Out in the Garden

The other day while taking photos of my friend's screened porch I snapped a few pics around her garden.

A Thrift Store Magazine Rack

Back in the fall I stopped by one of our local thrift stores just to meander around.  Sitting under a display table was a very large magazine rack with a scuffed up top and legs, mostly it was dusty. When I  saw it and it's $7 price tag I knew it had to go home with me.  Forgive my lack of before pics, I get excited and just plain never remember to snap a pic. I knew that all it needed was a quick swipe with some stain and the top and legs would be fine.   I received these Miniwax wipes ages ago at Haven and had never used them.  Ya'll these wipes are incredible!

  I just wiped over the top and the legs and it was like new!  In the photo below you can't even tell that the top had rings and scuffs!

Isn't she a beauty?!  The rack is very tall, above my knees for sure.

She fits right into the family room decor and holds some of my decorating books.

In case you noticed the new prints below, kudos to you!  They are my new, old prints that I picked up in a antique booth for a sensational price at the end of the summer.

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Savvy Southern Style

Shopping at Hanna's Antiques in Birmingham

One of my greatest pleasures as you might have guessed is antique shopping.  The actual trip is almost as exhilarating as the potential purchase of antiques.  For me just to see pretty things is sometimes enough.  I love the history that pieces tell.  Recently, along with my antique buddy we headed to Birmingham, to Hanna's Antiques for their January sale event.  I wouldn't dare make a trip with out sharing it with you all!

This tole tray coffee table could have easily fit right into the car and made the trip back to Auburn....but it didn't.

The above dealer visits England often and brings lots of smalls back with her.  She has a booth filled with lots of pretties!

From across the room the plate rack had my heart, but not my checkbook.  Leaving it behind was the only option I had but it goes down as the most fab piece in the store for me!

Hello, my name is Tamyra and I am a lampaholic.  The only New Year's Resolution I made this year was to not buy another single lamp.  I'd never pay that for a lamp but I don't doubt it's worth!

I do love a barley twist anything and this chair was gorgeous!

Out of the entire store this booth was my fav.  If you squint real hard you can see the toile pillows on the Chippendale sofa I left behind, the pair was only $25 which is a steal!  But the real story in this pic is the pair of chairs in the front view.  I'm telling you I could have loaded those up, brought them home and put the club chairs on the curb and never looked back!  It pained me to walk away those chairs!

 

 I did pick up a couple things from this booth, I'll share those another day! Don't let the price tags of the items I've shared make you thing that they only have super high end pieces, there are prices for everyone's budget!  If you ever find yourself in Birmingham, AL be sure and stop by, Hanna's won't disappoint!

Living Room Updates

Our living room gets tweaked often.  A lamp here, a new chair there.  I realized I hadn't shared some of the tweaks lately, If you'd like to take a peek at how it looked when I first started this blog, click here!

The built ins remain one of the best additions we have made to this home.  The storage was sorely needed.  The cabinets are jammed pack!  Maybe one day I'll share those but not today.

Here is an honest moment, when I get things on the shelves the way I like them..I resist changing them.  As a blogger I should love rearranging them, that just isn't who I am!  The leather bound books on the shelves are some of the pieces I've collected for the last year.  I try so hard to work on completing one room at a time. Last year I tasked myself with finding leather books to replace the assortment of John Grisham and other books that were taking up real estate here.  Just as the year ended I had found my books, don't you just love scratching items off your to do list!

Did you notice the ship pic is back in the original spot?  Just this week I moved it back.  The dogs are off to another place here at Positively Southern.  The girandole that you see behind the chair, I love these but after getting them(there are 2 more) I truly had buyer's remorse as I have yet to find all of them a home.  I do like it on the table so, for now it stays there.  The little table beside the chair, I'm not sure if I've shared that before.  Picked it up at a junk store last year.

Notice the table beside the sofa, yes it was serving as a bedside table in Andrew's room....until I changed that before Christmas.  The tole lamp was such a bargain, I feel like I stole it really.  I'm almost ashamed to tell ya'll I only paid $35 for what would normally be probably a $300 lamp new.  This is why I thrift!

  Ya'll this room is not large, it is amazing what a wide angle lens can do!

The last few weeks I've changed up spots here and there all over the house.  Being self imposed house bound the last few weeks in some ways have had its perks.  In case you missed my Instagram post, early in the new year I had to have my welcome to the 50's club colonoscopy along with an esophageal dilation...aka they stretched my esophagus in you weren't familiar with those terms.  This was the second time I've had that done and I'd like to say it was easier but for sure it was worse.  I've lost a much needed 15 pounds the really, really hard way.  I was a bit afraid to get out around people due to potentially being exposed to anything.  I'm beginning to get better and am able to eat more solid foods that I can swallow which is really good.  You can sustain life on Eggo Waffles, baby food and Egg Beaters, should Kelloggs, Gerber and ConAgra being reading my blog I'm surely open to sing your products praises!  So thanks to all of you that have messaged, emailed and called, I'm so grateful for all of them!

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Savvy Southern Style

Kitchen Refresh

Recently, I shared my kitchen on MJones Style Kitchen Keeping Series you can visit that post here.  Shortly after that I realized I hadn't shared the kitchen on my own blog in almost 2 years!

 The kitchen was updated a few years after we moved in, if you'd like to see how it looked before take a peek here.  The appliances along with the counter tops have been changed out.  Stainless is still all the rage but, but the upkeep drives me insane.

This is the door to the pantry.  The plate rack above the door was actually from an old church pew that I picked up for cheap ages ago.

The toaster oven and both coffee makers stay on the counter tops year round, this is real life ya'll!  The curtains were custom made a few years ago and to be honest, I'm not crazy about them...never was!  It is entirely possible that they will come down in the no so distant future.

The pieces in the glass cabinet and on top of the counter are items I've collected over time.  If you've followed the blog for any length of time you know I adore Blue Willow so you see it all over the house!

Let's talk about the light fixture.  It is a very nice fixture, that is too big and I should replace it.  Here is the problem, I'm not sure what I want exactly.  For now, this one stays.  Let's talk about regret for just a bit.  When we had the granite installed I made the mistake of not getting a new faucet for the sink.  This one was only a few months old, was selected because of the holes that were cut for the existing faucet.  This goes down as one of my biggest fails!

So that is it....the kitchen!  I'm delighted to share my kitchen, my home with you!

A Guestroom Styled with Antiques

A few weeks ago I shared with you how much I adore my friend's guest bath.  Today I'd like to share the guest bedroom that adjoins that gorgeous bath.
The first moment I stepped into this room I was just in awe of the fantastic pieces she has in there.  This corner is quite possibly my fav in her entire home.  The antique needle point that hangs over the chest is a real beauty.  Notice the shaving mirror and the contents that adorn it...LOVE!

John’s Bedroom Reveal

Honesty is the best policy.  So the reason John’s room has never been shared before is pretty simple,  it just wasn’t worthy of a post.  Short of his actual furniture everything else was pretty much piece mill.  Stuff I found here and there for a good price.  And that worked…he didn’t need a super nice bedding set to make Lego’s on or put his dirty shoes on. 
Here is a before pic.

After seeing countless blogging friends using buffalo checks, I knew that was something  that would work for his room.  Then in one of my Charles Faudree books I thumbed across a page with the most beautiful wallpaper and more of a chocolate buffalo check.  After searching the Internet over and over I admitted defeat in the area of finding a similar buffalo check. What I went with was a duvet cover and shams from Ikea.  They are definitely a lighter shade than I originally had planned on but it surely does work

Master Bath Reveal

At long last I am sharing our master bath.  Before I show you all the before here is just a glimpse of the update so you can better appreciate.

 Apologies for the blurry picture but this is the only picture I have before we ripped everything out.

Mentally it was cold.  As in freeze your fanny off cold.  The white tile that you can't see from this pic was slick, when you stepped out of the shower you'd nearly bust that frozen fanny off.  The cabinetry had a cherry finish and all the hardware was gold/brass. The absolute worst thing in the entire bathroom was that the electrical outlet was inside one of those drawers.  Now that you have all gasped in disbelief about that let me paint a pic...everything in that "drawer" had to come out you wanted to say...dry your hair.   Please note the outlet to the left of the mirror, it has a sister on the other side of the tower.

Antique Shaving Mirror

It happens when  you least expect it.  The "find of the day" as I call it just happens as you amble around a antique mall or flea market.  You spy that something that you just know you can't go home without!  My recent "find of the day" was really pretty incredible.  I'd had seen one at my antique shopping buddy's home and had a fit and just knew if I ever found one it would have to be mine!

A Southern Styled Yard

Do you consider your outdoor space a place that you can decorate?  To be completely honest, I've never thought much about this short of potted plants in the expected areas, bird baths and a fountain. I could really use some help in this area so, I enlisted my friend for some much needed inspiration.   After sharing her both her front and screened porch, I ask Nadine if I could share her yardscaping...not lawn but yard!  She made me promise to come back when everything is in bloom and you know I said ..YES!  The wrought iron arbor welcomes you through a path around the property.