The weather is still beautiful here.  The perfect weather has us outside most of the time so I’m just going to keep doing outdoor tablescapes until I run out of good weather or dishes.

     I had everything on hand for this setting except the salad plates.  I picked these up at a thrift store last week.  They were a bit more used looking than I wanted but they were too cute and too well priced (both for $1) to pass up.

     The raspberries and blueberries in my berry patch are not ripe yet, I picked these up at the market-almost as good as home grown.

     You can see some of my roses in this shot.  The blooms are not as bountiful this year as usual- long, cold, rainy Spring I guess.

 In this shot, you can see my grapes.  Looks like it is going to be a good year for the grapes .

Thanks for visiting.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend!

     Just wanted to update everyone on my master bedroom.  As you can see we got a new bed, yay!  It is from Ikea.  I painted the wall behind the bed a darker shade of the grey wall color so I could stencil the quatrefoil design (the one I used here) before the old bed broke.  But when we put the new bed in here I decided that pattern wasn’t going to work with the new bed.  I think I’m going to try a grasscloth look instead, at least until I get the my brick veneers for this wall (it’s pretty far down on the To Do List).  If you’ll notice, my nightstands are mismatched.  I don’t mind the fact that they are different styles or sizes but it does bother me that they are not the same color.  I am having a hard time deciding what color to paint them.  I want them to tie in with the black bed and the cherrywood dresser.  I’ll update again when I am done with the accent wall and to let everyone know what color I decide to go with on the nightstands.

     I was going through some old pictures on my computer trying to organize the ones I want to keep and delete ones I no longer need.  I ran across these pictures of the living room from our old house. 

This was the view as you walk into the room.

 This was the view looking to the left.

 This was the view looking to the right.

     I just thought I’d share these because this room is so different from the living room in our new house.  Click here for the latest pictures of my new living room.

     This week I still wasn’t in the mood to work on my boy’s room (click here for that post).  I love the stripes but they tedious and summer vacation is still new and fresh so we want to relax and have fun.  I usually work on my projects while the kids are in school but since they are with me all day I have had to juggle my schedule.  Now I get up at the crack of dawn to work on my stuff and let the kids sleep in until around nine.  This works out really well for all of us.  I have enough time to work on my projects in peace and even have enough time to fit in a workout.   This week I was in the mood to work on this chair.  Remember the before (above)?

     Here is the after.  After much (and I mean MUCH) deliberation, I went with turquoise paint.  I also decided that I didn’t like any of the material I had on hand and went to Hobby Lobby for some new material.  I picked up one yard of a fun, bright and happy material.  But, the material I picked out is not the material  on the chair.  I got that material home and laid it over the seat and didn’t like it.  I sat down a little frustrated and just stared at the room trying to figure out what I should do.  My gaze kept getting drawn to the curtains, suddenly I figured out what I was going to do.  I took the curtains down and laid the material over the seat.  Perfect.  I clipped the new material up over the window and loved it.  I cut the new material and hemmed the edges.  Twenty minutes and $4.00 later, I have new curtains.   

          Below are a couple of pictures of the detail in the chairs.  I like the chair the way it is now but I am still thinking of glazing over the turquoise to bring out the details even more. 

     I’m happy with the way it turned out.  It is much cuter and more comfortable that the folding chair I was using.   The price was right too.  For the chair and the curtains I spent about  twenty dollars.  The investment of time wasn’t too bad either.  It took me two mornings to do both projects.  Here is one last picture of the room.

     I am close to being done with this room.  I still want to tear out that awful, old berber carpet and lay the tile I have (no cost in money but a big cost of my time).  I also want to add a little side table by the striped chair.  Hope you’re having a great weekend and enjoying your summer.

     Now it’s official, Summer is here!  Usually we have summery weather starting in May but this year nope, March-like weather until yesterday’s solstice.  Yesterday was the first day that we have run the air conditioner this year. 

     I couldn’t resist taking advantage of the long, long evening and doing this tablescape with my new (to me) yellow and black salad plates.

     I have been on a black and yellow kick lately and when I saw these in the thrift shop I just couldn’t pass them up.

     I tried to keep the table simple by using a drop cloth as a tablecloth.  My son’s cowboy boot as a vase, some candles from around the house in various glass containers, and my trusty old rooster from my kitchen counter as centrepieces.

 As the sun started setting and I lit the candles things took on a magical romance.

     This is the first time that I have played around with photography at night.  It was tricky but I did manage to get a few shots that I like.

     Here are resources for some of the items I haven’t mentioned yet.  Place mats (turned over, see here for a look at the right side up) are from Walmart, I picked them up about four years ago.  I just got the goblets.  My Grandmother graciously gave them to me when she found out that I like tablescaping.  The silverware is from Target, I picked them up last fall.  Both the dinner and salad plates were thrifted.  I used tea towels as napkins and tied them with ribbon and added a crystal from my chandelier as a napkin ring.  Thank you for joining me on my patio.  Stop by anytime.