CHANGE IS GOOD!!

   

When we live in a home for a very long time it is hard to imagine it looking differently. 

The same thing goes for the accessories and furniture in our homes.

But, when we do change things out, it can actually give an old piece new life.

I change some of my accessories out for the change of the seasons. I have a winter/fall, spring, and summer look.

Since it is summer I brought out one of the paintings I change out….

I add more blue and white to keep the room cooler looking for the hot summer months. This blue print does the trick.

What use to be here was this painting……

When my hubby took this painting down he leaned it on the console at the back of the family room, and we both knew it had to be hung there. 

Otherwise it would be hung in his den until winter.

I love walking into the kitchen from the family room and seeing this painting, it is a favorite of mine.

An unexpected plan, 

but a good one!!

It just reminded me to try elements in different places in my home. I did this for my clients all the time, but I don’t do it for myself very often.

Do you give pieces new life in other rooms?

 

Try it you just might be surprised at how much you love it somewhere else. I sure was!!!

 

 

KITCHEN UPDATE

 

Today the kitchen is getting the final coat of touch-up painting done around the sink where we had to reconfigure the cabinet for the new farmhouse sink.

There are also small nail holes where the legs were attached. Once this is done the cabinets will all be back to normal.

This is the one job Hubby hates the most…. 

P-A-I-N-T-I-N-G!!

 

I always consider it a gift of love when he paints anything for me.

I am enjoying the nice clean look of nothing on my counters I must say. The Carrara marble is the star and the subway tile is it’s understudy.

When accessorizing my mantra is…..

LESS IS MORE BIG IS BETTER

Speaking of BIG have you all seen the new Restoration Hardware catalogs?

Stacked together it is almost as high as the threshold on the door.

This is not my porch, nor my catalogs, but I just had to show you this stack of catalogs! 

It is actually Erin Gates porch the author of Elements of Style blog. Apparently this stack weighed in at a whopping 17lbs.!!

I did not get this stack of catalogs, but

I did get something from RH for my

kitchen!

You will find it in the ENTERTAINMENT section under the Grand Brasserie collection.

All of the pieces are cast aluminum finished in either nickel plated or Zinc plated.

Staying true to form I chose a very long tray for my kitchen bar area…..

This tray measures 8 1/4 in. wide by 39 in. long

Since my breakfast bar is a little over 6 1/2 ft long....

 My motto was go big or go home!!

I chose the nickel since I have a very shiny nickel faucet….

I am enjoying looking at the tray with nothing in it right now, but have visions of using it for candles, mounds of lemons, apples or limes. 

For entertaining I will have bowls of fresh fruit and nuts for my guest to munch on. There are so many ideas swirling around in my head.

I find the piece itself to be sculptural, and it adds an interesting texture to the kitchen area. 

Even though it is nickel plated it still has a bit of roughness to it. I like that contrast with the smooth elegant touch of the marble.

It obviously looks a lot longer in person at 39in. than it does in the pictures. 

I think I am going to really enjoy this new piece in my kitchen. It also looks great on my dining room table.

I didn’t have enough lemons, but I used what I had just to see how the brightness of the yellow would look, and I LOVE it!! I am going to have to buy a boatload of lemons to fill up this baby!!

I also got another brown box delivered for the kitchen. Don't you just love that brown truck and the little man in the brown uniform!

 I am really excited about another upcoming addition to the kitchen!!!

Stay tuned for more on the kitchen!!

 

 

INSPIRATION AT WORK

 

I don’t care where we go on our trips one of the first things I want to do when I get home is spruce up my yard with fresh flowers and plants.

It never fails, I have always been inspired by the beautiful surroundings where we stay on our trips. 

Of course they all have full time gardeners sprucing them up daily, but I kind of forget that part by time I get home.

On Friday we went to Lowes and Home depot to get some flowers. Mainly impatiens. I always fill my front flower beds with impatiens every year.

(This is last years impatiens planted in pink and white stripes!)

We waited until we got home to do the planting, but I think we are a bit late, I need two flats for my flower beds, and we had a very hard time finding any that looked half way healthy.

Our little truck bed was full of pretty pink, white and lavender goodness with a bit of purple thrown in for contrast….

It is going to be very hot here in California for most of the week it will be in the nineties, so I need to keep these babies moist and hydrated.

This is the flower bed next to the front porch where I like to sit in the mornings with coffee.

The little bubbling fountain in the upper left is a welcomed friend as well as the giant Meyer fern. 

This year I added some coleus with pink and purple in the leaves for  color, and textural interest. 

The Prayer plant, Calathea roseopicta 'Medallion.' Has wonderful dark and light green leaves with a purple underside. 

Once the pink and white impatiens fill in I think it will look so pretty, if I can keep them alive in this upcoming heat!!

In the backyard impatiens were added underneath the Japanese maple tree. Hopefully by the end of summer they will be spilling out over the edges of the cobalt blue pot.

The palm by my back door gets a bit of sun so I chose to use Dianthus in pinks at the base of the palm……

More pink impatiens can be found next to another Japanese maple in the corner by my gate.

All these plants have really grown. I wanted the blue pot as a color spot, but it is barely peeking out this year.

Below is the same corner from last year. You can see how much everything has grown!

I think they like this little corner under the letter P, which just happens to be an old vintage neon sign. 

Hopefully this year we will get some electricty so we can turn on the light.

This is what we are working on This Memorial Weekend!

Wishing you all a wonderful

Long Weekend!!

ENJOY!!

 

 

I Brought Back Some Inspiration From My Vacation

 

Do you find yourself all inspired, and motivated after you have been on vacation?

Of course that is after you have rested up from said vacation!!

We recently had the pleasure of spending 10 days in South Carolina.

There was inspiration all around us. I thought I would share a few of the things that inspired me along the way.

Today I will be sharing one of the things that inspired me.

Charleston South Carolina is known for all their beautiful Historic homes so I felt like a dog in a forest to say the least.

One of the elements that I was inspired by and want to add to my own home were the wonderful Gas light lanterns on the porches, or a lamp post leading up to a walkway.

I have no idea if we can put them on our homes in California or not. I have had these in the back of my mind for years, but truly never even thought my hubby would consider the idea.

After taking a carriage drive, walks, and car rides up and down the streets of Charleston, it peeked his interest as well.

He told me to see how much it would cost run them!

Say WHAT???!!

Until I do the sourcing and the investigating I will keep them on my, “DREAM LIST!”

I especially love the lanterns that stand above a fence, or the one’s that hang from the porch ceiling.

Not sure if I will ever have a gas lantern, but I sure as heck am going to check into getting one. I will let you know what I find out.

Y’all come back now!

(I picked up a bit of a Southern accent while I was gone.)

 

 

KITCHEN UPDATE

It might not seem like a very big deal to most people, but for this gal today was a very big deal.

I finally got to put a vase of flowers on my new, NOW SEALED, marble counter tops.

You can still see blue tape on the cornice, and the wall at the end of the bar with it’s patch job waiting for some new paint. (I have to figure out what color to paint my family room! Insert, “I’ll think about that tomorrow!” (this was said with my best Southern accent.)

You see we just got back from a ten day trip to the  South so I can be Scarlet if I want even if I am a California girl!!

There are still things to do in the kitchen, and once we get caught up on the laundry, and our rest we will dive back in, but for now I am just going to sit back, and look at my pretty flowers on my new marble counter tops.

BTW:  Did you all read the Special Announcement at the top of my blog? 

Be sure to take a look!