The Loft

My sister and her husband recently sold their home. Meanwhile, they will be living in this "loft-style" apartment while they work on plans for the dream-home that they want to build. My sister seems to enjoy being down-sized for the moment. ...And she got a kick out of the fact that I stated that for once I would not envy her home, or her decorating skills... To my surprise, after she had moved into the apartment, how jealous I became. I think my words were, "Well, this just makes me sick!" Thankfully she knew how to take it. She just laughed. My envy is just a form of flattery. These pictures don't do it justice, but here we go...

Of course, what apartments DON'T have wrought iron hand-railing along the stairs? ...not to mention the gorgeous, gigantic wreath and the decorative iron on the wall.

And when you enter in the front door, you see the living room.


The TV cabinet in the living room... Gorgeous decor on top, don't you think?


And the coffee table...

And the perfect chair sitting next to her desk. One day, she will come home from work to find that chair missing...

These are her barstools. She painted them "buttermilk" and re-upholstered the seats. Of course, she managed to cover a pillow as well... I mean, really?


And I can't figure out how she tied in all of the blues, oranges, reds, and neutrals...but she made it work!

Speaking of orange...

She bought this from Pottery Barn. Fabulous, right? I seriously would have looked right past this bedding and never thought a thing about it.
I think it was when I saw the bedroom, and how well everything tied in so well...the dresser, the bedding, the pictures on the wall, that I felt like I needed to just go home and light a match. LOL Just kidding. Kind of.


This is a corner in her kitchen.

Onto the bathroom. Remember, this is a small apartment. 1 bedroom to be exact. I am just amazed at what she's done.

And zebra print towels. She's incorporating a little of this throughout her home...with pillows and ribbon.

And black frames above the toilet. Did I mention that there is a washer and dryer in this small bathroom. I couldn't get great pictures of this space because of the size, but it looks great!

Thanks for letting me post this, sis! You have become a great decorator!

Let me just say that she manages the family business which is in the line of natural stone. Didn't you notice the tile and granite throughout her apartment? Check out unitedsurfacesinc.com

Fall decorating in my home.

Things at our house have been busy, busy, busy lately. My sister sold her house and moved, my parents went on a cruise recently, and we are in the middle of the annual Fall Holy Day season.
Amidst all of this, my sister decided to sell her bedroom suite to us. We were in desperate need of a King-sized bed. This is our new room:


And with Fall just around the corner, which by the way is my favorite time of year, I had to start decorating.
This is what I added to the bottom of my china cabinet:


Don't you just love Brach's candy corn? I love to put out dishes of this stuff.


These are the french doors which lead to the back porch. I decided to hang a wreath on them this year:


This is the mantle above my stove in the kitchen:

This is a small arrangement I made to go in a small corner by the coffee pot. Those turkey salt and pepper shakers were a gift...I think they came from Cracker Barrel.

This is my kitchen table. My sister came by last week and helped me move a few things around. She gave me some great ideas, including putting this sign on my table, which I had never thought of!

This is a table by my front door. The shutters came from my mother-in-law. The big "S" came from Hobby Lobby. I painted both.

These are a couple of chairs and tables I have in my living room:



This is the top of my new entertainment center:


This is what I put on my coffee table. I like my lantern, and the Paula Deen books stays...but it lacks a lot. I think I need flowers. What do you think?

This is a new sign that I bought from Hobby Lobby for my porch. I love black birds.

I made this wreath last year. It's okay... I've been kind of "down in the dumps" about my poor decorating skills lately.


And I re-covered some old pillows for my front porch. I wanted polka-dots this year.




Hope you liked the home tour. Maybe you were inspired. Wait until you see my next post... my sister let me photograph her new home!!! She did an awesome job! Happy Monday!

Hurry! While supplies last...

I was at Walmart last week, picking up a few random items and just looking around the craft section when I spotted this...

I thought to myself, "What's this doing in Walmart?" And then I looked at the price...


It was $10. Yes. I'm sure. And I actually debated on whether to purchase this or not. Don't know what I'm going to do with it yet...but it's sitting on my coffee table for now, just waiting to be filled with something like artificial-but-real-looking artichokes.

So you better go grab one of these while they are still around! Walmart carried a gorgeous soap pump a couple years ago, and I think I purchased five! I went back for more, but they were gone. Since then, I haven't ever been able to find another soap pump that can compare. Have a great Tuesday everyone!

I'm linking up to Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.

Our summer in Ohio.

This summer, we got to spend almost two weeks in Ohio, visiting family. We had a great time and stayed very busy. We attended the wedding of a cousin in West Virginia, and a graduation party for another cousin who lives in Pennsylvania. And of course, Caroline got to celebrate her second birthday of the year while we were there. Grandma always comes up with some kind of fabulously creative cake just for her!
Here are some pictures from our trip:

Three generations of "Peterson" women. ...or does it count as four?


Happy Birthday Caroline! Again. She's not spoiled at all.

Grandma and Pap's grandchildren.



Caroline, all dressed up for the wedding with Grandma's pearls.

Caroline with her cousin Jacob. I've always said that they could pass for brother and sister.

Caroline with Grandma and Pap.

We love and miss you all! See you soon!