The Desk

I was so happy to finally find a good spot for the painting my sister brought back from Italy! It's been in quite a few spots in my house but none were ever right. I think it's perfect on the top of the desk.

Bedroom After

I find the finished bedroom to be more restful. The picture over the bed is a print I bought from a street vendor in Florence years ago. The bedside lamp came from a local consignment shop. The trunk at the foot of the bed was my grandfather's - he used it to store his tools and was given to him by the daughter of a ship's captain. The pillow on the chair was one I bought in Steinmart years ago.

Fabric

My bedroom needs at least 30 yards of fabric for the windows and bed and I had some major sticker shock when I started to look for replacement fabric. Then, Pottery Barn had a 20% off sale on their curtains. I had always liked their Matine toile, so I decided it was time to buy. I got lucky and found the matching quilt and shams on eBay for a lot less than I would have paid in the store. And since I liked how the bed looked without a dust ruffle, I just decided not to have one.

I have a wing chair (that once lived in my living room) in the bedroom. Over the years it had faded from terra cotta to coral. It was a big surprise to me to learn that it's a lot cheaper to have furniture reupholstered than having slip covers made. After testing several different solid natural fabrics, I decided natural twill was the best choice.

The Bed

My bed is an antique rope bed that my mother bought for $10 when I graduated from my crib many, many years ago. It is not close to a standard size and in desperate need of a new mattress so I debated about getting rid of it and buying a new standard sized bed. But when I took off the dust ruffle and the legs were exposed, I fell in love with the bed all over again. I was able to find a company in Columbia, SC that makes custom sized mattresses. With each new mattress, though, less and less of the headboard is exposed!

The Bedroom

My bedroom has been pretty much unchanged since the early 80s...Laura Ashley fabric, botanicals on the wall, swagged curtains. As much as I still love the fabric, the room looks dated.

Kitchen - Done, Finally!

The weather is finally nice enough to have the windows open, so the painter was here today to remove all traces of the stencil design in the kitchen. I tried - but two coats of water-based Kilz didn't make a dent in covering it up and I never mess with anything oil-based.

I had never replaced the original contractor ceiling fixture over my breakfast area. A chandelier wasn't a good choice because the wiring was not centered over my table and couldn't be without ceiling and electrical work. I just didn't want to get into that mess. Last week, looking at another decorating blog, I came up with the idea of a schoolhouse light.

I hope this is it with the kitchen for awhile!

Kitchen Update

For 18 years I had mini blinds in the kitchen and really didn't mind them - they were just there and I didn't actually notice them that much. But when the new counters were installed they seemed to stand out like a sore thumb and I wanted matchsticks. I found that All About Blinds, a local company I've used before, was much more reasonable than any of the catalogs and they also come out to be sure the measurements are accurate, hang the new blinds, and take the old ones away. I had to have them lined, though, because we have a "white window" restriction in this neighborhood.

The blinds don't look that great with the stencil, though, and since it's been around awhile, I think it's got to go.