July Wrap Up

I can't believe it is August. It's amazing to me that with things so different due to Covid19 or whatever they are calling it now and so many regular Summer activities cancelled or altered drastically that time is flying by. (For me anyway!)

Spring seemed to last forever and now Summer is a blur. 

The children in our area are starting back to school over the next two weeks in a variety of different scenarios but it really doesn't feel like back to school time at all. 

I thought I'd share a half dozen or so things

from life in July.

First up. I have only been in a thrift store a handful of times since we locked down in March and then started our reopening phases in May.

I'm very surprised to say that they are pretty empty and I have not found anything very exciting at all. I thought that everyone was cleaning out and donating during lockdown. 

We did (big time) but there is not much to be found in my area.

That being said I saw this over a week ago at GW. 

It was quite large and very sturdy. It would have been easy to replace the black leather (?) if someone wanted to. I thought it would have been fabulous in our black walled Library but it was a bit too large for us. If it had been rattan or faux bamboo I would have snatched it up. It wouldn't have been the first time that I rearranged multiple rooms for a great find :) 

It was $39.00  Quite a deal!

This brings me to my second item. I had a little vent session with Gwen at The Makerista and Thrift With The Makerista about FB Marketplace sellers and etiquette. I have bought and sold on FBM for years and met lots of delightful, helpful, patient sellers. 

BUT, I am seeing this more and more and it irritates me.

 Is it just me?

 Or do you think this "gimmick" to catch buyers eyes is OK? 

The ad on the left said all 11 items listed were priced individually and to DM them for pricing. The ad on the right had prices at the bottom and the planters started at $180.00.

Nothing was free or $1.00.

And the other day I told a seller I wanted an item and later she messaged me to say she had a lot of interest after we chatted and wanted me to know before I picked up the item that she was raising the price!!! 

I don't think this is OK.  Maybe I'm being a stick in the mud...

I say don't be this kind of seller!

Moving right along. I love this IG feed @ikomello for great inspiration photos. 

This is my current favorite:

We had Drive Thru VBS at church this year. 

It was a lot of fun even if it 

was very different. 

We still had VBS shirts...

Speaking of socially distancing. 

This is where I would like to ride out my next pandemic :))))

 

Private island?

#yesplease

And I became obsessed with this beautiful art created by a Bahamian named 

Mr. Amos Ferguson.

He passed away in 2009 but if he were alive

 I'd be tracking him down to purchase one of his happy paintings. 

I could hang them in my house on that private island I mentioned above :)

And now it's August!

Socially Distanced Thrifting.

Socially Distanced thrifting during a pandemic has become a thing. For me anyway.

I posted this picture in one of my early posts containing a few thoughts and observations about our Pandemic experience. 

All very non-political or containing any blame. I'm not about that.

But this picture got a lot of feedback - 

While going to Goodwill and other favorite thrift stores is not essential a lot of us missed it! 

We are on Week 17 here and while many things have opened we must continue to be abundantly cautious. So we are at home 99.999999% of the time :)

For that reason we have worked very hard in our backyard on projects and improvements to make spending our Summer at home more enjoyable. 

One thing I wanted was a lounge chair to go beside our stock tank pool

 (which I call The Bucket.)

I wanted something other than a folding metal beach lounger if possible. I really wanted wrought iron and vintage was preferable. That's what I like and the new ones were shockingly expensive and then you need a big, thick cushion. Also a bit pricey. 

But by late April I thought I could make a FB marketplace transaction be safe if I wore a mask and we put the cash in a baggie and left it in the mailbox or somewhere like that for the seller.  I scrolled through FBM constantly. Let's face it, I had time, and then finally in May these popped up!! I didn't even try to bargain. She was 15 minutes from the house and so we jumped in the truck and headed to pick them up. And it was TWO for $50.00!! Yay!

When we arrived her husband came out and chatted from a distance! We were masked and safely apart. I'm so glad he came out. He told us that his wife's father had been a Master Welder and had made these two lounge chairs for her decades ago!! I love them even more. They are not exactly identical because they are handmade

 but they are soooo well made and sturdy.

So the next step was to find new cushions. I had shared on IG that the "color scheme" of the pandemic (for us) had been dark green and white because that's the paint I had on hand when the lock down began. We already had a lot of our outdoor furniture painted a dark green because 

I am from Charleston and it's in my DNA to paint outdoor and porch furniture dark green.

 I can't help it!!

So I, of course, wanted green and white striped outdoor cushions. 

Sounds easy, right? Not so much. 

But after diligent searching online I found an excellent price for Sunbrella chaise cushions through walmart.com. 

I read the descriptions and measurements on other sites where the green and white striped Sunbrella cushions were $249.00 and $198.00. The descriptions matched exactly, were Sunbrella brand like the others and were under $100.00 with free shipping and returns. 

I figured it was worth a try.  

They are so nice, thick cushioned, and perfect green and white striped Sunbrella fabric!

(The dappled light makes funny looking shadows on the cushions - there isn't anything wrong with them! In fact, they are fabulous and I've already spot cleaned one and it looks brand new!)

I have made another masked, socially distanced Facebook Marketplace purchase since this one!

 I'll share soon. 

Summer 2020

Summer. The true start of the Summer season, the official "start date" is almost here.

I have always, always waited "all year long" for Summer. 

Summer is my favorite season. 

When I was young it always meant long lazy months in the Low Country of South Carolina, staying with my grandmother or aunts and running along the SC beaches with my cousin. We had amazing vegetables out of the garden, ate fresh catch, stayed out too late or too long in the sun and it was perfection. An idyllic childhood.

As an adult Summer has never been that free but it is always my favorite time of year. 

Even with responsibilities there is a different feel to Summer. Meals are eaten on porches , it is sunny and warm, flowers bloom, and there are things that happen in Summer that happen at no other time of year. 

I don't mind any of the things that people complain about during 

the Summer- bugs, heat, you name it. 

I can handle it because it's Summer.

But the Summer of 2020 has been long awaited in ways I could have never imagined.

We have struggled as a nation. The whole world has struggled. Human kind has struggled. 

We have been isolated in our homes watching one terrible thing after another unfold. 

I'm not going to dissect them. 

We all know what they are and we have each of us responded

 in the way that our hearts have dictated. 

I don't think a single person on earth could honestly say they haven't been touched by the things that have happened so far this year. We haven't. We have lost more than one loved one in 2020, we have watched friends and family struggle financially, medically, mentally and spiritually. We have watched good people be harmed. We have examined our personal thoughts and beliefs on equality and caring for our fellow man. 

And it has been overwhelming. And hard. 

But the thought, the belief, that keeps me going is that we CAN do hard things. And we will do them. We will make changes, we will find ways to seek joy. We will heal financially, medically, mentally and spiritually.

We will grow. We will work at these changes and I think we will be better for it. 

I have faith that this is true. I have hope. And I'm seeking joy. 

In any little way, in any place I can find it. 

And I am going to celebrate that it is Summer. 

I have always thought that everything is better in the Summer and I'm setting out to make that true for myself and my family. And for you, hopefully, if you follow along here or on Instagram. I'm going to post the pretty flowers, the perfect watermelon, sparklers, fresh shrimp, sunsets, a quote or a verse, and anything else (even if it only last for a few seconds or it's just the littlest thing ) that brings me joy. That makes my heart feel hope. I think finding hopefulness is what is going to get us all through. Hopefulness and kindness. (Feel free to disagree. As I've said before - you do you through all of this but I'm keeping the faith! And I won't be participating in negative or unkind comments toward others on social media.)

So I am hoping, wishing, praying that the Summer of 2020 is our season!

Design Crush - A Lot More Style

I have recently discovered and started stalking  following

 @alotmorestyle on Instagram.

I'm in love with her design work. She is definitely an "instagram favorite."

Her name is Celine Lotmore Jones. 

Celine is Bahamian and does beautiful interior design

 with a wonderful tropical aesthetic.

She recently posted these pictures on her IG Stories.

 They are from an island project and I love every single item and detail.

Take a look and you will want to book a tropical vacay or move to an island!

What a great, practical entryway. 

Look at the inserts on the closet doors.

This display makes me want to grab one of those bags, 

fill it with a snack and a towel and head to the nearest beach.

Celine also has a straw accessories business 

that sells some of the most beautiful embroidered straw bags and hats.

This kitchen is fabulous.The gorgeous tropical mural. Straw shades on the light fixture. The cute white pagoda shelves. Rattan bar stools and I love a glossy ceiling that reflects the light. 

Oh, and that cute little monkey.

Next up, gorgeous, serene bedrooms. 

Delightful spots to escape the tropical heat and rest.

Seashell prints and a seafoam green chair that looks like a scallop shell. 

A subtle and elegant nod to the island locale.

And those pagoda shelves are stunning.

I love bedrooms with twin beds.

 The canopies and the light fixture are so elegant.

And then the outdoor spaces which are my personal favorite to look at, decorate myself,

 and to enjoy!

Lots of wicker and a beautiful turquoise block print fabric. 

Two other key ingredients for island porch life - palms and ceiling fans.

This porch has a warm coral upholstery, a pair of comfy wicker chaise

 and my all time favorite for relaxing - the swinging bed. 

Be sure to follow @alotemorestyle on IG for beautiful island style inspiration

 (and she has adorable kiddos too!)

The Bucket!

It's a really BIG bucket!!

It's actually a stock tank that should be used to water livestock. 

(I just call it "the bucket")

Some brilliant person decided they would be a fun, easy, dipping pool for us non-farm type people and it has really taken off. 

Country Living mag posted on their IG a couple of weeks ago that they are going to be more popular than ever this Summer. 

 In the cropped photo above things look pretty good but we are still mid-project in reality. 

(See piles of brick below!)

But we have come a long way from where we started last September!

Yes, last Labor Day weekend. 

I started investigating the whole stock tank pool trend last Summer. 

We decide we liked the idea and all systems were go. BUT, we couldn't get a stock tank. 

We are in the Atlanta suburbs so a true feed store is an hour away.

 It took us 3 visits, after calling about availability, to actually get one in perfect condition. 

A couple were dented and they offered a discount but we aren't using it in a field for animals so I wanted it to look good on all sides. We bought ours from Tractor Supply.

We had a little used, needed some lovin' arbor in the back of the yard. 

I thought we could make a few updates and easily plop our big bucket down and get to splashing.

Nope. The old brick patio under the arbor was waaaay more unlevel (is that a word?)

than it appeared to the eye. 

But I hung cute patio lights, filled it with water 

and we splashed around in the end of the Atlanta heat.

This Spring I vowed to bring The Bucket up to its full potential :)

I hung a curtain behind the bucket

 and there are twinkle lights behind it for when we take an evening dip.

I pulled up alllll of those bricks, leveled the ground and put the bucket back down with pea gravel around it. I love pea gravel patio and paths like we see in European gardens. 

I thrifted a larger mirror. It's actually a very hard plastic frame. I gave it a coat of blue spray paint and it should last for ages out there.

I've added some other thrifted treasures like the vintage metal faux bamboo towel rack, lots of plants, and of course a big pineapple float!

I think The Bucket might be at its best in the evening. 

I love the lights.

There are still a few more things to be done (move that ton of bricks for one thing!)

but we are ready (as ready as we can be) for the Southern Summer heat!

If you need us we'll be "in The Bucket!"

Lately...

Just a quick "catch-up" post. 

I attempted my 8th One Room Challenge this Spring but it did not come to fruition. 

If you are not familiar - you post your room redo process on 6 consecutive Thursdays which means you have 5 weeks to complete your project.
 I was going to refresh my kitchen. 
Out of the 5 weeks I knew I was going to be gone 2 weeks so it was a bit ambitious at the start. Then I missed a couple of Saturdays for work and conflicts 

and you cannot rush a kitchen refresh project!

I wanted to do it right.

Hopefully I will be showing you some kitchen improvements 
along and along as I get to them. 

I have completed several other ORC's

 so you can check out the links at the bottom of this post.

I have been cleaning my porch and prepping it for Summer relaxing!

We plan to enjoy our porch this Summer since last Summer we spent doing construction in every spare moment.

Decorating the repaired porch was my last ORC.

The pictures above are from last Fall but I'm always moving things around!

I found this cute bistro set , in perfect condition, at a thrift store. 

I added a couple of benches to the porch this Spring.

I love the checkerboard weave on top. This bench has storage in the seat, too. 

It's a very versatile bench and has been in our family room, library and now the porch!

I added the bench below as well.

The finish wasn't great and after trying to revive it I decide to spray paint it.

I love it in this blue!!

It's so fresh and crisp.

The porch is ready for naps on the bed swing, lunches at the various tables and relaxing with a book (or a baseball game on the TV) so now I'm on to projects in the back yard.  
Or garden as the British say!

Lamp and fan strategically placed for napping and reading!!
#illbehereifyouneedme

Chinoiserie Watering Can

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

and if not, then I'll just water my flowers using my newly painted Chinioiserie watering can.

I was inspired by a post from Ashley Brooke's Instagram

where she posted a picture of her gorgeous porch. The picture sparked a flurry of questions about her blue and white floral watering can.

It made me wonder... I had a beat up old watering can I could do a "test run" with.

Pretty cute, huh?

I washed my beat up old can off and started to spray paint it. I was so into the project that I didn't even take a "right side up" before picture!

It has a couple of holes on the side where the top handle came off years ago but it looks great glossy and white and this is a "test" anyway.

I grabbed two shades of blue and started freehand painting my design.

A few painted embellishments and a coat of clear spray paint 

and watering has just become a lot more fun!

I'm supposed to be hard at work on my One Room Challenge but I'm a bit bogged down so I am doing what I usually do during the ORC process... I'm off doing unrelated projects. :)

I do it every. single. time.

Bamboo Friday

It is sooooo cold everywhere. 

#polarvortex

I think a dose of tropical green is what we all need.

I've purchased this indoor/outdoor palm fabric to use in my home

 in case you want to do a quick DIY pillow or lampshade 

while you are waiting for the "Spring Thaw" :)

It's currently a fantastic price here.

In fact, I might order some so I can get started on freshening up my porch.

#hurryupsummer

*all images from my Pinterest board Bamboo is Best.

Follow original links there.