Happy Valentines Day to me. . .

 

I cant believe it’s been so long since I shared anything new. Spring came early this year. While I’m not complaining, I have a hard time staying inside. I take my coffee outside first thing in the morning and before I know it I’ve spent the better part of the day out in the flower beds.

I was rackin my brain tryin to decide what to do and then I realized I hadn’t shared this beauty. 

 

 

We’re getting ready to add a bathroom in the basement and I’ve been on the hunt for a piece like this that I can use for a vanity. I spotted it at one of my favorite antique malls, Marketplace 3301. There was no price tag on it and I later found out someone had it on hold so the tag was removed. That didn’t stop me ! . . . the gal that worked there said if it was still there Monday I could buy it. It WAS there Monday ! So I put it on lay-away. When my hubby came home for Valentines Day he asked me what he could get me for a gift.  I told him I already got it. When he found out it was on lay-away he went and picked it up !  I know, I’m so spoiled lucky!

 

 

It’s the perfect size for the space. I staged it with an antique ironstone basin just to give *the look* of a sink. The doors and drawers are going to give some much needed storage for linens, soaps and other bathroom thingy’s. I love that I didn’t have to do a thing to it, this is just how I found it.

 

 

We have some major remodeling plans in the works. . . kitchen update, removing a wall to open the dining room and living room, a new master bed/bath and a covered front porch. As well as some outdoor projects like painting the exterior, a new picket fence and potting shed.  I think I’m about to get really busy.

 

Thanks for taggin along even in my absence. I don’t have a lot of followers and I do appreciate each and every one of you. . . I need to figure out how to make it possible to pin from here, I’m working on it. . . but for now just spread the word. . .

 

Happy Spring All. . .

~d

 

My new love~lies

As promised, I have a few new treasures to share with you.

 

First up. . . antique pantry boxes

 

 

 

 

 

These beauties were adopted from my favorite antique mall, Yesteryears. There were 7 on display, I wanted all of them. But I settled on these 3. I got a good deal on them since I was buying 3. The booth belonged to a Dr. He travels back east and finds the most dreamy pieces, things we rarely see in Montana.

 

 

 

 

A few weeks later I was in my other favorite antique mall, 3301 Marketplace. This cheese box had the most hideous blue calico liner glued in it! It was a whomppin 10 bucks!  I’m thinkin I may have a new addiction. . . I just love the natural wood tones with all the white.

 

Next is my new pie safe. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this on Facebook. I followed the link and fell in love with this website.

 Gershwin and Gertie

They have some of the nicest farm~house décor I have ever seen. I have been looking for a rustic, countertop pie safe for so long. It was all black but me n my white paint fixed that !

I was hoping it would fit in my kitchen, somewhere. No such luck. But the day I get to have a *real* dining room, it will be a real show piece.

 

Thanks for lookin. . . ~d

Because farmhouses didn’t have A/C

For those of you that have been following me, you now how much I hate the A/C unit that always photo bombs my pictures. I have been looking for something to hide it for a long long time. The hard part was it had to be the right height, it had to fit between the window trim and the ceiling, it couldn’t have shelves (or ones that were easy to remove) as well as the obvious. . . it had to be farmy. I really didn’t think such a thing existed. Then when I was out n about, not lookin for anything in particular I spotted a wall mount cupboard in a booth at one of my favorite Antique Malls. I knew the size was right but it really wasn’t what I had in mind. But it had potential and the price was right.

Here’s what it looked like when I brought it home.

I had already removed the inside shelf before I took this picture. I took the back off too, I just set it in place for the photo shoot.

 

 

I took the 1950’s scroll piece off and cut the pointed side extensions off. Now it was starting to look like something I could work with. I had to turn it around and and use the back side. The scrolled sides wouldn’t work for hanging doors. I needed doors to hide the A/C unit.  So here’s what it looked like with roughed in doors and all the artsy~farty stuff gone.

 

 

You can see the gap on the back side of the sides. But this is OK, it will help in the ventilation in the summer when I use it.

And tada. . . here it is all finished up.

 

 

This space is a front porch with access to the front yard that we never use.  I have 2 very friendly, unruly pugs that would escape in a second given a chance and there is no fence in the front yard (yet).The porch faces west so it’s a great place for my house plants. It’s right off the living room so it has to look good. When we moved in there was a door closing it off but we needed the space so we took the door off.
 

My best buddy Bonnie gave me the darling wood knob. I have been waiting for the *perfect* piece to add it to. I had to cut a piece of trim to make it longer, the gap was too wide for it to do it’s job. I used an old square head nail to hold it in place.

 

 

The green box belonged to Gramma. It sat on the drier which was directly under the laundry shoot, it was used to catch the family’s dirty laundry. I store pots, plant food and dog food behind the curtain.

 

 

The old straw broom and dust pan were hiding in the laundry room all this time. They needed to be in here, don’t ya think?

And here’s one for Megan. . . an MB red linen grain sack. . .

 

 

 

 

And here’s the eye sore behind the doors. . . sadly it will still be visible in the summer, but at least I can close the doors when its not being used.

 

 

I picked up a few more goodies on my day at the mall, I’ll share them with you soon.

I hope the sun is shining and your days are as warm as they are here. We had 70 degrees yesterday. . . that never happens in Montana in January. ~debi

feeling a little blue

 

Some pops of blue. . . with the blue sky and sunshine on the outside, it seems fitting on the inside too. . . take a peek. . .

 

 

 

 

I’m getting ready to combine the laundry room and storage rooms to make room for a bedroom and bathroom in the basement. I’m scattering the decorations I had in the laundry room through out the house. I’ve collected some darling stuff to make me happy when I’m in there, but I think it  makes me happier seeing them amongst my other things. . . the metal laundry basket stand is among one of those things. It’s the perfect place to toss the throw pillows off of the couch when company comes and makes it easy to grab a quilt when I’m feelin cozy. 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t this little white hanging pocket the cutest? I bought it from the very talented Christine at 1871 farmhouse. If you haven’t yet checked her out on Facebook, you really should. The white tallow berries are from her as well.

 

 

 

 

I even dressed the guest room in blue. I love the huge antique quilt. It’s one of my favorites of all my quilts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a few Christmas gifts to share with you, so please stop back by.

Have a great weekend.

Christmas in the dining room

I spent all day yesterday listening to football, re arranging, cleaning and decorating the family room/dining room for Christmas. I don’t post many pictures of this room because it's so hard to get a good picture. (poor lighting). But some of my favorite things are in this room, my old farm table, my beautiful Hoosier cupboard, my ironstone collection, all my crocks and yellow ware bowls. . . I just wanna share them with you. Please don’t judge the poor quality of the photos. If anyone has any advice on how to get better pictures with no natural light I would love to hear from you.

 

There is a lot to look at, tons of pictures. I have a list 10 miles long of stuff I have to do to get ready for Christmas, so I decided to do the entire room at once and be done with it. Blogging takes a lot of time.

 

Enjoy !

 

 

 

I kept it all simple and natural. We’re spending Christmas at my daughters this year, so I didn’t put a tree up. I have a small Charlie Brown tree in the living room, that’s going to be it this year.

I just got this HUGE coffee pot. I’m a sucker for all things enamel ware, especially black and white enamel ware. I love it stuffed full of cedar boughs and pinecones, I can’t wait to fill it with hydrangeas this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have had the adorable leaded glass cupboard for a very long time, but I have struggled what/where to use it. I decided to turn this nook into my message area. It actually hides a door that has the water meter inside. I dread the day I have to get into the closet. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.  ~d

Decorating for Winter

Boy, 68 degrees on Saturday and 12 degrees on Sunday and it only got worse as the week went by. I spent all day Sunday cooking, baking, grocery shopping and acting like a pioneer hunkerin down for the storm.  My day came to a halt when my stove caught on fire. Yip, probably the scariest thing that’s happened to me. So just when I thought I could stay in out of the cold, I spent Monday shopping for a new stove. I cant say I’m sad, I hated the old thing anyway. I just wish it would have happened at  a better time.  I had cinnamon rolls that needed to be baked, a chicken roasting in the oven, and the worse part is I had just spent hours cleaning it.

I got a bad case of cabin fever being stuck inside all week.  I refuse to drag out the Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean I can’t throw out the fading mini boos and bring in some fresh greenery to liven the place up. I did some winter decorating.

I have come to realize my choice for decorating this time of year is more for winter than Christmas. I usually get a small tree to pot up in a pail or bucket and hang the stockings. But that’s about it. It makes it easy when Christmas is over, I can enjoy it until its time to stock up on tulips. . .

I just love this homely little wreath. I got it from a local vendor at the farmers market this past summer. It kinda grows on me.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once again, the mantel. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. . . it’s hard to photograph due to the angle. I have had these turned architecture pieces for several years. I just never thought to add them to the mantel. I like the height and their chippy crusty texture.

 

 

Until its time to hang the stockings, I decided to hang some vintage mittens. I love mittens, especially homemade knitted ones.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last. . . my new stove. . .
 

 

Sending {{{warm and fuzzy’s}}} stay warm my friends. . . ~d