Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Greenhow Blue

Benjamin Moore has come up with some wonderful new colors in it's Williamsburg Collection.  The colors have a vibrancy to them, not the muted, dank colors we used to associate with other historic collections.

Take for example, Greenhow Blue.


This may FINALLY be the answer to the master bedroom dilemma. (I have been hung up on Corals for ages.)


I'm polishing a few silver bowls as we speak, doesn't silver look fantastic with Greenhow blue?

You can find the entire collection online, let me know what you think, have a favorite?







Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thrift Shop Thursday

This time I did something I have never done before, I bought a decorative pillow at Goodwill.  I really could tell it was new, plus the case was removable (and I did launder it), so I am sure it is fine, really.




And here she is, a large 20" by 20" linen pillow that just caught my eye.  Don't ask me why, but I like bees and of course anything French, Ooh La La!!!

Half the fun is finding out how much my Goodwill finds are on the internet.  I seem to always find the exact same thing I just picked up in Augusta, Maine.

Found it!

This one I think was on Etsy, I did find quite a few, and they ranged from $40.00 to $45.00 for just the pillow cover. 





Well, well, wasn't I lucky to get a fresh, fluffy, 100% down insert with mine?  The price tag looked good too, $4.99.

                    HAPPY THRIFTING!





Monday, October 7, 2013

Remember That Wallpaper?

I ordered yellow, it arrived lettuce green, I liked it.  

Here it is in our newly renovated bathroom.



It is fresh and feminine, but not too. . .


I think it looks great, it easily mimics those very expensive trellis papers.

Remember, it was only $5.67 a single roll.

It works, don't you think?









Saturday, October 5, 2013

Fall Changes Inside And Out

Leaves are turning, there are pumpkins galore and even on a sunny day a chill creeps in towards evening, that's Fall.




 Porch furniture is put in the barn, the Boston Ferns are brought inside, that's Fall.






The sofa is made more inviting and I move closer and closer to the gas stove in the living room, that's Fall.






 Lights will come on earlier and blankets added to the bed, we know what's ahead.

                             BRRRRRR !!!







Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Hydrangea Wreath

The weather here in Maine last Sunday was gorgeous, a perfect day to spend outside.  A friend of mine has Hydrangea bushes flanking her lovely John Calvin Stevens designed home, so we thought it was the perfect time to make some wreaths. You know a MARTHA kind of day!

And I'm off.



The home was built in 1899 so I imagine these Hydrangeas have seen a few springs.





Loppers in hand we went to work.







This is serious business, not a wine glass in sight.

We gathered enough Hydrangeas to make a mighty fine mess.





Even the cat looked bewildered.





I used a twig form for my wreath and just stuck the stems between the twigs, no wire or glue.  








After adding more and more, and then just one more, I tweaked it a bit and voila . . . 




Right now it is hanging above the buffet in the dining room.






I love the pinks and greens and white, and especially like the fact there is no orange or brown in sight!

You may remember that last Christmas, our home was decorated all in pink and white.  Guess I have a little rebellious streak in me!


                         

Friday, August 23, 2013

Front Hall Bench . . . Or Table?

In yesterday's Thrift Shop Thursday I showed you my new gold bamboo mirror. 

Got to thinking that I might like a table rather than a bench under the mirror, I know, I do change things a lot!

So I went shopping . . . in the house.

Plates from the kitchen, candlesticks from a mantle, urns from the front porch, a ceramic piece a friend gave me a few years ago, and two sunflowers from my garden.  The table was in a hall upstairs and the green fronds in the back room ready to be thrown out (I was over faux, I thought). My hat was on the dining room table and the basket, who knows, I have tons of them.






Tables are fun, so many more options than a bench, imagine the possibilities.






Gee, that statue on the porch, my flourishing ivy plant, a stack of books from the den, and yes, the two green lotus urns sitting on the dining room table . . .

                       Oh, the possibilities!


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Thrift Shop Thursday

It seems I have always liked Chinoiserie even before I knew what it was.  I am surprised at how many Chinese inspired items I have throughout my house.  Pagoda shaped lanterns on the front porch, bamboo trellis wallpaper in the master bath, and of course my great little yellow dish from the flea market in Brussels! You know, the one with the birds and cherry blossoms.

So when I walked into the lobby (yes, our Goodwill has a lobby) at Goodwill and saw this gold bamboo mirror I scooped it up.


Those are my stairs, it's in the front hall.

Looking around on the internet I found you can spend anywhere from a couple hundred dollars for a pretty plain and skimpy gold bamboo mirror, up to many, many hundred for one similar to this.  This is one heavy mirror.



Just perfect, even if it is Chinoiserie cheap chic!







 When I said Chinoiserie cheap chic, I really meant it. This gorgeous mirror was less than one hundred dollars, way less . . . $9.99.

Looks good in the front hall, don't you think?

                        HAPPY THRIFTING!
              
                              










Thursday, August 15, 2013

Thrift Shop Thursday

Look what I found at Goodwill the other day.



I know you are questioning my judgement at this point, and to be honest I thought it was a little ugly too, but it was the right size and I thought it might work. You have to have an open mind if you venture into thrifting.



Doesn't everyone want a "vintage" burlap shade? 
Guess not.

For $3.99, it was worth a try, really it's not that bad.



Yep, I knew it, a perfect fit, but something is missing.



A little bit of grosgrain ribbon makes all the difference, suddenly it doesn't look like it belongs in the trash. 



TA-DA!!!

She's looking good, but has to get out of that Monroe Bisque room, it does nothing for her. 

                          HAPPY THRIFTING!












Wednesday, August 14, 2013

What Color Is The Wallpaper?

In the midst of redoing a master bath I decided wallpaper might be nice.  It had to be geometric, probably a trellis, and most of the ones I liked I couldn't afford, so it was off to discount land on the internet.

Since I have not decided what color the bedroom will be, I was pretty open as to the wallpaper color, as long as it was light and airy and of course my tried and true trellis.

I found one I liked, it sort of looked like one of the very expensive ones I had seen, and would work just fine for the bath. Here is the photo on the discount website I chose. 


Yellow, Right?  That is what it looked like and that is what the sales lady said it was.  Not my favorite, but I can live with yellow and I love the bamboo trellis.

Of course I did some investigating and found this paper was from York, and originally cost $47.00 a single roll, much less than the good stuff, but still more than I wanted to pay.

I was thrilled, to say the least, to find that my discount website had it for $5.67 a single roll, now that I can handle.

I ordered seven double rolls immediately and couldn't wait for it to arrive.

UH OH!!!!!

This is what I received.




That's not yellow it's green.  But let me tell you it is a really nice green, sophisticated and sharp, sort of like me, hahaha.

Of course I kept my ridiculously inexpensive wallpaper and am now playing with colors for the adjacent bedroom. First thing that came to my mind, coral.



I thinks it is great with the green, perhaps with white window treatments and duvet.  Something to think about. 


Stay tuned, someday that bedroom will get it's fresh coat of Coral, or maybe Blue, or Whatever, and you will be the first to know!

                         

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Thrift Shop Thursday

Oh how I love a thrift shop.  You just never know what treasure you might find.  I have been thrifting for years, in fact, my mother used to find my Christmas church outfit while volunteering at the Darien Thrift Shop.  I can vividly remember a pair of red MaryJanes and a dark green plaid coat with a velvet collar and a matching hat, sort of like you made out of newspaper when you were a kid, with a grosgrain ribbon trailing from it's back. Yep, I was a fashion icon at five!

Back to the present.  Here in central Maine I do not have a whole lot to pick from, Goodwill is really it.  But that's okay, if you pop in often enough you are bound to spot something.

One of my latest  (and I think greatest) finds is a rather tall, rather wonderful lamp.



I am doing over a master bedroom and this is just perfect.  I love WHITE, as many of you already know.

So I just had to know what kind of a bargain I had found.  Well, well, well, the same exact lamp was on One Kings Lane from a shop called Behind The Orange Door, the sale had ended so there was no price.




Thankfully, the nice ladies at Behind The Orange Door  were more than happy to tell me what a wonderful piece it was and that they would be delighted to sell one to me for $249.00.  I politely refused their kind offer.

Here they are, I get such a kick out of this.




It is the same lamp, from top to bottom.  The only difference is that the one on the top was $7.99 and the one on the bottom $249.00.  I am not a math whiz, but even I know, mine was a steal!

                          HAPPY THRIFTING!





                             


Saturday, July 13, 2013

A Cabin in the Woods

I wrote this four years ago, not much as changed 'cept we're all much cuter now.😀


We met in 1968, yep 1968. It was a tea in Greenwich, Ct., how lovely. A tea for incoming freshman on their way to Centenary College for Women (since then they've dropped the women part).

Now in 2012, we meet once again for our annual stay at a cabin in the woods.

Wine, Vodka, Lemons, Limes, Ice, Chocolate Cake, Pasta Salad, Scrabble? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check...we're ready to go!




Park the car, down a hill, through the woods,








on to the dock, our chariot awaits!




Across the lake,





to another dock,









up a hill, and we've made it!




Away from it all. We talk and eat and talk and drink and talk and talk and talk. We're young again. Forget the parade of pills and vitamins lined up along the kitchen counter, the sleeveless tops that grew three quarter length sleeves and the readers that play hide and seek with us. We're a lively trio.





We solve the problems of the world. Boat, V, or round? Necklines, of course. Short, chin or shoulder? That would be hair. And, boot, straight, or skinny? You guessed it, jeans!




The time together has gone too fast, just as the years have.






Back to our lives in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, knowing next year we will meet once again at the cabin in the woods!