New Living Area

Hello Everyone! I do hope that

your New Year has started off good!

 

Well, we are still trucking along - moving

rooms around that is. Everything is far

from being finished. My furniture is heavy!

 

What ever you do - do not buy any heavy

furniture if you like to change things around

like I do.

 

I gave my daughter Jan the other matching chair

and ottoman we owned and kept just this one set.

It is angled in the bay window. I always keep

white matelassé blankets on our furniture. This way

my furniture stays clean. These blankets get washed

often and bleached because of my dogs. But you

would not know it by looking at them. They hold

up very well.

 

Our T.V. is on the left, sofa is angled ONLY FOR A
SHORT WHILE!

 

Unfortunately my china cabinet had to stay - but

no problem. I worked it out.

 

The chaise is going upstairs as soon as we can get

that room straightened up.  These things are

a waste of money. Mine never gets sat in!

Our living area will be spacious once it's removed. 

Truly, I literally do not have a lot of

furniture. Our home is small and too much in it, makes

it look so crowded. I am always getting rid of

some thing! - But IT IS NEVER ENOUGH.

It is still going to take a few months to finish. These

things take time to plan and some things do not

fit where you mean for them to. So, then you have

to re-group! As we finish a room, if it has

carpet then that gets shampooed - not once - BUT

TWICE for good measure.

I will update this room again, once this Chaise is

out of here.

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hopblogger

 



What to do with Batterberg lace table runners!

Are you ready for Christmas!

I am still working on it. Also still

working on moving furniture.

Yes - we are slow, but the furniture

is heavy!

 

Anyway I feel like it is Christmas

already!!

 

I have been opening up boxes and going

through them. Time to purge some things.

When you sew and do a number of

different crafts, it gets hard to get

rid of anything cause you might need

it for something. Things such as

little hats or glasses that belongs

to dolls. Or crochet thread even

though I do not crochet - I do use

this thread to tie my quilts with.

The crochet thread also comes

in handy for making large

basting stitches on just

about anything. Well I have talked myself

into keeping the crochet thread.

Woe is me!

 

I did stop some to make these

sidelight curtains. I figured that

it is about time to make a pair.

 

I used 2 Battenberg lace table runners that

were just setting around in a box.

Truthfully I have had them for eons.

I also used a small amount of

white linen.

I hemmed the sides and the bottom

of both pieces of linen. I hemmed only

enough at the top to slip some wire

through.  Then I merely sewed the

Battenberg lace onto the linen.

The wire rests on 2 small

nails located at the top of the windows.

 

This was super fast and easy! And when
I no longer want to use these table
runners as curtains, then I can just
take the stitching out.

I guess they make some small curtain
rods for these sidelight windows, but
they would be bulky. I like the look
where you know something is holding
the curtains up - but you ask, how did
you do that!

 

Now, I really do like my window sidelights!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

Thank you for visiting me.

Hopblogger

 



TINY DiNiNG SPACE

Hello Everyone! I sure do hope

that you all had a wonderful

Thanksgiving!!

 

Thanksgiving  threw me behind on trying

to get our home back in order.

My house was

in shambles. It still is! The view is from my

front hall.

Here is my dining room table and chairs in my

breakfast area. I am surprised that it looks this

good. It is really big, perhaps too big for the

space. But I do love the look of using a

tablecloth in here. If the cramping

here gets to where I cannot stand it any longer,

then I will just have to swap with

my daughter Jan for a smaller table. The

only good thing about using a smaller table

in this space is there is not a cramped feeling.

The upsize of using a larger table is you

can seat more guest. Now 6 people can

dine with me. You know, I got tired of having

a room just sitting there empty all year only to be

used twice a year. Time to get

rid of the purple vase of flowers that

stayed on this table when it was in

the green room.

When my rooms get finished moving

around then I hope to take the

table cloth off and display the glass

table top like I have always done

with this set.

 

When I grew up we never

had any formal rooms. All of the rooms were

used and they had their functions. My

Mother had a large table in the dining space

right there in the kitchen. Of course

we had a lazy Susan on that table.

Back then, we did not  have any of the amenities

that we have today. There were not any

computers or un-necessary toys to add clutter.

Nothing was laying around. Her bedrooms

held the bed, night stand and only one dresser

that was shared by 2 children in each room.

My parents raised 7 children in her small

home. My Mother cleaned so much that

she cleaned the color right off of the tile.

Hehehe

My Mother did not sew or craft, so her home

was easy to clean and to keep clean. She was

an island girl and we lived by the beach.

Ahhhh memories!

 

Anyway someday I hope to be able to reduce the

clutter in my home. However majority of it is

in my sewing/craft room. In a few weeks I will

show you that room.

 

Okay back to the breakfast room.

Next year I hope

to re-paint the walls along with my cabinets

to a creamy white.  We need to lay down new

flooring, to a neutral color. Only cosmetics

need to be done in here. Nothing major.

By moving furniture around or getting rid of outdated

things - it kind of feels like you are getting something new!

I hope you like my tiny space!

 

Come back and visit me again

Hopblogger



Dining Room gone!

My DINING ROOM is a thing of the

past! We got a new fan

to go into the former living room. The fan

that you see in this posting came from that

room. Beck took the chandelier down

in the dining room (or green room as I

call it), and put the fan up.

He had to install a

new switch because the former

switch was only geared to the

chandelier.

 

It does not take long before your

house becomes dated. Stuck in a time

warp or a worm hole.

 

I did not want lights on this fan in this room. Maybe later but

I do not want the lights to glare on the television. So

we will see how it goes.

 

Thank you for visiting me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

Hopblogger



SHADES OF WHITE LINEN

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope that you all had a very nice

Halloween!

I am sure that all of the little

witches, ghosts and goblins got

their fill of candy.

Yum, yum.

 

You know - you have to be able to

live in your home. My home is little

and we like it. We do not want or need

to move. A home has to grow and

change with you because after all that

is what you do. Every year you change.

Your clothes change. Your habits change.

Your food changes - so why not your

home! Make it work for you.

 

Everyone has seen my dining room.

And you know that my rooms change LOTS

AND LOTS!!

 

Well it is getting ready to

change again and this time it will be all my rooms

except for the master bedroom and bathrooms.

I cannot move my kitchen, if I could I would.

I need space and this time many of my rooms

are going to get an over-haul!!

I hope that you are here to witness the transformation.

They will be simple but I hope to clear out

the clutter or at least manage it.

Can you manage clutter?

Is there such a thing?

I do not know but I guess I am going to

find out or I am going to get rid of some

more things.

 

Just before I got sick with that virus that is going around

I told my hubby what I was planning on doing. He liked

the idea and he began taking measurements.

So therefore our plan has already begun and been in

effect now for about 2 months.

 

My nice dining room is getting ready to become

my new living room! My hubby has already installed

a jack for the TV.  So that part is done.

The green will stay on the walls. My curtains will

stay also.

Whereas this room has always had

plenty of light coming in, just the opposite will

happen now. I made white linen shades to go behind

my cotton lace curtains.

 

To get a good photo - I have had

to turn the lights on!

It did not take me long to

make the shades because they will never be opened. This

room is in the front of the house and I needed

privacy so we could sit in here at night. I really

do not like blinds. They get dusty quickly.

With my allergy's, I am not even suppose to

have curtains or cloth furniture, but I cannot

live in a bubble either. So I deal with all

of it.

 

I wish that I had photos to show you of when

I was making the shades, but somehow

I forgot to take the pixs. However

the shades were super easy to make so

I will tell you how I made them.

 

I measured the windows and as you can see this is

a bay window. The side windows are much smaller

than the middle part of the window.

 

I will talk about the middle panel and you will

know how to do the side shades if you wish to

make these.

I measured my fabric the width and length needed and added

4 extra inches to the sides, tops and bottoms to allow for

hems and any mistakes. Each shade is 2 pieces, one for

the back and one for the front. I cut out my size needed.

And I sewed the front & back together like a giant pillowcase.

Left open one end. Turned the fabric right sides out.

Pressed the seams - yea with an iron!

We took down the valance and I cleaned the glass

doorknobs.

 

We took the shade and tacked it over the wood molding

with tiny nails. I did not even hem it!

We just let the shade hang down.

Then we replaced the valance up on top. You cannot

see how the shades are attached unless you go look.

Which I doubt if anyone does.

 

Each shade only took about 15 minutes to complete.

They have no ribbons or anything to raise them. And

if I do decide later that I want to raise them. Then I

will add ribbons to roll them up. But for now this is

what was needed.

A privacy window!

 

 

My hubby got a pinched nerve and it set us back

about a week. This table and chairs will be moved

out of here. The chandelier will come down soon I

hope! In its place will be a ceiling fan. Then I

will clean up the room and we will move in our

living room furniture. I am hoping that this

will only take us about a couple of weekends.

Then I will post more pictures of the room.

 

Thank you for visiting me. Come again soon!

Hopblogger

 

 



Let's See Brie's Bedroom

yep, she fixed it up all by herself. She did a nice

job. She even took my lamps! Me thinks that its

starting to look a little shabby. Enjoy your new

bed Brieby! I love those yellow walls.

by Hopblogger

I had to sneak these

photo's in as quick as I could because the little room

is getting ready to change again! By friday!

I cannot keep up

with all of its changes. This little room off of our foyer

used to be part of the living room. But it was sectioned

off many years ago by my dear husband and one of my son in laws.

At my request of course. My dear husband even tiled

the floor. God what did I ever do to receive a good man like that!

We have been married for 36 wonderful years and I would marry

him again. Ok, stop rambling conny!

This gave our living room privacy as it now faces towards the

back of the house. Anyway, back to the small room in the front.

This room always leads double lives and constantly gets in trouble.

Never has it ever remained the same in one given year. Its been a

hang out room, a library, a christmas room and its

past life was a reading room. Now it is a bedroom and has only

been that way for about a couple of months. I am not going

to put any doors to this room. I like the white curtains.

It gives it a tent feeling and also aids in the shabby chic decor

in which I am growing very fond of. My grandchildren

have been sleeping here when they come over. They dont

complain. I think secretly they like it - maybe they just dont want

to tell me they do??

See the bare wall that is devoid of any paintings - yea well thats

where the blue bookcases stood. I need to fix that.

Well anyway, at the beginning of this week - Briebie said,

"grandma I am bored. I want to do something with my room.

Maybe change it around". So she moved her bed & didnt like it.

She moved it back. And then Bang - here it came.

"grandma I like your white bed (my mothers bed)." Anyway,

you get the gist of it. One thing led to another and the next thing

I know - my bed is leaving here friday to go to her bedroom at her

parents house. I am okay with it because I will now get my

Pottery Barn Trundle bed set back from her!

(now you know how my house keeps changing - all of us

trade our furniture back & forth. When someone tires of

it - we change again. Constantly we trade.)

Maybe something is wrong with us??

You be the judge of that.

My father & my sister are coming to spend the holidays with us

so the trundle bed set will come in handy - especially since

I no longer have any bedrooms that anyone can use upstairs.

I can put the trundle bed in another room for her to use

until after christmas is over.

Remember my upstair bedrooms are now a computer room

and a sewing,craft room. Hopefully it will remain this way for a long time

as I love those rooms separated.

Did anyone say they were bored - no NOT ME!!

I will post more photos of this little room in shabby chic after

christmas. Maybe by then the room will take on that shabby chic

look.

Merry Christmas & may Santa bless you also this year!

by Hopblogger

This year the ANGELS are

guarding my tree above and below. I was

going to make my main tree just for Angels since

I had so many of them.

But as I got to pulling stuff out of the boxes my mind

changed. Then I started adding moons, gold bulbs and Cherubs.

My Angel tree soon dissolved. Now I have country mixed

in with victorian and a little bit of mystical. And this is not

the end of it. Am thinking - that next year I am going to

invest into many small trees thru all of the rooms of my house -

so I can use

all of those ornaments that I have collected. Every year our

trees keep shrinking. When I first moved here my tree was the size of

my bay window - large. About 3 years ago I invested in this smaller

tree & 2 silver trees that I placed in 2 of my bedrooms. When christmas

ends - I am going to buy 3 more small trees and use themes for

each one of them. I hope you enjoy my tree. The last 2 pics of the angels

are sitting under my tree. Enjoy yourselves this year!

Merry Christmas and may God Bless you!

by Hopblogger

Carol gave me

the

idea to make

a Pincushion Tree. I

thought it was a great idea.

The only problem was - there wasnt

any room to place it in my sewing room.

So I placed it here on my dear husbands nightstand. To

make it christmassy I hung 2 white stockings on the drawer

knobs and hung small red ornaments on the tree. I tried garland

on the tree - it was too much so off it went. Mainly I wanted all of the

pincushions that were on the green spice

rack to be the focal point. I hope this inspires

you to include other sewing paraphelia on your

tree besides cross-stitch.

Merry Christmas!

by Hopblogger

I love my wall color.....

and my furniture - but the room is bare. The next time I buy

living room furniture it will be a small sectional and it

will sit in the area where the little sofa

is at. I will be changing the drapes to white.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS??

by Hopblogger

Getting tired of red....

it is time to REPAINT my kitchen and dining area. I was thinking

about painting my cabinets black and the walls the same color of tan/brown

color that is on my living room walls. The first 2 pics are the view from my foyer into

my breakfast area. I dont really care for curtains in either one of these

rooms - I dont know why perhaps I just havent found anything that

suits me yet. No matter how many times I have placed curtains up - eventually

they come back down. It would help if I knew what kind of style I wanted!

I plan on changing the counter tops and the flooring. The last photo is the view

from the half bath and the garage door.

SHOULD I GO COTTAGE OR WHAT???

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

by Hopblogger