Sunday, September 30, 2012

Happy Sunday!

Hello everyone!
 
Just thought I'd check in with you and wish you a happy Sunday.  I've been absent from my blog due to a very busy week and a nasty cold.  Lovely!  I have managed to do a few new projects though which I'll share later this week. 
 
As I was watering the plants on my front porch, I spied this little guy resting on the edge of my planter. 
 
Do you see him???
 


Isn't he cute?  He was just sitting there staring at me as I was pouring water into this flower basket.  So, I HAD to grab my camera before he got away.
 
Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend.  And just in case you forgot....
 
 


Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Clamp Lights

Hello everyone!
 
I'm sure you have seen these lights sold in hardware stores before.  Or, maybe you have even used them yourself in the garage or in a work shop.
 

They are inexpensive and meant to be used as task lighting.
 
However, I noticed that stores often use them on bookshelves to highlight their wares for sale.  And......I think they look a bit industrial. 
 
So.................
 
 
 
I decided to use them in my kitchen.
  At first, I used them to highlight my cabinets and for task lighting.
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
But later, I thought they would be pretty as accent lighting at night as well.
 

I just attached them to the curtain rod and hid the cord behind the drapes.  They are plugged into a switch box that I can turn on with my foot on the floor.
 
 
I love the beam of light they put out. 
 

 
It almost feels like a gallery in here with the lights streaming down on the walls.
 

 

 
  It has completely changed the look of my kitchen at night! 
 
So, now, I not only have task lighting in the cooking area, but accent lighting in the eating area.  The industrial look of these fits perfectly with the farmhouse feel of my kitchen too.  They're not too fancy and certainly not too expensive! 
 
I guess if I was Candice Olsen from HG TV, I would've had my electrician install "pot lights" in the ceiling.  But hey, that is not in the budget, so my little clamp lights will just have to do. Somehow, I don't feel like I'm making a sacrifice though. 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~
 


Sunday, September 23, 2012

White Pumpkins and Grey Paint

Hello everyone!
 
I don't do a lot of Fall decorating inside my house.  However, I did manage to set out a few white pumpkins and branches though. 
 
On my coffee table, I placed a white pumpkin and Spanish moss inside this basket.
 
 
It adds a subtle touch to the room.
 


I placed a smaller white pumpkin on the side table next to the sofa too.
 

 
 
I really just want a "whisper" of Fall in my home. 
 
In my kitchen, some birch branches were placed in a glass container.  It's just enough to warm up the space and add some texture.
 

 
This could be left out year round too!
 
Also, remember when I said I was working on a chalk paint project?  Well, here it is.
 


This bench used to be white.  I bought it with red paint on it and changed it to white.  Now, that I've painted my dining room table grey, I thought this bench would look good in it too. 
 
 Here is a close-up of it after it was sanded and waxed.
 

You can see a little bit of the red and white peeking through. 
 
I used French Linen ASCP on this.
 
Here is the final shot of it in my dining room with the pillows on it.
 
 
Do you notice how different the paint color looks indoors?  The sun was so bright outside that it made the paint look more taupe.  Indoors, it's more of a true grey.
 
Hope you had a great weekend.  It was nice here.  My husband was able to start on some outdoor projects finally too.
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~
 
 

 


Thursday, September 20, 2012

What Time Is It?

Hello everyone!
 
You may recall that I ordered a new clock for my fireplace mantel several weeks ago.  I was using a different one in its place until the new one arrived.
 
Well, it finally arrived and I love it!
 
Wanna see it?..........
 
 
Well, that's it!
 
 
No, just kidding.  Here she is in all her glory.
 

The clock looks like a giant stop watch.  I like the bright white color on this better than the cream that was on the other one for this room.  The other one went back into the hallway upstairs.
 
 
Also, I went back to the store, Outrageous Interiors, to get a second boxwood wreath to balance out the other one I had.
 
 

Now, it doesn't look lopsided anymore.  Ha!  I got the last one in this size at their other store too.  Whew!  These things sell fast.
 
Hope your week has been good so far.  I'm working on another painting project using my French Linen chalk paint.  Some of you warned me that I would look for other things to paint with it and you were right. 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I Spent my Gift Certificate!

Hello everyone!
 
Well, it didn't take long for me to go shopping to spend my gift certificate I won!  It was so much fun looking around deciding what I wanted to buy (for free).  ha!
 
It was easy to find some cute things for my home.  I first saw this horse statue that has a wonderful old wood look to it.  It's not really made of wood, but looks like it.
 
 
I placed it on my sofa table. My husband really likes it!  He noticed it right away.
 

The other item that came home with me was the large crown you see on my coffee table.
 
 
I have one similar to this already, but much smaller.  This one is big!
 
I also spied this cute little boxwood wreath. I'm sure you've seen these around.  I'd like to go back and get one more.  I got the last one they had.
 

I hung it on my secretary door (in place of the twig wreath that was there).  I like this better.  I wonder if it looks a little "Christmasy" though.  Oh well, I'm keeping it here anyway. Like I said, I just need one more to balance out the other side of the secretary.  They have other store locations, so I'm going to look for another one.
 

 

We are finally getting some much cooler Fall-like weather today!  It has been so nice.  My husband and I have plans to work in the yard this weekend.  Yay! 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~


Monday, September 17, 2012

Fall Festival

Hello everyone!
 
Now that the weather is cooling off  and school has started, Fall festivals have begun.  I love going to festivals.  We went to one this past weekend and really enjoyed getting outside.  It was called the Suwanee Day Festival. 
 


 
 
There was a lot of good food to be enjoyed.  Most of it was brought in by local restaurants.  It smelled heavenly!
 


 
Concerts were given throughout the day by various bands and performers.
 
 



 
Here is a shot of the large crowd waiting for the concert to start.
 
 
Several vendors were selling their wares.  Most of them offered hand made items.
 
Here were some that caught my eye.

Jewelry
 



 

Dog Treats

 
 
Birdhouses 
 
 

 
 
Bird Feeders

 
Feed Sack Tote Bags
 





 
The best booth was from a local store, called Outrageous Interiors.
They sell beautiful home decor.
 



And......the best thing just happened to me this afternoon!  This store just informed me that I won their $100 gift certificate I signed up for. I'm just blown away!  I can't wait to go shopping there and find something wonderful (which should be easy).
 
 It was a fun day.  Shuttle buses took us from the parking lot to the festival so we didn't have to worry about driving in the traffic. 

Have you gone to any Fall festivals yet in your area?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly~
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Thursday, September 13, 2012

I Used Chalk Paint for the First Time!

Hello everyone!
 
I know it's hard to believe that someone hasn't already tried chalk paint by now, but I am one of them.  Well, WAS one of them.  I can officially say that I've tried it and am now the proud owner of a grey dining room table!
 
 
I have a lot of grey and white in my house.  So, my natural choice was, of course, French Linen.  I had already been using a shade of grey on some of my other furniture pieces VERY close to French Linen already.  So, I figured this would fit right in.
 
This is my table before.
 

And this is my table during the painting process.
 


You can see that the paint is still wet in the above picture.  After it dried, I just sealed it with a clear wax.  I'm not sure if I want to really do anything else to the table or not.  I will live with it like this for now until I decide.  I've never painted a dining table before.  Let me just say, it was work!  It took me several hours to complete this.
 
Here is the after!
 


 
I'm loving the new look!  I like my cream slipcovers on the chairs against the grey.  It keeps it fresh, I think. 
 




 
 
 
Well, now you want my opinion of this paint don't you?  I can tell you that I've used a lot of latex paint in my time but I do think this was a little easier because it didn't show brush strokes and didn't require any sanding before painting.  It dries A LOT quicker (which I love) too.  It costs more though, but I was able to pick it up locally, so I didn't have to order it and pay shipping. I like the matte finish too.  I would probably like it more if I tried distressing it, because latex doesn't distress easily. And I've heard this distresses nicely.  I may do
 that on the legs of the table.  I've got to get some sandpaper first! 
 
For now, I'm just glad that I finally made it to the chalk paint party!!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~
 
 


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

New Additions to my Home

Hello everyone!
 
I'm finally able to snap pics around my home again, since I got my camera back today.  Yay!  As I mentioned in my last post, I went shopping with my sister and mom the other day.  I found a few goodies. 
 
This lantern caught my eye at Tuesday Morning.  Are you familiar with that store?  If not, you should be!  They have wonderful things at discounted prices. 
 

 
I placed it on my hearth in the family room. 
 
I also found this cute candle snuffer.  I had been wanting one, so this one came home with me.
 


I ordered this union jack pillow from Antique Farmhouse.  It came in and is now jazzing up my black bergere chair in the family room.
 


I went shopping in my basement too!  Yes, I have a whole store down there.  ha!  I brought this bottle up, that I bought plain, but then added a label and black cork to it.
 


My secretary got a touch of Fall by adding this twig wreath to it.  This was in my basement too!
 
 

 

  
Do you buy vintage books?  I know I do.  I love them.  However, I rarely look inside them except to see the copyright date or the language of the book.  But, one book that I had was worth looking at further.  It was an old encyclopedia (I think).  It's in a foreign language, so I can't read it.  I found these old maps in it!  So, out they came and on display they went.  Pretty neat huh?
 


Next time you buy an old book, look through the pages carefully.  You may be surprised to find something interesting in there.
 

 
Well that about wraps up some new additions to my home at the moment.  Hope that all of you are having a good week so far!
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
~ Kelly ~