Sunday, April 29, 2012

Welcome.....

Welcome to my world of decorating, taking items off the curb and making something great for my home or just a fun adventure at the flea market or a new shop that I find.  I hope you enjoy the journey with me. 

This all started with my friend Kris, who just started her Blog - Junk Chic Cottage (check our her beautiful home).  She convinced me to do it too since I'm always reading decorating blogs.  We love to go to the flea market together and are always exchanging ideas, furniture, accessories.  We've had some great adventures including the Longest Flea Market which is a whole story in itself.  This fall we are going to Minnesota for Junk Bonanza - another adventure, so I can't wait.  But until then we are both trying our hand at blogging. 

My style is french, industrial and a little vintage thrown in for good measure.  I've been in my home for 25 years and currently we're renovating (complete gut job) our only full bath and re-doing a family room all while dealing with my broken ankle - can you imagine the good time going on in this house?  So far my husband Jim and our friend Steve have been working on the bathroom.  Jim told Steve "did you know it takes 10 hours to pick out a vanity" but I think I will love it when it's all done.  Pictures will be coming soon.  And the new furniture for the family room was already picked out so all I had to do was sit on the old couch and order the new one.  Thank goodness because after this ordeal I will be ready to burn this couch that I sleep, eat and sit on day after day while my ankle is mending.  I'm in the home stretch of starting rehab so you'll have to bear with me on some of my projects til I'm totally walking again.

So, enough about that......let's get started.

Sandy

My kitchen......



I removed the cabinets above my stove and next to the window to open up the space and add some character to the room.  I added a chippy cabinet to the kitchen for my dishes and moved party items to the laundry room to make up for the cabinets I lost.  I painted the cabinets flat black and added clear knobs to the doors.  The next job in the kitchen is to change out the counter top. The shutters were found at a flea market and just attached to the wall on either side of the window.  I made the curtains - you could even do this as a "no sew" item - I just bought burlap and sewed all four sides  with the top fitting a 2 inch rod.  I then bought wide black velvet ribbon and velcroed it to make a circle and just folded up around the burlap.  With the velcro it makes it easy to just let the panel hang and vacuum when needed.  I love the open window look and we don't have any houses in back of us, but if you do, you can easily put a blind or shade under the valance for privacy when needed.  My chandelier was picked up at a garage sale and painted black and I added the shades.  Then I wove burlap ribbon from Michael's thru the chain to add some glam.  




This cute little chippy chair has been with me a long time - at my desk, in my living room and now in the kitchen.  I change it constantly with the seasons or whenever the mood strikes me.  It has held Christmas trees, dishes, books, even a person or two.  Here are just a few looks.  I made the paper flower on the chair out of a brown paper lunch bag and added a vintage button in the middle and a sparkle dot I found in my scrap booking supplies.  I saw these flowers while watching The Nate Show.  You can find the tutorial at http://www.aplaceforusblog.com/.  They are simple to make and I just found some cute designer paper lunch bags marked on clearance at Target that I used instead of the brown paper bags to add on a birthday package.  It's a simple project and could be used above a bed, dresser, on a wall, just about anywhere.  I just put a dab of hot glue on my chair to make it stick because the chair is so shabby anyways no one will ever notice the spot. 

The cute cake cover was a gift from Kris and came from one of my favorite stores Tattered Tiques in Lake Barrington, IL.

Well, off to pick out tile and flooring for the bathroom.... be back soon. 




 








3 comments:

  1. Ohhhhhh so cute. Love it congrates on starting the blog. Everything looks so cute.

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  2. You girls are a hoot! There's NO stopping you now! ;) Love your kitchen...can't wait to see more!

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  3. Ok French Flea Girl I want to see more pictures!!! I am dying to see that beautiful bathroom you finished. Let's see some pics!!!
    Kris
    junkchiccottage

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