The Baker's Rack Decorated For Early Fall

Hi, Friends,

I hope you are well.

It took me years to find this baker's rack. I finally found it for only $15.00. I would have preferred a black one with brass accents but I've never seen one for a price that I would pay. 

Ours has been inside the house but has been outside as well. It's held all manner of fun seasonal and garden decorations. 

Since my greenhouse is not in place yet and stuff was all over the deck, the baker's rack was moved indoors. It got a quick refresh with some white spray paint. Honestly, it could use some thorough rust removal and repainting but it's August and it's too hot to do a project like that in August. It's got some chippy and rusty paint going on but I'm not sure that is as desirable as it was 10 years ago or so. 

This didn't come with glass or tile on the shelves. They are metal slats which don't really work except for plants. White "marble look" tile left over from the powder room is inset into the shelves. I had just enough tiles and they only needed a little trimmed off with the tile saw in order to fit perfectly.

The crape myrtle on the edge of the deck kept dropping stuff all over this piece when it was outside. 

Cleaning this off a few times a year would be fine but that crape myrtle drops stuff all the time. Bringing the baker's rack inside gives me a break from cleaning it off. The tiles also got rusty from metal accessories. 

Since the baker's rack is white and open at the back, it doesn't take up much visual space and it doesn't block the view. 

Seasonal decor can take up visual space instead and that works for me. 

There are five shelves. Each shelf in only about 10 inches high so nothing too tall can be on display. Only the top shelf works for anything taller than 9 inches. I want a lamp for the top shelf. I had one but I cannot find it, which means I have given it away or it is in East Texas in the decor closet. 

Vintage green canvas bound books echo the green of the old quilt. 

 

My red pick up truck from Hobby Lobby got repainted Moss Green last year. To me green is almost a neutral and coordinates with so many other color schemes. 

Seasonal bits hang out in the bed. These pick ups were all over the decorating world a few years ago. It may be a tad overdone and out of style, but it's perfect for fall. Since I drive a pick up, it's still a fun decor piece. It took a lot of tape to get this thing ready to spray paint. It was worth it, because it's darling painted green. That is a good tip for you. If you see something metal or wood in a color that isn't your favorite, spray paint it. 

What do you do when the world shuts down because of a virus? 

Spray paint everything! 

A metal flower frog holding a seed packet has to be one of my favorite vignette elements. 

Seed packets - new or vintage they are just too fun. 

Primitive crafts are adorable for late summer/early fall. 

Sunflowers in calico and gingham were stitched up and sprinkled about the house. 

Getting it stiff and grungy has to be some sort of prim maker's secret. I tried a couple of different recipes. If you know, let me know. I've got the urge to make some scarecrows. 

My mom's copper rests on the shelves. 

The bird house was a gift from our son right after he moved to Seattle. 

It exemplifies the Craftsman architecture of that city. 

The pop of red echos the color in the pillows. The P. Kaufman Queensland fabric has to be one of my favorite fabrics ever. 

The pillows have been on the loveseat all summer. 

To extend the life of these vignettes, I can apples, pears and finally pumpkins.

A five dollar vintage clock is missing a foot. I added a tiny screw instead. I should take it up to my old fashioned hardware store to see if they can hook me up with alternative feet. 

The face was too precious to pass up. 

The antique doorstop came from my mother in law. We have a pair of these. 

This was fun to style. The fun will continue for the next few seasons. 

That's about it for now.

Stay well. 

Katie 

A Retaining Wall And The Greenhouse On The Move

Hi, Friends, 

How are you? I hope you are staying well and encouraged. 

"This is a small backyard but you have a lot going on." 

This is a quote from the tree trimmer. 😁

The neighbors replaced the 30 year old retaining wall between our houses. 

I had to remove the pool and greenhouse before they would begin work because they didn't want to damage anything. 

The noise as they dropped the railroad ties off of the truck was unbelievable. 

The three day project took five days. 

Before:

According to everyone we talked to about it, this is their wall because it holds up their house. Bill kindly explained that he's already replaced the wall that holds up our house. It's counter-intuitive because we see it but we had no control over it's replacement. Bill was very diplomatic and said it in a very kind manner.

It was a good opportunity to give my greenhouse a good cleaning. All wasps were eradicated. 

I'd just gotten stung in East Texas so I was not thrilled to have to deal with wasps. 

The greenhouse and the stuff inside of it was everywhere. I created a big box of stuff to donate. 

 A mess is okay for a few days but after a week and a half it was getting on my last nerve.

 (Lots of stuff was getting on my last nerve.) 

The tree trimmer saw it in this chaotic state. 

My greenhouse needed to be moved anyway and this was a good opportunity to try it in a different spot. 

Uri showed how ineffectual it was and that it is was more of a garden ornament rather than a place for over-wintering plants. Spring starts got too hot. Cold air coming up through the deck didn't help my tropicals. My plants survived Uri because I brought them all inside. We didn't lose our electricity so my stuff didn't die from the frigid weather. 

I'd like to take my Palram Greenhouse out to East Texas but I don't think it would survive the trip unless we rented a U-Haul. It would look very out of proportion anyway. We have almost nine acres so we can have a bigger greenhouse.  I've started shopping for one. If Bill is on board, that will be on the list for next year. 

The greenhouse next to the shed looked okay. When the pool was set up during the summer and once we put a cover on the deck, it looked a little like Ma and Pa Kettle lived here. No offense to anyone named Kettle. Have you ever met someone named Kettle? I have not so hopefully there will be no offense taken. I adore Kettle chips, just FYI. 

Several of my garden things got moved to East Texas but there was still a lot going on in our smallish back yard. What if the greenhouse was on the other side of the yard?  It would get it out of Kettleville. The empty deck gets some sun so plants in pots could be moved over there. All this was skittering around my brain while the wall was being built. 

There is nothing level in our yard. we had to level an area for my birdbath. It's so sloped that Bill had to level an area for the swing. 

This week while trying to carve out and level an area for the greenhouse, I hit my wall. Square pavers seemed like a perfect idea for the floor. Thinking about getting in the car and loading up 20 stepping stones was overwhelming to me. Twenty years ago nothing would have stopped me from loading them up in the truck and hauling them to the back yard to begin flooring the little house. Waving the white flag, a called was placed to my favorite landscaper and garden friend. He will come by on our regular mowing day for a design consultation. 

In the meantime, the greenhouse is across the yard and I love it there. 

Stepping stones will lead to the door. Lights are already in place to see how cozy it will look at Christmas. 

Does this make it more functional? I hope so. Uri was so uncharacteristic of Texas weather. All my plants were doing fine last winter until it looked like we would hit 2 degrees. If I decide to try tomatoes again they can get an early start . My plumbago survived being overwintered but it bloomed so late. It might do better staying in the greenhouse to get some heat during the spring and early summer.

New shelving would help make the greenhouse more functional.  Bill made a shelf unit for me a few years ago. It is wonderful but it's a tad too deep. Hornets love building nests underneath each shelf. 

It's now on the deck holding flower pots and such. 

The baker's rack is back in our garden room. 

It's been styled with some late summer pieces. 

Styling the baker's rack for the fall and Christmas has always been so much fun so having back in the house is going good. 

To see some fun late summer baker's rack inspiration, go visit Debra at Common Ground. 

She has an amazing collection of vintage seasonal decorations. 

I'll be back with some styling soon. 

Stay well. I hope you are experiencing more patience than I did last week. 

Thanks for all your sweet comments in the last couple of weeks. I appreciate them so much. 

You'll see the greenhouse when it's resting and level. 

Katie 

Late Summer Decor In East Texas

Hi, Friends,

If you are new here, welcome! 

I took some pictures of the late summer decor at our house in East Texas. 

I had the cutest helper. 

Twenty six years of changing bulletin boards every month may have contributed my need to decorate for the seasons. My relationship with August is complicated. It has not been one of my favorite months. My dad died one hot August night when I was only 17. My sister and my brother were in the garage where he collapsed. I was in the kitchen trying to call the ambulance. It was like the dream where you can't dial the phone. This was before 911 and I could not dial the number for the police. I had nightmares about it for years. The Lord redeemed August, to a degree, with the birth of our oldest son. He was born near the anniversary of my dad's death. August now had joy. We loved planning special birthdays for our son. 

How kind of the Lord to do that for me. 

 

Texas is so hot that I want to rush the month in order to usher in some fall weather. Burnished gold tones echo the typically dry landscape. This year has been an exception, as we have had more rain, but the grass along the roadways is usually crusty and dry. 

Fall cannot get here quickly enough. 

Lastly, while I loved teaching, August meant that the restful days of summer were at an end. Inservice and the start of school completely reversed the lackadaisical days of June and July. The end of the school year and the start of the school year are exhausting. When school started, it meant that fall and cooler weather should start as well but cooler weather doesn't usually arrive until October, if we are lucky. 

While I don't love August, I love August decor. Sunflowers are some of my favorite ways to decorate in August. 

That explains the why to a degree. Let's get into the what of the decor. 

The little plate was an antique store find. It's the Ridge Daisy pattern by Blue Ridge Southern Pottery. The Tennessee company manufactured hand-painted under-glazed dishes in a wide variety of naive, folk art like designs from the 30s to the 50s.  They went out of business as plastic dinnerware flooded the market. This type of dinnerware is perfect for thematic decorators as they have a wide variety of patterns. Even though this is supposed to be a daisy, it looks like a sunflower to me. It is very reminiscent of some of the Franciscan patterns such as Apple and Dessert Rose. 

Some faux rudbeckia rests in a pitcher. We have had a gnat problem so I'm avoiding real flowers and plants for the time being. My wild rudbeckia bloomed all summer but has called it quits for now. 

The mantel is a little too small for the firebox but we're not ready to switch that out right now. I think this was built by the former owner's brother. He did a lot of the DIY projects around the house. At some point we'll find the perfect piece of lumber to use as a mantel but it works for now.  

I rearranged the furniture in the corner opposite the fireplace. Bill and I felt like the room looks bigger this way. 

It's very cozy. 

The cat isn't as thrilled because she loved sleeping on the back of the sofa near the window. 

A sunflower pillow from Pottery Barn coordinates perfectly with the sofa. 

A new light fixture replaced the old ceiling fan. 

I'd like a bigger rug but we were in the midst of the pandemic when we closed on the house.  Bill grabbed two of these rugs from Home Depot our first weekend in the house. 

The living room is cut in two by a walkway to our bedroom. 

It's annoying but it is what it is. We created two seating areas and can pull chairs closer to the sofa for more conversational seating. 

We brought out a buffet from the other house. The $5.00 garage sale find was very damaged oak. I painted it white in 2013. I stripped it, recently, and painted the bottom black. The chair next to it was thrifted. The cane seat was broken though. Bill removed it and cut a new seat which I upholstered in cotton duck cloth. 

The top of the buffet got a little seasonal decor. 

The flower crate from Nearly Natural got a reboot with geraniums and sunflowers from Hobby Lobby. The bougainvillea was removed and will be packed away until next summer. 

We got the live edge frame from our daughter for Christmas. I was out there with no access to a printer so a paper napkin came to the rescue. This set of napkins from Michel Design Works. We got it as a house warming gift. I've since been home to access the printer but I like the napkin so it stayed. 

The duck was carved by Bill's dad. 

Quite a few years ago my sister in law and I stopped at an antique store in between her house and Canton. Our new house is on the same route. I wanted to return to the shop but I had not been able to pin point where it was until Bill and I found it two weeks ago. We picked up a few things. They had a few pieces of Lincoln by Adam's China.  Two plates, four bread and butter plates, a platter and a vegetable bowl were only $8.00. I thought it was a fun addition to our little ranch house. We will be back to the shop again. 

The silverplate, napkins, stemware and placemat were all thrifted over time. 

I found the little table at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. It was red but I painted it my favorite Lichen green chalk paint by Ceramcoat. 

A homemade prim sunflower rests in some corn shaped bowls. 

We are loving the new counters and sink in the kitchen. We're already babying them less and less. Bill pour red wine in glasses last time. Everything so far wipes right off. The sink is another story. I'm still babying that. 

We got my little cabinet hung up. I don't need it to disguise the counters anymore. 

I spent a lot of time editing the counter decorations. 

Putting a little lamp in one of my dark corners made a huge difference in cozying up the corner.

I love the graphics on this bag of coffee. 

That is it for now. 

We have owned the house for 10 months. The initial phase of redecoration of the main house is complete but it's too hot to work on the cabin. 

Work on that will resume this fall so there is much more to look forward too. 

I'm blogging less and I when I do, I would like my posts to be more authentic, if that makes sense. 

Hopefully, more of the real me will come across in the future.  I hope that will be a good thing. 

Stay safe out there. 

Katie