IT'S ALL IN THE "DETAILS"...

and I guess that is why you don't hear from me very often!  I don't mean for that to be an excuse but I really don't know where the time goes.  All I can say is that I am a "tweaker" and am always "fiddling" around with details. I can mess around with accessories, moving them an inch this way or a half inch the other, straighten pictures (a real bug-a-boo for me) and all of a sudden half the day is gone...
It is said that everyone has their own style of decorating and their own "tricks" to make it look attractive... well I like to "use duplicates" where ever I can... Check these pics out...

This is my table in the entry.  That is an original painting (done by a Senior in my last neighborhood in California).  I love the texture of the wicker pumpkin sitting on the grapevine wreath.

(FYI:  The little "witch" jar is from Karen Martinsen over at 

My Colonial Home.)  

I don't think you can see this vignette very well but there is a chicken with similar colors as the one in the print, a small galvanized pail of sunflowers and a huge crock/jug,

It has the same "feel" as the "feel" of the print

This picture was purchased at a craft fair and when I painted the china cabinet cranberry it just seemed natural to put this picture above it.  I bought the "goose" in New Jersey last fall in an amazing antique store.  He lost his grapevine "necklace" in the move. 

Here is the only corner of my counters and I love the little "Chicken Lamp" (on loan from one daughter) along with the "Chicken Plate,"  one of a set of 4 which used to hang on the wall in the last abode.

I don't know if I ever told you the story about this print.  In the California house we found this poster behind the china cabinet when we moved it to paint the wall.  I had bought it right after 9/11 and had forgotten about it.  I really like the look of it so decided that since the Eagle was so magnificent, I checked the Internet and found this beautiful one at Overstock.com  

It is beautifully sculpted and oh, so fragile!  I was a wreck when I took it out of the box but so happy when nothing was broken!

The frame holds a poem that one of my grand daughters wrote as an assignment the day of 9/11 when she was 10 years old and in 5th grade..she is now 24!

If I really been on the ball on the 11th of this month I would have shown it to you.

Her teacher liked it so much she sent it in to a publication where it was published in a book of "like" articles.

We were so proud of her.

  

I added this, in a hallway, to show you a feel I tried to create;

There is Pewter at the top and bottom, an old-looking flag and mustard-y color star and reproduction apothecary cabinet.

By adding it to the red cabinet (a "sale" find at T.J.Maxx)

it seems to create sort of a Revolutionary Period look.

Do you think so?

Here is another "hall" cabinet with a kitty cookie jar (also on loan from that same daughter) to go along with a darling antique picture I purchased a while ago from Linda Babb

This cross stitch was done by my the other daughter and given to me for a birthday several years ago.

I was fortunate enough to find the little rusty rabbit to make a nice little grouping in front of the T.V.

You'll notice they are facing away from the screen...

they, too must feel there is hardly anything worthwhile to

watch any more.

Do You Agree???

I hope you enjoyed my "Details"

and maybe it gave you a few ideas you can put in place in your homes.

Please leave me a comment & let me know!

Until the next time...

{{HUGS}}

    

HOME TOUR #2 AND A HUGE MAKEOVER...ALREADY

What! a Huge Makeover already??? I've only been here for  seven months and I am already changing things? Stay tuned and read further... A few weeks ago my Iowa daughter brought me home  (they won't let me drive from here to their home!!) and when she looked in the lower level and garage  didn't say anything. But when she got home she mentioned it to her family and they  decided to take some time to help me get finished. So they came up for 4 full days and boy did they (and I) work! Here is a look at the garage...remember I moved in  just 7 months  ago... and there are already were a ton of boxes already unpacked and gone!

Even a Cat Box for the cat I don't even have, yet!

A little spray painting as inspiration hit...

My Christmas Cow hiding among the junk!

But, HERE IT IS!

Have you ever seen such order in a garage???

Beautiful closed cabinets

and an old shelf for "current projects"

The back wall and stairs which are soon to be painted...

and see, a long time ago we took a trip to Yellowstone, The Badlands, and stopped at 

"WALL DRUG"

Excuse the tools, etc. under the table...couldn't wait to take pics!

The left side of the garage with "all" (ahem!) the bins with decorating stuff for during the year.

(Christmas stuff is downstairs...there is no way I could come out to the garage in the winter 

to pick through Christmas stuff IN THE WINTER!)

Remember, I am in MINNESOTA now!

And the first floor cloth I made ever made.

Here is my SIL Greg and a very happy me!

But it wasn't all work and no play...

here we are in Minneapolis at

MINNEHAHA FALLS

which is a beautiful park.

Tired, but happy!

Kathy, Greg, Gillian, and me.

And here are two of my wonderful Grand Dogs after working

hard at Grandma's...

ready for their ride home.

But enough of the greatly improved Garage

thanks to my wonderful family!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I would like you to see a little more of the inside of the house...

so enjoy the tiny little front porch

and come right in...

I will open the door for you...

Come right in and please close your eyes.  You have already seen the kitchen

(to the right) and I am not quite ready for you to see the "Entry" or the "Great Room".

Instead, I am going to share my new laundry/sewing room with you...

so, with your eyes shut tight, go straight ahead through the entry,

past the stairway and continue to the next place where you can turn left, go down the hall to the first door on the left and

here we are...or were for 7 months.

This is how it used to look...

Yikes, how did I ever live like that much less do a load of laundry???

HOARDER???

But never fear here is how it looks now.

I have to say some of these designs came from an idea I saw on Pinterest 

(but don't know where it came from originally.)

My new Sewing area...

Two Target bookcases with ticking covers on the fronts to hide all the sewing

and cleaning stuff... 

This cabinet has traveled from house to house and recently I had the new top made and painted the whole thing.

It worked well with "paint and primer" in one and only took 2 coats considering it was Laminate except for the new shelves on top.

Then it didn't look great where the top met the rest of it so I added some red & white checked ribbon with double-stick tape..

Then, for those of you who remember my old house with the chickens on the sewing room doors, I had a couple left over and added them.  Stenciled the chicken wire, too

I love polka dots and checks!

Finished it up with old brass knobs that I painted RED!

                                   

Here is the end wall...this room is good size...I think it is about 9 x 12; so room-y!

(The cute sign above the ironing board says: 

"WASH..DRY..PRESS..FOLD..REPEAT")

So true, eh?

This is the other end of the room...

Yes, that's a Beverage Dispenser for liquid soap!

A "close-up" of the lamp

another DIY project

This little rack is actually the side of a DOLL CRIB!

Here I covered pieces of Foam Core Board with fabric to "save the wall" from splatters.

Remember this Floor Cloth from my last kitchen...

works perfectly in here!

And here is a Sleepy Little Kitten snoozing on the dryer.

I think he's tired from reading this very long and hopefully "not too boring" post.

       ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I have a ton of pictures and there are still more rooms to show you...

Stay tuned as I have been telling friends,

"I am almost done."

But are we ever done with our homes???

To my Blogging Friends and every one else who arrives here

I would love for you to leave me a comment...

I promise I will answer all!

IKEA BARGAINS...Can you believe it...`

Don't be surprised to read today's post....not at all like any of my others But there is a reason... This bad girl (my computer) has been away in  THE COMPUTER HOSPITAL  for a couple of days This poor 3 year old baby had multiple problems and her poor  Mother (ME) was about to lose it! She has returned home and her poor Mother is not sure whether they were able to return her in "fixed" condition. So I decided to take it easy on her until she starts acting  TOTALLY NORMAL. So if you see something odd  or up-side-down or in italics or just plain missing  and not making sense, please bear with me! I am going to go for it and write a short post! YEA!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
I am going to tell you about two bargains I picked up at IKEA. I love a bargain and was so excited about these two items. Usually when I go to IKEA I come out with a receipt a couple of feet long!  Well, I did this time, too. Sorry, I digress... but there were actually two items on there for  $1.99 each!!! Yes, I said $1.99, yes at IKEA!!! Here is a super organizer-life-saver-frustration-preventer and under sink cleaner-upper. It's a simple fixture to hang up, in a cabinet, or a closet or in my case, in the garage. Stickers on the back...no tools required! You shove the crumpled up bags in the top and pull them out through the slots  in the front. I tried it today just to see if it works! Those Swedish People are awesome! Get one for yourself...you will love it! A bag-holder, not a "Swedish People"!  LOL  ;-) Silly Me!

And now for the second thing I found...It is funny how you can walk through that store

and see several things that are not immediately identifiable and you just move along.

Well, there was a friendly employee nearby who noticed my confusion and

she sweetly offered:

"Those are Lap-Top Lifters" (for $1.99)

piled "every which way in a huge bin"

Who Knew!

So I brought one home and my typing skills have improved amazingly!

My keyboards' keys are right up against each other 

and my fingers have a life of their own sometimes!

This is how it looks sans lap-top.

And this is how it nicely raises the lap-top to a perfect slant.

(Whoo-hoo..looks like it cleaned up my desk, too!  LOL)

See what I mean about the flat-right-up-against each-other keys!

(I also have a little 10" ASUS, for travel, where the keys are beveled...

so much easier to type on!)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

This has been my "little trial, give this girl a chance to recover

POST" for today

BUT

not all of my life has been GRIEF over a "Sick" computer, 

check out the next picture!

I would like to introduce you all to my second

 GREAT GRAND BABY

JUNIPER ALLISON 

who arrived in this world on June 2

and, of course 

her daddy, NICK

holding her in his famous "football hold"

which, by the way,

works amazingly well for fussy time!

She joins her brother, Colin

who turned two on June 1st!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Well, my friends, I hope this little post goes through and if so,

this sweet machine will be kicking out

more posts about my house and

what I have been up to lately.

If you like this post please leave me a comment if you can

 and I thank you all for following me

and your comments.

Until next time...{{HUGS}}

 

HOW ABOUT JUST THE KITCHEN

...because even though I have been here 4 and a half months, there is still so much to do.  Boxes are still stacked in the garage and in some cases "to the ceiling." I actually could SEE my EASTER decorations in a tub but there were 4 more stacked on top of them.  So, what did I do? you ask.. I used my ingenuity, imagination, and resourcefulness, brain and hit the Dollar Store for a couple of things, scoured the house for whatever HAD been unpacked and we "Winged It"
! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * !
But I digress...this is supposed to be about the kitchen  so here goes.

After you have come in the front door you make a right turn and you see these pictures.  Would you believe they have hung in every kitchen in the last 6 or 7 houses.  The one reads, 

"Pillsbury Flour Mills Company."  Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cool. 'eh

Then, make another right and you see the Eating Area.  Now I don't want to say it is "roomy" but I have, besides the table and chairs, 4 small cabinets and a built-in desk.  The 8 x 10 braided rug I had in my old great room is under the table.

Besides the Bay Window there are 2 large windows on the side

of the room.  Even though this home is far larger then the old, wall space is short so I had to be inventive in finding places for things I want to display. So, as "they" say:  "If you can't go out, go UP."

So that's what I did... 

Over the Bay Window...

and over the side windows!

I picked  up this little cabinet to display a set of miniature Transferware Dishes...

But...

remember that darling Great Grand Son I have...

Well, he likes to put spoons, measuring cups and what-all in there.

So much for my little dishes...

I saw a display similar to this on PINTEREST and couldn't wait to adapt it to what I have...I love it and get so many good ideas.

And in this corner we have a little pine cupboard that I had shipped back from Cape Cod.

(How do you like my idea of a SOUVENIR?)

So now we are looking at the other end of this kitchen.  Did I mention this room is 22 feet long!

And Oh, that Island...I am in love!

Over the island I HAD to have a Pot Rack...well

maybe a cup rack is how it turned out.  LOL

Here is really the working area, who? me? WORK in the kitchen???

I thought it was just a place for more decorating...HA!

I had to show you this, close up...Doesn't the area by the phone always become a huge mess?  Well mine ALWAYS was a mess

until I brought out this little shelf,that used to be in the bathroom over the faucet, to hold all the "stuff."

This is the "impossible" corner...I have had about 5 or 6 different things in this corner...Hang in there with me...I will get it right some day!

What to put above the cabinets you ask?  

Well you can see what I have. 

And you can see I need some more!

OOPS!  The one on the frig. needs to be move up!  LOL

This old cabinet used to be in the hall in CA.  Here it fits nicely in the kitchen holding my transferware. 

Here's a "close-up" of the "old" Cookie Jar that was my MIL's.

She had it on her kitchen table (back in the early 50's when I first met my DH) filled with pretzel sticks.  

I kept it that way, with pretzel sticks, for many, many years.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Well, dear friends, I hope you enjoyed the rather disjointed tour of my new home. It does take forever to get a place the way you like to see it but if I can do it, so can you!

Leave me a comment if you don't have to run off and decorate some area of your home!  

I read them all and try to respond!

Thanks, and yes, winter will be over soon...

I guessing July!