Simple as Black and White

I seem to be on a black and white kick lately. While I've always loved lots of white in my house, lately I've been deviating a bit from my usual pastels and adding some graphic punch with a number of black and white accents. I thought I'd show you some of my recent finds today. I'll start with an old photo that I came across at Goodwill last week.
While searching for some picture frames to use in the photo wall in my office, I came across this old black and white photograph of a little dog. It was housed in the most diabolical picture frame imaginable and I started to pass on it for that reason, but I kept going back and looking at this little guy, just literally begging for attention. Perhaps he belonged to a person who recently passed on. At any rate somehow he wound up at the Goodwill store because someone didn't cherish his memory, and that made me feel a little sad. I felt even sadder when thinking that someone else might buy the garish frame he was housed in and just throw away the picture, so I decided that I had to "rescue" him. Although I didn't know this pup, he will become a part of my adopted family and find a new home on my photo wall. Now I feel better!
I picked up the black and white saucer at a yard sale last weekend. It is surrounded by a bunch of great postcards that I lucked into for a dime a piece at a local close-out store.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the saucer when I bought it. Goodness knows I have more china than I know what to do with, but it was calling out,

"buy me, buy me", so I did. This is what I came up with:
Didn't it make a nice little photo frame? All I did was trace out the circle in the middle of the saucer, cut a photograph to fit and glue in place. By the way, that's me as a little girl with my grandmother's dog, Rusty.
I love old letters and numbers but rarely come across them, so I was especially excited to find this letter "D", as it is the first letter of my last name. It started out as a coat hook, though. The "D" sat atop a small wooden platform that was attached to a large hook. I sawed the platform off and painted it black.

My final find was one of those unexpected, unplanned purchases that you just know was waiting for you when you see it.
Isn't this old car just too much fun!

It found a spot on my bookcase next to the pic of my parents old Studebaker. I think they look pretty cool together. This was a tight budget week, so I think I did pretty well

with my $5.00 "allowance". Gotta love a bargain!

Until next time,

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!

Bare Bulb Dilema

Maybe you're lucky enough to have avoided them...but then again...maybe not. Many homes, especially older ones have a bare bulb somewhere. Pehaps yours is lurking inside your closest; or maybe it's hiding out in the garage, basement or laundry room.
Or then again...maybe not...perhaps I got them all. I have seven such fixtures in my former pizza restaurant turned rental house!

I haven't quite figured out what the person who designed the lighting was trying to achieve. Maybe they just needed lights and were on a tight budget. Whatever the reason, every room, save the kitchen and bath is at least somewhat illuminated by these creatures!

My first impulse was to replace them all with chandeliers, but that idea hit a few roadblocks. The first one was the expense of purchasing seven chandeliers. The second is my phobia of working with electricity, and finally I have to keep in mind this IS a rental house! So what to do?

One day it occured to me to replace the lowly incandescent bulbs with chandelier lights. That helped a little, but not a lot.
Then I had another idea...what if I dressed them up with some crystals... The bare bulb fixtures at my house apparently had some type of globe at one time, and the screws which once kept it in place are still here. Using that as a starting point I dangled some pretty drops from the screws. That was better, but it was still missing something.
So I layered on lengths of rope crystals to give it a little more depth. I thought about painting the fixtures, since they are pretty chippy, but decided against it as I like the contrast of rustic with refined. While still not my choice of lighting fixtures, the crystals have made the bare bulbs quite a bit more bearable than they were in their original state.

For the five bulbs in the open living area I stayed with pretty much the same design, but by the time I got to the bedrooms, I ran out of crystal chain. Time to improvise again.

This time I used a combination of crystal beads and pearls that were salvaged from old necklaces.
Perhaps one day I'll overcome my fear of electrical wiring enough to try something different. Maybe I'll come across a gorgeous chandelier that I just can't resist, and replace the central fixture with that. But in the meantime, I've learned to make do and turn my lemons into lemonade so to speak. Most of my visitors compliment my creative fixtures, so maybe they're not so terrible after all.

If you have a bare bulb lurking somewhere, you might want to try a similar treatment. If you don't have the screws to drape the crystals from, try using small cup hooks screwed into the ceiling. This approach would give you even more options when designing your "bare bulb chandelier".

Until next time,

My Little Office

My office is one of my favorite rooms; good thing, too, since it seems to be the one in which I spend the most time...and aside from the computer, it was one of the least expensive rooms to decorate. I thought I'd share some of my thrifty finds and decor tips with you today.
As you can see, the focal point of the room is a grouping of black and white family photos on the wall above my desk. Almost all of the frames were yard sale and thrift store finds, many of which, I've re-done. One of my favorite techniques for doing old frames in metallics is the use of floral spray paint. It has a sheer quality about it which adds color, but allows a little of the woodgrain to show beneath, much like a stain. I like to layer on various metallic paint colors until I reach an effect that I like.

I also like to incorporate other types of objects such as plates, cherubs, vintage postcards, and memoribilia related to one of the pictures. For example, I hung my mother's dog tags from her time in the navy

	during WW2 over the edge of the frame holding her navy photo. In another instance I attached a patch that my father received when winning a volleyball championship to the photograph of him accepting the trophy.
My mother's dog tags adorn her Navy photo.

In order to achieve a pleasing effect when doing this type of arrangement, one must be careful to keep balance in mind. The arrangement need not be completely symmetrical, but objects of similar visual weight should
	In order to balance an 8 X 10 photo on the other side of the display, I hung a similar size frame around this plate.

be used to balance one another. Another trick is to keep frames somewhat similar in tone, i.e., all gold, or all black; or if mats are used, stick to a single color. Also, I've found that an arrangement of photographs generally looks best with all black and white or all color images, but not a mix of both. If I had used color photos here, I would have kept the accent pieces to a single solid hue.

The desk is one of my favorite junk shop steals, at $15. Of course, when I found it, the veneer was peeling badly, so I just stripped it of the veneer, painted it white, and distressed it.
I also decoupaged a rose cut-out from vintage wallpaper as a cheerful accent. The hardware is original and by itself worth at least the price of the desk! The chair is a standard issue cheapie office number, which I slipcovered to dress it up a bit.
The hutch above the desk was another junk store bargain at $5. It is in actuality a shelf that I painted white, but it serves the purpose just fine and keeps some of my favorite collectibles in easy view.
The bookcase was an ugly wood-tone laminate piece that I nabbed at a yardsale for next to nothing. A good coat of primer plus some white paint and vintage knobs completed its makeover.
As you can see, I've made jackets for most of my books using wrapping paper that coordinates with the room. Another trick that I like to use for making a bookcase display more interesting is to keep some books upright and others lying flat. The horizontal books make a nice pedestal for display; in this case, for the first camera that I had a child. I've also accessorized the shelves with an old silver trophy and some small vintage garden books.
My loveseat was picked up curbside for free! This time a few white sheets came to the rescue in the form of a slipcover. I've made a number of cushion and pillow covers of various materials and change them out to suit my mood. By the way, whether you need to hide ugly upholstery or not, if you have pets, slipcovers are the way to go. Just pop them in the wash and never worry about your furniture being soiled.
If you're a regular reader, you've seen this chest before. It recently made the move from my livingroom to the office, where it still provides much-needed storage and display space.

While not, perhaps the things you'd drool over in your favorite magazine, the major furnishings in this room were purchased for well under $100. A little imagination and elbow grease were all that was necessary to turn them into the foundation of a room which is both livable and fun. So in closing, I'd like to encourage you not to put your decorating dreams on hold, even if the budget is. Upgrades can be made later, but in the meantime, making do really isn't so bad...

Until next time,

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!

All Around the House

Welcome back! My last post took you onto the porch and through the front door of my house at Christmas-time. I like to sprinkle Christmas all through the house, though, so this time

we'll do the "grand tour" of my little cottage.
While not always in keeping with the color scheme, I love to sprinkle vintage Christmas decorations such as the 1950's Santa cutout (above), throughout the house. I think the vintage touches take a bit of the edge off a themed decor and lend a warm, cozy feel to the place. Over the last couple of years I've started

collecting vintage reindeer. They remind me of a set that my family had during my childhood. These are displayed on the chest that I featured in the Chest of Drawers Redo post.

Another collection that I like to scatter around the house is mini Christmas trees.

I've tucked at least one in just about every vignette in the house including the one here on the sofa table, where I've concentrated my blue decorations. By the way, that's my darling

Lucy, all decked out in her holiday clothes perched up on the edge of the sofa.

As I mentioned earlier, my house has an open floor plan, so the sofa doubles as a room divider to the dining room, which is one of my favorite places to decorate for the holidays.

The hutch is home to many of my vintage treasures. This little Santa Claus is one of my favorites.

The photo above shows the antique cast iron stove doing server duty for the punch bowl at my Christmas open house.

While the hutch and stove are large focal point pieces, I think sometimes it's the small touches that tend to add the most charm. For instance, I like to use touches of greenery, whether real or artificial wherever I can find a good spot. My sconce is shown here with a

garland of artificial foliage accenting the candle base. The candle chandelier, which hangs over the dining room table is one of my trash to treasure pieces. I literally rescued this

outdated brass chandelier from a trash heap and revamped it with a coat of white paint and some crystals. For the holidays, it also gets a touch of greenery.

A couple more of my flea market "fixer-upers", this mirror and triple sconce seem to also lend themselves well to a bit of festive foliage. I used some fresh clippings from the woods here.

Moving on, you'll see that I've decorated the kitchen in a more whimsical style. This handmade Raggedy Ann is made from wood and buttons. She's right at home perched on a shelf along-side a little rocking horse and some primitive Christmas trees. An assortment of vintage red-work linens is displayed on the towel bars below.

Futher indulging the child within, this shelf is home to a collection of tattered but much-loved old Raggedy Ann dolls.

Here are a few more of my vintage dolls.

Finally, we arrive at the smallest room of the house, the bathroom.

I like to keep a bowl of fresh face cloths handy, and around Christmas, they're jazzed up a bit with the addition of a few glass ornaments and some silver napkin rings.

The vanity tray also receives a holiday makeover. The red bottle brush Christmas tree is one of my favorite decorations.
I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of my Christmas cottage. I'm already getting excited about Christmas 2010! Just a couple of weeks ago I picked up a 1960's aluminum Christmas tree at a yard sale, so you can be assured that next year's decor will be quite different! For me, putting it all together again in a new way is part of the fun of the holidays. I hope that perhaps you've gathered an idea or two that you can use in your own holiday decor. I'd love to see what you're doing, so, if you don't mind sharing, send me your photos and they just might wind up in a future blog post!

Until next time,

Christmas in August

On my way to the post office I passed a sign at the elementary school for a Christmas in August dinner. “What a great idea,” I thought, as I drove by. Since Christmas is my favorite holiday and I really can’t get enough of it, I thought I’d do my own little Christmas in August celebration here on my blog, and share some photos of last year’s holiday décor.

Welcome to my home at Christmas Time!

For Christmas, I dressed up the plant stand in some festive greenery. Last year my fall plantings were still holding up in December, so I incorporated theses into the display along with my white pumpkin from Thanksgiving. I really liked the greenery cut from the woods behind the house tucked into the planters with white Dusty Miller.

I dressed my cherub girls up in red hats and plaid scarves, to take the chill off, and decked the neary planters in poinsettas and fresh greenery. My favorite outdoor decoration, however, was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree

that I dug from the woods myself. You can get a peek at it in the top photo. But enough of outdoors... come on in out of the cold and have a look inside...

Because my cottage is small, I like using a four foot tree on a table top in order to save space. This tends to keep the gifts safe from curious pets as well! For my tree and the area around it, I chose pinks, whites and golds as a color scheme.

The ornaments are mostly vintage glass with some handmade and "non-ornaments" mixed in for good measure. The pink pears were originally green plastic that I covered with pink glitter. I also repurposed other items such as skeleton keys and small teacups as ornaments.

But what's a tree without lots of presents underneath? One of my favorite activities leading up to Christmas is wrapping gifts. I like to keep them in the same color scheme as my tree. For the gift on the right, I used wedding

paper in a white lacy print with a bow made from white and gold wired ribbon. The one on the left was wrapped in the same paper and embellished with vintage metallic ribbon and a reindeer ornament.

In keeping with the color scheme, I also used some solid pink and white giftwrap along with a pink roses print. The package in the foreground on the right was wrapped in wallpaper! You might recognize this chair and the table that the tree is on from my summer porch arrangement. I like to bring it in for the winter and use it in my Christmas décor. I made the "Joy" garland hanging on the chair from letters cut from cardboard and covered in wrapping paper.
The picture above shows the bookcase in the corner of my office near the tree. It houses part of my collection of dog figurines and has been dressed for the holidays with a tiny tree of its own, which is nestled in a teacup.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my Christmas house so far, but we're barely through the front door. I hope you'll join me for my next post, and I'll show you the rest of the place.

Until next time,