WEATHER VANE

Two weekends ago, I made an hour and half trip up north with three friends to go antiquing.  

Our destination was the Springfield Antique Show Extravaganza.  I have been the past three years. 

We had a fabulous time browsing, talking and eating.  

Believe it or not, I almost walked away empty handed. 

There were quite a few things I had my eye on, but only one item made the cut. 

 I have been on the lookout for a weather vane for years now. 

Not for the top of our house, but for the top of my kitchen stove hood. 

Just as we were about to wrap up our long day of antiquing, 

I happened upon the most perfect horse weather vane.

Not only was it the prefect size, but the price was pretty perfect too at $10.

I like to change up the decor here often, 

but I have a feeling this weather vane will be staying put for quite some time.

Here are a few other things that peaked my interest.

First up, this amazing island.  If I had a craft room, 

this thing would be right smack dab in the middle of it. 

I really loved this metal coffee table. It would have made a nice addition to our new back porch.

There were metal signs, letters and symbols everywhere.

I especially admired this yellow "Home"sign.  

Again with the metal - this console made me do a double take. 

Wish I had a place for it. 

I was in search of something large to hang on a big blank wall on the back porch. 

This clock almost came home with me.  I sent my husband a picture of it. 

Our text conversation went something like this.

Me:  What do you think of this for the back porch.
Husband:  Not sure I want to know what time it is when I'm relaxing on the back porch
Me:  That's perfect, because it's not a working clock
Husband:  WTH
Me: It could be 5:00 p.m. all the time!

Despite my best sales pitch, he wasn't going for it. 

I also considered this for the big blank wall.

Had I been able to talk him down to my price range, it would have been mine.

The booth owner told me it was an old Chinese ceiling screen.

Even though I came home with one lone treasure, my friends managed to buy enough to fill up my car. 

I call that a successful antiquing trip!

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

I am all about simple solutions.  

If a project involves more than 10 minutes and a few tools, count me out.

Recently, I came up with two simple solutions that helped make life a little easier. 

First up, shoe storage....... 

I would not call myself a "shoe person" by any means, but a girl has got to have options. 

My OPTIONS were starting to crowd the shoe closet.  

It was time to get inventive.

This time an old curtain rod came to the rescue. 

This new storage method makes it easy to keep all my summer shoes on display.

I generally switch out my shoes seasonally. 

I store the off season shoes in the top of my closet, with the exception of the boots. 

In hindsight, I should have had them build the shelves a little closer together. 

My other simple solution involves my need for clear countertops.  

Nothing puts me over the edge faster than having clutter all over the counter tops.  

Yes, I'm aware, I have issues. 

My kids love to get a cup out of the cabinet, fill it with water, take a sip, sit it down and forget about it. 

When they get thirsty again, they get another clean cup out, fill it with water, take a sip, sit it down and forget about it. This cycle would continue all day long. 

Finally, I outsmarted them. I got out my trusty chalkboard tray, assigned them each a spot and gave them strict instructions to put their cup in their spot after each use. 

It sits on the countertop, out of the way, and has saved my sanity this summer. 

I exaggerate a bit!

There you have it, my two simple solutions.

Do you have any you'd like to share?

 

COLOR IN THE KITCHEN

I have been a bad blogger lately. There, I admitted it.  

Sure feels good to get that off my chest.

I hope you'll accept my apology. 

Here are a few of my excuses

1) three active children

2) house projects

3) client projects

4) PTO duties

I'll try to do better, I promise. 

Funny, when I do have a few spare moments, I always end up tinkering with things in my house. 

I realized one afternoon that I was bored with my "white collection" in the kitchen,

and my wheels started spinning. 

Since I also wasn't quite satisfied with my "green collection" being hidden away

 in the foyer, I decided to do a little switch-a-roo.  

This little change made all the difference.  I just crave a change of scenery every so often.

Seeing the shades of green  prominently displayed makes me smile. 

I've been adding a few pieces to my collection here and there. 

I also mixed in a little brass just to add some interest.  

I just can't get enough of the color green.  

I love this time of year when the grass is so green and lively and the trees are starting to bloom. 

My "white collection" ended up here. 

It really shows up so much more than the green did in this dark cabinet.

Do you ever make a little change that you love so much 

and then wonder why in the heck it took you so long to do it?

Yep, me too, all the time!

LIGHTING THE WAY

Since we recently converted the dining room to "The Nook", and removed the two glass lanterns that used to hang over the dining table, I haven't been thrilled with the lighting situation in this space.

I first thought adding pendant lighting over the island might be the answer, 

but after three years of cooking, entertaining and living in this kitchen, 

we have all gotten used to not having something hanging over our heads.

Not to mention, baseballs, footballs and basketballs fly through this room on a daily basis. 

I would be setting myself up for disaster by adding something breakable right smack dab 

in the middle of our most used space in the house.

It is quite the miracle that those three plates you see hanging on the wall are still hanging there.

There have certainly been some close calls, but somehow, they have survived.

Ruling out pendant lighting over the island, leads me to this area, "The Nook".

Seems like the perfect spot to add some light, not to mention, a little interest.

Here are a few fixtures I've been eyeing.......

The Brentwood Pendant from West Elm

The Turning Pendant, also from West Elm.

We will only be hanging one light here.

Therefore, the electrical box will have to moved to the center of the room,

and the two existing ones, taken out.  

Since some drywall repair work will be needed and the ceiling will have to re-painted, 

I think I might add some color up there (just in the Nook).

Nothing drastic, just a hint of color.

One thing always leads to another, doesn't it.  

I hope to make some decisions and get started on this project very soon.

I will keep you posted, of course. 

THE NEW NOOK

I have been tossing around the idea of switching up a few rooms in our house for quite some time now. 

I kept coming up with excuses as to why it wouldn't work.  

Last week, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot. 

Introducing the new "Nook".  

Yep, we have assigned an official name to the space.

You see, this space used to be our dining room/breakfast room. 

However, there was hardly any dining going on in there.

We borrowed a few pieces from our living room and office,
added two new chairs I scored at the consignment store,
and now we have a cozy little nook.  

For some strange reason, we decided to tackle this project an hour before trick or treating started. 

Good timing, right?

We moved all the big pieces, took a break to trick or treat in the freezing cold,
ate a ton of candy, and then put the house back together. 

We have this slight problem of the two lanterns now being in the way. 

Believe it or not, no one has been seriously injured yet.

I am calling the electrician this week to have them moved. 

The kids hung out in the nook all weekend.

The space had more action this past weekend that it had in the past three years. 

Let's take a little walk down memory lane to see how this space has evolved. 

This was how it looked originally (before we bought the house).

This was the state of the "nook" during renovations.

Shortly after moving in, it looked like this....

And it looked like this for the past five months.

Until last week, and now it looks like this....

If you are wondering where we will now dine, here is a sneak peek.

More on that later.  There are still some kinks to work out. 

Kinks and all, this was a good move for our family.  

I really want us to "live" in every room in our house.

 With the new changes,

we are finally doing just that. 

Do you live in every room of your home?

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Savvy Southern Style

"TAKE TWO" - KITCHEN

 When I started this blog back in January, 2011, I had a fancy camera, but I didn't know how to use it.  

I posted about our kitchen back then here and here.  When I look back at those photos, I cringe.  

Fast forward to July, 2012, I still have that fancy camera and I still don't know how to use it, 

but I starting to figure it out, SLOWLY!

For the next several weeks, I will attempt to post a "Take Two" on a room in our home.

"Take Two" obviously means "Second Take" not two photos.  You guys got that, right?

Of course, you did, just wanted to be crystal clear.

I will also update our Home Tour with these pictures.

I decided to start "Take Two" in the kitchen.

I was able to practice my barely improved photography skills yesterday.  

I still have a lot to learn, but I did manage to get some decent shots of the space.

Since this is the most used room in our home, 

it is hard for me to shoo everyone out and clean it up enough to take pictures.  

The stars aligned for me yesterday 

and my kids may or may not have watched a bit too much TV during my little photo session.

This island gets used and abused and I am so glad 

I went with a dark stain rather than the white cabinet color here. 

I picked up these cute glass jars at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago for $1 each.  

The daisies came from my front yard. They make me happy!

 The Sonoma Bookshelf from Ballard Design with some more clippings from the yard.

A little peek into the dining area and the family room. 

The 8 foot long bench I purchased from Scott's Antique Market in Columbus.  

The countertops are granite and the color is delicatus white.  

This hard working room really is the heart of our home. 

Many good times have been shared with family and friends gathered around this island.

I look forward to many more!

Is your kitchen the heart of your home?