Summer front porch

This memorial day weekend I mostly worked in the garage getting it cleaned out and organized.  I didn't get it all finished but I did get the majority of it done.  I was able to get my front porch decorated on Monday for summer.  I did it real fast while my husband went to Home Depot to get supplies for making a shelf in the basement.

Here is what I was able to accomplish in a short amount of time.  Of course most of this was already here like the furniture and the rug.  This is the very back area of the porch.

Here is the bistro area by the front door.  I got these pillows at Wal-Mart.  I thought the colors would go well with the rug.

Now how it looks when you first step onto the porch.

I love sunflowers. They scream summer to me.  I think that I will plant some in my backyard this year.

Here is the most scariest room in my house.  Ok, so it's really not part of the house just attached.  It is the garage.  This is the room that I tackled on Sunday and Monday. I can't believe I am letting anyone see this.  When I pull into the garage I close the door as quickly as possible.

 In this picture you can see where we have started to put upper cabinets in.  We put in a total of eight upper cabinets and four base cabinets.  We also added another large metal shelf unit next to the one in the middle. I didn't get it all done so I wanted to wait to show the after pictures.  Right now it looks 100 % better than this.  This is what happens when you have to move in a hurry and have no time to organize it when you move in.  You should have seen it then.  We couldn't park in the third car area when we first moved as it was so full of boxes.

I might try to tackle it again this weekend since we will be closing the shop for a few days for a mini vacation.  It depends on if I get the patio furniture painted first.  That will be my first priority next week.

Linking with
A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth and Co, Coastal Charm, Our Home Away From Home,
Green Willow Pond, Savvy Southern Style, Ivy and Elephants, The Happy Housie,
DIY by Design, Easy Life Meal and Party Planning, A Delightsome Life,
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Posed Perfection, From My Front Porch To Yours,
The Dedicated House, Katherines Corner, The Brambleberry Cottage, Imparting Grace,
Between Naps on the Porch, The Charm of Home, Rooted in Thyme, French Country Cottage,
Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo, The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Craftberry Bush,
Whipperberry, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, Craft Dictator, The Pin Junkie,
Up To Date Interiors, Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating , Be Different Act Normal , Pieced Pastimes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Finding Silver Pennies,  Three Mango Seeds,  Thought from Alice, DIY Show Off, Boogieboard Cottage,  Dwellings-The Heart of your Home, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Creative Country Mom, Confessions of a Plate Addict,  Cozy Little House,
The Style Sisters,  Elizabeth Joan Designs, Burlap and Babies,Jennifer Rizzo,Sunny Simple Life
Whats Cooking with Ruthie,Six Sisters Stuff,At The Picket Fence,Lavender Garden Cottage, Home Goods

This little piggy

I found the most adorable pig at Home Goods the other day.  I was really looking for one with wings but this little one caught my eye.  Actually it isn't all that little.  It is about 14 1/2 inches long and 8 1/2 inches high. This little piggy will be going in my kitchen. 

I just love this face.  I made a bow to put around it's neck.  It just looked so bare.  Here she is all dressed up.  Yes it is a she now that I added the fancy bow.

I put her on top of the cabinets since I didn't have any room down below.

Ants in the kitchen?

 Since summer is around the corner I thought I would redo the kitchen table. I love to go on a picnic.  This should get me in the mood for the real thing (if we will stop having these thunderstorms).  I found these ant plates at Pier 1 and thought they would be perfect. Of course these are the only ants that I would welcome.

I didn't have any red napkins so I just used some white paper napkins for the picture.  I think red would of been better since I have a white tablecloth.  My table top is glass and the plates didn't show up as well as they do on the white.

So, who's ready for a picnic?

Linking with
between naps on the porch-tablescape thursday
imparting grace-grace at home
from my front porch to yours-treasure hunt thursday
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
the brambleberry cottage-time travel thursday
posed perfection-creative ways thursday
katherines corner-favorite things
a delightsome life-home and garden thursday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the charm of home-home sweet home
craftberry bush-the inspiration gallery
shabby nest-frugal friday
bacon time with the hungry hypo-antyhing goes friday
romantic home-show and tell friday
french country cottage-feathered nest friday
chic on a shoestring-flaunt it friday
The 36th Avenue
pieced pastimes-saturday sparks
be different act normal-show and tell saturday
life on lakeshore drive-bouquet of talent
diy show off-the diy party
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sundays
three mango seeds-it's party time
the dedicated house-make it prettty monday
boogieboard cottage-masterpiece monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
my uncommon slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
cozy little house-tweak it tuesday
creative country mon-home sweet garden
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
a stroll thru life-inspire me tuesday
confessions of a plate addice-the scoop
elizabeth and co-be inspired tuesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the happy housie-work it wednesday
diy by design
http://easylifemealandpartyplanning.blogspot.com
our home away from home-tuesday at our home
http://elizabethjoandesigns.com

Front hall tree and finishing projects

This weekend was for getting a few projects done.  I wish that I could say I finished all of them but of course that is wishful thinking. I did manage to get a little decorating done on my hall tree.  This was my grandmother's.  My mom told me that my grandfather got it for doing some work at someones house.  This would have been the late 1920's or early 1930's when my mom was young.  It has an angel on the back of it. I am not sure what it is there but I like it.  I will never paint it or replace the mirror (which really needs to be) as I like the worn look to it.

flower withdrawl

I am having a flower withdrawl.  I can't wait to get all my pots done.  This weekend is going to be nice so I will have to visit the garden center.  I found some pictures from our last house that were my favorites.  This will have to tide me over until the weekend.

This picture is from the War Memorial Rose Garden near old downtown Littleton.  I just love the gazebo there.  I wish it was in my backyard.

linking with

craftberry bush-plants and flowers linky party
shabby art boutique-shabbilicious friday
the dedicated house-anything blue friday

Vintage linens and a goodwill find

Well I went and did it again.  I told myself that I did not need another soup tureen but I was at goodwill the other day and I found this.  I think I have a problem.  They are just too hard to resist.

It was only $6.99 and it is huge.  This is the biggest one I have so far.  It doesn't have the ladle and there is a chip on the inside lip but I won't be using it for soup anyway.  I like to use these as vases for silk flowers.

As I was walking out to my car a lady driving by stopped and congratulated me on my find.  It will be perfect for next Spring.

I also came across some vintage linens and lace on Ebay.  Not sure what I am going to do with them yet but I'm sure I will think of something.  I have some that was my mother's and grandmother's but I hate to use them for projects.  Here are a few pictures, there is much more than what is here as there are lots of smaller  pieces.

I can't wait to get my craft room done (and the rest of the house) so I can get going on some craft projects. I have so much sewing to do but just can't find the time right now. I am pushing for the craft room to be done this weekend but I also need to get the patio furniture spruced up too.  So much to do and so little time.

Mother's Day Snow

There is nothing like living in Colorado, one day it is 70 degrees and the next day it is 40 degrees with snow.  We usually get our first snow in October and the last in May.  As you can see in the picture.  It is still snowing today as I am writing this.

So what do you do when it snows on Mother's Day?  You get organized.  Here is what my wonderful hubby did for me today.  First off he got me this beautiful flower arrangement.  Who knew he had it in him.  Most of the time he just buys me a bundle of flowers that I have to arrange for myself.  I love this little teapot.

Next he put together my shelves in one of the basement storage rooms. I have been wanting to clean this out for a year now.  I needed this room done first before my craft room since I want to put a lot of stuff from that room into the storage room.  Everything is in boxes right now.  Here is a look at my craft room before I moved just about everything into the storage room.  This picture was taken when I cleaned out the walk in closet and put everything in the middle of the room.

Pretty scary looking.  Now for the storage room after the shelves were installed.  He already installed two larger ones when we moved in to hold all my paint supplies.

Now it is time to put all the stuff in here.

I know, nothing glamorous here but it made me happy.  I was able to get the craft room closet done also.

I painted the closet the same color as the bedroom, as I hate white closets.  Here is the closet with it's fresh coat of paint.

Now lets see the nice neat closet.  I hope I can keep it that way.  I have a habit of just tossing things in a closet since you can close the door.

Now all I need to finish in the basement is the craft room, the guest bedroom, and the weird little area when you first come down into the basement.  That is where I keep the hutch that I made.  I am not even going to touch my husbands work out room (maybe when he is not looking).   It is actually the family room but we don't use the space so he took it over.

It was a lot of work but it felt good to get it done.  Hopefully I can work on the craft room in the evenings this week so it will be done before the weekend.  I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Linking with
between naps on the porch-metamorphosis monday
how sweet the sound-pink saturday
http://www.remodelaholic.com

Tuscan dining

Now that the Spring decor is put away it is time to get the house back in shape until Fall.  I got the dining room done first.  My dining room is Tuscan style.  We put up a wall between the formal living and dining room.  The formal living room is now my husband's office.  I didn't have to do too much to this area.  I painted the walls, added the mural and we installed a new light fixture.  All I have left to do is get the curtain panels made and revamp the console table.

Here is what the dining room looked like when we moved in.  I didn't get any pictures taken before we put up the wall.

Surprise on front porch update

Awhile back I did a post on the bird nest that I have in my flower arrangement on my front porch.  Mama bird laid 5 eggs last year she laid 3.

I checked on the nest today and I could see some fluff so I took a quick picture.  You can't see this from ground level (at least I can't since I am short) so I have to stand on my tippy toes and hold the camera above and take a quick shot.

You can still see one of the eggs, but it only looks like there are three babies.  I will check back on it in a couple of days to see if there are more.


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