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Flea Market Style

The last piece of mail I received before we left our old house were the last two copies of Flea Market Style. What a visual treat!

 

There are so many wonderful ideas in these two magazines that I honestly don't know where to start! I can hardly wait to get into our new house and start decorating. After three nights spent on a cot in my mother's living room, I am more than ready to get into the new house. We get the keys today at 5:15. Hurray!!!! Since it is a rental, I am limited in the changes I can make. We have been given the go ahead to paint if we like and to tear out old carpeting to show the hardwood underneath but that is about it. Everything else is going to take creativity to work with the bare bones of the place. I am so up for the challenge!

Score!

I was at Rubydog's Art House yesterday to pick up some things she had on hold for me and check out what I found...

Does this yell out Audrey Hepburn or what? My good egg is redoing her room in the new house like a black and white movie. Her inspiration is Breakfast at Tiffany's. We have been painting her furniture black and picking up black and white accessories. This phone cost me $5! What a steal! It just screams vintage - it is from the 60's - and still works. It is going to look awesome in her new room!

Thinking about white dishes - love them or hate them?

I never used to like white dishes. They seemed so utilitarian. So plain. But it seems I am changing my mind. I have seen some wonderful photos of white dishes lately and they are calling out to me "Do this at your house!" I found some yesterday at Wonderbuck's for very reasonable prices. All of our dishes seem to be breaking. We've lost 2 bowls and 3 plates in the last few months. I have to admit that my Emile Henri plates and bowls have lived a good long life. I got them over 20 years ago and they do not owe me a thing! What we have now are a mix of various dishes in blue, green and hand me downs. I am going to start picking up white pieces when I see them and one day my dining table and cupboards might look like this!

 
via 50's Housewife

 
via loving.living.small

 
via faded prairie

 
via barn house

What do you think? White? Or not?

Are you house proud?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. As I have packed box after box after seemingly never ending box, I have thought about each item. Why do we own it? What does it say about me? Is it something to keep or let go?

 
Do you ever ask yourself these questions? Do you ever feel like your life is being consumed by stuff? Lately I do. There are just so many things that we use on a daily basis but, more than that, so much stuff for my art and sewing. These are the hardest things for me to part with. As an artist, I never know when I will have an idea for something and want to pull out (insert essential item here) and create. How can I plan for creativity that hasn’t happened yet?

I have come to the conclusion that in the past few years I have cared less and less about taking care of our house and making it a place of comfort and relaxation. It has become just a stopping place not a resting place. I have been feeling a disconnect within my family lately. Like we are not together as a family but, rather, are just three people sharing one space. I am sure that part of it is due to our house being filled with boxes, my good egg spending every possible minute with friends rather than her parents (can’t really blame her – she is only 15!), my irritability with summer (I am so ready to be back into the routine of the school year) and the crow’s terrifically long hours at work these past 2 months. We simply aren’t spending enough (or any some days) time together.

I want this to change in the new house. I want to get back to the days when I was able to invite people over and feel proud about my home. I have become a decorating blog/website junkie lately. I keep seeing great ideas and bookmarking them. I am getting an image in my mind of how I want the new house to look but, more than that, how I want it to feel. I know that I can't make a lot of changes as we are renting but I know I want it to feel the way I feel when I look at pictures like this:

 

 via the fisherman's cottage

 
via the creek line house

 

via shabby addict who got it via hiya papaya

 
via cottage and home decorating

 
via cottage and home decorating

 
via my house of giggles

I know that I can make this happen. And, in doing so, I know that the way our family lives together will change. The biggest change will be around dinnertime. Finally, after so many years we will have a space for a dining table and will be able to eat dinner together each night. I think that I am looking forward to this most of all. And I am thinking of splurging on some of these to make it just that much more special.

 
via cottage and vine's etsy shop

 

A Rose By Any Other Name

 

Friday Favourites

Take two....

I did these links this morning and then my computer died and everything was gone. POOF! Just like that. Ergh!!!!

 
via http://www.hulaseventy.blogspot.com

 
via http://heavens-walk.blogspot.com

 
via http://youpaidmorethanme.blogspot.com

 
via http://annwood.net/blog

 
via http://andeeeve.blogspot.com 
 
via another site I can't recall right now and she got it via  http://www.etsy.com/listing/76513710/8x10-she-was-the-kind-of-woman

Stairway to Creativity

I rediscovered this wonderful group of artists when I was on Amelia Island this past July. How can anyone walk past this doorway and not want to walk on up?

 
My favourite artist here was Casey Matthews. Amazing, amazing mixed media art that does not translate half as well in pictures as it does in person. I covet her work!

 
 
Another artist that had some truly wonderful pieces was Elizabeth Dion. Her work was really inspiring and made me wish I had an unlimited budget!

 

And Theresa Daily had some paintings that made my heart sing.

 
 
These artists make me want to paint, paint, paint!!!! I think I am going to delegate a cupboard in our new kitchen to my painting and make use of the natural light we get there to start creating some of my own work again. I haven't painted in over 9 months. Ever since I got stuck on my painting in honour of my Dad - I just couldn't figure out how to finish it. Maybe because I wasn't ready to let him go? I feel like now I can pull that half finished canvas out and finish it off.

Southern Charm

 

I love these southern doors. They whisper to me of grace and charm. Sweet tea under a gazebo. Crinolines and petticoats. Rocking chairs and porch swings.

I want to bring some of that feeling to our new house. I know it is a rental and our ability to make changes will be limited. How can I make small (inexpensive) changes that will make our new place have the feeling that I want it to have? Also, knowing that we will probably only be there for a year, how can I make changes that I can take with me when we move on? My mind keeps whirring about. I wish I had taken photos of the new space so that I could be planning better but I won't see it again for another 2 weeks. 

My good egg and I have been enjoying planning her new space in the new house. She is wanting a room that feels like she "has walked into a black and white movie". Yesterday we went bargain hunting at our local thrift shops. Score! We got a duvet cover and pillow case for $10!!!! We are still on the hunt for the perfect bedside tables. She wants vintage so we are going to keep looking at the thrift shops until we find just the right thing. Then we will paint it. These are the kinds of inspiration that we are working from:

 

 
 
 
all images courtesy of http://www.housetohome.co.uk/ 

We already have permission to tear up the god awful ugly green carpeting in her room. There is hardwood underneath that looks to be in pretty good shape. We have been repainting all of her current furniture with a glossy black. Yesterday we went to Anthropologie to find new knobs for her vanity. They had some very pretty clear glass ones on sale and they are going to look fabulous!  

There is hardwood elsewhere in the house as well that we are going to expose by tearing out decades old carpet.  We will most likely be painting all the walls white. I like how our artwork pops against white. And, goodness knows, we have a lot of art. Mostly pieces by Sheila Norgate and Maarten Perera with some of my own thrown in.

The landlords have basically given us carte blanche so long as we keep everything clean and presentable. Since the house will either be sold in a year (and I would guess it will be torn down if that happens) or we will continue renting it, we are allowed to do whatever we like. The only catch is that the landlords aren't going to pay for the paint etc to fix it up since they don't know what will happen and don't want to put money into a house that might be torn down 12 months from now. It makes sense to me. And I like that we have more freedom than we have ever had before in a rental. We can really put our stamp on it. My goal is to make it our own while spending the least amount of money possible. Redo on a budget!

thinking about....writing

 
 
 

Losing Momentum.......Then Finding It Again

 
I am now 12 days into packing up for our move. As with all new projects, I jumped into the packing with verve and gusto. Then around day 10 I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by a mountain of boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. And beyond that more things to sort and pack. It seemed to be a never ending task. I felt tired, exhausted, overwhelmed. And I realized that I had come down with a virus. I had all the symptoms. Reading instead of packing. Sleeping instead of packing. Eating instead of packing. Doing anything instead of packing. I had become a victim of packing ennui.

Have you ever experienced it? It isn't specific to packing. It can attach itself to any activity - like a parasite. And it just sucks all the joy out of doing the activity. It might come when you are quilting or painting or (insert your activity here). It is what hits you when you find yourself doing any other activities you can think of BUT the one that usually brings you joy and pleasure. You have lost your drive, your passion, your enthusiasm, your heart for the activity.

It may sound crazy to hear that moving brings me joy and pleasure but it really does. I love the searching. I love the planning. I love the settling in to the new house. I love making my things work in new and different spaces. I am very excited about this move. I can hardly wait to live in the neighbourhood we are moving to. We lived there 15 years ago when our daughter was born. It is a neighbourhood where you can walk to the store, green grocer, pharmacy, etc in minutes. There are restaurants and coffee shops galore. A person could easily live in the neighbourhood car free and never lack for anything.

So, I let myself have a couple of days to get over the virus. I read. I slept. I ate way too much candy. I drove my husband crazy with my bad moods. I made myself do something the complete opposite of packing. I pulled OUT my school books and did some planning for the new school year. I created worksheets. I read a bunch of different blogs. I got excited about going back to work in September. My fire started to spark again. Once I felt that little spark I forced myself to pack a box. Just one. Lit-- tle--ba--by steps. And you know what? After that, I packed another box and another. And, voila!, my packing ennui is gone.

So, once again, I can say (with a smile on my face no less!) that: