Friday, February 28, 2014

Ceiling Tin


I love it when a plan comes together. 




  
Okay, there was no plan.





I found this little piece of tin at the antique store.

 


It fit perfectly in a cabinet door that picked up at the Re-Store several months ago. 
I was going to make a sign with that door. I got it painted but that was all.



When I saw that the tin was about the same size as the panel I couldn't believe it.




What are the chances of that?





Isn't it cute? It adds another layer of texture to a light scheme.



Serendipity.
Katie   
Linking with,
1929 Charmer Blog  
Metamorphosis Monday   
A Stroll Thru Life 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia   
Share Your Stuff Tuesdays  
The Scoop   
Savvy Southern Style


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Organizing the Island

The cabinet project continues. I am sure that this story is a nail biter. 
I'm so perplexed why we lived with dysfunctional lower cabinet storage for 20 years.



We are all loving being able to actually see what is on the lower shelf of the cabinet
It is lighter and brighter, more organized and more user friendly.



The next cupboard on the agenda was the island. 
The island used to be casserole and baking central back in
the days when I actually baked.
Casseroles?
I remember those. 
Cheesy, chickeny, ooey gooey and not good for my husband. 
When he started having to eat better so did I. 
He lost 45 lbs. I lost 10 lbs…
 I'm not bitter! 
The island held mixing bowls, cake pans, pie plates and casserole dishes. 


I tried nesting all these and the front row usually looked pretty good.



Invariably someone would push off one of the top dishes and then the back row would be a mess. 
I got rid of some stuff like the springform pan in which the side didn't match the bottom. 
I'd love to purge more but realistically we need to keep several different kinds of cake pans in the event that I need to bake something.

The stacking storage worked great for the pots and pans, but I knew I needed something else for this cabinet - something bigger. 
Big Lots had this cube system.



It was $29.00.
Playing with it felt like building with Lincoln Logs. 
It wasn't going to fit "as is" so it needed to be reworked. 
Two long end pieces and the three dividers were perfect for what we needed. 
I was able to use the existing screw holes which was key.



This is laminate so it wouldn't have worked if I had to drill new holes. There was a perfect amount of room left for the outlet box.



It turned out to be a great place for the large tin foil and a rolling pin. 



It looks great.


I did a lot of cooking this past week. It functions perfectly. 



Can you believe Bill wanted to get rid of this vintage pink pyrex bowl?



I love this bowl.
It looks so cute with my other vintage pyrex.





The appliance cabinet is also finished.
I used the remainder of the pieces from the cube system for the appliances.


Last but not least, a stacking shelf was a good fit for stuff we only use for entertaining.



This whole makeover only cost $40.00 for all the organizers and $15.00 for the shelf liner. 
 Not bad considering that one new pull out drawer is about $100.00.



 I'm pleased. 
So far things are ending up back where they belong. Everyone seems to think the kitchen functions so much better because now we can see! 
Katie

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The" Pie Safe"

 I went on a furniture moving tangent right before Thanksgiving.
The desk went here.
The sewing machine table went here. 
The final piece in the move was the pie safe.  



32 years ago I saw an antique pie safe out at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Tx. Here.
The pie safe was only $100.00 but considering my budget at time, it might as well have been a fortune. 
 I've kicked myself over and over and over again for not getting it. 



When Bill and I saw this piece it had similar lines and presence as the pie safe and it was only $35.00.
 It was irresistible to a young couple just starting out.  
We put it in our breakfast room for dishes and linens.


  
It was depression era furniture and not of the best quality.
There were bubbling bits of veneer here and there. We've never really had success repairing veneer so if you've got tips, I'd love the hear them.



My painted furniture kick continues around here and
this piece was a perfect candidate for a coat of paint. 
I hit it with a coat of CeCe Caldwell Chalkpaint in Vintage White. A final coat of clear Varathane left golden streaks on it. Argh! The whole thing ended up getting repainted in White Duck enamel by Sherwin Williams. 
From now on I will just stick with what works! 


  
We've used it as a linen press, a wardrobe for baby clothes and finally as a "pie safe", not that I ever put pies in it. 
It used to be out in the garden room and at some point I cut out the inside of the panels and replaced them with the chicken wire so my collection of milk glass could be on display. (The milk glass has been moved.)  



I drilled some holes in the panels and started cracking away at them to remove them from the inside the frame of the doors. It wasn't difficult. The chicken wire slipped into the same grooves as the panels. 


When we moved into the house, this space was taken up with a built in desk. It got kicked to the curb about a decade or so after we moved in.
It was oak with a white laminate countertop and it was cheesy. Removing it made a huge difference in the look of our kitchen. This spot is where I sat and talked on the phone back in the days of land lines. 
I always had a desk there but I was happy to discover that the pie safe would fit under the stairs. 
We don't need to be tied to this little nook to talk on the phone anymore.



We've come completely full circle. 
The pie safe is back in a breakfast room right where it started out in our first house.  

Katie    
Linking with,
Coastal Charm    
Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Friday, February 21, 2014

Shabby Chic Bedspread

We've had our Shabby Chic Bedspread from Target for almost a year.



It was ready to be washed. 
The tag said to wash it in a front load washer but I don't have one. 
I don't like going to the laundry mat and I was afraid to take it to the cleaners. I had a bedspread that didn't survive a cleaning.



Our spread is king size but it isn't overly thick and puffy.
 That's one of the things that I love about it. 
I hate thick, heavy comforters.



 I decided to wash it in my top load washer.


I turned on the water and very slowly added the comforter allowing small sections to saturate. I added small amounts of the laundry soap as I went so each section would get clean and the soap wouldn't clump.
It worked great.



The machine didn't make that "overload noise" and the spread got completely clean. 
I popped it in the dryer. 
I pulled it from the dryer several times so that there wouldn't be folds in it that didn't dry. 
It is nice and clean and it doesn't show any wear.
It was a little wrinkled for a week or so afterward but not too bad.


The quilt is also Rachel Ashwell for Target. 
My students gave me some gift cards for Christmas and I found this. I just love it because
it reminds me of the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom.  

Do you have the same comforter? 
Well now you know you can wash it in a large capacity washer. 

Katie   
Linking with,

Tuesday's Treasures   
French Country Cottage





Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Perfume Bottles

I will never forget images I saw in Victoria Magazine years ago.
There was a story about Jessica McClintock and her fabulous home. 
She had a charming and gorgeous perfume bottle collection.
I was smitten and inspired to start collecting my own bottles.




There is just something so lovely and romantic about perfume bottles. 




The Opalescent hobnail glass is Fenton.  It came from e-Bay after the one from my childhood fell off of a shelf during a jam session with my son and his friends. This one is actually prettier than the one I had as a child. 
I had my friend (who later became my sister, Karin) convinced that my original bottle had a genie who lived inside and would grant me wishes. ;)



I won the Lalique L'Air du Temps bottle on e-Bay.
I shopped and shopped until I found one in my price point.


The double doves Lalique bottle came from an antique shop.




The bottle with the Pied Piper and angel is Czech and came from Bill's Granny Vi. 
Isn't it gorgeous? 




I keep the clear ones in the window in my bathroom but I have some others too. I'll show those in a later post.






 What do you think? Do you collect perfume bottles?
Katie    
Linking with,
Savvy Southern Style    
From My Front Porch to Yours    
French Country Cottage   
Coastal Charm   
A Stroll Thru Life   
Cedar Hill Farmhouse