It's All About the Shades

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone is finding a way to stay cool and comfortable during this heat wave that almost half the country is experiencing.  I've been doing a little bit of shopping amongst other things.  One of the things that I've been wanting to do is change up the lamp shades in my dining room.  Now, I hear your shrieks and gasps, but since I've been painting furniture grey and white and painting my walls white, I wanted lighter color lampshades in there instead of the dark brown.  So, here is what I came up with.

I like this color better because it fits in better with the overall room.  Remember my brown lampshades were chosen before the sideboard got painted.  Now, these script patterned lampshades look right at home.

Did you notice that I changed what's in the center of my sideboard (again) too?  Well, I'll show you where that went soon.  I made a change in another room that I'm really loving!  It involves the tureen that was featured in a recent post.

 

So, to go along with this inferno of heat that we've been experiencing outside, I'm lightening (even further) my home on the inside.  Ha!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly~

My New Blue Basket

Hello everyone!

Remember when I won a giveaway for a shopping spree at Antique Farmhouse?  Well, I spent the last of it on this adorable blue wire basket.

At first, I was going to put magazines in it, but then realized that the basket wasn't large enough for them to lie flat in the bottom.  (I don't like my magazines to stand upright because it curls up the bottom of the pages ..... OCD I guess!)  So, I placed it on my fireplace thinking it would look good there.

But, then I decided to move it again.  Are you still with me? 

It ended up in my foyer.

I decided it needed something in it.  I threw in some bundled books without the covers.

So, for now,  she sits here.  She adds a little pop of blue in there and I'm happy.  I love all of the possibilities of how it can be used.

Isn't it fun to get something new and figure out the perfect spot for it?

  I'm still waiting on my New Cottage Style book to arrive.  The company sent me the wrong book, so now they are supposed to re-send it out to me.  Arghh!

We are experiencing a heat wave here in GA too.  We will be reaching triple digits this weekend.  Yikes!  Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~ 



Fresh from the Garden

Hello everyone!

We have finally begun harvesting vegetables from our garden.  We are still waiting on tomatoes and okra, but most of the others are ready to eat.

Just take a look at all the cucumbers filling up our produce drawer in the refrigerator!

The sad thing though is, I'm the only one here that eats them!  My husband planted 2 plants and they have produced more than any other vegetable we planted.  Looks like we will be sharing these with our neighbors!

The one vegetable I've been waiting for the most is squash.

Finally!  I decided to fry these up to serve with dinner tonight. (Now, if you're my doctor reading this, please forgive me for eating these fried instead of steamed or baked. I know I'm supposed to be reducing my cholesterol.)

I got everything ready.  I forgot to take a picture of it frying.  I got so involved with everything cooking at once.    But here is the final product along with our dinner.

Oh my was it good!  We had pork roast, new red potatoes, squash and bread. I guess the only thing that wasn't on my diet was the fried squash and bread.  Oh, and quite possibly that big blob of butter on the potatoes.  But darn it was good! 

I love eating fresh vegetables in the summer!  Now, if the okra would ever finish growing, I'll give them a try next. 

Bon Appetit!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly~



White Tureens

Hello everyone!

Let me first say THANK YOU for all the sweet and wonderful comments you left me about my home tour.  Y'all really know how to make a girl feel special!  I am so touched by all of your kind words.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  It has been steamy hot here!  Wish it would rain and cool down just a bit.  Feels like we're repeating our hot dry summer from last year.

Let's talk dishes...........

For years, I've collected white dishes.  Some are for using and others for decorating. 

 I've collected quite a few pitchers, but have only recently begun collecting tureens.

  I'm not picky.

They don't have to be ironstone.

They don't have to be from France.

They just have to be white.

However, if they are ironstone and from France ........ that's even better!

I love the different shapes I'm finding.

They make great plant holders too!

That curvy shape just makes me smile!

The other day, I stumbled upon another one that I just had to have. It has a different shape from the others I own.

Isn't it pretty? 

It had a pretty tray that it sits in too.  I love it so much that I placed in on my sideboard in my dining room.  It has a place of prominence now!  Ha!

I would love to find more to display on this wall hutch in there too.

When I go shopping, I keep my eyes open for them.  I wonder what new shapes I will find out there.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

My Home Tour Featured

Hello everyone!

I hope all of you have enjoyed your week.  I had the good fortune to meet with several bloggers that are in town for Haven.  I will write about that in another post.  We had so much fun meeting each other for the first time! 

I also had the privilege of being asked to feature my home on Debbie's blog.  She is a wonderful crafter, DIY'er, decorator, gardener, cook and mom.  She features a home tour every Friday and this time it's my turn!  I am so excited to share it with everyone. 

Here are just a few things you will see.

So, if you're interested in more............pop on over to Debbie-doos blog.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

What I'm Reading

Hello everyone!

Just thought I'd pop in today with a little reading inspiration. 

But first, did everyone have a good Father's Day?  We celebrated at my husband's favorite restaurant with his parents on Friday night.  Then Sunday morning, I fixed him his favorite breakfast.........

Good ole fashioned pancakes and bacon.  Yum!  We seldom eat this, so it was a treat.  We gave him a bunch of blue rays for his new collection he's starting.  Let me just say, I'm tired of watching war flicks now!  Ha!

Anyway, in the midst of battling the summer heat that is upon us and taking care of the household, I have managed to squeeze in some fun reads.  Thought I'd share them.

This magazine caught my eye at the newsstand.

I fell completely in love with this french style kitchen!

Then this little goody came in the mail.

Perfect timing!  Love all the beach and summer inspiration.

I recently ordered this gem.  Still waiting on it to arrive.

I've already seen some sneak previews of it, so I'm really excited about getting it!

Hope you all are having a good week so far.  I know many of you are going to Haven, here in my hometown.  Be prepared for VERY HOT and humid weather!  Bring summer clothes.  I am looking forward to meeting several of you that will be down here.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Rustic Cottage Decor

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone has been enjoying their week.  Where has it gone?!

  Well, in honor of Fathers Day being this Sunday, I thought I'd share some images of rustic cottage decor.  These caught my eye as being casual, relaxing spaces with a masculine flair. Hope you enjoy them.

All images from here.


To all fathers out there, Happy Father's Day! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Larkspur & Lilacs

Hello everyone!

Lately, I have fallen in love with purple lilacs.  However, I recently discovered white lilacs are just as pretty, especially when mixed with blue larkspur.  I found these "faux" flowers and decided to make a small bouquet for my secretary.  It is a pleasing mix, if I do say so myself!  I love the fluffiness of the lilacs mixed with the spiky larkspur. 

I have quite an affinity for purple, white and grey mixed together!

It just screams summer to me and is so feminine.

Since these are not real, they will last forever.  This is the only way I can have them, too, since they are not native to my area.

You may recall that a beautiful purple orchid (that was real) graced the same spot here on my secretary.  Unfortunately, it is not doing so well right now.  Some of the flowers began falling off.  I've been careful not to over water it (as many of you advised).  I'm trying to save it, so in its place are these non-real flowers that I have better luck with!  Ha!

Do you have a favorite flower combination?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Linking to:  Tabletop Tuesdays

                       Wow-us-Wednesdays



Smores in the Backyard

Hello everyone!

There's nothing quite like a little summer tradition of sitting around a campfire making smores.  That's just what we did this weekend.  In fact, we did it in our own backyard!

So, I filled a plate with the ingredients for smores and headed out to the campfire that my husband built.

It was a very nice night out.  Perfect for sitting around a fire.

Roasting marshmallows.  Our dog, Max, joined in the fun too.  He collected sticks for us!

We had fun.  Now time to go in and wash our sticky hands!  Ha!

We are expecting several days of rain this week.  Guess we will be inside for awhile now.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

My New Trophy

Hello everyone!

Not too long ago, I was lucky enough to win a fantastic giveaway from Miss Mustard Seed!  It was for $100 worth of product from Antique Farmhouse.  Holy Guacamole!  That was like the perfect giveaway for me to win because I am such a fan of theirs!  So, I immediately began searching their website to see what was available for me to order.  I quickly found this trophy to my liking.

I ended up spending $80 total with shipping on this!  Ouch!  So, that still leaves me $20 to spend on something else.  I haven't yet decided, but I have until October to use it.  No problema!!  I will keep looking and see what catches my eye. 

For now, the trophy has landed in my dining room.  It adds a nice touch of silver to the room.

It would probably look better in a grouping with other trophies.  But for now, since I don't own any other trophies, this will have to do.

I'm looking forward to using it many different ways in the future.  It would look great with feathers in it or some greenery.  So many uses!  For now, it graces my side board and keeps my candles company.

My oldest son made a funny comment when I told him that I won a giveaway and bought this trophy.  He said, "So you won a trophy then".  Yeah, in a round-about way, I guess I did!  Ha!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:  Inspiration Friday