salvage restoration shop. In 2011, the company was sold to mega-company Williams Sonoma (you know, Pottery Barn, West Elm, etal). The plan is to keep the Rejuvenation brand intact, meaning that you will still be purchasing custom, hand-crafted lighting but have the benefit of the Williams Sonoma access and customer service. Brilliant! Literally.

Have an enlightened Friday everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Country Pretty, High Five for Fridays, Inspiration, My Little Red House · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Oct 19, 2012

Pumped Up for Pumpkin Season!

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This week’s High Five for Friday goes to Pumpkins!

Everywhere you turn, on doorsteps

in home decorating

or on magazine covers, pumpkins have taken over the landscape. And rightly so! A bright, deep, rich orange fruit, indiginous to North America, the pumpkin is an iconic symbol of autumn and particularly the Thanksgiving and Halloween holidays. If you would like to know the true story behind the story, check out this book by Cindy Ott- Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon. 

Once you learn the history, you can appreciate the bountiful beauty of this simple fruit. The rich orange color is perfect for painting a room.

or creating the perfect centerpiece for a holiday meal.

This stunning vintage vignette from Casa E Trend is so rich and colorful!

Try adding some flaming drama to your home decor…

or perhaps a few chevron stripes to brighten up your space!

The original pumpkin pies were created by the pilgrims and presumably served for the very first Thanksgiving.

They hollowed out pumpkins, fill them with cream, spices, eggs and honey and buried them in the ashes of their campfires, then cooked until the spicy custard was ready to eat. No need to worry about the perfect crust!

For pottage and puddings and custards and pies

Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies,

We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon,

If it were not for pumpkins we should be undoon.”

Pilgrim verse, circa 1633

Now, I could conceivably dig a hole in the back yard, build a campfire and bake up some yummy pumpkin pies, (that would certainly make for a fun-filled blog…hmmm) or I could just stick to what I normally do: make my pies with Pumpkin-in-a-can from Libbys! So, in keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition of sharing our bounty, here is one of my favorite all-time recipes for Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle.

It is easy and incredibly delicious!  

Have a sweet Friday, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Country Pretty · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Jul 13, 2012

Bathing Beauties

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For the past couple of years, Coach and I have been discussing the hot topic of replacing our “upstairs bath”. Living in an antique cape that did not come equipped with a “master bath” (heck, it didn’t even have a master bed), we have made do over the years with one tiny bath at the top of the stairs. The 9′ x 5′ bath that we inherited when we purchased our home had what I would refer to as an eclectic style-lol! Old dark grey bathtub, aqua porcelain tiles, beige toilet,  grey sink on stainless spindles, speckled linoleum floor tile. Seems like whatever the plumber had handy when something needed replacing, that’s what was installed.   Over the years, the D.I.M. (Do It Myself-because if I don’t, who the hell else will!?!) projects have included tearing out and replacing the aqua tiles with wainscotting, painting and wallpapering and painting again,  and replacing the linoleum with stick-down tiles. That one required a trip to the ER and a few stitches in my thumb. Time for a new bath, this time done right by the professionals!

There isn’t anything vintage or pretty about this room except for this floor grate and this faucet both of which I would like to keep.

I was fortunate to find these pretty glass tiles at a yard sale- $20 for 3 cases of 4 x 4′s!!

So I’ve got my start, time to find some inspiration. I’ve been searching for pictures, starting with Pinterest and Houzz, working my way over to Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn & Google Images, where I have seen the good, the bad and the very, very bad.

Seriously, a Christmas tree and two white shag rugs!?!? Santa’s boots would leave some pretty nasty footprints in that bath!

I have found that my eye is drawn to vintage style… And Bling.

And of course, I love color, but not this color!!  

Or this one…can  you imagine stumbling in there after a night of partying!?!? Talk about green around the gills!I have found a few baths that have my brain bubbling… this one is so country pretty~

This one is simply beautiful, but a bit too modern for my vintage home.Who wouldn’t want to have a long soak in this sun-filled space from Pottery Barn? Although this Stainless Lab Bath by Restoration Hardware is striking, I think it’s a bit too clinical for my space. I adore farmhouse vintage, but I worry that the rough, unvarnished surfaces may not clean well.

This is the one. The bath of my dreams. Colorful. Restful. Vintage look with marble and modern chrome finishes.But way too big for my space. Perhaps Coach would be open to taking down a wall…

Here’s hoping you make a splash today, no matter what you do!! Susan

Filed Under: My Little Red House · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Jun 1, 2012

Read ‘Em and Weed

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Nothing better than waking up early on Friday mornings-no work today (well, at least not at my paying job- I do, however, have a long to-do list!) But it’s just after 5am and I have a bit of time to hang out on the porch with my first cup of coffee, and a pile of this week’s catalogs that I haven’t had a chance to look at yet. Now, I love cyberspace as much as the next girl (after all, where would you read my blog?), but is there anything better than turning the pages of a glossy catalog, dreaming of far off lands or decorating for summer? This week’s stash is all about outdoor spaces:

Ballard Designs with their gracious new Southern Living Collection:

Pottery Barn- always classic designs- this one with All-American splashes of color

PetEdge (just in case I need a life jacket for the dog when we launch the kayaks, long story-hahahahahahaha!)

Crate and Barrel-simple, colorful, so fun and oh, a 10% coupon!

Penny Lane featuring the works of David Bromstad from HGTV (already ordered the Pink Frenchies for my daughter!)

Princess Cruises – Dreams Start Here is right!

So now it’s 5:45 (yup, that’s AM) the sun is up and the first cup of turbo-charged coffee is long gone. One thing about relaxing on the porch, it’s hard not to notice that the gardens are in dire need of weeding. Off I go in my PJ’s and sweatshirt, barefoot and gloveless, ruthlessly yanking weeds and overgrown perennials. Fast forward one hour, three mountains of weeds and cuttings, muddy feet and one happy frog later.

Lots to do, time to get ready for the rest of my day! If you are lucky enough to have a little time off to yourself, savor every moment, whether it’s reading by the pool or weeding the garden. Do what you love, make it count. Have a great Friday! Susan

Filed Under: Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: , , , , , ,
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