Favorite Whites

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all of my blogging friends for not "making my rounds", as regularly as I normally try to, and to my readers for not posting last week. I've got something big in the works. I wish I could share the news with you right now, but for the time being, I've got to keep a lid on it. Look for an announcement in the next week or so. Since I've been unable to work around the house, I thought I'd share some of my favorite white things with you to celebrate another White Wednesday.

This is part of the vignette that I arranged on the shelf of the recycled dresser mirror that I posted about a short time back.



It's quite simple....just an apothecary jar filled with seashells, a small architectural fragment and a little milk glass sugar bowl that has lost its lid.

This is my take on an "artsy" shot of a sconce that I revamped some time ago. It was one of those gold 3-armed syrocco pieces that I spray painted white and then sanded a little of the paint off to reveal some underlying gold. I added some crystals to it for good measure and did a similar treatment on a mirror to hang above it.


This is part of what is probably my favorite vignette in the house...one that sits atop an old piano. This little cherub is watching over a small bouquet of white roses.


This rose is part of an arrangement in a large crystal vase...also on top of the piano.


Don't ask me why I included this...It's just a piece of moulding on an Art Deco style dresser that I painted white, but I like it, so here it is...


Here's another of my cherubs. This one is an inexpensive garden statue, but I rather like the perch I created for her. It consists of an old rusty standing ashtray that I found in a freebie pile and topped with a small round vintage vanity mirror.


And finally, a crusty old urn filled with spools of white thread.


And a close-up of the thread. Isn't it funny how some of the simplest things can be quite beautiful?

Again, my apologies for leaving you with a "quickie" today. I think you'll understand when I share my news in the very near future.

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'll be linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

White Inspiration

	This week work has been crazy and I've found myself dreaming instead of doing, so I thought I'd share some photos from my "inspiration file". I can't remember where I found the one on the left, but I just love that gilded sofa. Another one for my wish list!

More and more these days I seem to be drawn toward an elegant simplicity.

Photo: Apartment Therapy Design: Alexandria Nolita

I still love vintage, and a juxtaposition of rustic and refined elements, but these days, I seem to be craving a much quieter mix.

Photo: Ticking and Toile

I think this living room has such a peaceful quality about it. While predominantly modern, there are vintage elements present in the mantle and mirror. The dog statues were flea market finds. The long, billowy curtains add an air of softness and romance.

Photo: Metropolitan Home

Of course, I still love "stuff", and I find the photo below very appealing. I love the wrought iron daybed. Perhaps one day I'll find one in my price range.

Photo: Country Living

Of course it just doesn't get much better than this!

Photo: New York Times Design: Sandra Foster

I love all the classical elements in this photo, and especially like how the mirrors were layered. I believe I could do without the enamel ware pot in front of the fireplace, though. A chippy, rusty, old urn, in my opinion would be so much nicer.

Photo: Country Living

Here's a new addition to my inspiration files. This living room is on the cover of the current Elle Decor magazine. I'm in love with the mural by Bob Christian.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Suzanne Rheinstein

This is another shot from the same New York apartment. The floors here were also painted by Bob Christian.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Suzanne Rheinstein

Another of my current cravings is the pairing of aqua or turquoise with white, and black accents.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Delphine Krakoff

And now for a few items on my wish list. I absolutely love this ruffled shower curtain! I wish I'd saved the source info, but I didn't. (My apologies if this happens to be yours).

I did find a similar one, however, at Anthropologie. If I had the budget, I could really get addicted to that store!

Photo and design: Anthropologie

And finally, last by not least, I want this piece of art! The photographic artist is Jennifer Molley Wilson. You may recognize her work from another White Wednesday post from a couple of weeks ago.

Photo: Jennifer Molley Wilson

Well, folks, I guess that's it for me today. Time to stop drooling and start doing. Thanks for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed browsing some of the images in my inspiration file with me.

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'm linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

Recycled Dresser Mirror

Work is underway in my guest/sewing room. I am finally reclaiming my lost space that had devolved into a storage heap! While doing some rearranging, I moved a dresser that formerly occupied that room to the living room. Since it was placed under a window, I couldn't use the mirror that had been on top.



I decided to repurpose it as a wall mirror in the guest/sewing room, but felt it was lacking something when I hung it up. I decided what it was missing was a shelf underneath, so I decided to build one using some materials I had on hand...a 3/4 inch thick board, and some cheesy plastic brackets that I found at Goodwill a while back.



To start, I measured and cut the board to about eight inches longer than the length of the bottom edge of the mirror.



Then I sanded the rough sides of the board as well as rounded down the edges to make a bit of a softer line.



This is how it looked when I finished sanding.



Next I painted the board and brackets. When painting the brackets, I left a little bit of the underlying gold showing through for a more aged look.



Here it is all put together. It was painful for me to share this photo...you can see in the mirror reflection the mess I'm still working through to reclaim the room.



Here are a couple of detail shots. First, the top of the mirror.



And where the shelf and mirror join.



All in all, not too bad for a freebie project, don't you think? Work on the room is going slowly because of some extra hours at my job, but it is coming along. I'll have lots of innexpensive project ideas coming out of this re-do, so I hope you'll check in with me again soon.

Until next time,
Sheilla

This post is shared on "Show and Tell Friday" at Cindy's gorgeous blog, My Romantic Home. You should check it out....lots of great ideas to discover! My apologies Cindy! Due to a cut and paste error, I am late in crediting your party! So sorry!!!

Daydreaming

I'm re-organizing right now and the house is a disaster!
Sometimes you just have to mess it up to fix it up.
That's where I am right now.
One of my favorite pastimes is daydreaming
over the pages of decorating magazines with a friend.
So grab a cup of coffee and let's explore.
All of the images featured here were in an article in Country Living magazine a couple of years ago.
This is one of my all-time favorite features.
Enjoy!

Isn't this just the dreamiest living room?
It's hard to believe it is in a mobile home,
but Double Wide is actually the title of the article.
I'm in love with all the architectural details!

This is the sunroom.
What delicious eye candy!

The kitchen is one of my favorite rooms.
I love everything about it...
the chandeliers
the wrought iron garden table,
the vintage furniture in lieu of cabinets
the graphic punch of black accents.

Homeowner Theresa Smith has a great eye for pairing
rustic with refined.
Ahhh, to have a kitchen this big....
and the budget to go with it!
But hey, a girl's allowed to dream, isn't she!

I wonder where she found those incredible letters
that spell, "EAT".
I've been searching for something similar for years
and was thrilled to finally find a "D"
at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.
I see she likes crusty old alarm clocks too!

Isn't this old iron vent a beauty!

I love the way she's displayed
the vintage doll heads with her pottery and china.
And look! There's another fabulous architectural piece
on top of the hutch!

This is her red office.
It must be very inspiring to work here!
Check out the old desk with galvanized drawers!
And look!!!
There's another old alarm clock on the desk.
I love those old clocks!

Beautiful!

And finally we come to the bedroom.
Isn't that gilded headboard incredible?
That metal desk turned nightstand is pretty cool too!
I never seem to come across any of this old metal furniture
in my treasure hunts.
Do any of you readers have any luck finding pieces like this?
If so, I'd love to have some tips on where to look!

I saved my favorite photo for last.
If you happened to read my earlier post
Origins of Style
then you already know about my fascination
with things neoclassical.
I could spend hours daydreaming here!

I hope you've enjoyed browsing through this magazine layout with me. I'll have some fresh original material soon.
At least as soon as I get my mess cleaned up,
and this house semi-redecorated.
And as a special treat, I'll be doing a feature on my friend Liz's house in the very near future.
Her home is shabby chic-to-die-for!

A NOTE TO MANY OF MY BLOGGING FRIENDS:

I'm not only trying to refresh the house,but also the layout of my blog. I'm hoping to add links to many of the inspiring blogs that I follow on my sidebar, but life has been hectic and this is taking a while. If you don't see your blog here, you should soon. If you don't have a button, I'll be selecting an image to use for the link. Please let me know if you'd rather I NOT do this, or if there is a particular image that you'd like for me to use, just send a low-res file to me and I'll be able to get your blog posted a bit quicker. Gotta run!

Until next time,