Country House Our Bedroom Reveal

Hi, Friends, 

How are you? I hope that you are doing well and staying upbeat. 

Our room at the new weekend house is done and it is my favorite room so far. 

It's been a long time since we have moved. I forgot what it's like to walk in to a house that someone else has lived it. We did not have to time to give the house a good cleaning before we went to bed. They former owner wasn't sloppy but East Texas has a lot of dirt. It reminds me of West Texas. We spent one night in the house and I immediately began painting our room as soon as I had a cup of coffee. I needed to cover the yellowish/brownish walls. The house was very tan. 

Except for the guest room, I've painted the whole house in Glidden High Endurance Plus Grab-N-Go Interior Paint and Primer in flat white. I like this white. It's reads a little green/gray in certain lights instead of blue, yellow, or pink.  This paint has really good coverage. One coat with some touch ups did the trick. 

I'd finished our room, the living area and kitchen by the end of the first night. I don't know how I did it.

The next weekend, I painted the wood trim around the windows. The trim is the same Glidden but in the eggshell finish. 

Bill hung up new white faux wood blinds from Home Depot. Every window except for the kitchen is the same size. 

White gauzy curtains clipped to nickel curtain rods dress the windows. 

The curtains are from Tuesday Morning. The rods came from Joann's. 

The stained doors and painted trim got bathed in the new white. 

We purchased a queen sized bed because I thought a king would be too big for the room. 

 I loved how it looked in the room but it was not working for us. I don't know if it's the mattress or the box spring but we weren't sleeping well. The mattress was uncomfortable so we kept sinking into each other. After working on the house all day, we needed a good night sleep. I finally called "uncle" and we decided that we had to get a king. We got an unexpected bonus check in December, so we used it to splurge on a Sleep Number Bed for this house. We have one at home too. 

It meant we needed a new headboard as well. This is the Jocelyn from Kirklands. I like it but I wish it sat up a little higher so maybe I can figure something out. 

We needed a dresser or a "Chester Drawers" as my neighbor liked to say. "Ummm, you mean a chest of drawers?"  

I saw this one at our new boutique thrift store. I took a picture and sent it to Bill. He didn't want it. I knew it was the "one" but I passed and kept looking at all my other favorite spots. I went back twice to see if it was still there. Finally, I took Bill to see it and they took off 30% for us. Sold! 

It has a wonderful tung oil smell. 

My little vanity came from the sister store.   

Black pulls cleaned up with Barkeepers Friend. 

The mirror came from a garage sale this summer. 

The rug is from IKEA. We've had it for about a year in our garden room. It was in a high dog and cat traffic area but Bill cleaned it with the power washer. It looks brand new. 

We used to have a gallery wall of paintings in the game room before we hung up a t.v. 

 I hung on to these and they are perfect for a "nature" themed house. 

The chairs hold pillows at night. We had them at home too.

My little night stand was only $35.00 at an antique shop.

The bedding is older from Tuesday Morning. Our sheets were a gift from Sleep Number since they stood me up on the delivery. That was an unexpected gesture. They are comfortable sheets. 

If you recall this house didn't have floors. The stained concrete was worn out.  We love the luxury vinyl plank floor. It's easy to maintain. I'm so glad we went with this color. Our room is right off the living room. 

This room gets the best light in the house. It is so cheerful on sunny Saturday mornings.

I love this room so much that it propelled me to repaint our room at home the same color. 

That is all for now. 

Stop back by for more country house room reveals. 

Here is a link (Our New Country House) to a page about the house in case you have missed a post. 

Katie  

I'm Thrifting Again!

Besides visiting with family and friends, thrifting was the thing that I missed the most during lockdown. 

As soon as things opened up here in Texas, I went to the thrift store. I knew that my stores would be virtually empty. I thought that they would be getting in all the stuff people cleaned out while sheltering in place but I've not seen a flood of new junk at my stores. 

The economy is in turmoil so people may be keeping stuff for future garage sales.

My post about the "Woodland Realm" (as Bill calls it) is not quite ready, so I thought I'd show you my thrift store, Ebay and antique store finds. 

I only got one thing from the Methodists. They raise money for local families in financial crisis. 

This handmade whirly gig was only $3.00. 

Love him. 

The garden has been my sanctuary so I've been watching a lot of gardening channels on YouTube. 

Linda Vater has darling baskets about her yard. I immediately snagged some baskets for ours. 

These came from the store that raises money for crisis pregnancies.  

A cause that is near and dear to my heart. 

They add fun texture to the garden. 

I found a little round basket below in someone's trash. 

A wall basket was only $4.00. 

Wrens have already built a nest in it. It only took them a day to build. Bill caught them at it in the morning. I pulled out the building material. By that evening they had finished it. I didn't have the heart to dismantle it again. I hope the babies survive this time. 

For 50¢ each several brown bottles came home. One got broken in the garbage disposal during clean up.  

Picking glass out of a disposal is super fun -FYI. 

A small Ball jar was $2.00. 

The faux needlepoint tin was a find before lockdown. 

Several un-needed pieces of bric- a-brac came home too. 

Resisting white china is futile. 

The strawberry egg cup is English. It was either $1.40 or $2.10. I can't remember.

This perfect piece of majolica was only $7.00. 

The Nikko peach china had been there for a long time. I've been collecting for a peach theme. These were $2.10 each. 

Two fruit themed teacups were $6.00 each. 

They are Rockingham by Spode. They had been there a while too so they needed to be adopted. 

This old door stop was only $3.00. 

I don't use them as door stops. I use them as bookends or shelf sitters. 

This carrot mold was only $2.10. I thought it would be cute at Easter. 

I counted our pitchers recently. I lost count at 43. I adore pitchers and use them as vases. 

This little cranberry glass example was only $2.80. 

How could I leave it behind? 

There is a universal law of thrifting. If you give, you shall receive. 

During lockdown, I searched eBay for a wall mount bird cage. I had no luck. 

As soon as the SAH order was lifted, Bill took them a huge truck load of donations. 

On one of my subsequent visits, I found this French style wall mounted bird cage for only $4.00. 

I couldn't believe it. I've rarely seen these for sale. 

My love affair with all things French continued with a search for a tremeau mirror. 

A brown one with a darling painting was an eBay find. I broke the mirror right after it arrived. 

I'm headed to mirror and glass place this morning. 

A gold one was an antique store find shortly after the black and brown one was found. 

What is French style without a little toile? 

These red Waverly valances were found the same day as the wall mounted basket and bird cage. 

What a great Frenchy day that was. 

My last find was a wonderfully chippy bench. 

It was at the antique store and was $49.00. Not a great deal but it's lovely. 

It needs some restoration. Bill wants to restore the sides as well as fix the slats but the sides are staying as found. 

It's a two seater and it will be perfect for the woodland realm. 

That is all for now! 

Have a wonderful day. 

Katie
Common Ground

French and English Finds

Happy Sunday to you. 

Bill and I took a trip out to East Texas a few weeks ago. 

He fished, I walked, we read and we relaxed. 

We took a trip to Quitman, Texas as part of that relaxation strategy. 

We found a store called Antique Marketplace on Main. 

I like antique stores that are set up vignette style. There is furniture but knick knacks adorn the furniture. Those types of displays are a feast for the eyes and it makes the hunt a challenge. 

Do you know what I mean? 

This wasn't like that. I immediately dismissed the store because it was lined with 6 rows of furniture. There were three rows of furniture each on each side of a center aisle. 

We don't need lot of furniture but Bill needed a new bedside table. 

Bill quickly assessed that if we couldn't find a nightstand in this store, we couldn't find one anywhere. 

I quickly assessed that there were antiques from France! My opinion changed in an instant.  

The prices were cheap, cheap, cheap. 

We soon realized that this store was so reasonably priced that it would be a great place to find upgrades to our existing furniture. I think I'll do a post on which pieces we would upgrade, if given the right piece. This dealer has pickers in France and England and they ship it over in containers. 

The containers come into Houston Harbor and then he hauls it up to his shop. 

Bill and I picked and gleaned for about an hour and a half. 

After assembling a small pile, we took a lunch break. That's how good it was.

We needed refueling. 

In the end we couldn't decide on any furniture upgrades because we would have had to rent a Uhaul to get it home. However, we found some treasures. 

This French mirror was $69.00

We found a fireplace screen for our new mantel. 

It was priced at around $70.00. It is English, I think. 

I grabbed this reproduction salt box. It was $9.99. A true French example can run about $100.00. This will stand in until I can find a true French antique. 

There were quite a few French copper pots. 

They were all $24.00. I picked the one with the best tin inside. 

Look at the difference between the bigger French copper pot and U.S.A. Paul Revere copper. 

The copper is so rich and beautiful on the French pot.  

In one of the back rooms, I spied a couple of cardboard boxes with fabric spilling out. 

I went digging. 

I found this red and white gingham which h gave to me for free.  When I went back for a second dig, I found this darling French tapestry for $7.50. 

It's now a little pillow.

You will see more of our spring bedding in another post. 

After lunch, we settled on a night stand. 

In many ways it is perfect. 

The lines and the color are spot on. 

Bill just feels that he needs a tiny bit more room. We are looking to get him a plant stand for his fan. 

They had plant stands in Quitman. 

We also got this gorgeous tureen. 

It was $30.00. It is missing the lid and it has a bit of crazing on the inside but I thought it was stunning. 

It reminded me of the rug we'd seen at IKEA. We ran by to pick one up. 

I just love this look for spring. 

There you have it. Thanks for stopping in to see all of our French and English Finds. 

Have a great day. 

If you like it - share it with a friend. 

Katie 

Junkpalooza 2018/Junking In Arlington, Texas

My brother and I did some junking two weeks ago.
You can read about our other junking adventures
here
and here.

Day 1
Dave was looking for CDs to replace his music after his computer crashed.
I was looking for anything that could be used in fall decor.
On day 1, our first stop was Arlington Resale.
I'd just been by last week and passed on some brass pieces. This time they came home with me.

Our next stop was Nu 2 U Resale. It is a ministry of the First Methodist Church.
I found a cute painting depicting bucolic countryside in warmer tones. It was only $5.00.

It will be passed on to my daughter if I can't find a spot for it.

One of my favorite crafters has a booth in a little gift shop mall.

Her booth was brimming with darling hand made pumpkins. I already have one of primitive Jack -O-Lanterns so I didn't get anything.
It was lunch time so we went to one of our favorite places.
J Gilligan's is an Arlington icon.

It's a hole in the wall but the Irish Nachos and grilled chicken sandwich are not to be missed.

While Dave shopped for CDs at Half Price Books, I searched for my favorite British author.
I didn't find Trisha Ashley but I did find another book my favorite British interior designer,  Rachel Ashwell.

I love her books.

I dropped Dave off at  Movie Trading Company. I scooted across the parking lot to Pier 1.
We were both tired and this point so we rested before dinner. We met Bill at Pappadeaux.
We used a gift card I received as a retirement gift from one of my sweet parents at the school.
It was fun saving this for a special occasion.

Day 2

We started Day 2 at Cooper Street Antique Mall.

I picked up this darling canister. The graphics on this thing are just precious.
I also found two vintage postcards

 and an amber bottle.

One of the booths raises money for M.S. so I picked up two of their puzzles.

I also found a fabulous stack of Johnson Brothers Richmond White luncheon plates for $2.00 each.
Adore!

After a quick lunch at What A Burger we headed to Goodwill.
I found a darling white ceramic squirrel box.

We ran into another Half Price Books.
I found another coffee table book while Dave looked at CDs.

We called it a day.
We had sandwiches for dinner to keep it simple.

Day 3

I took Dave home on the final day of Junkpalooza.
The best find of the week was found at an antique store in Dave's town.

One of the antique shops had this gorgeous ironstone coffee pot for only $28.00.

I also found Denmark Blue Furnivals platter at another shop.
It was $12.00.

The shop where I found the platter had a darling elf planter.
The other elves were found for me by Dave at the thrift store where he volunteers.
How cute are these?
They're packed away but they will reappear at Christmas time.

That is it for now.
What do you think of my finds?
I'm still trying to abide by the mantra that if stuff comes in the house than stuff must go out.
I've a pretty decent load to take to the thrift store in the garage.
Also, we moved some furniture around.

We did a switch with our armoires. This beast has been in one of the guest rooms. Even though it's not a great match for our bed, the scale is so much better with it in our room.
 When we moved it the last time, Bill swore he'd never move it again. I'm thankful he did.
He is a good man.

If the sun ever appears, I'll take some bedroom photos.
Katie