My Cottage Guestroom

(click all pics to enlarge)

I know that many of you love cottage style, so I thought you might enjoy seeing one of our guestrooms. This particular guestroom (of 2) is my most cottagey. I used to have the toile linens & matelasse in my masterbedroom several years ago in GA & when we moved here, I started from scratch in the master & moved all of this in the guestroom. I really love rooms that evolve & have that layered look, as opposed to things that all match & come as a set. So, this room is completely eclectic, with bits & pieces from all different places. I found this bed once upon a time at a yardsale. It was a cherry finish & not all that great, so I painted it black to better fit what I wanted for the room.
I decided to add a soft pear green to the walls to mix it up a bit. This is the other pair of drapes that my mom made that are in my diningroom. Wall color here is from Lowes & is called Marsh, in case anyone is interested in it. It's hard to get a good shot of this color, as this room has low light, but this is pretty accurate. The very first pic is probably the most accurate colorwise.
These oak pieces were a wonderful find & I've had them for 20 years. Even though I'm not really an oak person, I love these pieces & will probably keep them forever. The story of how I got these is pretty interesting. I met a young lady who was in college at the time & she was about to move back home, so her mom told her to get rid of all her college apartment furniture. I saw it & said that I'd be interested in buying it, so she said I could have it...just like that! I couldn't just take it for nothing, even though she insisted, so I gave her $50 & she was a happy girl. I got both of these chests, along with the desk that you'll see further down & another dresser with mirror that is in another one of my guestrooms. I think these pieces are very charming & I still treasure them. I don't think I'd ever replace them with brand new pieces. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

This is one of the dresser scarves I picked up yardsaling this year. It didn't sell in my shop, so I decided to find a home for it here & it works.
Side table with vintage lamp.
Top of smaller chest with one of the many bunnies in the room. Those green pottery pieces came from Old Time Pottery a few years ago. Would love to find more of those, they were a real deal too.
A bunny painting I picked up on clearance from Tues. AM.
Here's the oak desk I also got from the college girl. The chair was picked up later. That's the old ceiling tin mirror I picked up a few weeks ago for $10. Some of you may recognize the shape of that plate above the mirror. It is indeed milkglass (shame on me for painting it) and was a yardsale find years ago. I painted it black & decoupaged the center with wallpaper. You can spot another bunny in the middle.

Left side table is a column I've had for years with a piece of glass on top (from Hobby Lobby). toile lamp was a yardsale find for $5. You may remember that I covered the lampshade with the toile. Plant stand in the corner was a yardsale find for $1, if I remember right. It needed gluing, but I love this piece. I painted it too.
Bunny print was a yardsale find for $15. I did repaint the mat on this one. The architectural piece over it was also a yardsale find, for probably $2.
Another yardsale find, this wood tray was a good candidate for painting & decoupaging. I think this was $3.
Paris prints & some black/white plates I found at Ross. The prints were new & not a yardsale find....surprise!
And the Paris sign was also a yardsale find for around $2. I can't remember where I got the round fleur piece, probably Ross.

So that's my cottage guestroom. I love the feel of it even though the rest of my house is not so cottagey. Hope you enjoyed the tour of the girlie room!

Show & Tell Friday

How's this for an intro picture? First, I wanted to show you the new outdoor light fixture that I put up last week. Remember the one I found at the yardsale a few weeks ago? Well, I got it hung up & WOW, does it look great. See the first pic? Have you ever in your life seen a butt-uglier light fixture for the front porch? Yeah, me neither!
I climbed up the ladder(well, actually the neighbor's ladder) & got this baby hung last week & I couldn't be happier with it. I think I mentioned that my hubby is not handy...well, he's not, so I have to try these things myself. I could probably talk him into helping more, but then I'd have to wait & wait & I'm just not too patient, so I just do it myself. I've changed out about 10 light fixtures in the whole house & don't have too many left to do.

Need some ideas for the tops of your kitchen cabinets? Keep reading....

We're always looking for inspirations on how to display things, so I thought I'd share the top of my kitchen cabinets. I've gone through different phases with the tops of my cabinets & in my old house had things all across there, but when we moved here, these cabinets just seemed to call out for individual vignettes, so I've spaced out things & had fun putting things together in each little area. The above area is just a combination of things that I've collected. The large bowl in the back was a birthday present one year, the green candle holders I picked up on clearance, the banana shaped pottery piece was my mom's (she got it for a wedding present) & she gave it to me. I always thought it was the ugliest thing, but as I got older I appreciated it for the nice pottery it is & we discovered it's collectible. I think it's by Hull (can't remember now). The large pear was a gift from a friend from another decorating board that I frequent (thanks Sally, see I painted it!). And that's a faux ceramic cantalope on the left (I think I got that at Tues. AM).
This is another metal container that I decoupaged years ago. It has some cute feet too that you can't see here. I used napkins and wallpaper (bunnies, of course!).
Some blue & white pieces that I've had for a long time, grouped together they make a nice collection. One thing I love to pick up is small columns like the one here. I have used them so many places & they really come in handy for displaying things. You can't have enough of these types of things.

More bunnies & a cabbage platter that was on clearance from TJ Maxx. The bunny planter came from Big Lots.
More pottery pieces that I have had for years. There was plenty of room for them up here & I love how they look. The dried hydrangeas came from my garden last year.
A little oil painting of bunnies I picked up years ago too, with another blue/white bunny. Blue & white is not the predominant color in here, but I like just a little bit of it since some of the artwork in the kitchen has a touch of blue.
And, the new tole tray that I just found on the left, joins the one on the right that I found years ago at another yardsale. I don't find these often, but when I do, I snatch them up!
Iron rooster that a dear friend gave me for a wedding present sits up on one corner with a blue/white plate behind him.

(Wall color in kitchen is Laura Ashley Olive 4 (I know someone will ask!) LOL)

Hope you got some ideas for your own kitchen! I know it helps me to see pictures of what others have done using the things they have for displays. And I love having pretty pieces up there to look at!

Yardsales & Restaurants

Of course, I found a couple of keepers this weekend...how could I not? This aqua old bottle was $2 & looks very much at home here in the den entertainment center.

This cute little bunny needlepoint pillow was $2 & I'm keeping him! With my love of bunnies, he is a welcome little addition to our house. Right now he is sitting on a guestroom bed.
This pic doesn't do this dress justice, but it's the cutest little linen turquoise dress(matches my eyes!) for $3. Pretty embroidered flowers on the bottom hem. And I wore it to church on Sunday.

And, one more little piece of creamware for my collection, $3.00, a little soup or gravy tureen.

That's all for me, but check out the shop today for more finds!

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Sandi, over at Whistlestop Cafe, tagged me last week for a restaurant meme (how in the world do you pronounce that & what exactly is it...is it mimi...someone please tell me?? LOL). Anyway, I am going to list 5 of my favorite restaurants in Birmingham. Well, this might be a little boring, but I'll give it a shot anyway. We don't go out to eat at fancy restaurants all that often anymore, but I'll come up with some others since Sandy named 3 of our favorites already. I think you all know I'm in Birmingham, AL. I think I'll break the rules & not tag anyone else. Can I do that? I think I just did!

Here are the rules:
*Link to the name of the person that tagged you
*Include state and country you live in
*List top 5 favorite local restaurants
*Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged


1. Jim & Nicks BBQ - We go to the Hwy. 280 location & it is the best BBQ in town, as far as we're concerned. I always get the same thing...chopped pork plate with homemade french fries, coleslaw & the best cheese muffins you've ever put in your mouth! YUM...it's good! B'ham is known for it's BBQ, which I did not know until we moved here.

2. Giuseppe's Cafe - 925 Eight St. South From City Scene: "If Grandma's Italian cooking is what you're after, head to Giuseppe's, which specializes in pizza, pasta and friendly service." We visited here for lunch one day. It's right off I-65, sort of in a neighborhood, & the food was really very good. Have only been there once, but we'd go again. Very casual, but good Italian fare.

3. Classic Joe's - This place is close to our home & we used to go there quite a bit last summer when my hubby's son was working there. It's more of an upscale (but not extremely so) kind of place, with good American food done very well. There's a big oak tree out front with a huge deck built around it & they have live music on the weekends. Great place to sit & chill. The vanilla bread pudding is to die for!!

4. The Fish Market - I have to include this wonderful place too, even though it's on Sandi's list also. I had never seen a fish restaurant quite like this one until we came over here. My hubby loves this place & couldn't wait for us to go there & again, we are hooked. There's a new location out in our neck of the woods & that's the one we frequent. Wonderful fresh seafood, family friendly, & great prices too!

5. Edgar's Bakery & Cafe - I met some friends here for lunch a few weeks ago & was pleasantly surprised at what a great lunch menu they have. We got there early & it's a good thing, because lots of folks showed up for lunch. You can also grab something from the bakery on your way out the door. The baked goods will make you drool just looking at them through the glass! I have heard that this place has been around forever & they are known as THE bakery around here.

Edited to Add: We have been out to several of the more upscale places here in Birmingham & I'll give them a big shout-out too. The Copper Grill (went there on my birthday one year) is superb for seafood & steaks, as is Shula's. We've also been to the Hot & Hot Fish Club & Bottega (stepson worked there for several months last year too). Both of those were really great, pricey, but really good food. You know...the more upscale restaurants that have a wonderful presentation, delicious food, but you leave hungry?? So, that's one reason why we don't do upscale all the time. Classic Joe's, that I've already mentioned is very good too & they give you plenty of food. I guess that's one of my pet peeves. You spend a ton of money for a great meal & leave hungry? Something is wrong with that! Cause I'm tellin' y'all, I can really pack it in when I'm hungry!

That's it for the restaurant meme! I'm still learning about Birmingham, since we haven't been here all that long. If anyone else wants to play, just let me know! Have a great week!

Black & White Peel & Stick Tiles

Using all the things from my old screen porch & sunroom, I completed this laundryroom last year...it was so fun to fix up & make pretty. It was a complete white box before I got started, with no appeal whatsoever, so to see it transform was a blast. The island was from my old kitchen & I brought it with me to this house, even though I didn't have room to use it in the kitchen, it makes a nice storage piece in the LR. The white cabinet was an old pine discard that my dad made probably 35 years ago & it hung in their utility room for years. I saw it sitting idly last year & asked if I could have it for my laundryroom, so of course my dad said yeah. He added the crown molding for me, I added the molding on the front, painted it creamy white & it's a perfect little cabinet for this space. I had to have a hanging rod for air drying clothes on hangers, so I figured out where to put it & installed it myself. It's a great little functional space AND pretty to look at, which is "oh so important" to me! I had always envisioned & loved the retro look of black/white tile floor in here & even contemplated doing ceramic tile, but once I spotted the peel & stick tiles at Lowes, I knew that was the way to go. So, here's the befores & afters...it makes such a difference in here & I'm thrilled with the results. It wasn't that hard at all. The worst part was cutting the tiles around the edges & doorframe. I was going to put them on the diagonal, but after I realized how much extra cutting it was going to be, I nixed that idea. It really looks snazzy! I ended up using 2 different brands to get the white color I wanted...the black is more shiny & the white ones are a little less so, but I think it's a nice contrast. Total cost was around $60...I had a $10 coupon from Lowes, so that helped too. If you have an area with vinyl that you want to update, these tiles are a great way to go.

Here's the old cream vinyl tile:

And trying out the new tiles on top & then the after! Quite a difference, don't you think?

Bunnies and Spring....

After seeing some lovely spring displays around (and especially with bunnies!), I sucumbed this year & did a display on the foyer table...ode to the bunnies. I mean, I have all those bunnies, so why not use them this time of year, right?? I have a definite bunny obsession & love the little critters. They've made themselves at home here at our house & my hubby puts up with them for my sake, LOL. It only seems fitting that they get a place front & center this time of year, so hope you enjoy my spring array too! I fiddled & putzed with it long enough, so I'm done. Picked up the creamy ironstone vase yesterday at Goodwill ($4) & it makes a great display for the fresh tulips, which I got this a.m. from Walmart (not my favorite place to shop, by the way). The only thing I bought for this is the nest & eggs, found that at Steinmart for $5.99. So, there you have it!