Chinoiserie Shelfie

I found this little shelf at GW about 2 months ago. 

I wasn't sure where it was going in my home ...

but I knew it was going home with me!

Some haters gonna hate but I painted this little shelf.

It had some damage to the finish 
and I thought it would work better for me if it was painted. 

I've been waiting to decide the "where" so I could decide what color!

Progress shot. It's painted and I'm deciding how high to hang it. 

Also, how to hang it because it was a bit heavy 
and I knew some large shells were going on it as well.

Cooper is very enthusiastic about interior design :)

The previous display shelf in this area actually sat on the table top 

so I'm excited that this one will hang. 

It means I can put a lamp on this table and we need a lamp at this end of the couch.

(It means more display space too!)

The shells and coral are from our travels. 

The blue and white lamps and planter are thrifted. The bamboo chair was thrifted as well.

The table was my grandmother's from Charleston. I love that table. It's still "brown" :)

The seascapes were inherited from my great-uncle and I love them.

The plant is a white bird of paradise I bought on a trip to Florida a few weeks ago.

 I hope my thumb is green enough that it blooms someday.

I've moved it outside to a sunnier spot to help it bloom 

and replaced it with a pretty little fern leaf begonia.

*not sponsored but I used this spray paint to paint my shelf. 

It was a great color - Smokey Beige. 

The coverage was great too - I was covering black!

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

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Where did that saying even come from? 

But this is easy, peasy!

I love lemons and they are everywhere in decor right now. 

I've always loved lemons as a favorite flavor. Lemon Meringue Pie, Chic Fil A lemonade, I drink my tea with lemon (always!) and lemon squeezed on my favorite fresh seafood. A dash of fresh squeezed lemon in homemade vinaigrette, Citrus Sangria, and a must have when we prepare asparagus. The list goes on.

In decor my hands down favorite lemon-y item is this Schumacher design:

Citrus Garden.

Created in 1947 but absolutely a classic and timeless!

Faux lemon topiaries and wreaths are popping up everywhere for Spring and Summer decorating.

I love a good deal on a "trendy" item that won't be around forever 
and I found the lemon wreath above at Wal Mart for under $20.00.

What a great way to add a touch of Summery, sunny yellow 
to my kitchen without spending a fortune.

Yes, some of the more expensive wreaths (and topiaries) are a bit more realistic but they are 3 and 4 times the price. 

I think the quality of the Wal Mart wreath is just fine for a short term burst of yellow fun. 

I tried it with a navy gingham bow too!

Which do you like best? Plain or with a bow?

This post is not sponsored by Wal Mart. I'm just sharing a good deal!

If you can't find this one here are a couple of great looking 
faux lemon wreaths from Amazon. 
With Prime you could have it on your door in no time flat!

Click on the images if you want the details.

This wreath has a TON of lemons!

This one has a bit more greenery.

And I might have to order this cute lemon topiary for my porch.

It would be perfect in a blue and white cache pot!

So, what's your favorite citrus?

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.

What If My Kitchen Wasn't (All) White? - The One Room Challenge Week 3

Can I just share that waiting for fabric to be delivered is worse than watching paint dry??

Also, after painting swatches on my white kitchen cabinets, receiving messages from designers saying they are OVER white kitchens, and looking at tons of images online to see which ones I have an automatic positive reaction to it might be possible that I am not going to paint my cabinets - a different color, that is.
 They still need repainting but I think it might be white for the win.
 I'm just a bucket of white paint girl, I guess.
 I could drink the stuff I love it so much. 

So the color will be coming in strong in other places I guess!!
You KNOW there will be bamboo, plants, the color coral, animal print and blue and white!

I know it's Week 3 and this isn't much of a report...
but, well, I don't have much to report at this point!!

Be sure to follow along on the ORC blog here.

What If My Kitchen Wasn't (All) White? - The One Room Challenge Week 2

Week 2 Update.

I was out of town for most of Week 1 but there has been some progress!

 The biggest change this week has been the green faux bamboo server that I found while out thrifting a couple of weeks ago has been cleaned up and given 

a fresh coat of a delicious coral color Sherwin Williams Lei Flower.
(Thank you Pantone for choosing one of my favorites as Color of the Year!)

 A progress shot. 

It's been so rainy in Georgia that we have set up an impromptu paint booth

 on the screened porch :)

You may have seen where these chairs got a coat of paint out here last week!

The coral cabinet is replacing the green dresser that was in the kitchen previously. 

I liked it a lot but loved the faux bamboo one when I saw it 

so I gave the green one away and in moves the coral one!

The server is in place and I've pulled some swatches

 that I would like to use as another textile in the room.

I still have a long to-do list but I'm trying to time projects around Easter company 

and another out of town trip since it's the kitchen and we cook every night!

Here are some of the major bullet points:

1.Paint thrifted vintage bamboo sideboard - check!

2. Curtains - Fabric ordered. Waiting. Decide on curtain rod. Scored great curtain rings on major clearance. Sew curtains.

3. Build/reconfigure shelf to move microwave location.

4. Fix brackets and trim around window opening over sink - very dated. Hello 80's kitchen.

5. Decide on cabinet paint color. 

6. Paint cabinets. There are quite a few to paint!

7. Move globes from Kitchen to Library - check!

8. Use a floor restore/cleaner product on hardwoods that are not being refinished. (Puppy is too young to do a major floor job right now!)

9. Think about a sea grass rug under kitchen table?

10. Accessorize.

11. Bamboo blinds?? Not a necessity - purely aesthetic. Worth the expense at this time?

Follow my progress (fingers crossed) on my Instagram.

Be sure to follow along and see all of the other "One Room Challeng-ers" and their amazing rooms, ideas and progress.