Cozy Captures

Having time home this summer is the greatest gift. I am appreciating each and every day taking care of my family and this home. 

Sometimes I see something around our house and it fills my heart with such blessings and joy that I have to snap a picture of it. Lately I've noticed: 

A stack of home country books that are fun to look through and delightful on our coffee table

A huge wall of plants on our screened in porch 

A little peg rack with fresh peaches and a gingham dish towel (I love gingham!) 

My Emma Bridgewater strawberry fields mug with tea, little jars of honey, and peanut butter cookies for my family that night 

A little blueberry 'pie' on my pie cooling window 

A Peek In Our Living Room This Summer

Before the new wall color and new trim (doing it all ourselves so it'll be a while!) I wanted to decorate for the summer. I live in a New England colonial built in 1950. And I do believe in staying true to the style of a home rather than follow fads that come and go. 

So our family room is cozy and whimscial (that post back here) but our living room is comfortable and traditional. 

I used shells from a past vacation and I recently added a lovely hurricane lantern for burning candles. I know it will make this room sparkle in the autumn! 

I love the time I have at home in the summer - I really am so grateful for all of these summer days! 

Here's a peek inside: 

 

New Color, new Cozy Feels

This room makes me happy. It's collected looking. It's vintage looking. It's warm and inviting. And best of all, when I asked my girls what they thought of it, Anna said, "it looks like a Calico Critter home". You can peek at our love of all things Calico Critter here and here and here.  

This whole wall used to be big white frames with family photos in them. While I still love those family photos it was too 'heavy' looking and we didn't need all six of them. So while antiquing Scott and I found 3 more simple old frames and put up one of each of our daughters and one family one. I love having plates hanging on the walls (there's that cozy Calico Critter charm), but the star of this wall is the oil painting my Dad painted for me as a birthday present. 

Trying out a collected mantle (very full) look and for now, this summer, I'm loving it (epecially with all of the baskets and the new cozy mantle color) 

Here's the vew looking out toward the screened in porch... an extra room in our house April - October (some days warmer than others of course!) 

Old country books that are my design inspiration (rather than anything on a screen) I just love winter nights in bed with those books, dreaming up dreams for my home. 

💕

Well this room certainly has taken on many different looks over the years and of course the one I'm in is always my favorite. It's almost hard to believe that I liked anything else. ❤

Home Color Changes

I had the best day yesterday! Scott and I had an appointment with a color expert from Farrow and Ball. Recently we painted our family room. I wanted to try out the 'amzing in light' 'made in England' paint. Was it all worth it? What made it better than paint from Home Depot or Lowes? 

Oh my goodness. I still don't have photos of our painted family room but we are in love with this paint and the color we chose for our family room. The girls tell me that it looks like Calico Critters in there. (I promise to take some photos this weekend and post them here!) 

I had chosen the wall color from a recommendation (online, a house account I adore) but when we went to purchase the paint this 'color expert' recommneded a trim color if we were painting the trim in that room. And the trim (including the fireplace) changed the room more than even painting the walls. It went from a fine but kind of boring room to the coziest spot in the house... pure Calico Critters. 💕

Well, with the family room done we decided to meet with this color expert to talk through some other parts of our house. We were bit by the Farrow and Ball pain bug, that's for sure! 

He worked with us to choose: 

~ a main house color (entryway, hallway downstairs, up the stairs, and hallway upstairs... all one color) 

~ a living room color (still keeping it in the green family but a huge change (including that fireplace)

~ kitchen 

~ dining room (yes... we have chosen a wallpaper and I am in love!) 

All of these rooms, all of these projects will take so much time. Scott does it all himself and can only work on evenings and weekends and there is still a whole lot to do around home in the summer but bit by bit we are going to tackle all of our downstairs. 

Sure, I wish I could snap my fingers and have it all done, but I also kind of enjoy working on it together as a team and seeing it unfold slowly. 

I am so excited!  

It's Getting There and Thoughts About Blogging

Pre Blog Post Thoughts ~ I think I'd like to blog more often. I actually think it will be easier than once in a while. Let me explain (or let me think it out loud in this space). My blog sort of started to be the "big things" in life

• graduations
• college move ins
• holidays
• vacations

But then those blog posts are b i g  and they are harder to do (more pictures, more thoughts}

But little blog posts of day to day are easy ~ a simple picture of two, a simple thought. 

I think if I think 'smaller' on this blog than big events, big posts, I'll like this space of mine better... so here goes... 

It's Getting There 

We always have a house project going on. I hate the mess but I love the planning, dreaming, and of course the outcome. 

Mother's Day ⬆

Recently I've been craving wallpaper, really wanting it. But Scott does not. Last year he did wallpaper a tiny off the kitchen bathroom for me. I found two rolls of tiny flowered wallpaper at a thrift store. And it looks so lovely in there. But he hates the wallpaper process and even more worries what will happen when I change my mind. (He's right, I do change my mind a lot over the years)

So for this Mother's Day project, he's painting the family room. It's my Mother's Day present. (Each year I get to choose a project we don't NEED to do but my heart WANTS to do) 

I've been wanting to try the 'made in England' Farrow and Ball paint. I chose a cozy color and I love the way it's coming out. 

The walls are done and now he's doing the trim in a buttery color. The room will be totally different and I can hardly wait to decorate for Christmas! I think all of our greens will look so much better in here than the white trim! 

Trim on the left = bright white old trim / Trim on the right = new buttery color trim 

Okay, so I DID it! I did my first, 'it's not a big deal' 'little thoughts', 'who cares about perfect pictures' post! 

Easter Prep & Easter Table Setting

It was a three day holiday weekend for us and oh boy... we needed each day! We spent two days preparing for Easter, one day 'doing' Easter and then went back to school kinda tired from all of it. I don't want to complain. And really that's not where my heart was this weekend, but it flew by and I longed for one more day off to enjoy it all. 

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love everything homemade from scratch. I love to decorate the table. I do love it all. 

Baking: 

We made homemade rolls for Easter brunch. 

I baked a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. 

The girls colored eggs while all of this was going on. 

We even made homemade bread for late night Easter leftover sandwiches. 

And my favorite part of all... setting the table. 

I love to start early, pull out things I already have: dishes, silver, glasses, napkins, decorations and then I play play play, trying it all out until I just love it. 

It's kind of weird how it all happens. With everything around me I usually don't like it at all and then suddenly one different combination (maybe I add something that makes the napkin color work) and than wow... I love it. 

This year I used ironstone blue (new to me) vintage dishes. Lovely. They had blue in them and matched the table cloth (from here) just perfectly. 

I added our wedding silver that is just for Easter. 

And the centerpiece had candles (from here) with blue in them, bunny figurines (vintage), some greens and then real tulips in vases throughout. I love that mama bunny (above) looking like she's watering the greens. 

Pink embroidered pillows (from here) on the chairs in the corner to tie it all together. 

And those little bunny baskets filled with candy pulling all of that pink pink pink from the tulips together. 

I'll share Easter day just as soon as I can! 

 

Springtime Kitchen Views

I had the chance to decorate for spring this past weekend. I really wanted to wait until the end of March so I could feel like it was really spring starting. I got everything all cleaned up and then 'played house', ya know, moved things around and got out my dish towels, dishes, and things and played until I got it just right. I still have to take a few more pictures but just not done yet... here is what I can show you for now... 

Let's start with the General Store which is so fun to change throughout the seasons. It's tucked in the corner of the kitchen and is delightful to look at when the lights are on inside. 

In this picture you can see the teapot shelf that Scott built me last Mother's Day. 

Cookbooks all my favorites are just as comforting to see there as food from them. 

Some vintage egg cups 

I have a 'thing' for dish towels that are charming... the easiest way to decorate a kitchen. 

In this little corner you can see my laundry/mudroom in that open door... and that tiny jelly cupboard that I love so much! 

A view to the baking center

I have some open shelving on the wall near our kitchen table.