The Toile Room

                                                                 Hello everyone,
        It was a beautiful sunny day here again and with March on the horizon I could feel the promise of spring in the air. With a few half finished projects on the go,I wasn't sure what to share with you today.

             So, I think it has been awhile since I shared pics of our toile guest room so for those of you who have seen it before-hopefully you won't mind another peek around. The wallpaper was a neat find at Marden's for $2 a double roll. The pillows and comforter were a thrift shop find that were a perfect match. The vintage bedspread at the end of the bed came from the70 mile yardsale last fall.

                                                 A small tray with a toile tea set.

                                 A lacy ivory vintage nightgown and a feminine lacy pillow.

                                                        A cameo box for your pearls.

                                               Pretty pink roses for the bedside table.

             This antique nightgown is all handstitched and was a gift from my neighbour made by her maiden aunt.

                                           Some lace on display.

              Well, that is our brown and white toile guest room. I guess I didn't show the pine board floors but I am thinking of painting them white soon. Anyone have any advise on how well they stand up to traffic-not that we have a lot of guests scuffing up the floors but you never know!

Thank you for visiting,

Carolyn

Muslin Rag Wreath for Spring

I made this shaggy wreath with white muslin fabric.

Using a wire wreath form (small) & 1 1/2 yards of muslin ($1.99 per yard).

I folded the fabric into fourths length wise. Ripped into approx 8 inch wide strips and snipped the edges width wise at every 1/4 inch - approximately - with fabric scissors. Then rip at each snip.

(I pressed the top of the wreath form at the top to make an oval shape - only because I was hoping to make an Easter Egg sort of shape. In the end it just sort of looks - well, oval)

Using two strips at a time - I tied them around two wires at a time - alternating outer two, center two and inner two. That made my wreath nice and full. 

The back looks like this. You can just use the frame to hang it or tie an extra strip of left over muslin there in a little ring for hanging.

This is pretty much the same technique as my Favorite Burlap Wreath but the muslin fabric is much easier to work with (and way less messy).

The fabric frays just enough to give it a stringy, shaggy texture.

Now - where to hang it!?

I plan to embellish it somehow to make it more "Springy" but it is such a versatile little accent for all year around.

Doesn't look much like an Easter Egg...but, I tried.

If you like wreaths like I do - check out THIS post.

Sharing at these parties...

FunkyJunk Interiors - SNS #178

Primp - Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

No Minimalist Here - Open House Party

I Gotta Create - Wildly Original Link Party

Stone Gable - Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits

Common Ground -Be Inspired Friday

Craft -O- Maniac Monday

One Bay Window~ Several Looks

                                                                 Hello everyone,
                 I didn't have a chance to take any new photos the last couple of days so I am sharing some shots of some of the different looks our bay window in our kitchen/dining room has had over the past few years.

                                              The french styled chairs had a season  in the bay too.

           The chaise is a pretty comfy place to read or enjoy a cup of tea while taking in the view of the garden and enjoying the bird songs.

                                             The iron garden bench came indoors for awhile.

                                              A table and chairs made for a good tea time spot.

          Or a good place to write in my journal(oophs,another bad hair day for me)!

                                         Love the golden light of the early morning sunshine.

                                           The dining table area ,looking toward the bay.

                                       Sorry, for this washed out photo-but you get the idea.

                 And of course,a bay window is perfect for our Christmas tree.

           The comfy chair was there for awhile before going out to the Gardener's Cottage.

 This is the view in the spring looking out the bay window of the garden and the pond.

   Hope you enjoyed some of the different looks in our bay window.

  Have a wonderful day!

 Carolyn

Cheap Shabby Chic

                                                      Hello everyone,
      I hope you had a great weekend! I  have been working on some projects lately-early spring fever maybe. Anyway,one stormy day last week, I dug out my sewing machine and made a simple slipcover for this little arm chair that was a freebie from a friend.

                            I used to do a lot of sewing when my children were young as I made a lot of their clothes but only seem to do small projects now. Anyway, I had an old chenille bedspread and I cut it up for my humble projects.

           The main object of the day was to give the chair a makeover but with the scraps I made this little slipcover for the lampshade and 3 pillows of various sizes,like the one on the bed.

           Over the past couple of years I have picked up the 'cabbage rose' pillow,bed skirt, some valences and curtains at thrift shops, so I am using them in the 'boathouse' for now.

              The slipcover is very simple but I think it has a tidier look then just using it as a throw over the chair and I am looking for a casual shabby chic look anyway.

                                              This little table was $7. at a yard sale and a coat of paint and a few new screws made a big improvement in it.Also,I like the spool legs and the small size-perfect for a bed side table.

                                        before                                          after

           Well, that is my shabby chic on the cheap for today. A free chair and an old $2 bedspread plus a few hours labor and we were done!
  We are now doing a makeover in our downstairs bath that I will show you later.

I am joining Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphsis Monday,
and The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday.
 Thank you for visiting and I hope you have a good week!

Carolyn

Black, White & Earth Tones

Using black and white as base colors (or lack of) for a room is a great place to begin decorating. Look at this wonderful room from Pottery Barn.

Pottery Barn

The trend setting pages of Pottery Barn catalog are an inspiration. Using b/w and earth tones makes it easy to throw in seasonal color.

 Our front living room is a mix of Black, White and Earth Tones.

So are our bedrooms (old and new).

The kitchen at our previous house.

I made that toile window valance to coordinated with the window treatments around the whole open first floor. All black and white.

(3 attempts to show the b/w damask panels from Pier 1 in the family room)

Well, here is this one.

The breakfast nook and part of the family room off the kitchen.

I made these simple panels and hung them with clips along with sheers on the insides.

Then more white simple sheers were hung in my office. I like the window treatments to coordinate from room to room.

When we buy our next house - I would love my kitchen to look a little bit like this... or exactly, I should say.

 Pottery Barn

or maybe this....

Pottery Barn

The floors in our old family room were striped. I loved them and was so disappointed when I changed it.

A picture of our old living room from about 5 years ago. I love the contrast of black and white in any space - then adding a pop of color here and there is easy to change.

I got married in 1993 - I couldn't even choose a color for that special occasion so I had black, white and earth tone green - just like my old kitchen. I guess our taste doesn't really change all that much.

(this is a picture found on Pinterest - I had to share it but the link it came with doesn't show the full post anymore - but HERE it is)

I do appreciate color and love seeing it in other homes but when I try bold color on my walls - I can't relax.  I'm an earthy girl with back and white as favorite "non-colors".

If you are a fan of black and white decor, you can follow my black and white pin board on Pinterest.

Linking with:  From My Front Porch to Yours - Treasure Hunt Thursday