"You Rearranged The Furniture"

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well. 

We had our East Texas friends over for dinner the other night. Every time they come by, the living room is arranged a different way. 

It's a bit of an odd shaped room which is par for the course for the living areas in all of our houses except our first house. The living room in East Texas has a walkway right through the corner of it. Additionally, there is no designated entry which annoys Bill a little bit. 

He wondered if we could build a pony wall. Hello? We are not incorporating a design element from the 60s - not gonna happen. 

January is my time to evaluate needs and wants for the year. A rug for E.T. was on that list. 

The new rug was to replace a gray and drab IKEA gray rug that was from the "city" house. 

I like Magnolia Home Rugs by Loloi. Living Spaces had the Janey Rug in Natural/Indigo. 

 Joanna's rugs have a vintage look, which I love! They are also fairly affordable and the quality is good.
 I forgot to get a rug pad when I bought the rug but I put it down anyway. I had to see how it looked. The indigo reads black/dark gray which works for the house. 

There are spots of olive which works with the sofa and recliner. 

I decided to "play" with the furniture layout as we were putting down the rug pad. I hoped to create the feel of an entryway. 

How would it look to float the little white couch? 

We pushed the furniture around just to see. 

We liked it enough to swap the dry sink for the black buffet. This move further created an entryway feel as it created a spot to put keys or mail. All this is an illusion because we don't use the front door. The back door is the preferred entry for this house because of the driveway and carport.  

Caroline's two escape attempts were through the front door. She still wants to escape even though we tell her she'd be eaten by ferrel hogs. Somehow this hasn't deterred her determination.  

The new seating worked well for conversation with our friends. 

The "You rearranged the furniture!" comment led to the title for this blog post. 

We just need one more drink table to make the space completely functional. 

I love the little oak chest under the window. It feels much more open and a bit brighter this way.  

I adore the wall with the buffet and black key box. The buffet came from the city. The key box was an estate sale find. 

We put the green recliner next to the fireplace. 

A little Victorian table was moved over by the back door. 

This isn't my favorite but it will do for now. The internet nonsense is the main reason for my displeasure. 

I edited it out in the above photo. 

What? Internet is a modern necessity but does it have to look so bad? 

It's on my list to fix because it's not working all that well. 

The dry sink makes sense on the dining room wall. 

Bill feels that this piece makes the dining room feel roomier. I agree. 

Getting rid of the microwave over the stove was a goal for 2023. 

We've both really hated it from the get go. 

It hung too low and plastic was peeling off of the front of it. I'd hoped it would die and that would decide it for us but it became clear that it wasn't near death. I mentioned to Bill one Saturday that it was coming down in 2023. He hopped up to get it down. I credit serving him bacon and eggs for breakfast. Food is a good motivator. 

It unscrewed from the cabinet. I think there was also a French cleat, if I remember correctly. 

We are so glad to see it go. 

There were still some brick paneling scraps to patch the wall. 

Bill was unhappy with his patch job and wanted to get more "paneling" to fix it. 

I'm not sure that I am in love with the brick backsplash long term so I told him to leave it for now. 

You all know how much I love my white fixtures and finishes. I would love white marble subway tile here which is the same as our city kitchen. 

The shelf came from a neighbor's yard sale. 

A new microwave sits in the pantry. Muscle memory has kicked a few times and I've reached for the microwave which isn't there. 

 More often than not, it's cold or wet outside on the weekend so it is fun to "play" inside. That is the beauty of this place, nothing is too precious or set in stone so it's fun to change it up. 

Bill continues to plug away at work in the cabin. 

He has the walls framed and most of the electrical done. He has started working on the the plumbing for the bathroom. This has been a huge project. I'll have to do a recap of it soon. He has the lead for the design of this space but he'll bounce his ideas off of me.

There have been a few signs of spring in East Texas. 

Soon, gardening will begin. 

That is all for now. Bless you for stopping by. 

Katie 

Hello, February/Valentine's Day Decor

Hello, Friends,

How are you? 

We are on our fourth day hunkered down because of a typical Texas wintery mix. 

We had thunder sleet which is so strange. 

 Texas does not have the equipment to deal with this type of thing so we just have to be patient until it starts to melt. It started to melt today but it's still below freezing. Hopefully, we will be able to get to the grocery store this afternoon or we may get scurvy. 

Cabin fever set in yesterday and I got a little bored until I remembered a beautiful tablecloth that we purchased in the Alsace region of France. It was about 40€ and was made in France instead of being imported from somewhere else. The exchange rate was about 1 to 1 while we were in Europe which was nice. I put it on the dining room table and that led to some additional decorating. 

Roses from the grocery store and faux candles in sterling candle sticks round out the look. 

 

Since the first of November, we've had green as an accent color in the entryway and kitchen. 

Red and green evoke a Christmas feel, so the green had to go. 

"Starsky, The Hutch" got some bits of red transferware and a couple of vintage Valentines in a glass cloche.  

Stunning pages from one of my dad's books are perfect for the month of February. 

Metal flower frogs make perfect stands for bits of vintage ephemera. 

Most of my ruby glass collection came to me from my parents via my step mother but I've picked up pieces here and there from the thrift and antique stores. 

There is a lot of glare on Starsky but there is no way to keep the door open. 

I love stuff behind glass so it's not a problem. 

 I have a few pieces of Mason's Vista Pink. It is such a pretty pattern.

The gold rimmed chop plate was painted by my husband's grandmother. 

Of course the kitchen had to match and that started with the valances.  

A couple of years ago, I picked up the toile Waverly valances at the thrift store and stuck them in my stash of curtains because I knew I'd like to use them at some point. Toile was huge in the mid 2000s but fell out of favor although toile never really goes out of style. If memory serves, these were $6.00 for the pair.  

I mixed the paint myself but it is very close to the color Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams. It's a very neutral blue/green so I've used a lot of fun accent colors with these walls.  

The cabinets are Snowbound, also by Sherwin Williams. 

I picked up a darling little vintage clock at the antique mall. 

(This is my favorite thing from the day's decorating activities.) Clocks don't have to work to be wonderful accent pieces. It looks German which is why I bought it. It was made in the USA though. 

Initially, my vintage shutter turned screen hid the cords from a Christmas tree. 

Now, it's hiding the cellular booster so red gingham replaced green. 

Bill found the heart ornament in Germany when he went on an excursion without me. 

A nursery rhyme book provides a constant source of seasonal and holiday art for the bulletin board in the garden room. 

I had fun with the book and thought the Queen of Hearts page was perfect for February. 

I can't say that our credenza has replaced the "holiday cupboard" in terms of seasonal impact for me but there are a few things that I can do each month to keep it up for the holidays and seasons. Half the time it ended up being a catch all for garden stuff and it looked junky anyway. 

Bill likes it because it is much more minimal. 

It's been a long while since the Dept. 56 Hearts and Blooms Cottage has been on display. It is part of the Snow Village series. 

My flower book is open to the bleeding hearts page. 

Plant corner is alive and well. 

That's about it for me. Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie