Bedroom Shuffle-Part 2, Craigslist Headboard

As we move bedrooms around we were needing to downsize daughter #2's bed from a queen to a twin. This was totally her choice! She says it easier to care for a smaller room and it will force her to edit out things she really doesn't need. What? Where did she learn that?

She has a definite style of her own and I must say that I do like the direction that she is headed in. That being said, she was very specific about what kind of headboard she was looking for. I started scouring Craigslist. It took about a week and a little negotiation to get the right metal headboard.

My girl wanted a white, metal headboard; not a shiny new one but one that looked a little used and a little chippy. I did not want something that was old and potentially painted with lead paint that would be chipping off into her bed sheets so we compromised. I will paint it! (I know, you're shocked.) The metal finish on the headboard I found had a hammered finish that would lend some texture to the paint job it was about to receive.

A little blurry but you can see the finish-sort of.

I mixed up my p-o-p paint (the recipe is in this post) and used the same white paint we painted all her trim in. It is the same white we have used for trim in the downstairs rooms . It took three coats to cover it well. We are both happy with the results!

Just a peek for now....

I will keep you posted on the progress of the room..... Thanks for visiting with me! 

Linking up to these parties!

French Country Cottage,The Shabby Nest,Chic On A Shoestring,Craft Dictator,Whipperberry, Remodelaholic,Just Us Four,The Cottage Market,The DIY Village, DIY Vintage Chic,Blooming Homestead,The Girl Creative,Craft-O-Maniac,Satisfaction Through Christ,Missional Women, Shabby Art Boutique, Shoestring Elegance, A Tray of Bliss, The Dedicated House, Pieced Pastimes , Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Showoff, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Inside The Fox Den (My Pinterventures), Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Coastal Charm, Sew Can Do, Flamingo Toes, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Skip to My Lou, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Huckleberry Love, My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia, Domestically Speaking, Sand and Sisal, VMG206, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, The Dedicated House, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Mad In Crafts, Carrie This Home, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Between Naps On The Porch, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Yes They Are All Ours, A Stroll Thru Life,  Our Home Away From Home, Elizabeth & Co., DIY Dreamer,  Bowl Full of Lemons, Cozy Little House, Just A Girl And Her Blog, Time Warp Wife, A Spirit of Simplicity, 11 Magnolia Lane, Pink When, Little Miss Celebration, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Imparting Grace, Lambert's Lately, Grace and Good Eats, Too Much Time On My Hands. AKA Design, The Charm Of Home. Life With Lorelai, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours,My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson, Crafts ala Mode, Blesser House, Must Love Home. Pin Junkie, A Delightsome Life, Craftberry Bush, Snazzy Little Things, My Repurposed Life, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, Katherine's Corner

2015 Fall Fairs and Markets-Part 1

The waning days of 2015 bear an urgency in us to gather in from the gardens any remaining harvests and where there is harvest there is a fair. As the weather grows colder my urge to nest and hunker down increases.

Readying my home for the autumn celebrations means it was a great time to attend The Vintage Bazaar's fall show.

It was hosted, once again, by Coastal Windows and Exteriors. Stephanie was all dressed up to teach at her 'Home School' where you could pick up some great information about caring for your home. Doesn't she make the cutest teacher!

There was a lot to see and some really great ideas. I just loved this old pickup and I think I could have talked Mister into it if I had tried hard enough.

You learn to grab something if you like it because if you wait it won't be there when you go back. That was the case with the basket and cotton branches. I walked back up literally 30 seconds too late as the woman in front of me had just plucked them up.

I did manage to walk away with a funky little pumpkin. I don't know what it is made of. It kinda looks like rolled paper, or maybe some type of pod or reed...I really don't know but I like it and it found a home in my living room.

I also found a pair of shutters but I will tell you more about them later.

Fairs also mean country fairs where farmers show off their cattle, sheep and pigs along with the largest pumpkins you can imagine.

We made our annual trek to the Topsfield Fair and came home with more than we left with. My girls fell in love with a sweet lop-eared bunny.

This was their faces when softy-daddy said we were bringing bunny home!

There was a nice showing of fall gardening ideas. Couldn't you just imagine an early autumn dinner around this table?

And, maybe the sound of a little water trickling for background effects from your pumpkin water feature!

Food is always a part of any outing with us and there was food everywhere. I had to try the chocolate covered bacon!

We saw some rodeo action with the bull riders and listened to some live music and then took our new addition home. We named her Nimbus-like a cloud- because her coloring reminded us of stormy weather. I am not sure that name is going to stick, though. We can't seem to agree on it. I call her Funny Bunny. Isn't she sweet?

I have another fair to tell you about but for now I should probably call it a night. I think I will go check on the bunny.

Happy Fall!

Linking up to these parties!

French Country Cottage,The Shabby Nest,Chic On A Shoestring,Craft Dictator,Whipperberry, Remodelaholic,Just Us Four,The Cottage Market,The DIY Village, DIY Vintage Chic,Blooming Homestead,The Girl Creative,Craft-O-Maniac,Satisfaction Through Christ,Missional Women, Shabby Art Boutique, Shoestring Elegance, A Tray of Bliss, The Dedicated House, Pieced Pastimes , Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Showoff, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Inside The Fox Den (My Pinterventures), Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Coastal Charm, Sew Can Do, Flamingo Toes, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Skip to My Lou, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Huckleberry Love, My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia, Domestically Speaking, Sand and Sisal, VMG206, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, The Dedicated House, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Mad In Crafts, Carrie This Home, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Between Naps On The Porch, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Yes They Are All Ours, A Stroll Thru Life,  Our Home Away From Home, Elizabeth & Co., DIY Dreamer,  Bowl Full of Lemons, Cozy Little House, Just A Girl And Her Blog, Time Warp Wife, A Spirit of Simplicity, 11 Magnolia Lane, Pink When, Little Miss Celebration, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Imparting Gracehttp://www.impartinggrace.com/2015/10/grace-at-home-no-178.html, Lambert's Lately, Grace and Good Eats, Too Much Time On My Hands. AKA Design, The Charm Of Home. Life With Lorelai, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours,My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson, Crafts ala Mode, Blesser House, Must Love Home. Pin Junkie, A Delightsome Life, Craftberry Bush, Snazzy Little Things, My Repurposed Life, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, Katherine's Corner

Bedroom Shuffle- Part 1

Recently I posted pictures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of a closet that had no insulation, a live outlet, a length of unknown wire and a hole that you could see daylight through, The hole was new to us but not to the wasps who had started to build a nest!

The hole is about 1/3 down in the center of this photo. Outlet on the  right. Hole
 in the bottom left is to attic space over the kitchen.

That is the wasp nest.

For me, the most annoying thing was that there was no insulation. Last year we had Mass Saves come into our home with their little heat seeking device to determine the need for insulation. We were told that according the colors on the little hand held device that we had plenty of insulation in our walls. Ha!

This was the second time (first time was here) we have opened a wall to find NO insulation; not a fiber, not a newspaper, not a vapor barrier. Zip. Zilch. Nada! The man then proceeded to remove all normal light bulbs from my home and replace them with stupid ones that take 5 minutes to "warm up". I walk into a room, turn one on and walk out to do something while it gets up to full strength then I forget to go back and an hour later I'm like, "why is this light on?"!! Tell me how that is saving energy! I've just wasted an hour of electricity, my brain cells and the energy it took to walk into that room twice! Okay, whew. I'm done, but I am still not happy with Mass Saves wasting my time and tax payers dollars.

Now, the closet. The closet was in our office. It is really the 4th bedroom but we used it as our office. It has the biggest closet in the house and it was mine. Our bedroom closet is way to small for both Mister and me. Along with clothes, my closet also housed our photo albums and framed art not currently in use. It was also the music room, unofficial library, and catch all for all things without a home. I am sort of embarrassed about how bad this looks.

I have no excuse.

Mister decided it was time to address some work upstairs that was needing to be done. Looking at these photos I am guessing you are thinking "and not a moment too soon".I recently wrote about vanities that I had salvaged (here). I think the realization of what the bedrooms used to look like sunk in.  We were going to start my youngest's bedroom but that meant we needed to put her somewhere in the interim. We thought to move her in to the office. Where!? I don't know.

The middle child quickly spoke up and said she wanted to move into that room even though it meant downsizing. I was like "No, no, no" but Mister is a big softie and so we went forward. That meant loosing my closet. Oh, that still smarts a little. While preparing the room for daughter #2 we went to tidy up the closet and found the live outlet. "We should move that that to a place she can use it", said Mister. That meant dealing with horsehair plaster and lath. Okay. And, that is when we found all the other stuff.

                        

Mister is a hardworking guy, though,  and he had the closet back together in no time and painted.

And we were on our way. My girl has a vision for her room so we're scouring Pinterest for ideas. She is liking greys and whites and shabby chic....ooh I'm so on board! Come back soon to see the progress!

Linking up to these parties!

French Country Cottage,The Shabby Nest,Chic On A Shoestring,Craft Dictator,Whipperberry, Remodelaholic,Just Us Four,The Cottage Market,The DIY Village, DIY Vintage Chic,Blooming Homestead,The Girl Creative,Craft-O-Maniac,Satisfaction Through Christ,Missional Women, Shabby Art Boutique, Shoestring Elegance, A Tray of Bliss, The Dedicated House, Pieced Pastimes , Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Showoff, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Inside The Fox Den (My Pinterventures), Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Coastal Charm, Sew Can Do, Flamingo Toes, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Skip to My Lou, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Huckleberry Love, My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia, Domestically Speaking, Sand and Sisal, VMG206, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, The Dedicated House, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Mad In Crafts, Carrie This Home, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Between Naps On The Porch, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Yes They Are All Ours, A Stroll Thru Life,  Our Home Away From Home, Elizabeth & Co., DIY Dreamer,  Bowl Full of Lemons, Cozy Little House, Just A Girl And Her Blog, Time Warp Wife, A Spirit of Simplicity, 11 Magnolia Lane, Pink When, Little Miss Celebration, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Imparting Grace, Lambert's Lately, Grace and Good Eats, Too Much Time On My Hands. AKA Design, The Charm Of Home. Life With Lorelai, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours,My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson, Crafts ala Mode, Blesser House, Must Love Home. Pin Junkie, A Delightsome Life, Craftberry Bush, Snazzy Little Things, My Repurposed Life, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, Katherine's Corner

A Fresh Take

As a young girl I lived in Hawaii. It was only for a few years but memories of making hopscotch lines with jade plant leaves and stringing leis with my cousin from the plumeria tree in the front yard are some of my favorite memories. As a young adult I worked part-time in a florist shop on the Air Force base outside of Denver, Colorado. I worked with some lovely women there that were eager to share their knowledge with me. If I had been a smarter 18 year old I would have paid better attention when they were trying to teach me about composition. I did learn to make a mean boutonniere, though! Because of instances such as these I have an affinity toward fresh flowers. I will walk into my local florist shop in the winter just to renew that scent of life into my smell memory. Nothing beats the smell of a florist shop, especially in the dead of winter.

Sometimes fake flowers work, too.

Sometimes I walk around my home and feel, well,... blah. It's not that I don't love my home or the work that Mister and I have done here but sometimes I just need a little umph. My solution is usually a simple one- fresh flowers!

They can be as inexpensive as a grocery store bunch or as elaborate as one's imagination can fathom from a fancy florist shop. They can be living flowers in the form of a potted plant or a cut arrangement. During the summer and early fall I like to find my flowers at local farm stands.

Grocery store bunch.

Many, many years ago I had heard a professional decorator say that you need to add life to a room. No matter how well put together the room is it doesn't come to life until you add something living. She said you could use silk/fake flowers and at the time that was the answer I had been waiting for. I tend to kill living plants. I forget to water and feed them. I have often told people that the only reason my children are still alive is because they learned to feed themselves. Not true, but kinda.

Bittersweet in my dining room-2014

I am blessed to have an abundance of flowers in my gardens. Forsythia, tulips and lilacs bloom in the spring followed by peonies and iris. Summer brings day lilies and roses, black-eyed susan and hydrangea. Hydrangea transitions beautifully to autumn as the blue flowers give way to ones that present in eggplant and dark green colors-perfect for dried arrangements.

Sunflowers and tomatoes from the garden. Summer 2014

I always struggle with cutting my flowers to bring them in or let them stay beautiful on the plant. That is why I buy flowers in spite of having gardens. If you struggle with the same thing or don't have gardens to scavenge you could just pop over to flower delivery by BloomNation. Have you heard about them? I hadn't until a few weeks ago. BloomNation is a marketplace that works with local florists in your area to showcase their talent. It's a win/win situation; the florist gets exposure it may not have had otherwise and you get gorgeous arrangements for your home.  There is a wide selection of options to choose from. I found lovely arrangements for as little as $35 in my area! I got lost for way too much time perusing through the pages of beautiful work. I started daydreaming about where I would put all the beautiful things I was seeing.

Flowers by the bedside have always seemed so quaint and romantic and old fashioned to me.

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

My kitchen island is a good place for a happy bouquet or a low pot of peonies.

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

The counter top welcomes a tall arrangement that fills up the corner. Sunflowers make me smile! I have used them many times there.

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

My kitchen-Summer 2014

We eat at our dining table almost every night. The room is bold with it's stenciled walls so a bold arrangement full of color is right at home there.

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

flower delivery by BloomNation

Flowers make wonderful gifts, too. Who doesn't get all happy when the local florist pulls into the driveway with special delivery! After seeing some of the stunning options maybe you can think of places in your home that could use a little freshening up. Happy daydreaming!

flower delivery by BloomNation

*I was not compensated in any way for this article.