Jewelry Display

I love all three of my jewelry holders that sit on top of my dresser, but this little lady is my favorite.  I see these types of jewelry stands in stores all the time, but they usually have metal arms and too much bling on the body for my taste.  I found this very simple one and spray painted it white.  It can't hold a huge amount of jewelry pieces, but I still love it for its sophisticated simplicity.  It also allows my jewelry to speak for itself, and stand out as its own style of decor.

Architectural Salvage

Can you guess what my new swimming towel rack is made of?  It's a 6-ft long piece of aqua beaded board trim.  Cool, huh?  I purchased this piece a couple months ago, with absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with it.  This goes against my own personal rule of antiques shopping:  Only buy if you know where it's going to go.  I violated this no-nonsense rule simply because of the color of this piece.  And the fact that it was only $8!  As soon as I brought it home, however, I knew exactly what it was going to be....a towel rack out by our swimming pool!  I simply added 5 vintage wire hooks, got my husband to attach it to the pool deck, and now we're in business!  It's already gotten quite a bit of use, and I just love the pop of aqua color out on the deck.  Functional, yet beautiful, no?

Organize with Style!

Does anyone else have trouble corralling keys, cellphones, purses, etc at the end of the day?  I personally do not have this problem, but my husband does!  There is absolutely no telling where his keys and cellphones (yes, he has two) will end up after he gets home from work.  To try to keep us from searching for his lost sundries every other day, I think I've finally come up with a way to keep these things organized!  I found this cute little candy dish at my friend's yard sale.  It was already painted aqua, which, of course, I love, and it had just the right number of sections.  One for wallet, one for keys, one for cellphones.  Now, the occasional garage door opener, fishing lure, shotgun shell, shoelace or coin might find its way into a section as well, but that's okay!  The point is, all items are corralled into a specific place.  My husband can just drop his items off here when he walks in the door, and then knows where to find them when he needs them.  By the way, this candy dish is located on a counter right inside the doorway he enters when he gets home from work - this makes sure they don't get misplaced between the door and the dish!  Don't be afraid to get organized - but be sure to do it with style!  Remember...no plastic containers!

Shades of White

Last time I posted about my love for white furniture.  The danger of having too much of one color in one room is that you might think it would be too monochromatic and boring.  Not so, if you mix shades of that color, varying textures, and imperfections.  Take this desk area I have in a corner of my living room.  Everything is white, but it's not monochromatic at all because of all the variations.  The mirror is bright and shiny white.  The desk is a more muted white and is distressed.  The corbel and nameplate are very faded white - so much so they both look slightly gray - and are obviously very worn with peeling paint.  The chair matches the desk, but the khaki seat breaks up the color.  Add into the mix the vintage fan, and the fabulous look of all white is anything but boring!

White painted furniture

I know, I know, you've seen pictures of my dining room before...but not with this much white furniture!  As you've probably guessed by now, I have a love affair with white distressed furniture.  I could paint everything in my house white, and practically have by now.  I made a poor decorating decision about 1 and 1/2 years ago and painted my dining room set black.  Now, I love black too, but not with the white furniture that was already in my dining room.   As you know, painting a dining room set is no small feat, so I lived with the black for a while.  I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore, so painted it white yesterday.  And I love it!  I love it with the burlap runner.  I love it with the other white furniture, and I even love it with the fabric on the chairs.  Just another example of how a simple coat of paint can make such a drastic and wonderful change in a room!

Herb Garden

This is my herb garden.  Not as impressive as most, I realize, but it is cute!  I've always wanted to grow herbs in a sunny kitchen window above my sink.  The only (slight) problem is....I have no sunny kitchen window above my sink.  But I do have space for something, so here in my herb garden!  I've had this lovely wall pocket for almost 11 years (given to me by my twin sister for being her matron of honor...super embarrasing term, alas, but I was already married), and recently spray painted it aqua.  It resided in my bathroom for a while, but I could never find something appropriate to put in it.  White toilet paper just didn't look right - go figure!  So, I moved the piece to the wall above my kitchen sink.  My first thought was to plant cilantro, but it needs full sun.  I ended up with mint only because it was the only herb I could find that only needed partial sun.  Good thing I love to put fresh mint leaves in my tea!  To situate the plant just right in the pocket, I slipped it inside a gallon ziploc bag.  Then I wrapped it in burlap.  Voila!  Instant herb garden, and it's cute!

Mystery Piece

Any ideas on what this gorgeous piece of carved wood is exactly?  I have to admit, I would not have known if I wouldn't have been told by the person I purchased them (I have two matching pieces) from...they are piano legs!  Pianos carved in this ornate manner are extremely old, and I am proud to have a set of these beautiful legs in my home!  My sister had to point out to me that I am displaying them upside-down...but I think they are more sturdy this way since they are not attached to a very heavy piano.  These pieces stand on either side of my tv cabinet, and help make it appear wider since the tv on top is so wide.  I am very happy with these pieces, and after thinking about it, have decided they are probably the oldest things I own!