Tuesday, October 5, 2010

An Inspiration from Victoria

Well friends, it is time for afternoon tea again and I took some inspiration from an old Victoria magazine.

As I was looking through some of my old Autumn issues I admired the hat this lovely lady was wearing and it reminded me(somewhat) of my old felt hat.

Such a pretty Autumn look.

Would you like to join me for tea on this warm sunny Autumn day?

I love this teacup.

I love old hats -don't you?

My daughter baked some yummy treats for us.

Have a seat and I will pour you a cup of chai tea!

I hope you are enjoying these beautiful Autumn days and if you come back tomorrow I will show you the beauty of the Autumn garden.

Today I am joining Kathy at A Delightsome Life for her Victoria-A Return to Loveliness Party- such a great idea, Kathy.

Also, I am joining in with Sandi again for her lovely TeaTime Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage.

Thank you for visiting me,

Carolyn

Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Garden Room Theme

Hello everyone,
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are ready for a whole new week! I think I mentioned last week that I was working on a project. I have to confess that I am a person who likes change. I think our home has a split personality as I never have time to get the same style throughout before I change direction and I'm of on a new look. Maybe,if I didn't get so inspired by all your lovely blogs I wouldn't be so fickle! However, I have been wanting to do a garden room theme in our porch entry for awhile now- I think that is appropriate for someone who loves to garden, don't you?
I bought a can of mistint slate grey paint and an old can of ivory and went to town! The best part of this makeover is how cheap it was. I had an old pair of bi-fold doors in the barn so I got my husband to cut them down to fit the window and I painted them ivory9one was already ivory) and them dabbed them with grey and quickly rubbed it off with a rag. I love how they look with the white lace curtains that I have had for years.
Then I painted the garden bench that has been in the garden for several years slate grey and dabbed it with ivory and quickly rubbed it off. The old yard sale table got the same treatment.



Remember the 70 mile yard sale I went to a few weeks ago- this is the only "bigger item" I bought-it was $45. I like the "cottagy" look of it.
It was actually the piece that inspired me to do this project. I saw a dresser on a Swedish style blog9sorry I forget which one) but it clicked that this would work in the porch. The mirror I had already bought in the spring at Cool Breeze a Garden Center in Summerside. I think it is the perfect match for the cupboard. It was already the right color. I should have showed a close up of the $5 a pair candlesticks that are heavy iron in the faded grey color that matched the theme so well. I know the lone picture on the wall is too small but I plan to enlarge a few pics of our garden to go above and below it.
The pitcher and basin(white with grey) I bought at the estate sale last weekend for $5. I should have showed you a close up of it too.
I will have to pick a fresh bouquet so please ignore this one!
I slapped some grey paint on the birdhouse lamp too-to age it a little. I plan to recover the lampshade.

The pictures don't really do the room justice-I am not good at indoor shots especially shooting to a window.
A garden statue continues the theme.
Mirror reflection
I am not sure who he is but he looks very wise.
My old watering cans came in.
This is what the room looked like before and if I get tired of the garden theme I can easily go back to this but for now I am loving the garden theme.
I think I will have to edit a few things out and do a little tweaking =this is why I love taking pictures - I see things more clearly in a photo often times.
Well, that was my project so what do you think-do you like it or think I should leave well enough alone?
Today, I am joining in with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday where there is bound to be lots of inspiration and Cielo at The House in the Roses for Show off your Cottage Monday and again more inspiration-I don't know if it is even safe for me to look!!!


I hope you have a great day!


Carolyn