Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Vintage Inspired Guestroom

What a week it has been dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene.  Finally, I have had a chance to finish our guestroom.  

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When Lauren got married and moved out, this left her bedroom empty.    The only thing left behind was her bed.   Using what furniture pieces I had in my shed that I bought at yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, auctions or free, I completely transformed her bedroom into what I’m calling my vintage inspired guestroom.  

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The stained glass window above the bed was purchased at an auction about a year ago.  The wrought iron head board I bought at a thrift store.  You can read about that transformation here.

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The old ladder beside the bedside table I bought at an auction a few years ago.  I have a dresser scarf hanging on it that was my Mom’s.  The bedside table was a freebie. You can read about how I transformed that here.

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The vintage sideboard cabinet works perfectly in this room and holds the TV quite nicely.  This too was an auction purchase several years ago and you can read all about that here

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The wire basket beside the sideboard cabinet was a recent purchase at a Flea Market in Tennessee for $6.   I love this basket!  Charlie and I want to plan a trip back to Tennessee just so that we can go back to that Flea Market.  It was a huge Flea Market and their prices were unbelievable!  We purchased other items I have yet to blog about.  Because we were flying, we shipped everything UPS back to Maryland. For now, I placed a couple of my parents’ photo albums in the wire basket that have some pictures of my childhood. 

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The only big purchase for this bedroom make-over was the bedding.  I purchased both quits, pillow shams and the pillows at HomeGood Store.  I layered the quilts.  The cream quilt is a full size and the paisley quilt is a twin.  

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I can’t wait to see what Lauren thinks of her bedroom now.  She’s coming home this weekend and will be the first guest to sleep in her bedroom.   

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As always, thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day.

Gail

Linking this post to:

 Type A for Anything Goes

Coastal Charms for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesday
Blue Cricket Design for Show and Tell

The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday

On Sutton Place for Open House Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Chic On A Shoe String Decorating for Flaunt it Friday
Finding Fabulous for Frugalicious Fridays
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
The Shabby Nest for Frugal Fridays

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Vintage Sideboard Cabinet

Hello Everyone!  Several years ago, Charlie and I attended an auction in Culpepper Virginia and I won the bid on this vintage sideboard cabinet.  I paid $10 for it and it has been sitting in my shed ever since. 

As you know I am in the process of a guest room make-over.  I needed a place for the guest room TV and this will work perfect.  

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The wood wasn’t going to work with what I have planned for the guest room so I painted it.

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I used “old white” Annie Sloan (AS) chalk paint and applied the AS dark wax.  I added a glass knob to the front instead of the original door pull.

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Follow along with me because just about everything in this guest room make-over are items that I have bought at yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, auctions or were freebies that I have or will be transforming.   

The bed frame I purchased at a thrift store for six dollars.    

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I sprayed painted it and now it has a totally different look.  The little round table was a freebie and you can read all about it here.

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Below, is a mirror I bought at a yard sale in the spring for five dollars and I will also apply the Annie Sloan chalk paint treatment. 

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The only big purchase so far, has been the bedding!

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As always, thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day.

Gail

Linking this post to:

Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesday

Blue Cricket Design for Show and Tell

The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday

Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Home Savvy A to Z for Savvy HomeMade Monday

Monday, August 15, 2011

Vintage Milk Bottle

  A few weeks ago, Charlie and I attended an Indoor Flea Market in Chantilly, Virginia and the only purchase I made was a vintage Harbisons  milk bottle for $5.  It is embossed on both sides with a script letter H with Harbisons Registered Dairies on it.

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I did a little research on my vintage milk bottle and I found that the Harbison’s Dairy was located in Kensington, Philadelphia and closed in the early 1960’s.  The dairy is infamous for it’s bottle water tower, which still stands today.       

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Could it be that my Harbison milk bottle is 50 years old?   Oh well, no matter I’m using it right now as a vase for my beautiful hydrangeas that I cut from my yard.

As always, thanks for visiting and enjoy your day.

Gail

Linking this post to:

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Coastal Charms for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Friday, August 12, 2011

Welcome Home Jordan!

I can’t begin to tell you the emotions we all felt when this plane touched ground carrying our son and all the other soldiers who left one year ago for Afghanistan.

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There were cheers, tears and hugs among all who were there to welcome home their son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, friend, etc. at the 101st Airborne Welcome Home Ceremony.    

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It was hard to spot your loved one from a distance, as we all tried to pick out our loved one from the line of soldiers.

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It seemed as if they had all passed by us, when we spotted Jordan.  We were thrilled just to see him.  And when he was close enough, we yelled his name and he spotted us with a big smile.

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It doesn’t seem like much, but all of Jordan’s personal belongings for his year in Afghanistan were stuffed in that one pack as well as all the soldiers.

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They stowed their gear and all marched into the hangar for a brief welcome home ceremony.  We really didn’t hear the words spoken, because we were busy trying to spot Jordan amongst his fellow soldiers.

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After the ceremony, we had 15 short minutes to hug and talk to Jordan.  It felt so good to have him home on US soil.

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Thanks to all of you for the sweet comments and emails that we received as we waited for our son to arrive home safely.   Your prayers, love and support touched our hearts deeply.  

Gail

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Coming Home!

It has been a long time coming.  Our son, Jordan, is coming home from Afghanistan.  We have thought about him every day this past year, and have been counting down the months, then days and now hours.

The coming home process has been a bit unnerving, when trying to make plans.  Unfortunately, circumstances dictate frequent changes to the expected dates and times of arrival.  This has necessitated several changes to our departure date from home, hotel reservations, and flight reservations.

After a 13 hour drive, returning Jordan’s truck and some of his personal belongings, we found the last hotel room after checking with three hotels in his base town.  The silver lining to the hotel room, was soaking in the Jacuzzi after the long drive.

The whole town is welcoming home our soldiers. 

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We’re still waiting as there has been yet another change in his time of arrival.  Please keep him in your prayers as he makes his journey home.

Gail

Monday, August 8, 2011

It’s all about the Roosters

Several months ago when I was shopping at Ross’ I found the cutest rooster metal wall plaques.  I purchased them not knowing where I would place them since I don’t have a lot kitchen wall space.  But when our Dear Miss Sheila at Note Song graciously invited all of us to her Heart of the Home Party and the theme was roosters and chickens, I thought perhaps I would find a home for my roosters and I did in my dinning room.

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I love how the beveled metal border frames the roosters. 

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My original plans were to hang plates above each trophy cup.  After I hung the plaques, I really liked the look of the roosters better.   

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The picture below shows the trophy cups before I hung the rooster plaques.

012 To think that these little rooster plaques could still be sitting in my garage  if it wasn’t for Miss Shelia hosting this fun party.  Thanks Miss Shelia!

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As always thanks for visiting and enjoy your evening. 

Gail

P.S.  I have some exciting news to share with you all in the next few days! 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

An Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Makeover

WOW I can’t believe how fast you can work with this chalk paint. I was amazed that I could transform this table from this…

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to this in a matter of a few hours!

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I lightly sanded after applying two coats of the Annie Sloan cream chalk paint and I used clear and dark wax.

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The longest and hardest part of the whole transformation of this table was sanding and re-staining the tabletop.  

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I used Minwax Wood stain and applied three coats to the tabletop.  I completed the base of the table before re-staining the top because of the drying time of the stain.

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I have to say, I really like this paint and will definitely use it again.  In fact, I am placing an order for another color as I have more furniture pieces to paint for this bedroom make-over.    

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As always, thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day. 

Gail

Friday, August 5, 2011

My Order Is In Already

Happy Friday everyone!  I can’t believe how fast I received my Annie Sloan chalk paint.  I placed an order for the chalk paint with Catfish Creative Furnishings and within three days I received it. 

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Now I need to get busy and start painting. I have furniture pieces to paint for a bedroom makeover! 

As always, thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend.

Gail

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I’m Jumping for Joy!

Hello my friends!  Our new heat pump was installed yesterday and let me tell you I am one happy lady.  It’s a cool 72 degrees in our house right now. 

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  I love the new thermostat control.  It is a touch screen and it is so easy to operate unlike the old one was.  As you can see, we will need to repair the wall.  The old thermostat control was a stinker to get off the wall and was a lot bigger than the new one.  Oh well, I’m just happy that it’s all done and we are comfortable sitting in our own home.

As always, thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Gail

Monday, August 1, 2011

OMG is it HOT in my HOUSE!

Want to know how hot….check out the thermostat reading! 

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Yep, it’s 89 degrees in here. 

The compressor in our heat pump is “fried” which means we have to replace the heat pump.  Thank goodness we’re on the schedule to have it done first thing in the morning.  Hopefully, this time tomorrow it will be all cool in our house once again.

As always, thanks for stopping by and enjoy your evening. 

Gail