Catching Ya'll Up!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I certainly have been MIA

 for most of the month of May!

But...it is all good!

My sweet hubby purchased a ticket to Jacksonville

for me, all by myself, so I could meet up with

my sister Marci who has a home there. 

We had wonderful sister time, even in the

midst of the worst 3 days of down pouring rain

I have EVER seen. 

But that didn't deter us from beaching, shopping, visiting

and just plain talking!!

It was a much a needed, much appreciated, break from

 the humdrums of my life!

But,

I did manage to get a whopper of a

bladder infection on my return and

spent the past few weeks trying to recoup while

entertaining my mom and dad.  They took an almost

3 week tour of the East Coast.

Visiting my sis in Jacksonville as I left.

Then up to South Carolina to see my dad's family there.

And finishing up their visit here with us in

 Michigan for 7 days before their return

to Seattle.

So...

I am back in saddle and actually spent some time

today in my lil studio!

Yay me!

I so appreciate feeling better

and be able to create once again!

I whipped up this darling LOVE sign and

got it listed today in my etsy shop.

Along with these darling canisters that I had

finished but never got listed!

It is truly good to be home and back

doing what I love...creating!

How are you all doing!

I'd love to hear!

Be Blessed!



Shabby ~ FruFru ~ Upcycling

Hello My Sweet Friends!!!

 

Oh gosh, I didn't realized how much time has gone by

and I have not been here to blog about what is going

on in my life.  I guess I have been so busy creating

that the time was all spent! lol

I do so apologize!

 

Anyway, we all know that I create in the

shabby, chic, romantic anything roses realm!

In my heart of hearts I have ALWAYS loved to

upcycle and create unusual items.

That would be exactly what I have been doing

this past month.

 

Below I am sharing pictures of items that I have

put together and upcycling individual items into

shabby chic pieces of art.

 

Starting with pretty frufru Pillar Candle Holders

Many of my Pillar Candle Holders were just that

simple, plain pieces that needed a touch more done to them.

So, I added color to the bases and

then atop each base I added pretty castoff plates or

saucers that had lost their mates.

 

I didn't stop there though,  this is where the real fun

began.  Going through my collection of pretty

laces and ribbons I then began to frufru pillar holder.

 Some were even given pretty crystals too.

 

The piece below show how you can combine found

objects, like these smaller milk glass bowls.  They

were glued together and a sweet hand painted

vintage plate was added. 

 

The thrift stores, yard/garage sales are full of theses

type of pieces.  Now when you shop, begin

thinking outside the box of how you can add

pieces together.

I didn't stop there.  I have created jars that are taller by

added candle bases.  Below you can see that I also frufru'd

many jars/bottles that would have otherwise been thrown

out.

Would you believe the brown bottle is a bath and

body works lotion bottle? See, using anything you many

have, that you would otherwise have thrown away!

 

DON'T throw out those old bottles with out lids or

candy jars...reuse, recycle and create unique

one of a kind items, using your imagination!

Originally, I had just painted these twisted wire sconces.

But after frufruing up so many other pieces, I realized that

these looked quite plain...so they got a frufru'd too.

Pretty laces, ribbons and I made lacy roses...

so pretty and shabby chic now!

 

I am encouraging you today to THINK Outside the Box.

 

Many of my glass pieces were just sitting, waiting for me

to do something to them.  Once the creativity began,

nothing was left just plain, lol.

 

Go out and Create/Upcycle/Reuse your items!

 

Be Blessed

 

 



TEA Themed Dining Rooms

Hello Friends!

It has been a while since I have shared with ya'll!

Over the past few months I have tweaked several rooms

in my home and I thought you might enjoy seeing some

of the changes?

My dining room has not changed drastically in the 15 years

since we painted the walls between the gorgeous trims a

Royal Blue.  I love this color soooo much that I have yet

to tire of it.  Thankfully, this room is some what

hidden from the main rooms we live in...I am pretty sure that

is why this girl, who LOVES color, hasn't changed it.

As you will see, I have maintained a *Tea* theme

throughout this room. 

Also, I have incorporated and large quanitity of Blue/White

themed items as well.  This is a good sized room and since it

does not get used a lot, I have taken advantage of all the wall

space that I could...lol

For many, Brass is out, but I decided a few years back to work

with what I had.  I actually like golds so adding pearls, beaded

vines, and single tea cups, I created a unique look for my

chandy!

My hutch sits back in a neat builder built in area and

houses my Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz china as well as

misc other items that are tea and rose themed!

My mom started me on Rose Chintz by giving me several

miss/matched pieces, and over the years I have been able

to aquire at set of at least 8 place settings.

As I look now at my picture, I am thinking of either painting the

inside or papering it...would do YOU think?

As I go around the room, you will see how I have

displayed uniquely, my Tea Pot and Tea Cup collections.

I honestly DO use them and that is why I

love to have them around.  They provide such beautiful

*eye* candy, for this girl who needs it!

One of my favoritest EVER finds is this tea cup

holder.  Snagged for $3 at a yard sale.  I have

added more tea cups now and it shows them off so sweetly.

It also houses a collection of creamers too.

I recently brought added our sofa table to this room and now it

feels just like home in its new place.  It acts more

like a side board and houses more collections, of course!

This beautiful shelf was actually up in my studio and

when I was tweaking it, I decided to move the shelf down into

this room.  I am loving it in its new place.

Lastly, this darling *plant* holder got roped into use

as another way for me to display my tea pots.

I have tried to think outside the box and yet present

a homey sweet place for my family to eat special meals

togther.

I hope this inspires you to use what you have,

show them off and create fun and unqiue ways to

display the things you love!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lorena



Studio Organizing with What You Have

Hey Sweet Friends!

 

I find myself staying inside and out of the

colder weather during our Michigan winters.

We are now in that pattern or snow, warm up,

snow melt, snow...

I am now officially wishing spring and

much warmer weather would just stay!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got into my

studio for its annual tweaking session.

I seem to do this after the first of the year,

and after the many months of creating

that I do for the Christmas Holiday Season.

 

I really like the few changes that I made this

year.  One of them was taking two shelf

units and using my drafting table top to

create a higher table that I could put in the

center of my room. 

 

I was able to use my pretty vintage sheet all

around the table to cover those ugly areas

that I would rather not see.

I like the fact the my back is not to the door and

I have a good angle to see out the window during

the day.

Below you can see I took the two smaller shelf units.

I had one and purchased one and placed them together. 

These were very close in height to the plastic shelf

I used on the other side.

I placed this open shelf on the side that

 you cannot see as you enter my room. 

It has items I use more often and

the other side as pretty storage boxes and things

I don't use as often.

I am sure I will be sharing more of my creative

storage ideas that I use throughout my room.

PINTEREST is also a GREAT way to get wonderful

ideas.

 

This table was less that $20 because I used items

I already had.  Be creative and look around to see what

you have, before purchasing.

 

Be Inspired, Be Creative and Reuse what

you already have!

 

 

 

 

Curtains are Up ~ Sharing A Painting Project

Hi Everyone!

 

Gosh I have been busy this past week. 

I think I am doing my spring cleaning early this year...

or is that considered nesting?

 

In my last post I shared that I had spruced up our

family room/kitchen areas.  Well... hubby got

his drill out this weekend and we installed our new hardware

and Curtains...YAY!!!

 

BEFORE

AFTER

I am LOVING how these just curtain panels warm up our room

and pull it all together now!

 

******

My sweet friend Mary, who is a young 86 year old

usually calls me when she is itching to spruce up her little

apartment area she is in now.  Her nesting instincts

are so like me...we are indeed, kindred spirits!

 

Of course, I forgot to take a shot of this gorgeous

sideboard piece...it was a beautiful vintage oak look.

Last week I went over and painted the entire piece

for her.

 

She had me paint it a lighter gold color,

which of course does not show up too well in the picture. 

I really loved though, how this piece

just came to life with the color she chose.

I then returned yesterday and added some character

to this already beautiful piece.  I took  my painting cues

from colors in her rooms, of golds, greens and

deep reds.

Mary wanted me to add more of a background color

to the doors, which were pretty plain.

So, I watered down a green for the center and

also used this around some of the outer areas.

 

Then we added some vining, leaves and pops of

red flowers.  I was trying to use restraint and she

and I are both so happy with the final outcome.

It now has taken on a *French Country* feel.

 

My advice to anyone who loves color...

don't be afraid to paint your furniture.  It can

make a huge difference to a room.

In Mary's case, it now has become a huge

focal piece and much needed pop of color for

her tiny space.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

 

 

 

Rooms We Live In

Hi Everyone!

Over this past weekend my hubby and I finally put

away the last of Christmas.  Now before you go

rolling your eyes on me and stating

why so late, I must share I have a hubby who LUVS

Christmas.  He loves the lighted tree and homey

Christmas decor.  So our family

tradition has been to keep it up till the end of January.

I was MORE than ready to get on with the cleaning,

vacuuming, dusting rearranging and tweaking of

our Family and Kitchen/Dining areas.

Most of you y'all know that I create in pinks,

creamy whites, aquas, lavenders etc....

but

I LOVE color and I guess the many rooms in

my home reflect this.  I choose to keep these two

most lived in areas in softer creams, reds, golds

with touches of blues.  Red has become a much

needed *pick-me-up* color.  I tend to get down and

slightly depressed during the longer, colder weather.

Red helps keep me *Up* and brighten my spirits.

I went around and took pictures from the 4 corners so you

can get a better idea of the room(s) I am working with.

Our family room is quite long, more of a good

rectangle.  Very little wall space to work with.

In December, we had ALL the windows in the entire home

replaced.  HUGE undertaking before the holidays...ugh!

Anyway, I am slowly getting rid of older mini blinds

and redoing some of the window treatments.

As you can see, I am having issues with getting a true

color values because of light coming

in from the large set of 4 windows in this room.

That is even with the blinds on for room darkening.

I am hoping to get rid of these blinds. 

The actually cover up beautiful trimming that

is around all the windows in our home.

Also, you can see the deep red curtain I put up,

I am trying to get a better idea of how these will look.

We got new hardware, and the deep red curtains are

room darkening, so I am pretty sure I will be taking

the blinds out and then just opening/closing the curtains.

Furniture placement in the room is always tricky.

Since we made the large TV beast our focal point

I always try to make sure all seats have a decent view.

My hubs, is one of those guys who says...

if it ain't broke you don't fix it.  The *beast*

will probably be here till it croaks.  Could be soon,

since the sound is already gone, or another few years

lol!

Once it dies, we will probably get a TV for over

the fireplace.  Then that will create a whole

other set of problems,

I also am showing you that at least in my home,

rooms seem to always be in

a state of flux.  I know most peeps don't show rooms

like I have, but I wanted to be honest and show you

that we still have to live in rooms that are in progress.

I did splurge these past few days and found some GREAT finds

and Hobby Lobby.  Those Vases/Urns were $7

on clearance!!!

Do you see the gold frame on the right?

A great Pinterest idea of using a frame

around those ugly thermostats!

Okay, so moving on through the room into my

Combined eating/kitchen area.

The french doors were installed in 2011 and

I am SOOOO happy we paid the extra money for them.

They add so much character to my builder

grade ugly kitchen that I am working with.

We are planning soon to replace the counters with

granite.  I am trying to convince hubs that I either need

to darken or light the cabinets as oak is just

no longer the look.  A total gut, is not in

our future budget, so I am trying to be creative.

I would SO love input after you see what I am

working with.

I have decent kitchen space, but believe it or not, horrible

storage space.  I have a pantry, it is not  a walking or deep

so I have had to improvise a lot.

We actually are thinking of extending out the island

and making it larger so we could use it to

eat on if we wish.  We may also do away with the

eating area and add lower cabinets under to

cutout.  You would be able to still put a smaller

bistro table here, but we think we'd like to

open the space up a bit more.

One of the biggest changes in windows, we made was to

the kitchen window over the sink area.  Because of my

horrid light, you cannot see that the wood is new and

not painted yet.  I did take the blinds out of here and

will be doing some type of roman shade here.

Below picture is our large desk area. 

I love this area and use it all the time, it's my

command center and houses extra glassware.

As you can notice, we have door walls everywhere in this

room.  The doorwall by the desk goes to the powder room,

butlers pantry and into the formal dining area.

I have a friend who thinks I need to take down the cut out

wall completely.  I am not so sure.

We have lived in our home almost 20 years.  Like most

people, when you live in a home, it is not always set up

to how you live. 

I am so thankful to have my home.  I feel blessed beyond

measure.  Yet, the creative, artistic gal in me wants

to improve upon and change things up.  It doesn't

happen fast with an engineering hubby, who is very

money conscience and prefers not to be handy,

if ya know what I mean. 

I must admit you gals who have handy hubs

are what I envy most.

Yet my sweet hubbys ways got us through some

very lean times in recent years.  For that I a truly thankful.

We are back on track now and he is

on board and realizes we have do some improvements.

You can be sure I have my list and

he knows about it too...lol

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I look forward to hearing what you may think

of our home Living areas.