Summer flowers

After returning home from our trip to Ohio, I could not wait to unpack all of my new treasures and start re-decorating.  Honestly, whenever we return from a trip, my suitcases go into the bedroom, and then I unpack the new stuff I bought, start moving furniture around the house and creating new vignettes.  Strange?  I don't think so.  haha!

So here are a few of the new things I bought in Amish Country a few weeks ago.  And don't you just love summer time?  I picked these flowers from my front yard, the side of the road and by my brother's pool.  Gorgeous if I have to say so myself.  

Don't you just love this vase?

At night, the lights are so cozy.  And don't you just love lanterns?

Thanks for stopping by!  Linking up to Wow Us Wednesdays.  

Kitchen

Two years ago, or so, I was asked by Kim at Savvysouthernstyle to post some pictures of my kitchen.  It's taken a while, but here it is.  

Our cabinets were custom-built, by Dixie Cabinetry in Springville, AL.  I requested a mantel over the stove.  I bought the plate in St. Augustine at the Columbia.

I requested a brick floor when we were building this house.  We had to go to five different Lowe's stores to get enough of this brick because it was being discontinued.  But I love it.  

The cabinets were painted white with a chocolate glaze and antique brass hardware. 

I also wanted plate racks.  So handy!

That's my daughter's hand-print on the plate.  The artist turned it into a rooster.  What a good idea!

My favorite granite is "Mahogany Blue Eyes."  United Surfaces in Springville, AL did our kitchen, bathrooms, and the brick and tile floors. 

Below is the bar.  We eat most of our meals there.

This door leads into the pantry.  And this is also Caroline's corner of the kitchen.  Her little kitchen was made by her great-grandfather in the 1950's.  She loves it.  I hung her artwork and a picture of her and her cousin on the wall above it. 

And this was a piece of furniture that my mom gave me.  I took the doors off of the top of it and had it painted to match my cabinets.

These french doors lead out to the back porch.  

Hope you enjoyed the kitchen tour.  Have a great week everyone!

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Thinking outside the box...about jewelry.

Hello all!

Who else out there has a jewelry box?  You know what I mean...  One of those wooden boxes with all of the drawers, and you have soooo much jewelry that you can't even close the drawers or the top of it because your jewelry is spilling out of it.  Well, I do.  Technically, I still do, even though it is in the closet right now, hidden from all eyes.  

I've been wanting to find a way to organize my jewelry, but in an attractive way.  I have no hidden space in my closet to hang up one of those cute, Pinterest-y, fabric boards with the kitchen hardware.  You know what I'm talking about.  :)  

Now I don't expect everyone out there to LOVE what I've chosen to do, but for now, it works for me.  I found this shelf at Kirklands.  It has faux, crystal door knobs which I thought would be perfect for hanging my necklaces.

So the dresser is not what I want it to be...  I still need to paint the dresser to match the pillow on the bed.  Suggestions are welcome.  :)  I just bought a new lampshade for my "trailer park" lamp.  Yep.  I bought the lamp at a yard sale at a really, dumpy trailer park.  I gave it a coat of spray paint and I do love it.  I especially love it now that it has the new shade.    I will show you the NEW shade in a post on another day.  I am also going to get a piece of granite for the top of the dresser.  

Here are some close-ups for the shelf...

I also added some little bowls to the top of the shelf for my rings, bracelets and earrings...

So there it is.  My way of getting my jewelry out of that out-dated, kind-a-ugly, small, jewelry box.  Hope you enjoyed it and hope it inspired you.

Have a good week everyone!

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Master Bedroom Tour

Does anyone else enjoy sleeping in a really nice hotel room?  I remember many years ago, when my husband and I were on our way to Lancaster, we stopped outside of D.C. to spend the night and the hotel was so clean, comfortable, but best of all, the bedding was amazing!  Down comforters and pillows...and all in white.  The mattress was the most comfortable mattress I had ever slept on.  And I was several months pregnant at the time!  So when we returned home, I immediately purchased a down mattress pad, comforter and pillows.  I wanted our room to be a place that we could really relax.  

Welcome to my master bedroom. 

I really try not to over-decorate the bedroom.  I have tried to keep it mostly neutral, but HAD to buy these monogrammed pillows from Pottery Barn.  And my number one rule for decorating the bedroom is NO photos of children, friends, family, or pets.  Only photos of you and your spouse.  I read that in a magazine a long time ago and thought, "That makes sense!  Who wants Granny staring at you while you're in bed with your husband?"  

...and HAD to buy this decorative pillow.  It's from Pottery Barn as well. It's basically the only thing in our bedroom with color right now.  But I'm working on that!  :)

...except for these gorgeous hydrangea blooms that came from our yard.  What a good year it has been for hydrangea!  And why leave them outside, when you can have bouquets to enjoy indoors?

And I like how the blue looks in my room, too.  Hmmm...

So I love the colors in this pillow.  Orange, rust, blue, green, and mustard.  Now I'm wondering what I should do about wall art above the bed.  I have a pretty tall headboard but still think that the wall needs something.  Any suggestions?  I'd love to hear them.  

And here is a sneak peak at what is on the other side of the room.  You'll get to see the rest next week.  But I'll tell you this...I think it's one of the better ideas for organizing that I've ever had.  

Hope you enjoyed the tour.  And any suggestions on wall art will be very welcomed.  Have a good week everyone!!!

Linking up to WOW Us Wednesdays.

Amish Country Treasure

My in-laws took my husband, kids, and I to Amish Country yesterday.  By Amish Country, I mean Berlin, Ohio.  It is wonderful!  There are the best shops and boutiques for home decor.  And we stopped for lunch at Der Dutchman, where all of the food is home-made.  Caroline had a wonderful time.  At our first stop, she found some baby goats and pigs and got to feed them and play on the playground while I did A LOT of shopping.  I was in heaven.  The candle-holder on the right in the photo below is something that my MIL bought in the first shop.  It is beautiful.  She let me move some furniture around her home today, and do a little re-decorating.  She is so good about that.  And she usually loves what I do, too!

 The lights and the greenery and candles are all typical of what you find in the home decorating stores here in this part of Ohio. 

 And a lot of battery-operated candles.

 This is another picture of the candle holder that she purchased along with the greenery.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Have a good week everyone!

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With the cousins.

Tonight, we were invited by my husband's cousins to go to a local Japanese Steakhouse for dinner.  Caroline really enjoyed dinner with all of her cousins.  She has no problem being around ALL boys.  No girls needed.  ...and she was introduced to something called a "blue marble drink."  That's what you see the kids toasting with in the picture.  There is a glass marble in the bottle, so it makes noise while you drink.  Can't really figure out what the drink is exactly...the ingredients are water and high fructose corn syrup.  I guess the flavor of hers was "blue."  LOL!  

She's something isn't she?  You have to be, to keep up with a bunch like this!