All Done In White

The only thing that was 

NOT 

on my to-do list.

Paint the kitchen.

But

That is exactly what I started last weekend.

I have finally painted the kitchen WHITE!
After 17 years of the green.
I convinced Mr. M. that it was OK to go white in the kitchen too.
He likes it.
YEAH!
The room seems brighter now.

Early morning in the sunshine.

I still have plates and paintings to hang on the walls.

So far, I love the change.

As you can see I chose an off white for the walls and bright white for the trim.

I have the same color white for all the trim in the house.

I love how my antique white furniture look against the new wall color.

I decided to take out the faux mantel and we will turn it into a shelf to hang under the mirror.

We have started looking for the granite for the counter top and tile for the back splash.

It will basically look like the picture below.

Except I have cherry cabinets on the bottom and distressed white on top.

source

We only have a small area that we would have to replace.

The cost will be minimal. 

Our large work area in the kitchen is the island.

As much as I would love to have white marble, 

it really would not go well with all the colors in the room.

Once the kitchen is done I will start painting my way up to the third floor.
After so many years the trim needs a fresh coat of paint.

Hopefully by the time I finish painting the weather will be warm.
I know the weeds need to be taken care of.



I am ready for Spring!

Slip Cover Twins

A perfect fit.

Another set of slipcover twins, well almost.

One is done and the other slipcover is in the process of.

This will be my second set of slipcover twins.

The first set of wingback slipcovers were made in 2011.

Both are sewn in two different fabrics, matelasse and cotton duck.

Twins in the dinning room.

This time I decided not to do piping.
As much as it is more time consuming, 

I think I like the look of piping better.  

That's ok because I see many slipcovers in my future.

I love a little pleat that shows off some leg.

I do know how to sew in zippers, but I think bows are so much cuter.

This is the pattern on the matelasse.

As you can see it will fit right in with the other furniture in the room.
The fireplace in the back is a future project.

This chair is the other chair waiting to be finished.

I usually cut all the fabric first and work on a little each day.

I should be finished in a couple of weeks, in between work, school and life.

The new chairs are 17 years old and some of the first pieces of furniture 

we bought when we finish building the house.  

They are well made, but I do not like the dark green color. 

 Slipcovers are far easier than reupholstering a wingback chair for sure.

These are Mr. M.'s favorite chairs and they will stay in our master bedroom.

The good thing about having furniture that are slipcovered in WHITE,

They look good in every room.

My other chairs have been in the living room, basement, office and dinning room.

Thanks for stopping by.
I will also be partying this weekend at;

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
The Curator's Collection for Making Broken Beautiful
Thoughts From Alice for Sundays From Home 
Shabbyfufu for Share It One More Time
Elizabeth & Co for Be Inspired

The Wicker House for Create-Share-Inspire

It's Been A Long Time

It is done.

FINALLY!

I did get a few things done since you last heard from me.
Christmas passed by, Valentines and almost Spring.  I will wait until next year to share the ton of pictures from this past Christmas.

Working full time, going to school, being a mom and wife means there is less time devoted to being creative.  The need is still present, only time and energy are lacking. I enjoyed spending time on the computer being inspired by some many great bloggers.  

Finally after months of looking at the unfinished settee in my bedroom.

This is what it looked like when I found my treasure at Sally.  Good bones, ugly fabric.  It wasn't until I took the old fabric off that I had to figure out how to put the new one on.  This was a bigger project than I have tackled in the past.

The legs have such great detail.

First I painted it. White of course!

Same details but I like the color better.

I used two different fabrics. The plain white is just a simple cotton duck that I used for all the piping and cushion edging and bottom, back and seating areas.

The decorative fabric is a matelasse. 

Since this was my first settee and I have never upholstered a piece of furniture so large, I will give myself a break.  There are some areas I wish I had done better on, but, overall I am happy with how it turned out.

One of my favorite parts of upholstering this piece is the double welting.

It did a lot to hide some mistakes and it was easy to apply.  I would definitely

 use it again.

The design is beautiful and it was hard making that first cut in the bedspread.

I have since moved the settee from my master bedroom to the office.

It is a nice place for the kids to read and watch movies on the computer.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. 

It has been awhile since I posted so I thought I would do a little partying too!
French Country Cottage
you can also find me at
The Curator's Collection for Making Broken Beautiful

Thank you to everyone who stopped by from French Country Cottage!

Elegant Ghost In The Yard

Ghostly White

The house looks so spooky at night with only orange lights,

AND

GHOSTS AT NIGHT!

I have wanted to make yard ghosts for a couple of years.

I originally found these ghosts.

Then I found these beauties.

I love how they look like they are dancing.

I found the youtube video by P. Allen Smith.

I made two of them with my sister.

We ran out of time and fabric for the third one.

I love how they turned out.

I did not add the heads, not sure if I will.

They have spot lights on them for now, 

but, on Halloween night we will put spooky lights on them.

Funny story; I was looking for cheap fabric because they would be outside.

I found pretty shantung fabric on sale for $3.00 a yard.

I knew I couldn't find cheaper, so I bought all of it.

They sales clerk asked what I was making with 9 yards of this fabric.

I hesitated because it is nice fabric.

She almost was not going to give me the fabric when she found out.

Yard Ghosts.

Ghosts.

Really.

I showed her a picture of what I was making.

She seemed a little more satisfied.

She asked if I was going to at least recycle the fabric after Halloween.

Nope, just put them away with the skeletons and coffins.

They were not hard to make, but you want to have someone help you.

I could not have done it alone.

What other Ghost gets a couture dress.

The party is almost upon us.

The house is ready, now it is time to make lots of spooky food.

Thanks for stopping by.

Spring Snowballs

These are my kind of snowball.

It is my favorite season of all.

I know I post too many pictures of them, but it is a very short season.

I have them planted in almost every garden.

This bush has baby shoots underneath that need to be dug out.

I will move them to a new garden and water them good for the rest of the summer.

This crazy bush is in need of a good trim.

After the blooms are done, of course.

 I also have to trim some of the clematis vines from it. 

They hang to the ground, they are so big and fluffy.

Of course, you can't have a snowball bush without the spirea bushes.

This bush we can see from our kitchen window.

Hard to believe I gave it a hardy trim last year.

Like the snowball bush this is another viburnum bush, I love the hydrangea look it has to it.

Anyone in for a snowball fight?

I am joining Tracy from Fishtail Cottage for a Garden Party.  

If you have not visited her gardens yet, you must, they are a sight to behold.

And, I am joining Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.  

No one feathers their nest like Courtney!

It has been a while, I am also joining Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

A New French Desk

New French desk for the office.

I had been looking and looking for the perfect desk for our office.

The look has stopped.

I found it.

At my favorite place, of course, Sally!

Great bones but just needed a paint job.

Much better.

I taped off all of the white areas and spray painted the blue.

I like how spray paint gets in all of the nooks and crannies and does not cover up detail.

I did get a little on the top of the desk, oops, that can happen when you don't tape everything.

I decided to sand the top and restain it with a mahogony gel stain.

When it was dry I waxed it with a dark paste wax.

My oldest son was my furniture mover.

First we had to get the large table out of the office and replace it with the desk.

Although we have less space on top of the desk, I now have drawers to put all the little things just seem to accumulate on top.

I love all the drawers.

And those handles-perfect!

Except the one drawer on top, for some reason it did not take to the spray paint.

I have to sand it and try again.

The drawer has been painted several times and I am waiting for it to dry.

Then I can wax it.

This is my new office view from the hallway.

As comfy as that chair is, I think it may need a change.

I just love my new desk and how the colors turned out.

I think it goes well with the colors in the rug.

This cabinet at Miss Mustard Seed was my inspiration.

Don't you just love it. 

She has a way with furniture.

I have a cabinet almost like this in black.

 I just might have to rethink my color choice.

I am glad to have at least one project almost done.

Now I have to finish the weeding and then start mulching all the beds.

That should keep me busy for the next few weeks.

And you, have you found any treasures lately?

I am joining French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.
Courtney featured my Spring house post from last week.
Thank you to all who are visiting.