Thursday, November 29, 2018

Plaid Ribbon for the (Christmas) Win!


Mollie and I saw this ribbon at least a month ago and we both instantly loved it!
I recycle my bows for a year or two, until they start to look rough,
 and then I like to change it up. 

You can see last year's sparkly stripe here in the kitchen windows.

We have started "decking the halls" and we are loving it everywhere we put it!
It has so many colors in it and the blue background is such a beautiful shade.


This one is on the front door.
Evergreen wreath is a Black Friday deal from Lowe's,  magnolia leaves from a friend's tree and a BIG bow. I may add some battery operated fairy lights. I'm not sure because I tend to forget to turn them off at the end of the night
 and then the batteries are kaput in no time flat :)


Trader Joe's boxwood wreath, more magnolia leaves (it's the South - we can't help ourselves!), fairy lights (the wire is far less noticeable in real life)
 and the fabulous blue plaid ribbon!


Our giant gold Santa got in on the blue plaid ribbon too!

We are just getting started. 
There's more Christmas decorating to come!

Friday, November 16, 2018

Annie Ray Art!

I want some.
You're going to want some!

I went to a fair in October (I've been meaning to post this forever!)
 and saw Annie Ray's art from across the parking lot. 
And I instantly loved it.


What a great painterly style. 


 I've always loved the skewed perspective tablescapes and interiors of the Impressionists.
So Annie's paintings are right up my alley.
Her tablescapes are my favorite. 


The radish on the napkin gets me every time. 
And the crab, corn and lemon slices in the top picture.
I love all the pattern and the embellishment. 
There is so much to look at in one painting. 
Follow @annierayart on Instagram.

*This is not an affiliated or endorsed post. I just wanted to share some really beautiful, fresh and unique artwork. 

Monday, November 12, 2018

The Elephant on the Porch and More!

I was scrambling to get my One Room Challenge post up on deadline 
so it was mostly pictures.


But I wanted to share a little bit about how I created what we think is a beautiful, relaxing spot without spending much at all.
It is an outdoor space and even though our porch is screened and under a roof 
the elements still take their toll.
This means that things do wear out or fade or suffer
 in our humid, damp weather most of the year.
I can't justify spending a lot, but it is our favorite room "in the house" so I want it to be comfortable for us and welcoming since we do the bulk of our entertaining here.

Almost everything on this porch
 was found at a thrift store, yard sale 
or online thrifting forum. 


I've already talked about the great deal I got on this large wicker chaise here.
I can never, ever leave an elephant garden stool behind. 
This one was at Goodwill a couple of months ago. It's large and had great detail. Sadly it had been broken. Someone had very carefully, practically seamlessly, glued the base back together but the glue had yellowed and they donated it. 
I grabbed it for less than $10.00 and brought it home. 
A coat of the BEST gold spray paint in the world (here here, here and you can't even find the cracks.)
The British say, "It has a wee blighty."
You can't even tell the poor boy had a blighty!
Trunks up!

Now for the big, fabulous bar cart!
If you are lounging around in that hanging bed you might need a refreshing drink!

I found this bar cart a few weeks ago in a non-profit thrift shop. 
I actually left it behind, thought about it for 20 minutes (what was wrong with me?) and then rushed back to get it. It is from a company in Bradenton Fl and I'm sure it spent many sunny days on someone's porch in South Florida.


Humble beginnings. 
We gave it a coat of fresh, glossy green and then added a ton of thrifted, vintage bar cart accessories. 

It will be so much fun to change it up for the seasons.



Literally everything here was thrifted and so inexpensive. 
 The straws are in a thrifted pineapple pitcher (99 cents at GW) and the gold straws came from the party section at Wal Mart. The gold polka dot tea towel is from the Target Dollar Spot. The silver pineapple snack trays are from the dollar store too!

 Tortoiseshell pitcher? Goodwill. Less than $5.00. 
And so far no one has noticed - we drank that wine the night before the photo shoot :)

The pineapples were all thrifted
 and the big pineapple canister also got a coat of my favorite gold spray paint.


No monkeys left behind either!


The brass tray cost less than $5.00 and is holding leopard napkins from the dollar store.

The mantel was salvaged. Read that story here.


Everything on this mantel is thrifted. 
The bamboo mirror was $6.96 and it's plastic!! It's definitely vintage - you can tell it has some age from the back but it looks great and you have to get close to tell it's not real bamboo!
Plastic bamboo is perfect on a porch.
Lamp and lampshade - GW on separate trips. Under $10.00 for both.


Seascape? Yep, Goodwill for $4.94. We love it. The gold frame is thrifted and the contemporary black and white art is just something I painted quickly to work with the black and white from the zebra rug.
The big yellow vase was a quick buy at GW a few weeks ago because the background of the wicker chaise is a nice soft, creamy yellow and I thought this would be fun and a nice modern addition to the mantel or bar cart.

So, see, you can find a lot of great items for not a lot of money. A little paint , fabric or freshening up will do the trick. And a lot of items don't need a thing done to them- they were just donated because people got tired of them. 
This is the ultimate recycling.
And because I don't have a big investment in my decor I don't feel bad if I want to pass something on and change things up. I can resell some items but I often just text pics to friends, someone is usually willing to come pick it up and it gets a new home!

I'll try to share more details about the other thrift finds on our porch in future posts.
And you can always see what I'm finding if you follow along on Instagram!

I hope you have some thrifting luck soon!

Saturday, November 10, 2018

ORC Lucky No 7 - The Reveal.


This reveal is all smoke and mirrors.
And creative editing.

Repairs were not quite finished 
by the time this ORC started six weeks ago (and they still aren't!)
 but I didn't let that stop me!

And we only had one way to go on this project. Really.
It couldn't have gotten any worse!

There are still a few things that will have to be finished construction/repair wise
 and I didn't complete all of my plans -
  so maybe you'll check back and see.

But here is what did happen in the 5 quick weeks of this One Room Challenge...















Thank you to Linda of the One Room Challenge because, finished or not, this is the greatest motivator and we always end up with a space that I'm glad I took on the challenge!

Please be sure to see what everyone else accomplished. So many great rooms.
And check back on the blog because I'll be sharing in future posts where I found some of my items and what I still need to finish and more!

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Friday, November 2, 2018

ORC Lucky No 7 - Week 5

I almost titled this post 
"Sheer Panic!”
What the heck - let’s go with it!!!

This has been slow going and there hasn’t been a lot to show up until this point but it was so awful to begin with that I feel like every little thing is great progress!
 Or that’s what I keep telling myself!

 I have painted everything white that needed to be fresh, glossy white including the swinging bed and now I’ve moved on to the gorgeous green floor.


We have had a green porch floor for years but a friend recently gifted me with Amanda Lindroth's book Island Hopping and I'm obsessed. Like, can't put it down. And it confirmed that this fabulous green was just the color we needed for our porch floor!

I have a thrifted, vintage bamboo mirror for the fireplace wall. 
And I’m covering a lampshade.

And that's about it.
Here's hoping I get a lot completed in one week!!

See more ORC participants here.

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