One Thing Leads to Another...

A short time ago, I purchased a long-coveted sofa from a friend of mine, and realized that with the new addition, a new scheme in the living and dining areas of the house would be necessary.

Fortunately, I had a “look” in mind, based on a vignette that I already had in the house and wanted to expand upon.
I love the crisp romance of the black and white photo and the serenity of the white busts and cherubs that occupy the top of the piano, and knew that I wanted more of this look.

In anticipation of the arrival of the sofa, I began to make a few minor changes, the most important of which was the hutch display. In keeping with my craving for white, I removed my pink flowered dishes and replaced them with the white ones that are trimmed in gold.

Unfortunately, the bright turquoise background of the hutch, which had offset the pink and white dishes so beautifully, clashed miserably with the white and gold ones.

I thought about a color for the background, and decided upon a smokey gray; Something understated, but not white, as I wanted the dishes to stand out. It turned out to be a good choice. Good enough, in fact, to become the basis of my new color scheme.

Since I painted my walls a lovely pale shade of robin's egg blue last year, I've decided to stay with it. In keeping with the new direction, however, I'm planning to change the trim color from pale pink to pale gray. The photo below some of the fabrics and accessories that I've been gathering for use in the room.

As you can see, I've chosen a palatte of robin's egg blue with some grays along with silver and gold. All of this with a very healthy dose of white. I've chosen some formal and informal fabrics as well as modern, traditional, and vintage ones. I think it's going to be a fun mix. Now to figure out the guest/sewing room.... Stay tuned to see how it all comes out!

Until next time,

My Front Porch

For my first blog post, I thought I'd share with you one of my very favorite places in the summertime....my front porch. Living here in Maine, spring and summer are always a welcome treat after the cold, gray of winter. Each year one of the things I most look forward to is decorating my porch, and every year, I try to do something a bit different. Feeling the budget crunch, I've tried to recycle, re-use, and "steal" from other parts of the house to come up with a new look. The photo at left shows some of last year's tag sale finds put to use: A wire header, a vintage cherub, and a pair of cherub wall hangings.

I always pull this iron table and pair of chairs onto the porch. This year, I decided to dress them in blue and white, and to carry the blue and white theme through out my porch and plantings. The tureen lid (right) and the wicker chair (below right) were borrowed from the house for this year's porch setting. The wild violets and pansies (below left) were a welcome return from last year.

This is the plant stand that sits on the left side of my porch.

The planter on the far left on the bottom shelf is one that I made last year from an old silver plated chafing dish.

Since this is the shady side of the porch, I planted some white impatiens along with one of my very favorite plants, dusty miller. I hope they do as well as last year's plantings did. The step stones in front of this flower bed are one of my favorite things....My father, his lovely wife, Louise, and I made them last year when they came up for a visit. In addition to being quite pretty (I think), they bring back some wonderful memories! Another of my favorite things is my pair of cherubs. I call them, 'my girls' and love to dress them up!

On the other end of the porch, I have one small window. I planted the window box with pretty white petunias and blue lobelia. I've also got some dusty miller planted at the back of the box, but so far, it's not tall enough to be seen. This table sits under the window. Aren't the pansies just beautiful?

This is an old child's chair that I picked up along side the road. I love how it is so naturally distressed! I planted a colader of petunias and used an old enamel-ware piece as a drip pan. I think this looks so cheerful! I love mixing refined and rustic elements together!

The last photo is of a friendly cat who stopped by to watch me work. I just love summertime!

Thanks for stopping by today. As this is my first post, I'm hoping my layouts will improve as I get used to using "Blogger". I hope you're having a wonderful summer, and I'd love to see what you're doing with your outdoor spaces. Until next time,