decorating
I’m Keeping the Ruby Glass Chandelier
I had zero pleasant feelings about the ruby glass chandelier in our living room when we moved in. In fact, I loathed it. Have you ever heard of the red light district? Don’t worry! This isn’t a story about that. Unless you drove by our house at night when the ruby glass chandelier was turned on and saw the red glow emanating from our home. Then you might think it was about THAT. Our living room quite literally glowed red. It was almost comical. It wasn’t even helpful in terms of illuminating the space. The seller had tried to sell the ruby glass chandelier at an estate sale before closing.…
Music Room Before and After
I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a proper ‘before and after’ room post because that’s just not how I roll, but there’s a first time for everything! Today I’m going to show you pictures of our music room before and after because I’m at a stopping point in this space. Basically, I’ve called it ‘good enough’ for now. Or maybe ‘much better than before’ and I’ve moved on to other projects. Yes, there are still things to do in the music room. Will they get done? Definitely. Probably. Let’s not hold our breath. Last week I showed you my piano harp art. The piano harp art may be the…
Metal and Leather Rooster
Handy Husband and I were married for eight years before we had children. In those years, we worked hard. We played hard. Our lifestyle was not conducive to having a conventional, living, breathing pet. We did have a metal rooster though. We even named him and I’m not embarrassed to admit that. I should be, but I’m not. Meet Roddy. He’s from a little farm I like to call Pier 1. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I like Roddy. He’s a keeper. However, sometimes when I walk by Roddy his metal tail feathers rattle and then I don’t like him very much. No girl needs to be reminded that they…
Piano Harp Art
Every once in awhile an idea in my head, a wild hair, really, turns out even better than I hoped it would. And I’m SO EXCITED ABOUT IT going to play it cool and tell you how my idea to make piano harp art came to fruition. When we took apart the upright piano that had been left in our house when we moved in, I knew I could use the parts of the piano to make unique, statement-making art for our home. Of course, the pièce de résistance of piano parts is the harp and that was the hardest part to extract. Murphy’s Law. The piano harp is the part of…
The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse
I rarely answer my phone for numbers I don’t recognize. Half the time I don’t answer my phone for numbers I DO recognize. Therefore, it must have been fate calling one sweltering summer night when my phone rang and I decided to answer. After all, every once in awhile I do need to make sure I remember how. The person who sold us our home was on the other end of the line. He had found the 1971 MLS Listing for our Colonial Farmhouse in some papers he was sorting through and called to see if I wanted it. Do I need air to breathe? Do I need shoes that are…
Our Colonial Farmhouse Dining Room
Today is an exciting day. You get to see where I eat breakfast! And lunch. And dinner. Sometimes a snack or…three. That’s right, it is Colonial Farmhouse Dining Room Day. If you are new here, two months ago we bought a really, really old house. Old houses are quirky. Ours is no exception. This house has no formal or informal foyer space, which would drive me nuts if I didn’t have a thousand other things that were already doing that. When you walk through the front door of our Colonial Farmhouse, you are walking into the original room of this house (circa late 1700s). The previous owners used it as…
$20 Outdoor Dining Set Makeover
One of the things I was really glad the seller of our home left when he moved out was all the outdoor furniture. Most of it was dirty and gross and not my style, but we would definitely use the furniture until I found something better…after I cleaned it all up. Okay, fine. We sat in it before too. It was an immunity-building experience. Of the three outdoor dining sets (yes, three!) that were left here, the one I liked the most was the one that was in the worst shape. Of course. It is a classic metal outdoor dining set and you really can’t go wrong with those. This…
5 Old Books I Found in Our New Home
Old houses are full of surprises. (I’m a master of the understatement.) Our colonial farmhouse has already given us plenty of surprises – most of them electrical related. I also found some old books and magazines in our new home. That’s a WAY better surprise than realizing you only have one inconveniently located outlet in your master bedroom! Since I previously told you the seller left tons of unwanted items in the house when he moved out, you might think that I found these old books in one of the four gazillion dozen boxes of junk on the premises. Nope. I found the old books and magazines in two places.…
My Dining Table Is Now a Coffee Table
Do you remember when I bought a $9.60 round dining table at the Habitat Restore and making over that table almost sent me over the edge? That was fun. Fast forward several months and the scars from the traumatic table makeover experience were healing nicely. Then I realized why that table might have been donated to the Habitat Restore in the first place. The top kept coming loose from the base. I’d tighten it and then people would put their elbows on the table (!) and eventually the top would loosen up again. The solution was clear. Either I could teach my family manners or we could stop eating all…
The Doors of Our Colonial Farmhouse
My number one reason for buying our colonial farmhouse was the original, wide plank wood floors. That’s how everyone selects a house, right? My number two reason for buying our home was the original doors. According to my logic, if life opens one beautiful door and you choose to walk through it and discover another beautiful door and ANOTHER, how do you not buy that house? It was a sign from the universe I didn’t want to ignore. The doors of our colonial farmhouse are definitely the eye candy of this house. And I do love me some eye candy! And don’t even get me started on the glass knobs! This is…
