Our Painted House Pics at Long Last

I’m trying to knock some things off my “to blog” list.  This one’s been bugging me for a while.

Back in May I told you we were having the house painted and I was agonizing over all the possibilities out there for paint colors.

Believe it or not, the house did get painted, I finally settled on colors and it’s been done since, oh, I don’t know; July maybe?

And still I never got around to showing you!

In my defense, I did try to take pics, several times, and was not really impressed with how they came out.  There was always something that didn’t look good, or the sun was shining too bright, or it was too late in the day, or I needed to trim the bushes, rake the leaves,  yada yada yada.

And I really wanted to show the house off at it’s best.  Really.

Isn’t it funny that I didn’t care what it looked like in the “before” photo I showed you?

Then finally it hit me, so what if everything's not perfect?  It is what it is.  Why stress over it?  If I wait for perfection you will never see a thing from me!

So, here you go, my sort of newly painted house with all the warts showing.

This picture was taken yesterday, we have a ton of leaves on the ground!

 

This is the “before” photo.  (from a couple years back)

Here’s the front of the house right after it was painted.  (the dormer on the top right wasn’t even done yet)

I liked it, but something was missing in the front. 

I had some metal panels saved from our old gazebo and decided to try a couple as a decorative touch, kinda break up the plain painted brick.

Then I chose some Boston Ivy to add to the urns on the steps.

It grew pretty fast, almost covering the metal trellis on the right side.  The left side lagged behind. (but those bushes grew like gangbusters, jeesh, they sure do need another trimming!)

This is why I chose the Boston Ivy, not only is it a fast growing vine, it has beautiful color in the fall!

Daylight was fading fast when I took these.  You can see I painted (stained) the fence white to go with the color scheme.

Just love the way the ivy leaves look with the taupe and blue.

Now for the driveway side of the house.  The door on the right is the main entrance.  I installed that door to match the breezeway doors.

This storm door is what used to be there.  Yuck! What an eyesore that was.  I was so happy to take it down and put in a real door!

While I was at it, I took some pics of my fall mums.

          

A close up of a hand painted ice cream churn, sitting on a stump by the breezeway door.

       

This is the only picture I got to take of Tom, our house paint artist. He was such a great guy. 

He was full of great suggestions on how to bring out the details of the house.

So that’s it!

My painted house at last. 

Now I can cross that off my list.

:)

Made for Each Other-Bistro Set

Don’t you just love it when you discover something you have that totally works with something else you have?

Such was the case with these 2 pieces.

You might remember the faux clock I made with a vinyl decal?

It reigned supreme on my mantel all Spring and Summer, along with my Nest sign..

 

I started moving things around for fall and down it came.

Then there was this little metal bistro set I purchased at an antique show in July.

It was cute and the price was right.

But it had only a metal tray sitting on it for the top.

Well……..

Guess what?

They found each other!

 

It’s like it was always meant to be.

Now I’m thinking I need to stencil something on the seats to bring it all together. 

But that’ll be a project for another day.

Linking up to Gail’s Party at My Repurposed Life

Katy gets a Forever Home for her 9th Birthday!

You all might remember our houseguest, Katy.

She’s the retired racing Greyhound that came to stay with us in February while she was looking for her very own forever home.

She turned 9 today.

And guess what? 

She’s not a houseguest anymore.

Yes, my friends, we are happy to report that Katy has officially been adopted.

Katy is now a member of our “pack”.

That’s right, she decided we would do.

Oh, it wasn’t an easy decision. 

She checked us out quite thoroughly, examining every square inch of the house to make sure it was up to her high standards.

After all, if she was going to stay here forever, it had to be just right.

She made sure all the beds were comfortable,

 

and that the other dogs would be good companions.

She even checked out the neighborhood to make sure the neighbors were friendly.

Click this link to read the story of my little runaway.

Yeppers, she got all the escape routes figured out just in case she decided not to stay.

Oh yea, she took her time deciding. 

Many a day was spent deep in thought, debating the merits of our household.

She spent several Saturdays at the local mall, shopping for a new family. 

Lots of people stopped to pet her but none were just right.

It was looking more and more like we were her best bet.

But there was one last thing to check out….

   

Ahh, yes.  A good match.

Despite all his protests about having 3 dogs, Mike really loves her.

  

Yep, this is home.

Happy Birthday to our Katybelle!

We’re so glad she chose to keep us.

 

A Headboard Bench for Linda

 

In August I went  to the Bouckville Antique Show with my buddy Linda.   We’ve shopped  together enough to know exactly what the other likes. 

And we have a firm and fast rule.  The first to see gets first dibs.  It works for us.

Anyhow, while browsing the many booths set up near our parking lot I came across an old headboard/footboard for a 3/4 size bed. (no side rails) 

It was marked $10.

It had a very unique style to it, I loved it, but in my opinion it screamed “Linda”.

When I called her over and showed her she liked it a lot, but couldn’t think of anything to do with it.

“Why this would make a perfect headboard bench!” says I.  “Do you have anyplace you could put one?”

“Yea, at the end of my bed, but how would I put it together?” she replies doubtfully, trying to visualize what she saw in front of her as a bench.

Well, I proceeded to explain exactly how she could do it, until I looked up at her glazed over eyes. 

I knew that look. She didn’t “see” it.

“OK, here’s the deal.  You buy this bed, I’ll take it home with me and make it into a bench for you.

But I don’t do any of the finishing, that’s all you.  Got it?”

Deal! 

She paid the amused vender the $10 he was asking and we went on our merry way.

I finally got around to tackling it, and delivered her bench last week.

(Can you believe I forgot to take pictures of the bed before starting? duh!)

I found a great piece of salvaged wood in the basement that worked for the front support.

She’s quite happy and promises to take pictures once it is finished.

She plans to paint it and make a loose cushion for the seat.

Her husband thinks I’m evil for talking her into it.

Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?

;)

      

 

Linking up to

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Barn Lights

(Edited 10/14 – the giveaway at Barn Light Electric is now closed.  Waiting to see who won.

I’ve changed the title from the original to avoid confusing people. Thanks!)

It seems that barn style light fixtures are all the rage right now. 

Have you ever priced them at an antique sale?

Eek! They’ve become way too expensive for my pocketbook.   You can certainly tell by the prices that these are hot items!

Then I found out that Barn Light Electric is hosting a giveaway of barn style lighting fixtures!

Why, they’re giving away one prize each of  $1000 or $500 worth of their fabulous lighting!

Lots of my blog friends have entered by blogging about the giveaway. 

Today I read Anita’s post (from a couple days ago, sorry Anita, I’m way behind in my reading) and said, what the hey, I should enter this too.

So what if it’s at the 11th hour, right? 

So I went browsing through their website and promptly fell in love with these particular models:

This gooseneck sconce in porcelain on steel finish is amazing.  I love the look of this!

I’d put one on either side of the fireplace mantel, that’s what I’d do.

 

Love this Barn Light 10” warehouse sconce in the galvanized finish.  It would look so cool on the back of the garage, to go with my updated outdoor kitchen.

 

This stem mount all weather farm light in galvanized would look great too.

This Ivanhoe pendant was a little fancier, love the peek-a-boo slits on the neck!

The porcelain enamel coated lights in hunter green especially intrigued me.

Look how pretty this is with the brass fixture.

 

I found this next light on their vintage page. It looked very familiar to me.

See?  I have one just like it!  Got it for $10 at the Bouckville Antique Festival.

Wonder if I can convert this one to a gooseneck style like the one above?

Good thing Barn Light Electric also sells parts!

  

It’s got a couple of rusty dings around the edges, but that made me love it all the more.

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that I win, but just in case I don’t, I think I’ve come up with a backup plan!

;)

It’s still not too late to enter, you have until 11:59pm EST,  TODAY. October 12th.  Hurry, you can still make it!

How to Enter:

1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own
2. Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!
3. Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article so others can enter
4. Once your personal article is up, you must email your blog link to: contest@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win. The contest ends Wednesday, October 12, 2011
5. Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by reading the Official Rules

Good Luck!