Change Is Gonna Do Me Good...

I woke up one morning, not too long ago, and decided that my kitchen needed a change, or that I needed to look at something different.  

This is what my kitchen looked like before.  Tuscan yellow walls and brightly colored windows. 

 It was really nice, but I just got tired of looking at it.

You see, I sew, which is not always a good thing. It really means that I want to constantly change my window treatments.  I've been in my home for 10 years and have changed them 4 times already.  I think I finally got it right, at least for now!  And please don't look at the mess on my deck.

I painted the walls Benjamin Moore Wheeling Neutral which is a very pretty light kakhi color and the ceiling a custom BM color. The wall color really goes nicely with the cherry cabinets.  My husband added crown moulding which really made the wall color pop and also added some great architectural detail, which I love.

This is the window over the sink which had  a white pleated shade that was pretty dirty and the cornice board was that deep red color.  I am just loving the bamboo shades.

I just fell for this floral fabric.  It was more than I wanted to spend but I already had fabric lining so that didn't cost me anything.  It's just so pretty and colorful.  It reminded me of HAPPY.  And you know what, I think I'll be keeping it for awhile.  

I used the rod and hooks that were already there from the previous treatments.  

Of course I had to buy a new tassel....but how could I pass up this beauty.

And this trim looked like it was made for this fabric.  

Some day I promise I will buy a really good camera so I can take 

pictures of my entire kitchen.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'll be linking up with:

Home Sweet Home

Inspiration Friday

Debbie's Newby Party

Amaze Me Monday

The Girl Creative

First Chalk Paint Creation

IT'S FINISHED!  My first Chalk Paint creation and I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

So, what do you think.  I used Old Ochre which is a very pretty color.  Actually, I started out with Cream but thought that it was a bit too yellow so I painted the Old Ochre over it.  I then sanded it and waxed it with the Annie Sloan clear wax.  The wax is amazingly easy to use.  It is sooooo smooth and goes on like butter!I did sand the piece enough so little bits of the Cream color show through and it really looks nice.  

This is the before picture that I almost forgot to take and the lighting wasn't good but at least you get to see what I started with.  It was just a simple dresser I picked up at a garage sale a couple of years ago. 

You can see some of the creme color coming through on the edges in this picture.  

Now I need to find a new home for this lovely piece of furniture.  It is currently living in my husbands workshop in the basement.  I might be moving some furniture around my house so I can fit this one in!

Thanks so much for stopping by:

I'll be linking up with:

Debbie's Newby Party

Metamorphosis Monday

Amaze Me Monday

More the Merrier Monday

Twice Owned Party

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Paint Party

Type A Decorating

WOW Us Wednesday

Whassup Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Easter Blessings

We want to wish everyone a very Happy and Blessed Easter.  

Our boys will wake up to find their baskets from the Easter Bunny filled to the brim.  Then we will be having our early morning egg hunt, indoors of course.  

It's off to church and out to see the family in Long Island.  The boys just love 

being with their cousins for the holidays.  

Tomorrow morning many children wake to see that the 

Easter Bunny

 has left baskets full of candy.  He has also hidden eggs that the

 children will hunt for.  The custom of the Easter egg hunt began 

because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass.  

The Romans believed 

that all life comes from an egg. Christians consider eggs to be the "seed of life"

and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

I can't wait to eat some of these goodies!

Today we colored eggs.  Some talented art work going on here.

Have a Very Happy Easter!

Incorporating Some More Country

I'm still waiting patiently for my Annie Sloan Soft Waxes to come in so I can finish my Chalk Paint creations.  Actually, I don't have any more patience waiting for it...I really want it to get here already!

In the meantime, since I can't sit still for even a minute I've decided to change around the mantel in my family room, once again. My home is a bit formal so I've been trying to infuse a bit more country

 into it...I guess thats how I got the name, "Country Glamour".  So I need your opinion.

Of course I can't stay away from my transferware....and I love this 

very old hat box filled with ivy.

This is a VERY large mantel we built after we moved into our home. I'm still working on finding two more transferware platters for the over mantel so there will be three on top.

Then we have the ironstone version with the fresh flowers.....It is very pretty, but what happens when the flowers die.  Mr. Country isn't going to like me buying fresh flowers every couple of days.  And I can't be staring at empty vases or fake flowers.  

But I do love this little white chickie and some of my old books.

So whats the verdict? 

My Newest Obsession- Chalk Paint

Last week it was jute, this week it's Chalk Paint.  I finally got my shipment of this wonderful product in on Thursday and have already painted three things.  This paint

 is pretty amazing.  Easy to apply and work with.  Now I am just waiting on the

 wax that I need to finish.  I had to order from a different distributor because the New Jersey distributor I used was out of stock.  

The colors are just beautiful. I'm loving the Old Ochre and that's what I ended up

 using on my projects.  The cream, which is very pretty is a little yellow, 

but I'm sure I will find the right thing to paint with this color.

I can't wait to share with you my new Chalk Paint creations!

Ballard Knock Off

I love Ballard Design but I do not like the prices.  I found these jute covered pears and loved them so I decided to make them myself.  I already had the jute cord, a glue gun, plastic apples and pears and plastic Easter eggs.  I went jute crazy!

Do you believe that these pears cost $24.99 - $29.99 for  one and that's the sale price.

Like I said, I went a little jute crazy!

Don't these eggs look lovely in this little antique bowl.

Now they sit on my kitchen table on my moms sliver tray with these two little 

chicks and flow blue vase. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you enjoyed my knock off creation!

I'll be linking up with:
debbie-debbiedoos
Metamorphis Monday
Dittle Dattle
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Type A Decorating
WOW Us Wednesdays
Whatever Goes Wednesday

Country Garden

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. 

 ~Ruth Stout

Things are just starting to wake up in New Jersey.  It was a long winter so I am so looking forward to seeing all of my beautiful flowers come to life once again.  This is what my front garden will look like, I hope.  I think I lost some things over this past winter....will soon find out.

I have an abundance of Shasta daisies which I love and the deer don't!

Beautiful and bright yellow Zagreb Coreopsis with Red Barberry in the background.

Bee Balm...the deer do not like this lovely plant either so we use it a lot in our gardens. These are pictures from last late spring.  I'm looking forward to posting my garden as it grows this season.

Thanks so much for visiting, I will be linking up with:

Fishtale Cottage

Family Room Cupboard Update

This is one of my most prized possessions.  I got this cupboard about 18 years ago at an antique store.  Don't remember what I paid for it, but fell in love with it.  It needed some work so I got to work with my paint brush.  Since this was the first piece that I ever refinished I didn't have a clue what I was doing.  I couldn't even remember what technique I used but I wish that I did a tutorial on it because I love the way it turned out.  It has moved three times with me and now hangs in my family room.  I decided I would give it a Spring facelift with some of the treasures I got the other day on my shopping spree.

Isn't my little chickie just so cute!

This oak piece is another old piece that has been with me for some time now.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I will be linking up with:

debbie-debbiedoos

Metamorphis Monday

Dittle-Dattle

Twice Owned Tuesday - House of Grace

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Type "A" Blog Hop

WOW Us Wednesdays