Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Room by Room...The "Great" Room...



Hello friends, and thank you for all of your sweet comments on my first post in the little tour of my house.  It's fun to have you all "over" thanks for stopping back :)


So this is where we left off after our little "Entry/Sitting Room" post...if you missed it and you'd like to peek back you can see that post HERE.

So if you're all ready...we'll head into the "Great Room"...and since there are tons of pictures, I'll keep the "chatter" to a minimum and let the pictures do the "talking".


The "Great" room...I've always struggled with that name...but the WIKIPEDIA definition said this...
"The term great room denotes a room space within an abode which combines the specific functions of several of the more traditional room spaces (e.g. the family room, the living room, the study, etc.) into a singular unified space. Great rooms are typically at or near the center of the house, feature raised ceilings, and have been common in American homes since the early 1990s."
So a "Great Room" it is :) 

It was actually harder than I thought to photograph...so here's the big picture and than I'll take you around for a closer look at all of my many vignettes around this rather large open space.







I made this light out of an old empty radio box...you can see that post HERE on JunkMarket Style.



Ahhh...this is still the best seat in the house :)



A sign made by my friend Joan...we'll be sharing a booth (along with Larry of the Country Junk Sale) at the fall Flea Market Under Glass Event.


We "gussied up" these chippy architecure pieces for bookends.


Perfect...



These XL glass jars have been all over the place...sorry, I didn't iron my runner for you.  Does it make you feel better to know I would probably forget to do it for "real company" too???


Love them sitting on these rusty old saw blades..."one man's trash...", literally :)









And this door will lead you to my porch which I showed you HERE.


You might also remember this special hutch and little house from my Sentimental Junk Post way back when...as you can see, I've simplified quite a bit since then.  It's my goal to "simplify" my decorating...but as a life long collector, it's really hard for me!!!  Maybe some of you can relate?  Baby steps :)


We took down my great-grandfather's ski's and added this old screen door.


Chippy-licious...just how I like it :)


So that about covers it for the Great Room...hope I haven't lost you :) 
We'll move on to the kitchen next...and it's so teeny-tiny it's almost not worth showing...but I will :)

Sharing here...

Also linking this post to...
for the Authentic Style Series featuring Miss Mustard Seed

Hope to see you there!!!
Chat soon,

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Some Junk on My Porch...


I LOVE using junk outside...because let's face it, if you don't know what it is, put a plant in it and you are good to go :) Here are a few photos of my porch last Spring after visiting MY FAVORITE sale of the year...the Country Junk Sale.




This old springy chair was one of my favorite finds...pots in the spring, pumpkins in the fall.



My husband actually purchased these green metal bins at an auction.  He "thought" he was going to use them for storage in his shop...silly, silly man. ;)

I added the rusty license plates with magnets for fun.



And a little ladder for layering...


And a little rusty bouquet.


This old scale was another favorite CJS find...


"Fairbanks Patent".  Why do I love old things with words or company names???


And this is a great place to hang a plant don't you think?  I got a bunch of these milk can lids on an auction.  LOTS of ideas for these...


And another rusty plate on this metal chair...completes our little outdoor tour :)

If you live anywhere near Monticello, MN...you should definitely head over next weekend for the Country Junk Sale!  I'll be there...can't wait to show you what I find this year!

I'll be joining in on the fun over at Funky Junk Interiors for Sat. Nite Special.  This isn't exactly "patio decor" but right now my patio is full of bikes and a basketball hoop.  We're hosting a little get together next weekend so after I "whip it into shape", I'll show you that too :)

Also sharing at...

Sharing my little "naked" loveseat at Funky Junk Interiors for Sat Nite Special...repurposed furntiure :)

Enjoy your weekend!
Chat soon,

Friday, June 10, 2011

Room by Room...Our Front Entry...

Hello out there...
Since I haven't had much project time lately, I thought maybe I'd invite you in for a little peek at my home.  I don't know about you but I love home tours and I've had so much fun surfing around through some of the tours in Blogland lately.  And so I thought maybe I'd give you the "50 Cent Tour", as my dad calls it...one room at a time...


I figured the front entry was the logical place to start...welcome :)

(You might remember my chippy little light fixture or my junky Spring wreath from previous posts.)


A while back we converted our entry closet into a pantry.  We have a small kitchen with minimal storage and this was a closet that basically stored unworn coats...so the coats went to the Goodwill and up went the shelves...sorry no pictures of the pantry...it's pretty full and "less than" organized right now. 
This cute little chippy hook works slick for jackets when company comes...


...but usually it just holds my reusable bags in plain sight to I won't forget them on the way out to the grocery store.  (And sometimes it even works...haha)


This is little room is also referred to as the "sitting area"...my hubby and I spend many Saturday mornings here sipping on our coffee and chatting about whatever.  We just added those propped up glass doors to either side of the windows...and I love it.  Just gives the space a little more character, don't you think?  Too bad we stored them in the garage for 3 years before finally painting them up huh?


The end tables hold special little collected things...this is a photo of my maternal grandparents...


...and these are my paternal grandparents.  These are the little details that make me "happy" :)


This is a simple little table I made by adding legs to an old metal grate.  Easy...


Just a few more treasures.


I LOVE to layer...can you tell??? ;)



You might remember a few of these goodies from past posts too...like the hinge frames and table leg sconces.


This opening here used to be a window before we added on a lower level garage and "Great Room" back in 2001. We included these built in shelves for a little "interest".  
That will lead us into the living room...and we'll save that room for another day.  Hmmm...maybe if I plan this right I can spread out this little "tour" for the rest of the summer??? ;)
Thanks for stopping by!

Also sharing over at...

Chat soon, 

Friday, June 3, 2011

Focus...


Things have been a little busy around here.  My littlest "charmer" is done with preschool and my bigger "charmer" will be done next week.  So I've had lots of "mommy business" to attend too :)

Maybe you've noticed I haven't been posting or commenting as much...like many other bloggers I'm feeling a need to back off a little bit this summer.  Somewhere along the way I think I lost track of my priorities...see those 2 sweet little faces up there???  They need to be at the top of my list.

You'll still see me around, I just can't resist sharing and chatting with my blogging friends.  I'm just going to drop that pressure I put on myself to post and comment...and hope that you don't all forget about me...

Looking forward to all this summer has instore...I don't want to miss a minute of this precious time with my "little people" before they become "big people" ;)

Take care...and chat soon,
Laurel