Garage Sale Tomorrow...I'd Rather Be Napping On the Porch...

Oh my aching back! I'm having a garage sale tomorrow...man, this is a lot of work! Wanna see some of what I hope to sell tomorrow? How about a mantle? It comes with some beautiful marble surround that fits down the sides, across the top and a marble hearth.

A raccoon lamp...Mama raccoon with her baby...awwwww Her little arms open up and you can hold the baby raccoon. Yes, I still have things from my son's nursery...and he will be 26 in a few days. Should I keep this lamp or go ahead and part with it? I mean, it might work in the guest bedroom. Ok, I'm kidding...but it is hard to let it go. Mama Raccoon doesn't look so happy about being sold tomorrow.

Larson storm door...in a "hunter green: color...removed it from the front door once I added the front porch.

Wicker chair, wrought iron candle holder and LOTS of pillows...

Magnolia glasses and matching platter from the Magnolia Plantation gift shop in Charleston, S.C. They're plastic, so practical for outdoor dining.

A Christmas cookie jar... Don't remember how I acquired this guy but he's up for sale tomorrow.


You may have noticed I've changed the template for BNOTP. This also required a change to the background/wallpaper of the blog. I kind of miss the old red and green template, but this new template allows for the enlargement of pics. I've enlarged a few in this post as well as most of those in yesterday's Tablescape Thursday post.

There's a little poll running at the top of the sidebar where you can give me feedback on the new look. I made some adjustments today (when I took a break from garage sale work) that I think improved the picture quality...it's was pretty grainy earlier today. Let me know what cha think!

Have a great weekend...see you Sunday evening for Met Monday! :-)

Tablescaping With Lenox, Butler's Pantry Gourmet... Welcome to the 40th Tablescape Thursday!

Wow, can you believe it...this is our 40th week for Tablescaping! THANK-YOU, dear friends, for participating during these past 40 weeks and making Tablescape Thursday such a fun event! I'm looking forward to many, many more!

This has been an exciting day for Between Naps on the Porch. Julia at Hooked on Houses is featuring the porch of BNOTP on her blog today! If you aren't familiar with Julia's fabulous blog, you are in for a treat. Julia goes behind the scenes for all of us and frequently posts large, beautiful pics of all those amazing movies houses we all drool over. She also hosts "Hooked on Fridays," a great blog party each Friday where bloggers can link a post showing what they are hooked on that week. Thank you, Julia...it's is an honor to be a part of your wonderful blog today!

You may recognize the pic below...it's of the tablescape I put together for last week's Tablescape Thursday.




Do you remember the floral centerpiece? It was comprised of purple Spiderwort and some white blossoms from a scraggly little shrub tree that grows wild under the trees in my back yard.




Right after I dissembled that tablescape, I decided to create another one using the same flowers, but in a different way.




I divided the flowers up into seven different little vases. The vases were arranged around two, tall, shabby-chic style candle holders. (Candle holders came from A Classy Flea several years ago.)





Found the little vases at the Dollar Tree.




Flowers from the yard and vases for $7...you really don't have to spend a lot to create a centerpiece.








The inspiration for this week's tablescape came from this little guy.











By now, you know I love lots of layers in my place setting.




A glass beaded napkin ring...




Salad plate is from Home Goods...didn't have a pattern name on back.




Liked how the Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage plates worked with the pitcher.  I fell in love with these when I spotted four of them in Ross. The search began for two more...eventually found one in Home Goods and one on e-Bay.




I'm using the large dinner plates from my set of Lenox, Butler's Pantry, as chargers in this tablescape. For added interest I placed a woven serving piece underneath. The texture worked well with this "jungle" of a tablescape.

















Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been monkeyin' around with this week. Awesome tablescapes await at the links below!





If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. If you aren't sure how to obtain your permalink or have any questions about using Mr. Linky for this post, just click HERE for detailed instructions.

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Please do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

The following blogs have lovely tablescapes awaiting your visit:

Three or More Tuesday...

It's time for Three or More Tuesday over at The Gypsy's Corner. If you've never visited Tam's blog, you will definitely want to stop by to see her gorgeous gardens, lovely vignettes and wonderful tablescapes.

I've been eyeing that empty spot above the china cabinet in my dining room for some time now. At Christmas time it's often filled with greenery from the yard...like magnolia leaves and nandina berries. But the rest of the year, it's pretty empty up there.


So recently I decided to put my small collection of white pitchers there to see how they looked. I think I like it. :-) I really like the contrast of the white against the red wall in this room. I found all of these pitchers for very reasonable prices at Marshalls, HomeGoods and Michaels. The rooster pitcher was $10 and the others ranged between $6 to $8...so all total I spent around $38 to decorate this area.


I'm seriously thinking of adding an iron decorative piece on the wall behind them. I don't want to take away from the contrast of the white pitchers against the red wall...but it just looks like it needs a little something else.



Don't think I want any greenery because that might obscure the pitchers...unless, I raise them up a bit and then add the greenery. Ummmm, what would you suggest? :-) This room is painted white below the chair rail...wish I'd thought to take a pic showing that part. :-) If you scan down just a little, you will see pics of this room in yesterday's Metamorphosis Monday post. Thanks for your suggestions!

Adding Molding to the Dining Room... Welcome to the 19th Metamorphosis Monday!

Back in January, I posted about some changes/renovations I had just finished in my dining room. I received a good many comments and quickly realized that everyone really enjoys seeing a good Before and After. That post ended up being the catalyst for that start of our blog party, Metamorphosis Monday, so I thought I'd share it again for this Met Monday.

This pic below wasn't in the original "Before and After" post; I recently took it from an old VHS tape we made when we were just walking through this house many years ago and were thinking of making an offer. As you can see, the walls were kind of an off-white and the trim was a dark mustard gold color. The carpet (not visible in this pic) was burnt orange. The chandelier was a basic builder grade fixture...you'll see the chandelier with which I replaced it, in the upcoming pics. So, the pic below is really a Before pic...as in 18 years before!



Quite a while back, I decided I was tired of my dining room being painted all red above and below the chair rail. The room isn't overly large, so all that red made the room feel even smaller. This is the only pic I have that shows it prior to this little renovation. The decorations were for a birthday party I was giving the following day for a friend. I think this light fixture is a definite improvement over the old one.




Once I made the decision to paint beneath the chair rail, I decided to have picture molding installed, also. This pic was taken right after installation. Are you just loving the two-tone action here?  What's say we leave it just like this?




Ok, maybe not. This was pretty painful to look at every day until I finally got a few days off from work and could start caulking all this new molding. (The red is actually a deeper red and not as bright as this picture indicates.)




Once I finally got the caulking done, it was time to prime over the Benjamin Moore "Raspberry Truffle" I'd just painted this room with a year ago. I know, I'm fickle. But sometimes you just have to try it one way, to know you don't like it that way. Right?




I have to admit, I was getting pretty excited by this point...definitely liking the change. I was also a bit horrified that the primer wasn't covering any better than it was....UGH. I foresaw another coat of primer before I could even start with the white paint.




Another coat of primer...looking better...






Finally...getting to put the good stuff on...the white paint. Not sure if this pic was after the first or second coat of white paint. Still didn't have the outlet covers back in place yet.




The sideboard is still pulled out from the wall in this pic. Note the high-tech furniture moving equipment...dish towels under each leg. Hey, it works.  Yep...definitely liking the white below the chair rail.




Ignore the table...how's the wall look?




I can't imagine this tablescape with an all red wall behind it. I think the additional molding and white paint were a good change...but what do you think? Was it worth all the work?




Hope you enjoyed this re-post of the post that spawned Metamorphosis Mondays. :-) Have a wonderful Memorial Day!



If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. If you aren't sure how to obtain your permalink or have any questions about using Mr. Linky for this post, just click HERE for detailed instructions.

Don't forget to copy and paste the Met Monday logo button to your computer so you can add it to your side bar and your Met Monday post. That way visitors will know that your are participating in Metamorphosis Monday.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your Met Monday post is actually published to your blog.

A Photo Tour of the Porch and Decks...

I'm so glad you stopped by! I've been doing some fluffing on the porch today...even got out the froggy fountain.  Thought I'd share some close-ups of some of the little details. So just make yourself at home...feel free to walk around and enjoy yourself while I get you a nice glass of iced tea.

Deck with pergola...

Lit up at night...

More details back on the porch...

Here's your tea. It's so nice out...why don't we sit here on the deck and catch up.

For additional pics of the porch, click HERE.