Falling for the Change of Seasons

The weather has been clear and crisp over the past few days here in Oregon. This is a nod to the days of summer coming to an end and fall moving on in. We barely had a Summer here this year; just a few brief warm stints but not much "open the swimming pool" weather. Fall to me is the perfect medium...dryish weather where you can still accomplish things outside but not sweat while doing it or get drenched in the never ending rain of Winter (this is Oregon after all).

As time rolls on I will share photos of the inside of my home to illustrate this, but I live with the colors of Fall everyday. I love feeling liked I'm wrapped in the visual warmth of gold, terra cotta orange and olivey green. Hand me a warm cup of coffee, my fuzzy slippers, and turn on HGTV and I'm good to go.

So, as I take a day or two to remedy a health situation I reflect on the appreciation I have for Fall, the blowing leaves, the amber sunsets and an excuse to change up the decorating and add some Fall accessories.

HAPPY FALL TO ALL!

Isn't She Lovely?

Before

My morning cup of coffee and I had settled deep into perusing through Craigs List when I came across this old victrola cabinet. The feminine curvy lines of it spoke to me...I knew I could do something fabulous with her. Later that afternoon she was in the back seat of my Honda Accord and on her way to becoming something beautiful.

I decided to paint her a turquoise color from the "oops" paint section...I really love the lines of an old piece mixed with a new fun color. I distressed, aged and waxed her. I needed to remedy the gaping hole in the top where the victrola used to be so I covered a piece of wood cut to fit with a paisley fabric. I also covered the sides of the piece in turquoise and brown paisley after I painted it and added trim.

Ta da, this is how she turned out. I added a mirror to the lid and there was already a little cubby there (maybe for needles originally?) that I thought would be great for jewelry. The cupboards can hold all the gear that us girls come with. It turned out better than I could have ever hoped for.

                 

 Until next time-

 Carrie

This Baby's For The Birds!

I have been painting,painting...and painting some more. I tend to have a few projects going at once. I get bored easily and the projects I enjoy the most are the ones with instant gratification. I feel somehow like maybe I accomplish more this way...or I could just be fooling myself. I let it ride until I feel the walls closing in and then I catch myself up.

That's where this lovely little baby came in...okay, that's a stretch but I could visualize it's potential when I rescued it from the mud floored carport of the guy who was giving her away. It wasn't hardwood but it was solid with many wonderful edges and crevices that would look great after a good priming, painting,
distressing,& waxing.      

Drum roll please...and here she is after!  I think she turned out beautiful! I am a sucker for anything with birds on it and the Cavallini paper I decoupaged on the drawer fronts is one of my favorites. I used a light aqua blue from the "oops" section at my local paint store in velvet...love the finish it's kind of between a satin and an eggshell . I sanded the edges,rubbed them with brown shoe polish (I know that this is not the "right" way to do this, but I have had great success with it) and finished it off with a coat of clear paste wax. Oh, and of course brand new brushed silver hardware. I'm proud to say she already "flew the coop" to a new home where I hope they will love her as much as I did. 



Jumping In With Both Feet!

So, this is where it all begins. After many years of gentle prodding from my beloved friend, I enter the land of blogging. I've always done this; creating things I mean. What the heck, I'm not working anymore, I'm crafting, redecorating, shopping for junk to turn into treasures I may as well blog about it during the process, right? I must admit I find myself so inspired reading through the posts of the talented ladies whose blogs I follow (whose links I totally intend to insert here just as soon as I figure out how)...wouldn't it be wonderful if I could inspire someone too? I'm sure I'll stumble a bit along the way but isn't that what we all do when we're trying something new? Here goes nothing!