Thank You

I want to take the time to THANK all of you amazing girls who posted about me this past week. You are all so kind to introduce me to your FRIENDS. I greatly appreciate it. You have made me feel so welcomed in this amazing world of blogging. I can't be more excited about this new adventure and have been so touched by YOU and your FRIENDS. Thank you Lori, from Frugal Farmhouse Design, Tracey, from French Larkspur, Melaine, from My Sweet Savvannah, Tracy, from Loving Pretty Things, Theresa, from Garden Antiques, Ness, from Marley & Lockyer, Desiree, from Vosges Paris , and most recent The Nester, for introducing me to all of your wonderful friends. I am so honored to be posted about on your beautiful blogs. I hope all of You have a great weekend, and if you aren't already a friend of one of these beautiful blogs, then you must check them out. You will LOVE them, they are full of inspiration.

A Unique Hat Stand For the Cowboy in the House

Do you have a lamp that can't be used? Maybe it just needs rewired or maybe its broken? I found this lamp for just $10 and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it. (There is a reason it was only $10.00, it is broken at the base and is not safe to use as a working lamp)

My husband's hats always end up on the dresser. This little guy seems to do the trick of keeping them in one spot.

Depending on what mood I am in, it gets moved from one dresser to the next.

Or if I am tired of seeing them all together, I can just take them off. Just thought I would share a different use for an old broken lamp.



I want to thank ALL of YOU again for all of your encouragement. Your thoughtful comments mean the world to me. You are the BEST!

Vintage linens, not just for a bedroom

I have a little obsession with vintage linens. There is something about them that is so special. They can have a beautiful monogram, or no monogram at all. They come in all different textures and many different shades of white. A lot of the time there is a seam down the middle of the sheet where they were hand sewn together. I just love it when they are like that. They can be used for about anything. They have so many more uses then just in a bedroom.

The chair here with the red blanket on it, I got a great deal on this chair and thought I could just take it home and reupholster it myself. Turns out it is harder then I thought. At least for me. So in the meantime I wrapped it up with a vintage sheet. It has the monogram MC on it. This was given to me as a gift from my mother. I love it. Even when I am able to get this chair reupholstered, I will probably still wrap it in this sheet. Something upholstered makes me nervous anyway. I don't like the idea of not being able to throw it in the wash.

This little stool came with the chair. I think it is so cute. I took the green fabric off of it, and right now I kind of like it how it is. I will eventually cover it with vintage linens, but I am kind of liking it not looking perfect.

The pillow that is on the chair is made from a vintage french sheet. I love the big monogram. I wish I could say that I made this pillow, but no, I can't sew for the life of me. I learned how to, but do not have the patience and have never had any success. I am so envious of all of you that can sew.

I added a few extra pictures for the fun of it.






Now this chair I put a vintage euro sham over it, and tied a bow around it. Then I put a tea towel on the seat. Of course the boxwood is just there to add color.

Another view

I use these sheets on my sofa as well. My sofa is slip covered, but these are so easy to throw in the wash, then I only have to wash the slip covers once a year. I also think it helps make the overall look even more approachable. The smaller pillows were made by my sisters. (I am fortunate enough to have sisters who will sew for me! Thank you Monica and Teresa!) They are all made from vintage linens.


This is a close up of the sheet that is on the couch. It has a beautiful monogram, and you can also see the hand sewn seam down the middle of it.

Here are two places you can get some really great linens

http://www.whiteflowerfarmhouse.com/

http://www.redchair-antiques.com/

Here is a before picture of the chairs. Hopefully someday I can get them reupholstered. I want to use vintage linens. That will be for a later post. Until then they will wear those sheets and nobody has to know what is underneath, except for you!

Because of All of You,

I am feeling

I feel really blessed to be apart of this blogging community. You are all so inspirational and encouraging. I have never received so much positive encouragement in my life. You are all amazing and I am so excited about this new adventure. Thank you for all of your nice comments and encouragement! They mean more then you will ever know. Hopefully I can inspire you a little like you all inspire me!

Thank You,

Maria

Stepping out into blog land!

Thank you Lori, ( http://frugalfarmhousedesign.blogspot.com/), for introducing me to the blogging world. I am ever so grateful. You are a true inspiration and the nicest person! You are the reason for starting this blog. Thank you!

I am a mother of five children and am married to a REAL cowboy. We live on a horse ranch.  We live in a new home, and we feel blessed to be able to live in the home we live in. (My husband has a very generous boss, and his boss let us go pick out a new beautiful modular home to live in ) I feel like the luckiest girl in the world... I love to decorate and love trying to be creative. I believe decorating with white is so refreshing, and yes with all those kids it still stays white. (with a little help from oxi clean of course) Here are a few pictures of my living room.
My husband added the 100 year old ceiling tin to the ceiling. My sister found that in New Hampshire for me. I got a great deal on it. My husband also added the trim to the windows and doors.

I love old doors. They make the best props. What I love most about them is they are very easy to move, and can be used to change the look of another room (and no holes in the wall).

The Mantle, well I love these. I think they make a great statement regardless of if you have a fireplace or not. Always a great conversation piece as well. My husband's friends don't understand why I would have a mantle up, without the fireplace.

The walls I painted gray pearl in a satin finish (Martha Stewart Paint from Lowes). I think that white furnishings stand out more with the gray walls. I had first painted this room a cream color, and it seemed like everything blended together too much. I then Painted it gray, that made a big difference. The trim is all Decorator's White (Benjamin Moore, semi-gloss). The mantle had a lot of flaking paint (not pretty) so I knocked a lot of that off, and then painted over it with wedding veil (Benjamin Moore, pearl finish)