Camelia Blooms

Here's to spring! Tomorrow is March 1st and blooming camelias always precede spring and get us ready for the flowers that are sure to be just around the corner. Playing with my new camera in Pappy's backyard.
This is one giant camelia bush, probably 20 feet tall and round. Soft, pink blossoms, how can you resist them?
I couldn't, and these blooms spoke to me and said....take my picture, show me off! Happy Friday!

Lynette Jennings: No Compromise Decorating

Our home life is an assembly that speaks of blended lives. Choices made from love." - Lynette Jennings

(click all pics to open bigger for details & text)

I have long enjoyed watching Lynette Jennings when she had design shows on several years ago. I've lost track of what she is doing now, but don't think she still has any design shows running at the moment. I always thought she had some great ideas and concepts about design and after recently picking up her book, No Compromise Decorating, I thought it had some good, practical, down to earth design sense that you might enjoy hearing about too. This book is about not compromising when it comes to how you want your home to live and feel, to be aware of what we bring into our homes and to only live with those things that you really, really love. Great idea! And, it's not at all about expensive items, but really connecting your life and your home through well-loved things that bring you joy. Lynette says to "decorate using items and colors that evoke pleasant thoughts or good memories."
She makes it very easy and practical, suggesting that you start by identifying your loves. "Forget perfection and consider comfort in every choice. Ask yourself: Is this a room for real life?"
I love this quote by Lynette: "Over time, decorating a home has turned into an anxiety-induced exercise in seeking approval."

So true!! We sometimes lose our own true style sense of how we want our homes to live because we get so caught up in what other people are doing or what magazines say is "in". Once you decide what you enjoy having around you, then you can make a lot of good, sound decisions which will be right for YOU.
"A beautiful home is not about money."

Amen to that one! I think we would all agree with this. It's about personal style and expression & not just filling your home with expensive things. She gives some great advice on taking a look at your home's architectural features, what are the best things about your house, what can you play up? And go from there. She also gives some great advice about taking a good look at your house and how to live best in it, for your own personal needs. If change is what you're after, then you'll be interested in the next part.

And then she gets to the fun part: The Love it or Leave it exercise. She suggests you go around your home, taking pictures of all the furniture pieces individually. Go through the pics and sort them into the following categories:

Love It - Look at why you love those pieces. Is it color, style, shape, comfort, etc? How do they make you feel? We women are all about our feelings, aren't we?

So-So - This is the toughest category. You don't have to hate the items, but if they don't have a real positive effect on how you feel about your room and they only serve a purpose, but don't excite you, then think about getting rid of them. She says to think of these items as eventually on their way out, or to be repainted or reupholstered.

Leave It - Out, out, out! She suggests unless you will have nothing left to live with, to get rid of those pieces that are all wrong for your home and your style, to get them out of the house as quickly as possible. You may not be able to make creative decisions with those pieces in the way. If you do have to keep them temporarily, then make them tolerable, she suggests. Here's an example of some of the before and after pics she shares in the book. It's amazing the difference. All of these families had ordinary, nothing special furniture to work with, just like many of us do. Who hasn't had to make do with hand-me-downs during our lives as some point? I know I sure have!
Before room: And AFTER: This family did end up moving their old sofa to another room and buying some new pieces, but what a difference in the feel of the room. They did add some new moldings and take a look at how paint can transform a space.
Their diningroom area.
This was a young bachelor's space, just run of the mill, old furniture that had seen better days.
Some pieces were kept, some discarded, and changes were made to make it all work together better and a few accessories were added.
Another dramatic transformation with paint on the walls. Amazing what editing, changing, and painting will do.

I really enjoyed Lynette's book and hope you got some ideas too about your own decorating journey. This is what decorating our homes is all about.....

"My home has evolved and materialized into a group of loved things: A comfortable, never boring, memory-laced, mismatched collection to which I add and subtract." - Lynette Jennings

Thank you ALL so much for the well wishes on my new business venture! Y'all are the best!
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Introducing: The Restyled Room

Since the first of the year, I've been quietly working on launching my new decorating venture and now I can say that I'm officially open for business. Business license, business cards, and a new website are in place. Please visit my new business website, The Restyled Room, for more information. I'm excited, nervous, scared and can't wait to see what is in store for me this year. I've talked to several other ladies out there who have home decorating businesses and have gleaned some valuable information from all of them, so thank you SO much! You know who you are!

One of my tag lines is "connecting the dots between high-end interior design and do-it-yourself decorating". I really think there is a big need in the design world for decorators who can tackle a project with budget in mind. Not everyone has a huge budget to work with and can't afford to go out and replace a lot of stuff all at one time, so with my thriftiness and frugal ways to save money, I hope to help a lot of women who might be intimidated by the high-end interior designer. I want to put ladies at ease and let them know that we can do a lot without spending a ton of money. That's where I would like my niche to be, in the middle of high-end design and do-it-yourself decorating.

I can't wait to get started! I know I will learn so much as I go on this journey and it will continually be an opportunity to gain more knowledge along the way. I don't have it all completely figured out, but if I waited for that to happen, I'd never get started. So, I'm gonna hold my nose and jump in with both feet! I'm getting out there to meet folks and have made a few contacts in window treatment sources, furniture stores, etc. and look forward to getting started. Business cards will be handed out right and left. This first year will very much be a learning process and I know I'll have to be prepared for the ups and downs of starting a new business, but I'm ready for it.

If any of you are interested in getting help with a room project long distance, via email and phone, please let me know. I'll have some special flat rate fees available for online decorating and I'd love to help any of you, so just sent me an email if you have an interest in that. We can work via pics sent by email, samples sent by mail, etc. I think that would be fun and I think we can accomplish a lot with that method!

I've received many emails in the past asking suggestions for different things, like paint colors or if something will work with another thing. Please feel free to continue to email me for those questions or just for reassurance on something!

Thank you all so much for all your support. I don't think I would be doing this without all the warm fuzzies I've felt from all of you this past year, along with the support of my hubby! I'm embarking on a new and exciting venture and can't wait to get started! This has been my dream for a long time now and you'll all be right there with me! Thank you!

P.S. I set up my website all by myself and am really happy about the way it turned out. If you're looking for a simple website that's easy to learn, that is a good one to try.

The Man Sandwich

After visiting Pioneer Woman's blog for several months now and hearing about this delicious sandwich that she makes for her cowboys, I finally succumbed to temptation and made it for me and my he-man twice now. And, I can now say she is absolutely right...it's man food at it's best. Hubby loved it and I loved it! I'll definitely make it again. I don't think I've ever bought cubed steak and cooked it at home, although I certainly grew up eating it. My mom made plenty of country-fried cubed steak for us growing up at home. I just don't fry things, so it's never been on my list of meats to buy. But, for this sandwich recipe, I'll do it again. Go over to her tutorial and get all the ingredients and directions. You can't beat her humor with cooking either, she's hilarious. One Note: I did not use as much butter as she recommended & it was still fabulous!
IT'S THAT GOOD!! Give it a try!

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I'm joining the party! The Ultimate Blog Party 2008, that is. Sounds like a lot of fun. Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more details. This event will be hosted March 7-14th, so go and read up for all the particulars. Fun way to meet more bloggers!

And be sure to stop by on Monday, I'll be sharing about my new business venture. Have a great weekend!

Antiquing in Alabama

Oh, the places I've been! A new friend from church took me to a wonderful antiques place in Pell City, which is outside Birmingham towards Atlanta. She's been there several times and told me all about how great it is with good prices and pretty pieces. She was SO right! David Tims Antiques is a wonderful place to find imported furniture from Belgium, England, and Argentina (of all places!). I'm not an antiques expert by any means, but I know what I like and I know I liked a lot of things there. David was written up in Southern Living magazine and has been selling antiques for over 30 years. And twice a month, they have antiques auctions, which I'd love to go to. We drove up and saw the shop which is housed in an old general store off the main road and I instantly knew I'd love it. I was right!

When you walk in the door, it's amazing all the antique furniture that is inside this quaint shop.
Nothing is marked with price tags, so you have to write down the numbers on the tag and then ask for prices. I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable everything is. If I was in the market for any antique furniture for my home, you can bet this is where I'd go.
There is ornate things all the way down to primitive.
Many, many beautiful china cabinets and buffets.

Tiffany lamps and stained glass windows.
Big and small armoires.
Love these chairs.
View from the front door looking towards the old wooden staircase. Upstairs are oodles of oil paintings. They are pretty reasonably priced too. Doesn't it look like an old and quaint shop? The hardwoods creak when you walked.

We got prices on a few pieces. My friend was looking for a couple of things, so it was fun to find out how much some pieces were going for. This pretty armoire was $450. Very reasonable, I thought. You couldn't buy anything new that's close to this in character and quality.
Oil paintings and the prices on those weren't bad either.
View looking downstairs from the upstairs gallery.
And then down the street is the 2nd location, a big red barn that's filled with more things.
My friend was interested in this piece, but didn't get it the day we went. It was $650.

This little table was $125.
This pretty French glass cabinet was $850.
See anything you like? Yeah, me too!
Antique rugs
This was pretty bed and nightstands.

I loved this little table and it was $85. I just don't have a spot for it. Love the well worn top on it.

Corner cabinet was $285.
This is the scene outside the warehouse barn, right next door was horses & cows.
And this old house sits next to it, which they also own.

What a fun day of antiquing! Hope you enjoyed going along with us on our excursion through the backroads and off the beaten paths of Birmingham. If you live in this area, this is a must-see place. I'm having so much fun finding these new places to shop.