4th of July Table Setting: Welcome to the 149th Tablescape Thursday!

The Star-Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key




Oh, say, can you see,

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Brother SE-400, Embroidery & Sewing

When I was just 8 years old, my sister, Glenda, bought a Sears Kenmore sewing machine. She used it for many years then passed it down to me. Over the years it became very ornery, breaking thread despite a tune up and servicing.

I haven't sewn in 24 years but I've been itching to get back at it. After a bit of research online, I decided on a Brother SE-400. The best price I could find was on Amazon. I was attracted by the embroidery feature. I'm hoping I'll be able to monogram some napkins in the future.

Brother and I became better acquainted today... all gazillion parts. Ha!

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The Marley & Me Movie House is for Sale: Take the Tour!

Tour the Home in the Movie, Marley & Me

Years ago a friend suggested I might enjoy reading the book Marley & Me because we had a "Marley" dog. Jake, our sweet, rambunctious and very badly behaved Golden Retriever, ate our kitchen for the first two years of his life. I am not exaggerating. He really ate the kitchen....the whole kitchen. He ate the chair rail, baseboards, door moldings (both stained and painted), kitchen cabinets, the rungs on the breakfast chairs, the walls, the wallpaper, and the hardwood flooring. Everything. He ate everything...and then some. The repairs and buying new furniture was quite expensive, except for all the molding which I replaced myself with the help of a plastic miter box from The Home Depot.

Jake was unrelenting and no amount of training worked. We read books, talked to the vet and took him to dog obedience training, beginning and advanced classes. We tried everything! I won't even describe what he did when we put him in his huge doggy crate one night to avoid having him loose and unattended while we slept. You know that old rule that says dogs won't "go" where they sleep. Wrong. Whoever wrote that rule had never met Jake.

When crating him didn't work, I left him out of the crate in the laundry room itself overnight. Just imagine the worst thing ever and multiply that a thousand times and you'll be close. A hazmat suit would not have been enough. That definitely goes down in my book as one of the worse days of my life.

My husband and I had grown up with cats so Jake was our families very first experience with owning a dog, and it was a memorable one. When Jake went to doggy heaven at age 13, I cried without stopping for three solid days and nights. I couldn't sleep, eat or even swallow water. It was bad. I am a total wimp when it comes to losing a pet...a total wimp. Y'all may have to have me committed when Max goes to kitty heaven one day. Seriously.

When the book, Marley & Me, was made into a movie (starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) and I found out the ending, I knew there was no way this girl was going to go see it. I later discovered there was a wonderful house in the movie.

Have you seen Marley & Me? Well, if you didn't, or if you did and loved the house...guess what?! We can all take a tour because it is on the market and available for purchase! Apparently, it was listed for sale in April of this year, but a friend e-mailed me last night to let me know it has just gone on the market. All the recent articles I found today state it has just been listed. Ummm, maybe they pulled it off the market and decided to wait a bit and then relisted it. I noticed the price has dropped a fair amount from the quoted price in April.

The Marley and Me house located in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, is listed at $1.25 million. The real estate listing by Holly Gross Group describes it as a "greeting-card perfect stone house."

The home was built in 1830 of native stone and has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths. It definitely has great curb appeal. Ummm, is that a ghost looking out that top left window? ;)

Click HERE to continue reading...

Historic Tyson-Stedham Restoration, Part V: Welcome to the 127th Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Metamorphosis Monday! For this Met Monday, I'm excited to share another update on the historic Tyson-Stedham home in Adel, Georgia. This beautiful Arts and Crafts home will be turning 100 years old next year. Wow! Unfortunately over the past 99 years, previous owners had made renovations that were not in keeping with the original style of the home. Dustin, owner of Van de Fleet Designs and Restoration has come to her rescue and he is taking this beautiful lady back to her original design, revealing her true personality and beauty.

Here's a look at how she looked prior to the restoration process. Burdened under the layers of 6 roof-overs and in deteriorating condition, she was badly needing someone to save her before it was too late.




Today she is coming back to life with a zest she hasn't known in many years!

Dustin is very particular about all his restorations, including all paint choices. Dustin told me the colors he chose for the Tyson-Stedham home are "true Arts and Crafts colors." He selected these colors from a vintage 1912 Sears color swatch."

Click HERE to continue reading...

A Fairytale Cottage in Carmel

Carmel, California is known for having some of the cutest "fairytale" cottages you've ever seen. Since I love a storybook home, I was excited to discover one of them is currently for sale AND there are photos online showing the interior of this adorable home.

This cottage is listed with Carmel Realty Company.

It's named Short Stop...even the name is cute! :) The real estate listing says it features an ocean view and is "just a stroll to Carmel Beach and the shops and restaurants of downtown Carmel."

Let's take a little peak inside. It has that beachy vibe with bright, fun colors throughout. The walls appear to be trimmed out in the board and batten style, so popular today.
Click HERE to continue reading...

Inspiration Abounds in Blogland

There's so much inspiration to be found in Blogland! I hope you find these talented and creative folks as inspiring as I did.

Melissa at The Inspired Room completed a "Before and After" of her Dining Room that will knock your socks off. The draperies, the lantern...love it all! And wait until you see the Before...quite a change!

Would you love a craft/sewing table that looks very much like that expensive craft table we've all seen in our favorite store and catalog? Ana White will show you step by step (including plans) how to build your own! (Click "Next" at the bottom of this "drawer" plan to see the rest of the plan for the craft table. Ana breaks it down into different sections so it's easy to follow.)

Looking for an inexpensive way to corral your craft and gift wrapping ribbon? Spunky Junky has a great solution!

Click HERE to continue reading...

A Formal Dinner, European Style: Welcome to the 148th Tablescape Thursday!

For this Tablescape Thursday, I'm so excited to share a beautiful table setting created by my friend, Cornelia. Cornelia lives in Switzerland and she recently had a very special, formal dinner event. I rarely entertain formerly so it was exciting to see Cornelia's beautiful table and to hear about this special occasion.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the power of blogs? They can take us anywhere, even all the way to Switzerland for a fabulous dinner party! :) I'll let Cornelia tell you (in her own words) all about the table she created for this special evening. The menu sounds wonderful!


Cornelia said, "Yesterday I had a big invitation. We were 8 people."

"I served Riesling Soup, a wine soup made with a local white wine called Riesling. We had fillet with earl grey tea sauce, noodle and broccoli and for dessert a served fresh local strawberries with a Meringue Parfait (a kind of semi frozen Cream with Mascarpone and Meringue (Baiser)."
Click HERE to continue reading...

For Sale: Father of the Bride Movie House and An Historic Home Tour

Well, THE Father of the Bride movie house isn't for sale, but the other one is. Huh? Apparently, there were two houses used for the filming of the first Father of the Bride movie. The one that we all remember below that's located in Pasadena, CA is NOT for sale.

But the home that's located at 500 North Almansor Street in Alhambra, CA and was used for the backyard dining scenes on the deck and for the basketball playing scenes, is available to purchase.

According to the real estate listing, the home is available for $1,350,000. It has just gone on the market and you can take a tour of the inside.
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Another Piece of the Puzzle: Welcome to the 126th Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Met Monday! Hope you've had a wonderful weekend and a great Father's Day! This Metamorphosis Monday I'm excited to share an important addition to my home office.

Have you ever searched and searched for a particular piece of furniture for your home, and being unable to find it, gave up...only to have it immediately appear the next day? :) If so, I know just how you feel!

Not long after I started working on the conversion of my son's old bedroom to a home office, I started looking for a small chest to place beside this cottage style chair with the plan of creating a little sitting/reading area on this side of the room.

I've been to just about every antique store and thrift store in the surrounding area multiple times, hoping to find a piece I could rehab or paint, but I was never able to find anything close to what I wanted for this spot. I have this very bad habit of envisioning the piece I want in my mind, which always often leads to a frustrating search for the proverbial "needle in the haystack."

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The Beach House in Something's Gotta Give

Recently, I took a little vacation to Savannah, Georgia. It was a wonderful trip and when I returned home that weekend, I couldn't wait to pull out one of my favorite "beach house" movies, Something's Gotta Give.


Somethings Gotta Give is one of those movies you just have to watch at least once every summer. Joni, whose beautiful blog is Cote de Texas, believes the beach home in this movie to be the most beloved "movie" home ever. I might have to debate that one with her because I kind of think the house in Home Alone takes that honor. ;) Okay, maybe they both qualify since the movies are from different time periods and the homes are so very different in style.

A while back, Linda, Megan and Joni of The Skirted Roundtable, interviewed Beth Rubino, the Set Decorator for Something's Gotta Give. In The Skirted Roundtable interview, Beth Rubino says, "The house was the 4th main character in that film." She is so right. The phones of designers were ringing off the hook for months and months after the release of Something's Gotta Give. It seemed everyone on planet Earth wanted their home decorated to look exactly like this wonderful beach house.


We get our first look at the home when Harry Sanborn, played by Jack Nicholson, and Marin Barry, played by Amanda Peet, first pull up to the house with plans of a romantic weekend. Marin thinks her mom and successful playwright, Erica Barry, played by Diane Keaton, is away for a few days. Surprise! Erica walks in shortly after the pair arrive and the fun begins.

This beautiful home is actually located in Southampton, NY. But, I might as well break the news to you early on...in case you don't know.
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Wadsworth Called: Your 4th of July Table is Ready

While we continue viewing the beautiful tablescapes linked for yesterday's Tablescape Thursday, here's some additional inspiration for your Independence Day dinner. Tina, a dear reader of BNOTP, sent along these wonderful photos of a festive table she created for this great holiday!

Tina told me, "I really love designing tablescapes. I may have 14 sets of dishes, but I mix them all up for holidays and every day occasions. Simple elegance is what I love for every day."
Click HERE to continue reading...

Celebrating the 4th of July: Welcome to the 147th Tablescape Thursday!

A Table Setting for the 4th of July-Independence Day

Happy Tablescape Thursday! I've been working on a couple of 4th of July table settings and having the best time! A table setting for Independence Day is so much fun to put together since it's all about celebration and love for our country.



Time to break out the Red, White and Blue!
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Litter Box Solutions

Recently, a reader e-mailed to ask a question no one had ever asked me before. The question was, how did I handle/cope with having a litter box in the house? What a great question!
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Missing Mouse Goes Bottle Tree Shopping

Has anyone seen my computer mouse? I was planning on posting again today, but I can't seem to find the mouse. ;)

Bottle Tree Shopping:
Not to beat the bottle tree "horse" to death, but I do want to share a resource I found recently in case you have a bottle tree and are looking for hard-to-find colors and unusual shaped bottles.
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A Visit from Miss Mustard Seed: Welcome to the 125th Metamorphosis Monday!

Welcome to another awesome Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? Was it a productive one or more along the lines of laid-back and relaxed? Mine was a little bit of both. I've been working on a few things around here that I'll be sharing real soon.

For this week's Met Monday, I am so excited to share a guest post from a wonderfully talented and creative lady and blogger. Marian, alias Miss Mustard Seed, has been wowing all of Blogland for some time now with her beautiful "Before and Afters." If you aren't already familiar with her talent for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary, prepare to be delighted!


A huge Welcome to Miss Mustard Seed!
Click HERE to continue reading...

4th of July Craft or Party Favor

A Flag Day and 4th of July Inspired Craft:

Today is Flag Day! With today being Flag Day and the 4th of July just a few weeks away, I thought I'd share a fun little craft/party favor you could create to use as a centerpiece for your 4th of July table or as a gift for your friends.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Bottle Tree Dreams and Yard Art Fantasies

Help! I'm becoming one of those people! You know the one...the crazy neighbor down the street who has so much yard art, the addition of just one more tchotchke will take his yard from tasteful to tacky, from whimsical to wacky. Okay, I'm not that bad. Yet. But I'm working on it. ;)

If you've been reading BNOTP for a while, you may remember I started saving bottles about a year ago for a future bottle tree. (You can read more about the history of bottle trees and view additional pics in THIS post.) A voice was whispering in my ear, "If you collect bottles, it will come. If you collect bottles, it will come."

I must have been channeling the movie, Field of Dreams because my bottle tree materialized on a visit to the Ballard Design's Outlet in Atlanta recently.
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Seaside Tablescape: Welcome to the 146th Tablescape Thursday!

Happy Tablescape Thursday! Wow, I've been busy! LOL I've been sending out Pinterest invites like crazy. :) If you don't know what I'm talking about, click HERE to read yesterday's post.

I received so many e-mails and comments on the Pinterest post, I may have missed a few. So, if you requested an invite and didn't get yours, please first check your spam file to see if it's there. If it isn't, e-mail me at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom and let me know you didn't receive yours. Don't forget to include the e-mail address where you would like your invite to be sent. A few folks have forgotten and left that off in some of the e-mails I've received.

Note: Apparently, you need a Facebook account or Twitter account to first sign up. I'll continue to send out invites to anyone who wants one. So far, Pinterest doesn't seem to limit you on how many you can send out.


Tablescape Thursday:

For today's Tablescape Thursday, I've put together a little beach themed table setting out on the porch. I still have beach dreams running through my head after my recent trip to Savannah. :) Hope you enjoy!






I started out placing different types/colors of starfish on the napkins and I scattered lots of shells all around the centerpiece.




I decided it looked a bit too busy and changed all the starfish out to just white ones for the place settings. I also removed a lot of the shells. Do you see the difference between the pic above and the one below?




The gray netting was a tablecloth I used in a Halloween tablescape HERE. For the Halloween tablescape, it was spread out as a creepy, tattered tablecloth. Here it is bunched up to appear more like an old fishing net.










I used a napkin fold called "Double Sails" for this beach-themed table setting. It seemed like the perfect fold for a tablescape with sailboats on the salad plates. You'll find the instructions for this napkin fold under the heading "Napkin Folds" at the top of the blog or just click, HERE.




The centerpiece for this tablescape was inspired by the lighthouse shown on the Warren Kimble "Coastal Breeze" salad plates. I've used these salad plates in a previous tablescape, HERE.




The shape of this lantern made me think of a beautiful lighthouse along a New England coast.






I love the soft muted colors in this table setting. Very restful and definitely beachy. :)






A little candlelight...







You'll find more beach-themed tablescapes HERE, HERE and HERE. Looking forward to seeing your beautiful tablescapes!



Resources:
Dinner Plate: Gibson china from Big Lots, 2 years ago
Salad Plates: Warren Kimble "Coastal Breeze" by Sakura, eBay
Glassware: Shoreline Collection-Home Studio, Kohl's 3-4 years ago
Napkins: Kohls, 3 years ago
Flatware: Tuesday Morning (I think) Forgotten brand name
Centerpiece: Lantern from Old Time Pottery, this season
Shorebirds: Marshalls and HomeGoods
Shells: A few are store-bought and many were collected on Captiva and Sanibel Islands
Gray Fishing Net: Dollar Tree last year
Candles provided by Colonial Candle




Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky.

To use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, use the html code you'll find under the "Join a Party" heading at the top of this blog.

Please, link back to the party so your regular readers will find all your fellow blogger's tablescapes, too. :)

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)


Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!

Pinterest: What Is It, Anyway?

I first read about Pinterest at Young House Love when Sherry shared her love for pinning and discovering new things to share. Her enthusiasm prompted me to check it out.

How to describe Pinterest. Well, you know how you drive to the store, buy an expensive design magazine for $7, come home, start reading it and (if you're lucky) you find a picture or two that's worth saving in an inspiration folder. All for $7. Gulp.

Well, imagine finding 25 or 50 or 100 pictures of the kitchen of your dreams. For FREE. And imagine having a place to save (Pin) them all so when you get ready to renovate that kitchen (or bathroom or laundry room) your inspiration pics are all gathered together in one place for easy reference. You'll also find links to a gazillion fabulous recipes, gardening ideas and craft projects, too. You can even add (Pin) pictures, recipes, etc from your blog or computer that you would love to share with the Pinterest Community.

Oh, and did I mention all your friends are already there, hanging out, sipping coffee, pinning and just waiting for you to come join in? :) You don't have to be a Blogger or have a Blog to join, either. It's open to anyone who loves to share and swap great ideas and inspiration.

What's Being Pinned?:
Here's a minuscule example of just some of the wonderful ideas you'll find waiting at Pinterest:

You'll find links to crafts you can make like this adorable tea wreath. Wouldn't it make a great hostess gift or a nice welcome gift for a new neighbor?

You'll find inspiration for outdoor dining.

Discover neat little tricks, like this one: Just add a marble to your baking pan to create heart shaped muffins.

Summertime! Learn how to make Blueberry Mint Lemonade.

I've started a board where I'm collecting ideas for a future Butler's Pantry/Laundry Room. My laundry room needs a renovation big time and I'd love to make it a Butler's Pantry, too.

Love the flooring in this butler's pantry I found at Pinterest.

How to Join:
Pinterest has two ways for you to join in.

1. You can request an invite, which apparently from what I've read can take a while to receive. I guess they are having trouble keeping up with the number of requests they are getting for invites.

2. Or, you can be invited to join by a friend. I was invited by a friend (thanks, Joan!) and was up and pinning right away. :)

If you would like an invite to join in the fun at Pinterest, leave a comment on this post along with your e-mail address. Or, to keep your e-mail address private, you can send your e-mail address to me at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom. I'll drop over to the Pinterest site and send an invite your way. I'm not sure why Pinterest does it this way, but in any case, I'll invite as many folks as it will let me.

Be sure to check your Spam Filter because your invite might get stuck there. If you leave a comment or send me an e-mail and don't get your invite by the end of the day, e-mail me again and I'll resend it. 

I can't wait to see what you love and find fascinating, delicious, intriguing, awesome, fantabulous and priceless at Pinterest!

You can see what I'm pinning HERE.

Pottery Barn Office Renovation, The Journey: Welcome to the 124th Metamorphosis Monday!

This was my office, if you could call it an office. It was really just a dressing room off my master bedroom with a built in dressing table that I was using as a desk. After several months working in this space, I began to have neck pain and tingling pain down my arms. It turned out this "desk" was about 4 inches shorter than it needed to be in order to be a working desk. It was time to do something about that before the tingling and pain running down my arms became permanent.




The logical place for a home office was my son's old room. Chip left the nest many years ago and the room was left untouched since I had no need for the space. You can see more of this room, HERE.




Once I made the decision to turn Chip's room into a home office, I knew the direction I wanted to go. I loved the look of the Pottery Barn Bedford Collection. These were my inspiration pics/rooms.




On January 9th, 2011, I began the mammoth job of dissembling a room that had been in place for 20 years. It was physically exhausting and mentally draining. It was so hard to face that my little boy was really grown and gone. :( I know you Mom's and Dad's know what I mean. I boxed everything up, took all the furniture apart and hauled everything down to the basement and garage by myself. Advil was my best friend for a few days.  The only two pieces I had to get help with were the large book case and desk.




Furniture was purchased both in-store and online since some pieces I wanted were not available in the store. I picked up the furniture that was locally in-store, hauled it home, and pulled it up my carpeted back stairway by those little yellow straps. I unpacked each piece and recycled the empty boxes back to the Pottery Barn recycle bin since the store is only two miles from my home. In the end, twelve boxes were hauled back to PB, if you count the boxes the smaller pieces came in. Whew!




Here's where much of the furniture lived (click for guest room) until the room was far enough along for furniture.




Next, I began the grueling job of striping the wall paper. I know y'all got tired of reading about my trials with this blooming wallpaper. ;)




After trying every product Home Depot sells and buying a steamer from Lowes,




AND making my 185th try at removing the paper, the score was still Wallpaper: 185, Susan: 0.




Since the wallpaper removal took way longer than I ever dreamed, the date for the installation of the hardwood floors arrived. The hardwood flooring guy is always booked out a few weeks, so I went ahead with the flooring even though the backing of the paper was still permanently stuck on the walls. The pain down my neck and arms was a reminder this project needed to proceed.

The carpet was removed and hardwood floors were installed. I'm gradually "hardwooding" the entire house...got two rooms to go.






I temporarily gave up on the paper and went ahead and moved the furniture in. The neck pain was getting worse with each passing day. I needed a proper desk at which to work and one was just sitting idle in the room next door.

I had the desk surfaces measured for glass; it was cut, delivered and installed. Pottery Barn sells a plastic type protector for desks, but in the store it was sort of buckling up. I went with glass which was a little more expensive but very durable.




I decided to call a professional wallpaper remover in for an estimate. Though she declined to share the name of the product she tested on the paper, saying it was only available to the trade, I was able to figure out what it was and ordered some to try myself.  It turned out it was not just available to the trade. You can read all about her visit and how I figured out what she was using in THIS post.

Over the years, I've removed wallpaper from 5 rooms in this house, and I've never had any real problems. This situation was beyond anything I've ever experienced. In the past, regular ole hot water did the trick.  It was slow, but it worked. This time, nothing worked, until I found Safe and Simple. I guess that's why professionals use it. I still had to scrape it off, but the paper finally came off. What a huge relief!




Then it was time to cover the furniture with drop cloths and repair all the damage and gouges  I had created on the walls while trying to remove the paper. This took several days and it involved wallboard joint compound, a putty knife and lots of sanding. Lots! Next to the wallpaper removal, it was the (second) worse part of this metamorphosis.




Somewhere along the way I ordered this chair from Pottery Barn Teen.  It came in feeling wobbly, so it was returned and a new one was reordered.




I wanted a little sitting area in the office, so in between all the wallpaper removal and wall repair, I went shopping for chair.  Found this chair in Pier 1 and it was love at first sight.




Once the paper was down and the walls repaired, it was time to prime (sniff, sniff) over the mural I had painted for my son so many, many years ago. You can read about that very difficult day HERE. Would someone explain to me why they can't stay 8 years old forever? ;)




I considered about every color of the rainbow for the walls. I narrowed it down to a soft green or my favorite stand-by, Duron, Sugar Cookie. I decided I didn't want the walls to compete with the pretty view of the greenery/trees outside my office windows. Plus, I love Sugar Cookie and have used it in many rooms of my home. It goes with EVERYTHING. No, really! It truly goes with every fabric, every furniture style, antiques, you name it. It's one of those paints that can feel casual or elegant. In the end, Sugar Cookie was my choice.

Home Depot still has the formula and can mix it up. In their system it may be listed as "Sugar Cook." Sherwin Williams has the formula, too but when they last mixed some up for me, it looked a bit too dark in the can so I never used it. Home Depot's formula is the one that looks like what I've always used. You can see that formula in THIS post.

Having been a while since I painted a room, I had a "paint panic attack" in THIS post when I began painting the office. I had forgotten how paint looks against white primed walls when you first start cutting it in.




I kept going and thankfully when I finished, it looked just the way I had envisioned. Relief!




During all the paper removal and wall repair I spent a good deal of time shopping for a light fixture locally and on eBay. I wanted something that didn't feel at all like it belonged in an office. My inspiration for lighting came from one of my favorite movies, Under the Tuscan Sun. You can tour Bramasole, the wonderful Tuscan villa in the movie in THIS post. I set my sights on an Italian tole chandelier for the office.




I almost won this tole chandelier on eBay...missed it by $10. I loved its whimsy, but it wasn't meant to be because...

The chandelier faeries had this one in mind, instead. Do you think there really are chandelier faeries? I hope there are.




While I waited on my contractor to come install it, I decided to hang the wallpaper craft organizer and a bulletin board I had purchased at Ballard Designs. I had planned to use the end of the desk (where Max loves to sleep) for wrapping gifts, so I wanted the organizer close by. I tried it on the wall behind the shutter, but I just didn't like the way it looked there. I decided to move it which led to purchasing additional Pottery Barn desk furniture for the other end of the desk.

I was glad I moved it because not only did the wallpaper organizer look much better on the other wall, but the additional PB furniture balanced out the whole layout beautifully. Even though more PB furniture had not been in my original budget for the office, I was planning on eventually buying something for that area at the other end of the desk.  In the end, this worked out great providing additional storage and work space.

My contractor came out and installed the chandelier and the crown molding. I had him install crown molding in the guest room, too, since he was already here.   He helped me re-hang the craft organizer. A few days later I found a new bulletin board and hung it myself.  I loved the other one with the shuttered doors but the shutter design just didn't work hanging so close to the actual plantation shutters on the windows. So in the end, I changed to a different board and the shuttered board found a new home in the beautiful craft room of a local BNOTP reader.




A bee pillow I wanted was finally available at a price I was willing to pay.




I started adding in some decorative pieces like this adorable lady. She was labeled as a "French doll" but after I bought her, a friend told me she was a Santos. I had never heard of those but the history is fascinating. Mine is not an antique, those can be really expensive. She is a reproduction and I just love what she adds to this space. 

I googled "Santos" and discovered a wonderful shop HERE that carries Santos.  I was so excited to find they had my exact same Santos!  They also have angels...love those!




There are a few new updates to the office this week, although nothing huge. I had a Pier 1 coupon that was about to expire, so I used it for another cushion for the office chair. I still love the other one, but I thought it would be good to have a spare.




The cushion was originally $24.99 but with the coupon, I only paid $4.99




Finally found the chest I had dreamed up in my head to go beside the chair.  You can read more about it, HERE







Update on 08-28-11: Added a small "library" to the office.  Click HERE to read more about it.

In May 2012, added Buffalo Check curtains to the office.  

Read more about the curtains in this post titled: Buffalo Check Curtains for the Office.

A final look at the office:

It has been quite the journey...this creation of a home office. Thank you so much for coming along and for all your suggestions, encouragement, and support. You were there with me every step of the way, holding me up and encouraging me when I wondered why in the world I had taken on this huge endeavor all alone. I love you, guys!


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Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday you will need to link up the permalink to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the "url" box for InLinkz.

If you'd like to include the MM button in your post, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo under the "Join a Blog Party" header at the top of this blog.

In order to link up, you'll need to include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch so your regular readers will be able to find the Met Monday party which ensures your friends and fellow bloggers will receive lots of visits, too. Isn't that what a party is all about? :)

PLEASE DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks!


Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!