Musical Furniture

One of the perks to buying and selling antiques is I constantly have new pieces coming in that I can play with in my house.  The only pieces that are off limits to sell are family pieces.  Everything else is fair game, even the table and dining chairs straight out of my dining room, so my house is now in a constant state of flux. 

This is what my living room looks like today...

...and here is what it looked like only a year ago.  The paint?  Changed.  Furniture arrangement?  Changed.  Settee?  Gone.  Both side chairs?  Gone.  Curtains?  Gone.  Mirror and coffee table?  Yep, you guessed it, gone.

I would say this is what my dining room looks like now, but as I mentioned,  I sold this dining room set this summer. 

I changed the paint in this room as well, getting rid of my decorative flourishes and bringing in corner cabinets and a gate-leg table, while moving out the buffet.  In fact, the only furniture in this room that is the same is the high chair in the corner.  Everything else, including the rug and pictures, has been changed. 

I'm currently working on my new dining room set, which will be for sale...for one million dollars. That way, I can tell my husband I'm willing to sell it, but no one will buy it!

My guest room originally belonged to my boys until the great furniture shuffle a few years ago.  The guestroom/craft room became the boys room, the boys room became the guest room, and the nursery became my office. 

Can you believe this is the exact wall? 

And we moved our bed from the obvious wall in the Master Bedroom to a wall that had a doorway right in the middle of it. 

A fabric half canopy covered the door and made the entire furniture arrangement work much better. 

So, the upside is I get first pick of all of my finds.  The down side is that I don't feel like much in my house is permanent.  I know that the day may come when I need to part with a piece and there will be a new hole. In some cases, I don't bother hanging pictures, because I know the piece (or the picture) might sell or I might move it around.  There are days that I just want things to feel totally done and I know it won't happen anytime soon and perhaps never. 

How would you feel if furniture was always coming and going?  Would you love the constant change or grow weary of it? 

Furniture Feature Friday - Favorites and Link Party

I woke up this morning (snuggled under my duvet, lingering as long as I could), planning to work on more custom ornament orders and getting a lot of things checked off my to do list.  Plans changed.  My hot glue gun has been cold all day and not one piece of sheet music has been cut or rolled.  I have needed a new phone for months, now, maybe over a year and today we set out to buy one.  Well, that turned into the decision to switch carriers and a wild goose chase to track down the phones we wanted.  All of this ended with me getting a new iPhone and spending all of my evening playing with the new gadget.  I'm setting myself up to Tweet, post, e-mail and all of that good stuff on it, but I am pretty overwhelmed at the technology.  I'm computer savvy, but this is an entirely different animal.  So, any tips?  Any fabulous apps I must try? 

Now, on to the party.  I decided this week to pick two favorites.  They are favorites for a pretty obvious reason. These pieces are almost dead ringers for projects I did myself!  Great minds think alike, don't they? 

Of course, I love these chairs painted and slipped by Jenni from House of White.  Not only are the chairs lovely, but her photography is, too.  To compare: here are her chairs...

...and here are mine.  Well, they were mine until I sold them, but I'm working on my new ones right now. 

My second favorite is by Cori of Starview Sonnet.  She transformed this dresser with sheet music and white paint.  I love how it turned out and I'm sure it will sell quickly.  To compare again: here's her dresser...

...and here's mine.  Twins, right? 

So, whether an idea was inspired by my blog or a makeover was completed by a kindred DIY spirit, I enjoy seeing the same idea executed by another pair of hands. 

Now, I'm off to work on my ornaments.  (And maybe play with my new gadget a little more.)

Here are the rules for this get together...

1.) Your post has to be about furniture.  Please, please, please...just furniture.  If you find your link has been deleted, it's not because I'm mean, it's because your post was not about furniture.  You can share makeovers, awesome finds, favorite pieces, furniture arrangements, or even pieces on your wish list!  Built-in furniture like kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities qualify as furniture.  

2.) Post a permalink (the link to the post), not the link to your blog.

3.) The link party closes Friday at midnight PST and I will choose my favorite(s) and feature their project on next week's FFF.

Once you link up, click HERE to vote for my SOS True Value entry.  Friday is the final day of voting, so please make one last effort to spread the word!

Home plan and elevation - 2734 Sq. Ft

Total Area-2734 Sq.ft
Ground Floor-1420 Sq. Ft
First Floor-1313 Sq. Ft

Architect : Praveen.M
moyacheri (ho)
kottakkal
vatakara(via)
Phone:9645457494,9388744505.04962275234
Email:praveenarchitect.m32@gmail.com

Preserving Fall's Bounty

My seasonal decorating is all out of order.  I have been working on Christmas stuff since September and now I'm working on my fall decor for next year!  HGTV.com has me writing several holiday decor tutorials for them and I need to work on the ones that require fresh pumpkins and the great outdoors before the season changes to winter.  Our "leaf peak" has passed in Pennsylvania, so I needed to preserve some leaves for my photo shoots before they were dried and gone.  Here's how to preserve the colorful falls leaves for next year:

Collect freshly fallen leaves.  They need to be supple, not dried out, yet.  I love maple leaves and those are in abundance in our church parking lot, so I stole some time at youth group last night to collect some. 

Place each individual leaf between the pages of a thick book.  The moisture in the leaves will crinkle the pages, so don't use a precious book.

A little Shakespeare will do nicely.  He was a wordy fellow.

The leaf needs to be pressed, but it's OK to leave the stems hanging out. 

Stack weight on the book.  You can use a stack of books, dumbbells, paint cans, whatever.  Place it in a cool, dry place, away from heat.  Allow the leaves to be pressed for at least a week.  One time, I left mine in a book all year and pulled them out the following fall.  The color was just as brilliant as the day they were collected. 

You can use them to make wreaths and other fall crafts.  They also look great framed or under glass on a table top.  You can even use them for decoupage projects!  I'm going to use them to make fall last a little longer while I'm working on my projects. 

I don't know about you, but I find that my nesting desires kick in high gear when the seasons are changing.  I spent a lot of time cleaning today and I've been trying to sneak projects in for myself between all of the custom orders and things for the shop and the barn sales (two this month!)  So, I thought I would share what my living room currently looks like...

I finished two curtain panels and still have two more remaining.  I slipcovered my sofa a couple of months ago and refinished a pair of small, pedestal side tables for either side.  I also pulled all of the crystals off my chandeliers, which sounds like a terrible thing to do, but they were speckled with mauve and were too busy in front of the patterned curtains.  I'm going to dry brush them white, so they are simple, but stand out a little more.  Also, the dark bronze color isn't working with the antique gold rods. 

The new pair of French chairs will get the same treatment as my favorite French settee, so they'll look light and bright.  I'm also looking for a new ottoman or coffee table for the center of this room.  The scale and style of this one isn't working.

Some progress is happening, although it's slow.  That's life. 

The True Value contest closes on Friday, so please hang in there with me for a few more days.  Click here to vote now and I would love it if you could spread the word!

Modern Office Furniture is more practical in terms of design and usability

Modern Office Furniture is practical. With limitations of space and the need to use every bit of space judiciously, it is important to incorporate the element of practicality in the buying and designing of furniture. This does not means fitting every bit of space with required furniture but avoiding the under and over utilization of space. If less is utilized, then there will be problems of seating for the employees which will not enable them to work with due comfort. If it is over-utilized, then there is space crunch for ease of movement and for doing other important works.

How to achieve this crucial balance? The solution is provided in the design of furniture. An interior designer can be of good help. He or she can make use of the computer tools to draw up model of your office with exact dimensional measurements and then, based on your exact requirements, the Modern Office Furniture can be developed using the software. You get to see your furniture on computer first so that you can check out its exact design features and colours. The effect of lighting on the placement of furniture can also be seen. It will save you electricity bills because you will be able to make optimal use of light for work.

There are two important aspects of Modern Office Furniture which deserve special mention. One is the use of recycled materials in its manufacturing so that the damage to the environment can be contained. The use of particle boards, metals and other such material can be very useful. Another aspect is the making of the futuristic furniture. This means designing of furniture in such a way that is useful not only for today but also for future. Furniture is a major capital investment. It is not replaceable for a long time to come. But, the growth in business in the near future will increase more storage and seating space. To some extent the better designed modular furniture can meet this requirement of more space without having to go for expanding the office space itself.

With Modern Office Furniture which is modular, you can get the different part added or removed as per your requirements. If you want some extra shelf to be added to or removed from the cabinet, then the same can be done with ease. Whether it is the cabinets and storage spaces, the executive and director’s chairs and tables or the furniture for the conference room, canteen furniture and reception furniture and other types of office furniture, you can vary the mix of design, features, aesthetics and materials to suit you requirement.

Carefully designed Modern Office Furniture goes a long way to improve the overall look and ambience of the workspace. It is the most important part of the interior decoration. It provides the right work atmosphere and also leaves a mark on the outsiders. With smartly designed office furniture, the clients are bound to get impressed and the image of your organization will reflect to be of a very professional and methodical organization.

The Change

All moms (and dads) out there who love decorating their home know about "the change."  It's what happens to your house when you bring kids into the equation. 

I've always been a neat freak and I was determined to stay one when I first learned I was pregnant. I was not going to have a house full of bouncy seats, jumparoos, Boppies and Bumbos. I was not going to be overrun with toddler toys. I was going to keep my tabletops beautifully decorated, my kitchen floors spotless and my carpets stain free. There was even a point when I refused to have plastic cups in my cabinet.

Then, I brought a baby home from the hospital and all of that changed. I must admit that it took me a while to realize it, though. I even changed my little boy anytime he got a drip on his outfit, but I finally realized that if I got upset at the row of bottles sitting out on my kitchen counter or the bouncy seat sitting in the middle of my family room, I would not enjoy motherhood at all. So, here I am with a toddler and a preschooler and I have stained carpets, a sticky kitchen floor, toys in my family room (not to mention a treadmill), and there are plastic sippy cups in my cabinet. 

There are days when I look around my house and sigh. (You must remember that I stage all of my pictures carefully to show only what I want to show.)  Will it ever be totally clean and fully decorated again? Yes. It will. This is just a season and it will pass. What will I remember when my boys are grown? Will I remember clean counter tops and a great coffee-tablescape? Maybe more importantly, what will they remember about me? That I was a great housekeeper and was always running around picking up after them? Or will they remember me getting on the floor and playing trains with them? Will they remember freshly washed slipcovers or cushion forts?

 

My kitchen counters are rarely this clean and if they are, it doesn't last long. 

(Notice the black piping insulation around the stone hearth? That's been there for three years. It's ugly but it has saved us several trips to the emergency room)

I love decorating. I love having a really clean house. There are days when I am at my wits end and I exclaim, "I'm tired of the mess!" A few hours later, when my three year old exclaims, "I'm tiad of dis mess!", I am humbled and reminded in his sweet voice that a fine home is not what it's all about.

I will confess, I am still learning the balance. There are days when I give up and I don't make my bed, I don't pick up the toys, and I deal with my socks sticking to the kitchen floor. Then I get sick of the mess again and go on a cleaning frenzy and I long to rearrange my accessories and rearrange the furniture so it's not all about practicality, but it's all about being pretty.

 

Having small children in my home has forced me to pair down, declutter, and be creative. I'm much more patient with my decorating choices and I like a cleaner look. Things aren't quite as important or precious to me as they once were and I have come to appreciate the ease of distressed finishes and washable slipcovers.

 

I've been through "the change" and my home will never be the same.  How have you balanced your love of home decor in a house with small children? 

Voting for the SOS True Value contest is open through Friday, so please continue to vote daily.  Click HERE to vote! 

Chartreuse Christmas Preview

Chartreuse (and our space there) is getting all decked out for the holidays.  Lynette and I spent the afternoon primping our booth and donning it with holiday decor. 

In addition to furniture and non-holiday accessories, the place is filling up with greenery, lights, ornaments, and trees.

Sniff.  Yes, I even managed to bring my French settee to the booth.  And I left it there...with a tag on it...for someone to buy.  They better really love it, that's all I'm sayin'. 

We staged Christine's pine farm tables under the rafters at the back of our booth to maximize space.  I hope someone buys that piece last, so all of our stuff doesn't end up on the floor! 

Two of my banners adorn the stacked chests. 

I managed to only make one large sheet music wreath for the sale, but I'm hoping to make more next week.

I focused on bringing accessories that would sparkle and shine, like glass and silver.  It really adds to the festive look of the display. 

I made several hand painted banners to drape around the booth and I love the whimsical touch they bring. 

The holiday preview at Chartreuse starts Thursday evening and runs through the weekend.  If you're local, this is a must-attend event!  Click on Chartreuse under "My Retailers" on my sidebar to get directions, hours, and additional information. 

If you're not local and you're interested in purchasing my handmade holiday ornaments and decor, click here for pricing information. 

I came home from this busy day and my husband surprised me by doing all of the laundry.  Folded and put away!  I hate laundry and I love him. 

Once more, don't forget to vote for my bathroom makeover from True Value.  Click HERE to vote!