nurturing hope, creativity, family
In case your Monday has been as rugged as mine….
I just wanted to share a bit of beauty with you.
There are those days when leaving the flowers at the store is just too much to ask of a girl.
Wishing you a beautiful day!
Jennifer
While I know this is of no real importance in life, this week I had a little fun by changing some minor things in my living room. For the most part I just shopped my house, but I also added a couple of new little things. The final product is one I’m really pleased with. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to change anything in a room.
My vintage cement swan planter stands at the edge of the room. I spotted this a couple of years ago in a local shop and just loved the graceful lines of it. I haunted the store, hoping it wouldn’t sell, until I’d saved enough money to buy it.
The couch is my old living room couch which is now 8 years old. When we moved into our house, I took a deep breath and some scissors and made a white slipcover for it. I put the cushions that were made for the back of the couch in the basement and instead used three large down pillows covered with vintage white shams. Doing that gave it new life. This week I also gave it new accent pillows.
The flowered pillows I made , and the pink ruffle pillow I added because I decided I wanted a dash of bright pink to go along with the robin’s egg blue and white scheme of the room. I also added a flowered fabric from my stash to the coffee table.
To the right of the couch, I used to have a small white table. It was a little too short, so I swapped it out and moved these two antique tables in. They truly are gorgeous. I LOVE the paint and the detail on them. I think they’re one of my top three favorite vintage pieces I own.
I would really like to use these tables in some amazing spot, but the fact of the matter is that they don’t stand a chance around my kids. I’d give them less than 24 hours to be broken. They’re not poorly built, just fragile in design. Therefore, they must stay in a corner for a while longer.
They actually look nice in this corner. Their height is better than what I previously had, and their color matches the theme of the room. I added a stack of some favorite books (which just happened to also be blue), a couple of my favorite vintage childrens picture books and a pitcher of flowers. I like that corner much better now.
This room also houses my favorite piece of furniture, an old dresser that has been refinished and had mirrors added.
Above it sits one of my favorite metal pieces, a huge urn filled with artificial flowers. I love the drama and formality it adds to the room.
Next to it, and above the antique blue tables I have framed some of my favorite Marghab linens. First, the cord and tassel pattern which takes my breath away when I consider that someone did every one of the stitches by hand. This same design is one of the three Vera Marghab designs that is in the Smithsonian. I also have the hydrangea pattern hanging below it.
On the adjacent wall I hung a small vintage blue silk purse which has hand embroidered flowers on it.
On the rocking chair I tossed a white vintage coverlet, my favorite pillow which I made from vintage turquoise and white fabric, and a fabulous old coverlet embroidered with huge flowers on it. I’ve had the coverlet for years and wondered where to use it. It just found it’s home, I think.
Next to the chair is an enormous basket I picked up at the thrift store for $1.00. I spray painted it aqua for fun and filled it with vintage quilts.
On a whim, I sewed a little cover for the piano bench, just to bring the blue into that corner of the room. I chose stripes because they would make that corner less formal. I also swapped out a white mirror for a large blue frame holding a photo of two of my girls years ago at the beach. Two more Marghab pieces, both Jacaranda tree patterns, hang above the piano.
Lastly, I hung the mirror that I painted a bright pink . It might be my favorite piece in the room because it makes me want to laugh when I see it. So formal and yet poking fun at its formality through its color.
The entire wall now looks like this. I really like it. Symmetrical but not stiff.
I have always enjoyed studying interior design. I feel like I did pretty well in this space, using formal pieces alongside simple ones, mixing old with new, and using color and pattern in a way that pleases me. I love the added pops of color that the pink offers. I also love that this room is really just “me.” It holds so many of my favorite pieces, from the tables to the linens to the swan. And because I’ve always bristled at the idea of my house looking like it came from any particular store, I love this room because it’s completely original.
A super fun exercise in creativity, and it yielded a lovely room. Now for a good book and a bit of quiet.
Have a lovely day!
Jennifer
I really love my laundry room.
When we built our home, I did a few things right. Four of them involve the laundry room:
1. We put it upstairs where the bedrooms are instead of on the main floor where the original plans placed it 2. I had the cabinets painted red!
I LOVE these cabinets. They make me smile every time I see them. Funny how something so simple can make such a big difference.
Because I needed so few of them, I splurged on a special order starfish knob for the doors and drawers. I love them!
The third thing I did right was have the room built to hold two sets of washers and dryers, one stackable set and one set side by side.
These machines are my friends. Every time I start some laundry, I pause in the doorway when I turn off the light. I love to look back into the dark room and see the digital lights on all four of them, assuring me that they will do their job while I do other parts of my job.
You see, these friends are the only things in my house (next to my dishwashers) that I can count on to work even when I’m not watching. I have 8 children, and the real workers are the machines! (I know, I know, I must be doing something wrong but please tell me that when you look away your children start playing too!)
You can think I’m weird, but I give thanks for those machines EVERY TIME I turn them on. I don’t ever want to know what life would be like without them! I’m so grateful for the 847 loads of laundry that they help me to do each week.
True story (except the part about 847 loads. It’s not really that much, but it sure feels like it sometimes).
Well, when I placed my new runner made from placemats on the dryer this week, I suddenly had NO DESIRE to fold those 847 loads of laundry that were sitting in baskets in my bedroom. All I wanted to do was play in my laundry room!
I liked the flag and vintage chairs that I have sitting atop the washing machine, but wanted to do more. A little trip around the house yielded this:
A silver mirror with lead between a set of old shutters. Both were just waiting for me to do something with them. (Yes! I love it when I finally put something to good use!) I like the way it helps the room feel a little bit more open since it’s long and narrow.
Notice the laundry sign at the end of the room? It says: Laundry Expertly and Neatly Washed & Folded under personal supervision. Sometimes that’s my accomplishment; sometimes it’s my goal. And sometimes it’s my joke. Either way I like the sign.
The fourth great thing I did in my laundry room was to add a door between the laundry room and my closet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been thankful for that thought! I decided to add something to that door to help the room feel more pretty.
I am a collector of old linens, but generally I don’t collect items of clothing. A couple of years ago, however, I stumbled upon this vintage slip. It is nothing short of incredible. To me, It’s awe inspiring. It’s hand embroidered, and I can’t begin to describe how beautiful it is to me. I bought it.
I’d like to meet the woman who spent dozens of hours working on this piece of art.
I ironed it and hung it with an old wood hanger. I then tied some ribbons and a lavender sachet made from old embroidered linens to the hanger. I added some millinery flowers, and hung it on the door.
On the laundry room counter I keep a few things:
A bucket of lavender laundry detergent for my vintage linens, fabric softener for them as well, and a basket holding lavender sachets made from lavender I grew and some pretty ribbons to tie around my favorite pieces. On the other end I keep:
Soap, hand sanitizer and my favorite lotion in a cast iron tray with some towels for hand drying. I also keep a wooden spoon which I use when I’m soaking linens in the nearby sink.
And that’s my laundry room. I felt so happy when I finished decorating it!
Which brings me to the fifth thing I did right in my laundry room (Yes, I said four, but now I have five). I filled it with things I love. Making my laundry room a place I like to be sure helps motivate me to do the laundry! Hey, if you’re gonna do the work, why not do it in an inspiring atmosphere?
HH