02 June 2021

Living Room Curtains

On my wish list for several years were new curtains for the living room.  Having not loved what I had in there for 8 years it was time to replace!  As I began my search, a few details that I was definate on were that they be a solid curtain and possibly made of linen. 

Etsy was the first place I decided to search, to my delight I found some almost immediately.  You all know that making a snap decision isn't me, I mulled it over from January to March then I ordered!  It took about 6 weeks for them to be made.  The curtains arrived a few weeks ago and I waited through countless weather days to get the curtains photographed so that they looked just right.  After giving up on the right lighting and Lightroom to edit I've decided to just post them and explain that this part of the house is difficult at best to photograph.


The etsy shop offered many lengths and widths along with blackout lining and regular drapery lining.  These do not have bump or weights, I think that is okay as they hang perfectly. The dimensions are 32x96 and have the regular drapery lining.  The Etsy shop is called Indulgence Fabric and it based out of northern New York.  

The color is called buttercream and the fabric is linen.  They really are quite lovely hanging, I couldn't be more pleased.  If you saw my instagram story a week or so ago you will know that they are very wrinkled as most all linen is.  The longer they have hung that seems to be better...better but not great.  I might need to consider a steamer at this point!


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21 April 2021

National Jelly Bean Day


Tomorrow, April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day!  Often times I wonder who comes up with a day of tribute for any particular item but, a day to celebrate the Jelly Bean is okay by me!  I've always loved a jelly bean as does my family.  It seemed appropriate to create a menagerie of this delightful confection.


After a bit of research on the history of jelly beans, I discovered that the origins of the bean is unknown. It is believed to be a descendant of a mid eastern confection known as Turkish Delight that dates back to preBiblial times.  




Jelly Beans were often sold in pretty glass jars in general stores back in the 1800s.  To pay tribute to those days, I gathered a few pretty glass jars of my own to create a display. 

This particular jar was one of my maternal grandmother. As a child, I well recall this holding orange slices that both my Grandparents always enjoyed.  I regret not asking her where she got it and when. Since I am  55 I can on only guess that it is at least as old. Grandmother would be delighted to know that I'd taken a picture of something that was hers for all to see!

Weve had a few gloomy days this week, these bright and cheery colors sure do brighten the kitchen.


Happy National Jelly Bean Day!

 
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20 October 2020

The Starting Point: Master Bath Remodel

Many times you've heard the phrase "everything was fine and then..." it wasn't.  Back in March when we were in lockdown, there were 5 of us living in our house.  Everyone had their own bathroom but, somehow everyone including the kids would migrate to our bathroom for whatever purpose. The bathroom began to have an odor, not a normal bathroom odor.  At first I just thought it was because we were all going in and out.   To no avail I'd spray with an assortment of sprays both air freshner and cleaners around the shower.  Months went on and by May, Honey decided it was time to have a handyman come by.  He looked at the shower and then said, let's go under your house(we are on a crawlspace). As soon as he opened the door under the house he said immediately your shower drain has a leak!  He takes my phone and starts snapping pics of water marks all over boards under the house, along with the drain pipe from the shower that was covered in calcium deposits.  We both knew this was over his head and it was time to call professionals.




Having contractors come over took the better part of June.   I must admit, we were in sticker shock...along with our insurance agent!  We had such a variety of estimates ranging from $6000-$9450.  All the estimates were without the price of the tile!  Along with the financial side of this came the time to complete this project.  Most said it would take up to 4 weeks to complete. With that information  I knew I wanted to wait until John had gone back to college for the fall and Andrew's fiance had left for University of Minnesota phd program.  
For a bit I want to talk about the odor that was present.  I've already mentioned it wasn't an odor that would be typical for a bathroom.  A contractor told me it was the smell that bacteria from rotting wood give off... his word was "bacteria fart."  I'm glad we followed mine and Melissa's nose as this was the ideal time to find this type of damage for insurance concerns as well as our safety(think falling thru the floor).  When the insurance adjustor came out he told us had the decay gotten worse the insurance wouldn't have paid.  I'm telling you all this because if you have stuff going on in your home that isn't typical, like a smell or something you need to seek out the cause...this has saved us big $$$!
One thing most bloggers don't do is share what things like remodels or home repairs cost. Most site the difference in areas for what things cost and simply don't share that info.  I do believe locations do cause prices to be different.  From the very beginning I've said I will tell you everything!  As I sit here typing I'm waiting for my tile guy to finish and give me the final invoice.  As we finish the details of the bathroom I will absolutely share all of the costs and the varied expenses we have incurred, along with what the insurance company paid.
Before all of this happened I had not even entertained the idea of having to change anything in our master bath other than the chandy that was above the tub.  I had never looked at tile or even master bath ideas on any site.  Once it happened my first thought was...well it is just a shower, surely $5000 will cover it.  Stay tuned to see just how wrong I was!

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25 September 2020

Tailgate Time

The excitement in Auburn this week is almost palpable.  For the past few months most have wondered what football would look like this fall or if there would be football at all.  Thank goodness the SEC made sure that our football would go on.  That said, as a resident of Auburn I'm relieved that they are limiting of seating inside Jordan Hare stadium so maybe there won't be an enormous flux of folks in our little town.  In addition to limited seating, they've said there will be no tailgating with tables, tents and such...all due to the corona virus.   Since there will be no tailgating I've opted to created our own version right here at home!


Anytime before I have any sort of a gathering with food I plan out what I'm going to have and what dishes I will use. Also I'll determine which dish/bowl/platter will get which food.  This pretty much tells ya'll I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal!
Most of these platters and serving trays I've had for many years.  You'll notice I've kept buckets we get popcorn in from the stadium, they hold chips great!
The orange and blue megaphones were a cute find at online craft store.  I simply google orange and blue megaphone and up they popped!  Found a couple other cute pieces there as well!
Those tallish blue and gold canisters are also new, those are from Montgomery Antiques.  As soon as I saw them I knew they would hold our cutlery for tailgates!  You might not know what the W and the E are for....as Auburn fans we say War Eagle!  
I always save shakers form all the games and they came in pretty handy under this vegetable tray!
I've debated food for the tailgate.  I'll pick up bbq from Country's Barbeque along with their baked beans cause ya'll they are the best EVER! You have to have wings if there is a football game so I'll grab those at Publix!   I'll have chips, crackers, vegetables and a dip or 2 of some sort.  
Gosh typing that out made me hungry and tired!  
Ya'll have a great weekend
& WAR EAGLE
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24 September 2020

Fall Family Room Tour

My fall tour continues today in our family room.   This corner has been dubbed the prettiest corner in the house.  This corner holds lots of my fav pieces, starting with the drapes and moving on to the gate legged table.  Adding the pumpkin pillow makes it fallish without overdoing it!
 The gate legged table holds some of my best finds in antiquing along with thrifting.  As I mentioned in my kitchen post, using real flowers is relatively new to me.  The flowers continue to be enjoyed.
The pillows on the club chairs are much the same color as the ones I've used prior.  These have a bit more texture which seems appropriate for the change in weather we've been having.

This soup tureen seems to be my go to for fall decor, I adore how the pops of orange pop from it.  The small blue pumpkin happens to be the exact color of the Blue Willow.
The one piece I've been looking to replace and have come up short is our coffee table.  I'll admit I'll be sad the day it goes but, that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.  For now this one does the job!  The Imari goes perfectly with an orange and blue theme that is the heart of Auburn University's colors.  We had hopped both kids would join us as alum, we are glad Andrew followed the family tradition!  The Imari bowl also pairs well with Blue Willow. 
I'll never forget the first time I saw this pumpkin pillow at another blogger's home.  I knew it would be perfect with the decor in our home.  Searching all over the country to find this pillow at Pier 1 I came up short.  The next year I was smart and looked for it early and found it!
I love when the house is tidy and I can stand in the family room and look through to the kitchen.  This was one of those moments!  I'm off to get ready for the tailgate this Saturday as we welcome in SEC football here in Auburn!!!
If you missed the fall table or the fall kitchen tour be sure to look here & here!
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