Lifestyle Of Love Blog Hop/ Pitchers and Other Dishware

Hi, Friends,

Welcome to another Lifestyle Of Love Blog Hop hosted by sweet Cindy who blogs at County Road 407. Cindy has curated a great group of bloggers who blog in a style that reflects vintage, antiques, farmhouse, and repurposing. We've had some fun themes in this bi-monthly event. If you are coming from Lora B. Create and Ponder, welcome. I love how Lora's blog inspires with her styling of antiques and collectables.

This month we are blogging about one of my favorite things - dishware.

I love all kinds of dishware. I have too many sets but I seem incapable of conducting a purge.

In each set, I'm infatuated with the pitchers. It's a pitcher problem. I cannot say no to a good pitcher. 

They are all over the house and in almost every room. 

After another pitcher arrived via eBay, I decided to count them.

I stopped at 50 or so. Not that I was finished counting, but I was finished, if that makes sense. 

Why have I collected so many pitchers?

They are a perfect little accent piece to go with a theme. 

I've found them at thrift stores for just a few dollars. 

White pitchers allow the eye to rest when other patterns and colors take center stage.

White ironstone pitchers are a perfect neutral accent in farmhouse style.

 They add a smooth glossy element to decor. Ironstone has a heavier weight than porcelain. I have found that some old pieces are marked but some are not. There are plenty of reproduction pieces if antiques are not available. That is how I started collecting. When a better example was found the reproduction pieces were donated to my thrift store. 

Pitchers make a perfect vessel for holding flower arrangements. 

The narrowed top near the spout is wonderful for holding a bouquet together. 

I love and collect pitchers but I adore other pieces of china too. I absolutely love transferware.

Transferware is an applied decoration in which a copper plate or engraving is pressed onto tissue paper. The paper is put print side down onto pottery and fired. Cobalt blue transferware is by far the most prolific but there are other colors as well. Transferware is always a favorite for giving my latest color crush a vintage and antique look. 

We don't eat off of our antique pieces. Those are just for display. We use newer dishware sets for safety reasons.

I'm not a tablescaper but I love to set a pretty table. 

Ironstone is getting harder to find but still pops up at antique stores around here. I've found good examples on eBay. My thrift store rarely has it anymore. 

Transferware is still readily available at my favorite antique stores but it is pricy. Type transferware into the search bar on eBay and it will yield some great examples. It's even possible to search by color. 

Mulberry or purple is a sought after and hard to find color. 

My favorite resource for our dishware collection is Replacements Ltd. It's not always the cheapest option but it is a great place to add to or replace a piece in a collection. 

Pitchers, platters, and plates are darling additions to your decor. 

Next up is Emily from Le Cultivator. You won't want to miss her beautiful blog and how she uses vintage dishes in her displays. 

See the rest of the links in the boxes below. 

I hope your weekend is off to a great start. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie

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Our Exciting News About An Antique Farmhouse

Hi, Friends, 

How are you? 

I'm on pins and needles over here. 

If you have been following for a while, you may remember that there have been a few houses that have intrigued and tempted us. 

There have been a couple that we can't seem to forget and I've enjoyed taking you along on our house journey. 

There was the less than perfect Little Lake Property.

There was the Sinking Bungalow and the sweet Sunset house. 

There was the Faux French Chateau. 

I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason. When we lost Sunset last summer, it took a little while to understand that loss. Now with the lockdown and Covid, I think our staying here has been a blessing. We know our neighbors and our neighborhood. They have been our only companionship for the last five months. (From across the street, of course.) 

Bill and I have always wanted a place in the country. We have talked about that dream for the last 37 years. 

We wanted a manageable amount of acreage. 

I've had a longing for chickens and for growing food. Bill needs to tinker with things. He wants geese. 

But why? Why, when we have been blessed with a lovely home? 

Why would God want us to have a second home? We are blessed enough with this one. I've spent a lot of time in prayer about it. 

During the last third of our life, we thought we would travel. When will we be able to do that again? 

We thought we would have little feet visiting us. That's not on the horizon and now with the pandemic, I doubt our children will want to bring little feet into this scenario. I could be wrong but I doubt it. 

  There have been times when we have been discouraged and the dream seemed out of reach. 

One of things that has hit me during this virus situation is to have peace in the things that I cannot control. I've always had a feeling that if the right house or property was out there, we would know it and that it wouldn't be that hard to find. I've seen God work in my life enough that I know this to be true. 

 Our realtor has had us in a couple of search matrixes. We get emails everyday about a downsized suburban home and country properties. 

It's a lot of emails but there was nothing for sale that looked interesting. 

Bill would get the emails and he would look at the links. He forwarded those to me that intrigued him. 

Most of the time, I've been "Nope, I'm not living there with you." 

Last week, he got an email which led him to another link. It was a house that had just been put on the market. When he clicked through the pictures of the property and the house, he wanted to see it. We were already going to be out in that direction, so he set up a showing. 

I hadn't seen the pictures or the listing. I didn't even know that we were house hunting. I didn't even really want to house hunt. We were supposed to be relaxing.

 

We pulled up to the house. 

I didn't even notice the picket fence. (I have always wanted a picket fence.) 

The acreage had vista and interest. "Okay..." 

I walked up to through the front yard and stepped up onto the porch. I got a warm and tingly feeling. 

That tingly feeling means nothing if Bill sees something he doesn't like ~ just FYI. 

We opened the front door. 

"This is original shiplap!" 

The realtor and I began to talk about the original doors, beadboard ceilings, the original kitchen cabinets. 

There are original door knobs.

"How old is this house?" 

The realtor said the house was built in 1932 but it's had some recent work and a hodgepodge of floors.

There is a big unfinished addition which caused me to think that Bill would never go for this property. 

 

We walked through the house and the yard. We walked out to the barns. 

There is a big one that is falling down and a little old chicken barn. 

We got in the truck and drove to two other houses. They were "No."  

Bill and I chatted in the car. 

The work was not too daunting for Bill. 

Yes, there are things that the inspector needs to check and we have concerns. 

Bill was not deterred by the addition. If fact, he thought it was a good thing that it was unfinished because we can finish it the way we want. 

The more we talked, the more we became sure that we needed to make an offer. 

We saw the house on Friday. We put our offer in on Saturday.

We didn't think that we would hear on Sunday. It's the country and there is "country time".  

As Monday stretched on, we started to feel like the owner had gone with another offer. 

It was the Sunset house all over again. 

I prayed and told that Lord that whatever happened was okay. I'd be disappointed but it was okay. 

At almost that moment, Bill walked out of his office and said, "He accepted our offer." 

I got goose bumps all over again. 

There is work to be done but a lot of stuff has already been done. 

This project may take five years to get it exactly how we would like it.  

This house has details that I'd never dreamed we find. 

We still have to get it inspected and we still have to close but we hope to have a little weekend farm by Thanksgiving. 

It almost doesn't seem real. 

I'll be back to talk through some plans, room ideas and show you some family heirlooms that have been hoarded for such a house as this. 

Thanks for following along on this journey. 

Katie 

Update - we had to pull out during our option period due to excessive damage to the eaves, 5 or 6 layers of roofing and poorly done additions. We continue to search for a perfect weekend retreat. 

A Cute And Cozy Christmas Home Tour

I have the cutest house to share with you today. 

My friend, Felicia, hosted a Christmas dinner for a group of us. 

Her house is darling!  I took some photos for you.  

I fell in love with this white truck. 

It sits on a peninsula covered in corrugated metal. The counter is a brushed metal of some kind. 

She had her contractor raise the cabinet over the stove.

They took out the wood panels of the flanking cabinets and replaced them with glass panes. 

How darling is the back splash with it's faux finished ceiling tile look? 

The ceiling is clad in beadboard. 

The old fluorescent light box is also clad in beadboard. She decorated the rim of the box with garland and ornaments. 

A cute gingerbread wreath hangs on her darling pantry door. 

Felicia wanted to remove the built in desk but she and her dad could not get it out. 

They added legs, a hutch top with chicken wire and then they painted it green. 

Now it looks like a free standing piece of furniture. 

I love what she did with the knobs. 

Kitchen ornaments hang from a skinny tree thats been planted in a galvanized pot. 

Look at the upside down cheese grater that's holding a dish towel.  

 So, so cute. 

One of the big box hardware stores wanted her to rip out the cabinets. The designer she found said "no" to that and they reworked and refinished them. 

She installed a darling farmhouse sink and butcher block countertops from IKEA. 

Look at the adorable light fixture. 

She wanted half shutters to be able to see out but still have privacy. 

I didn't get a picture but she took a standard double door cabinet. 

Took off one door and added a plate rail. 

She flipped the other door so that it opened another way. 

Brilliant and it looks so custom. 

To decorate a huge wall with a faulted ceiling, Felicia collected shutters and created this shutter wall. 

She decorated it for Christmas with JOY letters and snowman shutter she found out at the First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas. It's a must do Texas flea market.  

I'm in love with the banner on the fireplace. Look at the headboard turned fireplace grate. 

Every where you look there are adorable accents. 

A tall snowman stands guard over the dessert bar. 

She's dotted the space with Christmas art and pictures of her children at Christmas. 

I love the coffee bar. 

How darling is this house?
Dinner was delicious and the fellowship was precious.
My friend is a fabulous hostess. 

Please show some love for Felicia's decor in the comment section below. 

Have a great day.  

Katie