My hallway Doppelganger

I was going through some paint blogs for a prospective client's home - and came across a blog called
HOUSE PAINTING TUTORIALS - 

Breaking Up a Narrow Hallway with Paint Colors

by Em
(Brooklyn, NY, USA)

look at all the details - everything is almost identical to mine - right down to the bead board - and the door at the end of the hall way ( look down - look way down )

my bedroom is on the opposite side - otherwise this is the same - amazing!

HERE IS MINE
I chose to wallpaper one side to break it up even further -
these are really very long halls

unbelievable - since I am in Montreal, Canada!

The next Union Jack?

I found these 2 pcs online and think I am going to attempt my Union Jack on the taller of the 2 -
( I actually love all the detail on the smaller one - and do not want to mess that one up on my
first try at something )

Not sure if I will go with the traditional colors of the flag yet - may go light grays instead -
will see where my brush takes me I suppose.............

xxx

BRITISH INVASION PART 2

I am hooked on yet another thing I suppose - cannot get enough of these................

Design Sponge

And Elizabeth from The Melon Patch sent me this one.............

Created by Tres Cher - it's an old pallet!  Ingenius.

And finally this was listed on Craigs List ( in the States - for 100.00 can you believe it? )

My God - the fantasies these arise in me are frightening............went to sleep last night
with my brain frantically trying to figure out which pc of furniture to tackle this on.

xxx

BRITISH INVASION................

One of the blogs I follow, Lindauer Design, hand painted a Union Jack on an old coffee table - and I have fallen in love................( I fall in love with every piece they do ) I love that the colors are not traditional -
I love that it has been distressed and looks like an antique pc, and I especially love the fact that something
like this would be very fitting in my home because John is from across the pond. Very inspiring - my creative
juices are bubbling - this is definitely a future project - perhaps more gray than blue but still.............

Miss Mustard Seed - ( another favorite ) created this one

and now looking at this I really love the traditional colors as well - and the antiquing is perfection.

Blogger Flea Market Trixie created this small foot stool - again non traditional color - lovely

and lastly the blog French Provincial Furniture created this masterpiece -

as much as I love the distressed look - I adore the clean paint line of this one...............

There are some seriously talented people out there, that I plan to steal ideas from -

I have so much furniture to paint - I just have to figure out which one will become my
ode to England.

xxx

FLOWER POWER

I usually buy flowers every week for the house - last weekend I selected several different types and made the following arrangements - everything in total came to 30.00 - amazing

                                                                   

entryway

living room

                                                                    

dining room

                                                                       

bathroom

 
                                               

                                               AND GERBERAS FOR THE KITCHEN

(in a leftover wine bottle lol )

  



 I love having them to look at wherever I am in the house, it's like everchanging artwork -
at an incredible price.  Took the pics a few minutes ago - so they have been in vases for 6 days now and still look like I just bought them!

Take time to smell the roses..........................
xxx                                      

                          

Offer accepted for the " secretary " desk - it's MINE

She is all mine!!!!!!!!!!!

This has a perfect spot in my home and will not be sold - it is so pretty - John and I keep walking by it and
stopping for a moment to look at it, again and again.

Here are some gorgeous secretaries that inspire me to do something really special...........

and finally my favorite of all...........

and although this is much more substantial than my little one - this is the finish I am going for - an
antique white/gray...............

xxx

Somebody stop me................

Picked this antique beauty up this evening.............it is really very lovely in it's wood tone - but
alas I will be painting this baby as well.
Can you see the keyhole in the top drawer?
And it has tiny wooden casters on the bottom

Stay tuned

I am awaiting a special paint " Annie Sloan " it's a specialty paint for antiquing furniture.............

Will post pics of finished product

xxx

and another find - but not sure if they will accept my offer yet

Loving it................

Wow - I am actually salvitating at this pc............
I want to take it home and marry it - I want to wake up everyday and say
good morning to it - I want to caress it - and speak gently to it - and........
ok I guess you get the picture?
But it will probably be on my " for sale " list ;(

xxx

Once again, wood lovers will have to turn away

OMG - isn't it gorgeous?
Just purchased it - and it is going to be painted ( and distressed ) in a white and parisian gray -

xxx

New Project?

Another Kijiji find - will call this morning to see if still available - I think it has so much potential.............

beautiful details that would really stand out with some antiquing................
looks like the top of the woman's bureau even has a fitted glass covering.
fingers are crossed for this one.

xxx

Before and after: Washroom

Almost there!!!!

Just some crown molding and baseboards and the mirror to be put up and I will be walking away from that room.................BEFORE

 and after.............

I will take one more once the moldings and mirror are up -

It is looking quite lovely............

This washroom cost more than just staging unfortunately for my mother........she needed to have the
tiles knocked down and and tub surround put in - and that cost roughly 5,000 big ones..........

For staging alone costs were as follows:

DRAPES - ( regular window curtains taffeta - lined - by Martha Stewart 50.00
SHELVES - kIJIJI find  35.00
Lighting - Habitat restore 35.00
Mat - 20.00
White spa bench - on loan
Accessories - 80.00
Paint - I mixed 2 left over gallons to create the color
Total - 220.00

On to the Kitchen next............stay tuned!

xxx

Flowers for a pretty lady...............

I hope she is happy now, for some reason she has clammed up - no comments either way,
but as I was leaving to pick up her flowers I could hear soft crying in the kitchen - one
of my cabinets thought I was going to leave her out............
She got this.

those pale green berries turn to yellow, orange and finally red..........

if the girls are happy
then I am happy


xxx

New Find

On Kijiji -   ( the dealer has a site called " sweet deals " and there are some amazing items.

Will have to hold on to this for a while - while I was bringing it down the hall it took on a life
of it's own and plunked itself right down in front of the bookshelves.........I tried to move it
but it's legs are firmly in place.........

And as I was walking away I swear it whispered " please get me a vase of flowers - I feel
naked " so I am off today to the florists - I showed ita couple of vases and it has already
selected one. ( not the one on the bottom shelf - it argued a bit about that but I firmly told
it it was staying )

Furniture speaks to me...........................
Literally lol

Royalty for dinner tomorrow night ( my kids )

I haven't seen my kids as much as I need to with all of this work going on this summer - a couple of stolen afternoons and evenings, not nearly enough ( I would say want to - but you know how it is when you're a parent - it is a real need deep inside )   I need to see their faces around the table - I need to know everyone is ok - and I absolutely need to see their smiles..................as much as I can dress up a table - nothing can adorn my table like them.  This is how I feel before I see them
and this is what they do for my heart

And next weekend we will need another fix of the " little ones " John's ( mine in my heart too )
granddaughters -

Because they have 2 grandmothers already - I decided we would be Lolli and Pop - and when they
say " Lolli " my heart just about melts into a colorful vibrant happy bowl of mush.

Happy wknd

xxx

Me and my brilliant ideas..................( yeah right )

So - I had this wonderful idea - I was going to take this wall

and do something magical with it - it's a small wall in my kitchen and the only wall that
isn't either exposed brick or covered with furniture and appliances............................
I decided I was going to paint a diamond pattern with contrasting colors - leaving what
was there ( a yellowish color ) and cream.

so here I started off ( no measurements - just by eye - because everything I do, I do well, right?
HAH HAH HAH

note how uneven everything is...........time to take all of this down and start over
have I learned my lesson and am now using a tape measure?  of course not

look at the 4th row down...............( keep in mind I think it was roughly 2 in the morning after
working all day at my Mothers - is that a valid excuse for stupidity? )

painstakingly...............

so does it feel to witness a genius at work?

this is really one of the most embarassing design projects I have ever done - somebody stop
me before I go any further - PLEASE.

ok so nobody stopped me and now you are going to have to witness this atrocity.

too bad - I asked - nobody listened.................
I cannot look at it, I literally walk into my kitchen and avert my eyes from it everytime
It looks like a bad 70's trip - every diamond is lopsided............
Somebody walked in last week and said " Wow - love your wall " all I can say is they
looked like a " stoner "

Stay tuned - have another vision - as soon as I have the energy to execute it!

xxx

Time for a vacation................

I NEED A VACATION....................

Think we will go somewhere next week - have no idea where - but need need need some time away, anywhere.

I am almost finished the bedroom set for the master bedroom - here are pics so far..........

Before

and almost after ( doors need to be finished ) but I am almost there!
again the cell camera does not do the color justice - this is a really beautiful antique
pale blue - although it looks almost white in the picture.  This wknd I am off
to purchase a decent camera.

I really love it - wood lovers please turn your head away.   ;)
will post pics from a decent camera as soon as I have one.

xxx

No sew - no frills curtain valance

I needed something something to dress up the master bedroom ( the one I am staging not my own ) so came up with this idea tonight................

I had some very thick cotton batting - stiff enough to stand on it's own which I had used for a headboard project..............so cut it to size.

Than I cut up some Toile fabric that I had also bought some time ago for another project ( one that I gave up on completely )

I used straight pins to attach it to the cotton batting - no sewing - love love love it................

and this is my simple fix for a temporary valance..............

I am going to attach it with a simple rod ( again using straight pins and some small pcs of fabric )

A pair of cream linen drapes will hang underneath it.............I think I may be able to take pics of the
finished bedroom tomorrow - just a little " tweaking " left to do.

xxx