Can't Get Out To a Gallery?

                 

Gather all the art waiting for a home, fill a wall. Sit back and enjoy. 

Some thrifted, some family pieces.

What's in Your Tub?

                                                           It's a long story.

Victorian Shelf Makeover

                                            We picked this up last fall. It has lovely details.

Yes, it is crooked. It has since been leveled. Old house, nothing is really level here. Marty followed clues and rebuilt and repaired and then painted it all white. The wee drawers are a separate unit that can be slipped out. The door is replaced.It's been fun putting it to use.

Christmas Came and Christmas Went

                    Finally convinced the hubby that a four foot tree is a fine tree to have.

                                    Tucked away in a corner, no dog tails can touch this.

                                    A "new" find this year, an old handmade wooden greeting.

Instead of a "kitchen tree" I made it into a tree full of ornaments from my childhood. some thrifted, some from the yearly Christmas stocking, and some after I got married.

 Most of these boxes are empty but they make for a colorful display from years gone by.
So few Christmas cards are sent now and even few letters.

 This Nativity was a find this season.  It fit right in on the wood stove. Thankfully, we did not need to use the wood stove!

 I found the second half tree a while back and now they fit perfectly on little shelves in the dining room.

Another find this year, a bottle brush Christmas star.   I hope you had a lovely holiday.

A Little Kitchen Enamel Lovin'

 I pulled this kitchen table from the back of Marty's dad's barn. He used to fix motors on it. We rescued it and fixed it up as our first table. Thirty-four years later, we are still enjoying it!

 I found this a few years ago at a town wide yard sale.  I love the way "BREAD" is lettered.

 Oh so many years ago, we purchased this Hoosier. The pull out enamel counter has always been very handy.

                     For a long time this has held the cooking utensils close by the stove.

 A more recent fixer upper that makes it home in the kitchen also sports an enamel pull out counter.

 Finds from the past:  smaller enamel jug, timer from and old stove as well as the back from an old stove with it's own mirror.

 A very recent find: and old postal scale.   It weighs a tonne! The enamel is  practically perfect.  It has a voluptuous form.

                                                  The glass plate is perfect too. Lovely!!!

Finally Completed Projects

 I have had this tray of old price tags for many years. I always wanted to Put glass over the front and hang it up in the kitchen. Well, fast forward a bunch of years and it is now hanging in the kitchen.  I put Plexi-glass on the front instead of glass as the tray is a little flexible and glass would likely crack.

 I did this a long time ago as well but the front is not completely level so it too needed a Plexi-glass front. Done and hung!  Happy.

This too has been hanging about for a long while and has found its forever home in the guest room.  The funky clock is from Winners, also a long while ago.

Big Reno, Small Changes

 Last summer Marty and the guys changes all the windows in the addition. Huge job, took a long while and as usual, there were surprises along the way. No, not nice surprises. Nevertheless, they all got replaced, and RE-placed, in better locations too.  Finally the giant 9 foot by 7 foot window in the guest room is all but a memory!

                                      Now things look better indoors as well as outside.

 When it came time to repaint the guest room inside I decided to go with simple white.
I also moved out the antique door headboard.

 I wanted a pared down, cleaner look and as the dogs are not allowed in the guest room, I went bravely with a white quilt we found a long time ago at a thrift store.

                     These lovely pillow shams were found recently and look nice with the quilt.

 I chose just a few of my favourite silhouettes to hang back up and the rest will be passed on.

I even had the curtains already too. The last detail to complete is to put a mirror into the frame for the dresser. It took a while but it is finally done.

                                            This piece I did years ago looks right at home.

                                                          All ready to receive guests.

A Place For Everything

                              I have had three old shutters tucked away in the barn for years.

            Over Christmas Marty turned them into three shallow cabinets with shelves in them.

                                           And this evening, they were installed!

There were partial hinge pieces on them and we turned them into handles on each. I look forward to putting them to use.

Showing You The Door, The Kitchen Door

 There are five doorways in my kitchen. Not all have doors though. Marty painted the chalkboard paint in the top panels of each door when he redid the kitchen 11 years ago.  Very handy for lists and notes. Above is my canning list for this year.

Over the weekend Marty installed "racks" or wooden rods to hold my pot lids. This frees up part of a shelf in the pantry as well as a shelf section next to the stove.  I love it when things can be made more efficient, even after a decade of living here.

Taking Back My Home

 It has been a flurry of activity since Marty came back home for good, back in February.  First empty the other house/sell it, then Joshua got back from his time in Malawi, then there was a big yard sale, and the usual dispersal of goods not coming back into the house.

In addition to the big stuff, clearing out, paring down, planting trees, etc. I have been looking at my home with fresh eyes.  Time for a few small changes to make things more the way I see them in my mind.
The lovely Victorian magazine rack above was a gift many years ago from my mom. I thought it was pretty cool.

                    Then came a small shelf, and a number of other pieces over the years.

                                      And a frame, hung in the hallway.

 Now in the dining room too. I had my eye on this pair of shelves for a while and finally got them last weekend. Joshua helped hang them up and I think they look as though they have been here forever! They also pull the three spaces together nicely as well: dining room, living room, and hallway.

 I was on a roll, so on to the guest bathroom! We had repainted the walls before listing the house (six years ago) which necessitated removing all my mirrors and as I didn't want to add a bunch of fresh holes to the walls, the mirrors got tucked away.
Since Joshua had the tools handy, I pulled them out and back up they went!

 There is no window in the bathroom so the various old mirrors bounce the light around.  Some of them are scavenged from antique furniture pieces, while others are meant to be set on your dressing table.

They all have the the perfect amount of waviness too.  I'm thinking some new towels are in order for this space.

Kitchen Mimicry

 I blogged this great find recently. The back of an old enamel and cast iron stove. I love how it tops off the Hoosier.

 We traced the outline of the cast iron piece onto some plywood and my hubby made me a little "sous chef" shelf.

It's the perfect spot to put regularly used  items close at hand, keeping the small stuff off the counter. What's up there? From left to right: pink Himalayan Sea Salt, Organic cane sugar, funky little measuring cups, my small mortar and pestle, salt and pepper grinders.
Yes, the fresh eggs reside on the counter. I really like the wire egg holder.

Another Fun Find

 This was a recent find. The back of an old stove. It is enamel over cast iron and has some weight to it.  It is in great condition but for the chip you can see on the left panel.  The mirror even swivels.

                               I cleared off the top of my Hoosier and put it on top. I like it!  The "Shopsy" sign belongs to my youngest son.  For now, I get to "keep" it in my kitchen.