Decorating with White Book

Hello everyone!

I just recently found a new decorating book that I love!  Here it is........

Even the cover is unique because it looks like it's made of wicker!

It's full of wonderful inspiration using white color in your decor.

Here are a few samples of some of my favorites in the book.

Are you drooling yet???

This is a newly released book from Country Living.  Love it!  I highly recommend it if you're looking for a new book this summer.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Summer Fresh

Hello everyone!

With the sun beaming in the windows and the outside temps finally getting warm, I've been freshening up my home with a few pops of color against all my white.  I love how fresh the green looks against the white.  It has a garden fresh look, but the white keeps it crisp.

My mantel got a few green and white topiaries and a large white framed mirror borrowed from the dining room.  Some white flowers fill an old metal tub.  And a green monogrammed pillow makes a nice focal point on the sofa.

My kitchen got a boost of color from a towel donning colorful spoons.

And a small mirror, painted green, now hangs in the windows.

A fern graces the wall basket in the foyer along with some white hydrangeas on the chest.

I replaced the mirror, borrowed from the dining room, with a curvy one that received a fresh coat of white paint before being hung.

I love the look of white framed mirrors mixed with white slipcovers!

So, these are just a few summer changes I've made to my home.  

Do you change your home for the seasons too?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Linking to:  Tweak-it-Tuesdays

                     Wow-us-Wednesdays

Memorial Day

It is with great respect that we honor those that have served our country so that we can have the freedom we enjoy today.

May you not only enjoy this day with your family, but also remember the true meaning of the holiday.

~ Kelly ~

My Front Porch

Hello everyone!

Well I finally got the front porch all cleaned up.  It was a job!  Since our porch sits under lots of trees (which I love) it gets dirty easily (which I don't love).  So, I had to bleach the railings and surrounding trim to remove the mildew that formed.  It is a project I must do every Spring.  Our porch actually needs more than cleaning, it needs to be repainted.  But for now, I'm just glad that it feels clean.  

My new settee got painted black and white cushions were added.

The rocking chairs and swing got a good cleaning and some touch up paint as well.

Matching white cushions were added to the rocking chairs and ferns were placed by the front door.  

I've kept it simple out here because I want it to be a place of rest and relaxation.    I added some pink and purple flowers to coordinate with the petunias.

The purple petunias add interest without obstructing the view.

Hard to believe that it is already Memorial Day weekend too!

Glad that the porch is ready for it now!

How will you be spending this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

My 5th Grade Graduate

Hello everyone!

Today was Honor's Day at my son's school for the 5th grade.  Tomorrow is his last day

being at elementary school.  He will move on to middle school next year.  He passed all of his CRCT tests and even made the A/B honor roll this year.  I was so proud of him.  I have to work extra hard with him because of his developmental delays.  He has come so far.  I'm seeing more and more progress every year.  Next year will be a big challenge for him though. Middle school will be very different from elementary school and he will be expected to do more for himself.

Here are a few pics from his big day today!

Presentation of medals for graduating 5th grade.

His wonderful teacher at the mic!

Sitting among his classmates during the presentation.

Back in the classroom showing off his medal.

Certificates of achievement presented in the classroom.

His certificates.

A cake for celebration.

A short film was also played showing pics of the activities they participated in during the school year.

Now.........summer here we come!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Chair Changes

Hello everyone!

First, I just want to say how sad I am watching the devastation on the news about the deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma.  I am sad for those that lost family members and their homes.  We get tornadoes here in Georgia, but not of that magnitude.  I can't even imagine how scary that must have been for everyone living there and the challenges they face to rebuild their lives.  Most devastating of all is hearing about the children missing in the school that was hit.  As a parent of a school age child, I can only imagine how upsetting that would be for the families with missing children. I hope they will be able to rebuild and go on in the future and hopefully with some strategies for a safer outcome.  I hear that many of the homes in Oklahoma don't have basements because of the rock underneath the land.  Also, that many of the schools and businesses don't have storm cellars because of the cost.  So tragic!!!!

Around here, we've been fortunate to have some relief from the rain that ruined our weekend.

I finally managed to clean up the wicker settee that I found and paint it black.

Now, I need to go shopping for a cushion.  I prefer something plain.  I saw some at Pier One in plain white.  That sounds good to me!  I also have a coupon with them.  Yay!

I moved a couple of chairs around inside my home too.  The chair that was in my master bedroom got moved into the sitting room.

And the chair that was in the sitting room, got moved into my bedroom.

(Ignore the cable from the TV.) My mom made the suggestion of putting the black chair in my bedroom since I  made it neutral.  It has an ottoman  that goes with it that I wasn't using in the sitting room.  Now it looks like a chaise!  

I added a white faux fur throw to it too.  

Hope all of you are doing well and are safe from these scary Spring storms rolling through the Midwest.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Apple Green Accents

Hello everyone!

Are you glad that the weekend is finally here?  I know I am.  My son had to be at school by 6:45 this morning to board a bus to take him to The Tennessee Aquarium for his 5th grade field trip. So it was an early day for us! He didn't return until 6:30 tonight!  He had a blast though.  I took advantage of him being gone all day and got some things done around the house and yard.  

My husband took me out to breakfast and on the way home, we passed a neighbor having a garage sale.  I rarely go to garage sales (for one reason, I'm not a morning person and you have to get up early to get anything good at a garage sale).  However, this neighbor had something sitting out in her driveway that sparked my interest.

This little beauty was for sale!  It was in very good condition and very inexpensive, so I bought it!  I plan on cleaning it up and repainting it black to match the rest of the furniture on my front porch.  I also need to add a cushion and maybe a couple of cute pillows.  

I've recently been adding some apple green accent colors to some of my rooms.  Nothing overwhelming though.  I love how it looks with all of the white and grey in my house.  

Just a pillow here, a platter there.  A few green hydrangeas and apples.

Even some pretty green patterned Anna Griffin file folders!

It has been so nice to be able to add accents in a room for a subtle change without having to get out a paint brush!  That is the beauty of having white walls and neutral furnishings.

Well, I'm off to begin my weekend.  Looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow morning.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere

Hello everyone!

How has your week been going so far?  

Mine has been good.  The weather has been so nice, with warm temps and sunshine.  So, I'm not complaining.  

I feel so awful for the folks affected by the terrible tornadoes in Texas though.  My heart goes out to them.  We live with the fear of tornadoes here too, so you never know what can happen.  

Around my yard, I've finally added some flower baskets and planted flowers in my porch planters.  

I hung flower baskets from this vintage candle holder.  It came from an antique store many years ago.  It has hanging candle holders with it, but I took them off and hung flower baskets instead.  At night, I can convert it  back to candles when sitting outside.

Our grass in the front yard looks much better than the back yard.  It will look better when it's finished greening up.  So, just ignore the splotchy look of it right now.  

I hung these yellow flowers off my front porch.

We planted purple petunia's in our porch planters.

I decided not to plant sweet potato vine with it this year because it hides the flowers too much and all you see is the green vine.  I have so much green around the front of the house as it is.  These flowers should spill over the baskets eventually.  

My front door got a new burlap wreath I found at Hobby Lobby too.  I thought it was cute.  I can use this even in the Fall!

I still plan on getting some ferns to flank the front door.  That will give me some color to accent the wood door.

The flowers used on our front porch came from this beautiful nursery.

Isn't it stunning?  It's called Lady Slipper.  My husband uses them when he needs to buy flowers for his customers.  He has a lawn business on the side.  They have a great selection with superior quality.  They have row after row of greenhouses where they grow everything there and sell it to the public.

The fun thing about shopping there are all the chickens and roosters running around.

They just walk among the plants and "do their thing"!    They're quite pretty too.

They're not close to my house though, so we have to drive a bit to get to it.  But it's worth the drive.

Doesn't this place make you want to go plant something?  

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Ruffled Chair Covers

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share my Mother's Day gift with you.  After painting my kitchen chairs white, I wanted to add more style to the seat cushions.  I thought about just changing the fabric, but then a good blog friend of mine, Des, suggested that I add ruffled chair covers to them.  Instantly, I loved the idea!  So, I decided to contact my other good blogging friend, Ann, from On Sutton Place to qive me a quote on them.

We discussed what I wanted and kept it affordable.  Ann is a wonderful seamstress, as  a lot of you already know. So I knew the quality would be fantastic!  

They just arrived in the mail and I couldn't be happier!

I wanted drop cloth material with a medium length ruffle (4").  To save money, I opted for a 3 sided ruffle cover with gross grain ribbon ties.  The backs of my chairs aren't very open anyway, so I didn't feel like I would miss having a ruffle along the back.

I like that these are washable too.  This look fits in well with the rest of my house.

Ann was also sweet enough to throw in this lovely set of handmade sachets filled with lavender and tied with a metal heart.  Too cute!

I wish you could smell it!  My entire package smelled heavenly.

If you are ever in  need of something special for your home, I wouldn't hesitate to contact Ann.  She also has a fantastic Etsy shop with handmade items ready to ship.

On Sutton Place

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Linking to:  Wow-Us-Wednesdays
Tweak-It-Tuesdays