April Showers Bring Spring Flowers

Tablescape Picnic!
and
a Give-a-way too!

I am linking to Tablescape Thurday
at Between Naps on the Porch!
A Big thank you to Susan!

A blue sunny day

A picnic for two...

Flowers galore...

Candlesticks too!

Glass bubble plates atop metal...

Vintage silverware will do...

A feast I've prepared for me and for you!

I gathered some flowers in purple and white..

The chocolates I've gathered

are such the delight!

Glasses to fill..

Oil bottles for vases...

Pillows to mark each of our spaces!

Please come dine with me...

I'll be waiting for you...

 Hoping the chocolate won't melt...

Or be eaten by "Boo"!

To celebrate my 100th post
 I am having my first give-a-way!

I came up with...

A set of my handmade cards...
and

A fantastic "Decorating Cottage Style"  book...
and

my newest piece of art work
"Spring Flowers"!

To be entered once simply leave a comment!
Non-bloggers can comment too!
Followers are entered twice!
New followers welcome anytime!

I will be pulling a winner and posting next
Tablescape Thursday!

Thank you for joining and celebrating with me today!
God Bless!

Sneak Peeks

Ever heard the potato chip slogan

"Can't stop with just one..."?

That would be a great way to sum up my

decorating projects...

"Can't stop with just one!"

As I mentioned before...

painting the family room, has turned into

painting the kitchen, breakfast room

and front hallway!

Added to this list is

making new pillows for the family room

as well as new drapes!

(See a trend?)

Family room has been painted, so

without further ado..

here's your sneak peek..

the before

and

the after

(see Zac on the couch?)

I hesitate to show you because the room is not "done" yet!

Wayne and I selected some wonderful fabric

for pillows and curtains to match

our new pewter wall color and

existing yellow couch and black furniture and chairs!

Once the room is complete

 I will be posting the finished product!

Now,

 onto our "almost" completed weekend project!

The hallway!

Walking into our front door, you would find

a large blank wall behind the steps.

The dining room is open to the entry on the left,

with the family room and kitchen to the rear

of the dining room.

(note this photo involved no staging... getting us as is)

At the opposite end of the hallway is my office

and a powder bath room.

(and Caribou's rear end.. whoops)

When I painted the family room,

I knew right away that the kitchen and breakfast room

would need painting...

One being now sliver and the other more brown/gold

I felt like I was living in a coin shop.

Because this hallway wall is the same color as the kitchen,

I now thought it was a great time for a change

for this wall too!

I decided to try and mimic the boxes on the columns

to create boxed trim.

We painted the upper part of the wall the

same creamy Hazelnut color in the rest of

the entry, to brighten the space.

On the bottom half we created box molding

using trim and chair rail and paint.

Wayne is wonderful at completing my crazy visions!

The finished product...

I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

We mimicked the same height as the trim on the columns.

It has brighten the whole entry and

added some visual texture and interest!

This front facing wall will be painted the grey pewter color.

Obviously, the next project on the list!

Oh boy, I see another project

This hallway now needs artwork!

Any thoughts?

I am linking to DYI Day
at A Soft Place to Land.
and to
Best DYI Projects of April
at Beneath My Heart!

A Change is Coming!

The Before....

My poor family room needs to lighten-up.

Many years ago we painted this room a

color called Mississippi Mud.

I liked the way this colored worked with the color

in my adjoining kitchen and breakfast room.

However, with the onslaught of Wii play,

my kids prefer the blinds drawn closed,

leaving this room to feel somewhat like a depressing tomb.

I decided it was time for a change.

Of course this "change" now involves not only this room,

but the kitchen, breakfast room

and

the entry hallway.

We have completed the painting in the family room

and hope to finish the rest this weekend!

Stay tuned for the Afters!

Correction!

Above is a photo from Sunday's post

on my Guest Room Free-Do.

So many wonderful visitors commented

on the cow painting.

I wanted to make sure that I am not credited

for painting this sweet, whimsical painting.

I actually had it commissioned by a

college friend of mine over 17 years ago.

Her talents had always leaned towards animals

and, well

since I can't own that baby cow, I had one painted!

Stay tuned this week....

we've been painting again!

Also almost to post # 100 Give-a-Way!

Guest Room Free-do

Last weekend, I was confronted with providing new curtains

in my daughter's room.

I found what I thought would work on the discount table at Lowe's.

However,

the roman shades I bought were slightly too big for

her windows.

In my typical thrifty style, I remembered a pair of

chocolate, velvet, blue striped curtains

that were currently hanging in my guest room.

I pulled them off the guestroom window and

found them to be the perfect solution for Madison's bedroom.

All this left me with a guest room in need of curtains.

Now, once again in typical thrifty fashion,

I decided the guest room was now in need of

a re-do-free-do!

Since I had removed the brown and blue from

the windows, I now needed to remove the blue and

brown from the room!

I decided to pull out an old master bedroom bedding set

and try it in the guest room.

And was thrilled when the room went from this to...

to this!

I added the green accessories to accent

the green in the plaid bedding.

the mirror is actually an old window that we fitted

with a piece of mirror from behind.

On top of the dresser I added one of my two matching

modern green lamps.

I also added my baby picture framed in the same

green tone.

To complement the green plaid

I added cream sheets and pillows.

The head board is an antique fireplace mantle.

I have always loved the design of this mantle.

As you can tell, we never added a backing to the opening.

The silhouette are of my children when they were small.

I just matted them and put them

in cheap painted Walmart frames.

The ceder chest was a handmade gift to my

"Mom's first born" from a dear family friend.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my free-do!

I am linking this to Metamorphosis Monday!