Tuscan dining

Now that the Spring decor is put away it is time to get the house back in shape until Fall.  I got the dining room done first.  My dining room is Tuscan style.  We put up a wall between the formal living and dining room.  The formal living room is now my husband's office.  I didn't have to do too much to this area.  I painted the walls, added the mural and we installed a new light fixture.  All I have left to do is get the curtain panels made and revamp the console table.

Here is what the dining room looked like when we moved in.  I didn't get any pictures taken before we put up the wall.

Now here is how the dining room looks now.

Here is the wall that we had put between the two rooms.  I wanted the furniture on it but when it was delivered my husband thought that we needed a mural on the wall instead.  So I let him have his way this time.  At least I got the pick the picture.  He wanted more of a wooded scene but I thought this would work better with my decor.

Now for some close ups.  First up is the buffet.

Now for the hutch.

Now let's see the dining room table.

  Last up is the console table.  I am going to be putting a shelf down below and will paint it two tone.  Here is the before picture.  Please excuse the way that it looks right now as it is not decorated the way I want it to be.

It doesn't really match the other furniture but the color is close enough.  I am going to leave the top and the drawers as they are and add a shelf to the bottom and paint the rest of it black.  I probably won't be getting this done anytime as I need to work on other projects first.  Hopefully I will get this done by Fall.

Linking with
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sundays
three mango seeds-it's party time
diy show off-the diy party
boogieboard cottage-masterpiece monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
create with joy-inspire me monday
my uncommon slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
a stroll thru life-inspire me tuesday
worthing court-the scoop
our home away from home-tuesday at our home
the dedicated house-make it pretty monday
creative country mom-home sweet garden
elizabeth and co-be inspired tuesday
diy by design-swing into spring
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the style sisters-centerpiece wednesday
ducks n a row-wonderful wednesday blog hop
the happy housie-work it wednesday
katherines corner-favorite things 
posed perfection-creative ways
from my front porch to yours-treasure hunt thursday
http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/
a delightsome life-home and garden thursday
http://easylifemealandpartyplanning.blogspot.com
imparting grace-grace at home
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
have a daily cup of mrs olson-share your cup thursday
between naps on the porch-tablescape thursday
the charm of home-home sweet home
french country cottage-feathered nest
craftberry bush-the inspiration gallery
the brambleberry cottage-time travel thursday
shabby nest-frugal friday
bacon time with the hungry hypo-anything goes friday
chic on a shoestring decorating-flaunt it friday
my romantic home-show and tell friday
be different act normal-show and tell saturday
pieced pastimes-saturday sparks
life on lakeshore drive-bouquet of talent
http://simpledetailsblog.blogspot.com
http://diy-vintage-chic.blogspot.com
http://www.justusfourblog.com
http://craftdictator.com
http://www.thepinjunkie.com/

Surprise on front porch update

Awhile back I did a post on the bird nest that I have in my flower arrangement on my front porch.  Mama bird laid 5 eggs last year she laid 3.

I checked on the nest today and I could see some fluff so I took a quick picture.  You can't see this from ground level (at least I can't since I am short) so I have to stand on my tippy toes and hold the camera above and take a quick shot.

You can still see one of the eggs, but it only looks like there are three babies.  I will check back on it in a couple of days to see if there are more.


http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/

A trip to the garden center

Yesterday I went to the garden center and bought three hanging pots.  I normally do my own but I just don't have time this year with all the projects I want to get done.  I was thinking about getting all the flowers for my pots but it was so busy there I decided not to.  And boy am I glad since we had a hail storm last night.

 I did manage to get the hanging pots transferred to mine.  I bought these at Sam's a few years ago.  They look so much better than the plastic ones from the garden center. I couldn't believe that I found some that had red, orange and yellow flowers in them.  Those are the colors in my yard (I also have purple).

Now I just need to get flowers for the baskets on the railing, the birdbath, the decorative pot holder and all my pots.  It is going to rain this weekend so I guess it will have to wait.

Some of my flowers are starting to bloom.  Right now my iris's are starting to show off.  I am glad that the hail didn't damage it last night.

It looks blue in the picture but it is actually a very light purple.

My clematis is taking off this year.  I can't wait to see it bloom.  I planted it last year by the lamp post.  I just love this trellis that I found.  It looks like a plant.

Linking with
creative country mom-home sweet garden
imparting grace-grace at home
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
bacon time with the hungry hypo-anything goes friday
chic on a shoestring decorating-flaunt it friday
 romantic home-show and tell friday

I love silver

I love silver dishes, pitchers and just about everything that is sterling or silver plate.  Here are a few ways that I have decorated with silver.

Here is a close up of the hutch.  This tea set was my mothers.

Linking with
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
between naps on the porch-tablescape thursday
french country cottage-feathered nest friday
chic on a shoestring decorating-flaunt it friday
romantic home-show and tell friday
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
shabby art boutique-shabbilicious friday
common ground-be inspired friday

French country hutch and tea cups

This weekend I started to take down all the Spring decor in the house.  I didn't get too far as I had yard work to do and I started my new project of getting my craft room organized.  I did manage to get the hutch in the basement redone.  I added the soup tureen from the dining room and my newest addition of the duck in the basket.  I don't have anymore room on this hutch so I better slow down with purchasing any more for awhile. 

Now all I need to do is get some artwork on the walls and decorate below the hutch.  I want to decorate around the chair and the milk can.

My sister-in-law gave me some tea cups that were her mother-in-laws. I love tea cups but just don't have any out for display.  There are 24 of them and I am not sure if I will be keeping all of them yet.  There are a few that I like.  These are the ones that I like the best.

I have them sitting on my desk for now.  This one is the most interesting to me.  I have never seen one like this before.  It only says Itlay on the bottom.

Here are the rest of them.  I like the three on the left side the best.  I wish that they all had saucers.

Now for a sneak peek of my next project.  This is one of my embarrassing rooms so I am not going to show the before picture right now since you can't hardly walk through the room because I emptied out the closet.  So here are some pictures of the closet before.  I am painting it the same color as the room and going to get it organized.
I forgot how big this closet is.  When we moved in almost two years ago I had to just throw a lot of stuff in here real quick.  This basement bedroom is as big as our master upstairs but the closet is smaller.  I am using this as a craft room/guest room.  Check back to see the results.

I am linking with

the tablescaper-seasonal sundays
thoughts from alice-sundays at home
finding silver pennies-silver pennies sunday
three mango seeds-it's party time
create with joy-inspire me monday
boogieboard cottage-masterpiece monday
dwellings-the heart of your home-amaze me monday
between naps on the porch-metamorphosis monday
 my uncommon slice of suburbia-inspire me monday
the dedicated home-make it pretty monday
our home away from home-tuesday at our home
a stroll thru life-inspire me tuesday
confessions of a plate addict-the scoop
coastal charm-nifty thrifty tuesday
elizabeth and co-inspired tuesday
diy by design-swing into spring
savvy southern style-wow us wednesday
green willow pond-what we accomplished wednesday
ivy and elephants-what's it wednesday
the style sisters-centerpiece wednesday
the happy housie-work it wednesday
have a daily cup of mrs olson-share your cup thursday
from my front porch to yours-treasure hunt thursday
the brambleberry cottage-time travel thursday
easy life meal and party planning-four season blog hop
a delightsome life-home and garden thursday
posed perfection-creative ways
katherines corner-favorite things blog hop
imparting grace-grace at home
rooted in thyme-simple and sweet fridays
common ground-be inspired friday
the charm of home-home sweet home
redoux interiors-the best linky party
the thrifty groove-thrifty things friday
french country cottage-feathered nest friday
craftberry bush-inspiration gallery
bacon time with the hungry hypo-anything goes friday
shabby nest-frugal friday
romantic home-show and tell friday
shabby art boutique-shabbilicious friday
how sweet the sound-pink saturday
pieced pastimes-saturday sparks
be different act normal-show and tell saturday
http://www.ducksnarow.com/
life on lakeshore drive-bouquet of talent
DIY Vintage Chic
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com

Spring tablescapes past and present

Here are some of my Spring tablescapes from this year and last.  Now that May is here I need to get the new tablescapes done that will be up until Fall.

Linking with

between naps on the porch-tablescape thursday

Happy May Day

I haven't made a May Day basket since I was in grade school.  I had bought this container a few months ago at a thrift store for $3.95.  When I first bought it I was thinking about painting it but I kinda like the way it looks now.  It has a tuscan feel to it.  I bought the flower stems on sale at Pier 1.  I just wanted a simple look for the front door.

Happy May Day everyone!