Crazy For Crown (Molding)

For as long as I can remember I have always loved great moldings but when we bought our little 50’s ranch style home in 1975, it didn’t have any moldings at all.  Not even real baseboards. 

Little by little, over the years, I have been having my husband install baseboards, and put moldings around the windows and doors.   It’s been a slow process because he hates carpentry work and I have to spread the molding projects out so he forgets the pain involved in the last one…sort of like childbirth. 

Last month I had a carpenter install crown moldings for me.  After I watched how much work went into putting up crown, even for the professional, I knew I had made a wise decision to hire the job out!

Prior to the carpenter’s arrival, I removed the old, dated wallpaper from the common wall of my living room and dining room, and repainted several rooms.

I think it is difficult to capture in a photo the difference crown molding makes in a room.  Nevertheless, here are a few before and after photos for Metamorphosis Monday.

This is one “before” view of my living room. 

Below the wallpaper has been removed, the walls have been painted a light sage green, and the crown molding has been installed. 

The paint, alone, made a big difference in the way the living room feels.  It also really made the plantation shutters look 100 times better because they no longer get lost against the old wall color, which was a very pale pink.

 

This is one wall in the kitchen.  I love the way the crown looks on all of these inside and outside corners of the soffit, and against the darker sage paint color!

This is the master bedroom.  (The ceiling is really white, not gray as it appears in the photo.)

This is the guest room/office.

Now hurry over to Between Naps on the Porch  and be ready to be inspired by some great  Metamorphosis Monday makeovers.

A Pink Saturday Birthday

Shhhhhhh…

I have  a secret. 

I’ll let you in on it but you must keep it on the QT, okay?

Today, on this Pink Saturday, someone is having a birthday.

Yep, today is my birthday. 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Up until two days ago, I had no intention of announcing  my birthday publicly on my blog.   I’m not one to revel in a lot of fanfare, hoopla or attention. 

And I’ve long passed the age  where I get excited about my birthday and being another year older.  In fact, I’ve reached the point where I wish I could now start subtracting a year instead of adding one. 

But because this is the first birthday I have celebrated since becoming a blogger, and it just happened to fall on a Pink Saturday this year,  I wanted to  share my pretty raspberry pink-tipped birthday roses with you…

Yes you.  All of you lovely, sweet people who have stopped by to visit.  Whether this is your first time here, or if you’ve been here from the very first post, I appreciate that you have taken  time out of your busy day to spend a few minutes  with me.    Thank you.           

Now it wouldn’t be a proper  Pink Saturday Birthday  without refreshments so before you go visit our Pink Saturday hostess,  Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound, and all the other Pink Saturday participants,  please help yourself to a glass of ice cold pink lemonade…

and a bite-sized  pink fairy cake…or two.   Yum!

And remember…

if anyone should ask…

you don’t know anyone who is having a birthday today.   

Right?        

I didn’t think so.                   :::wink:::

“No Sandy Feet” … A Coastal Cottage Bathroom

My beachy bedroom makeover is not quite ready for the big reveal yet so I’d like to invite you into the other beachy room in my home…

my coastal cottage bathroom.

Our motto here is…

 

There is nothing like a nice relaxing bath to soothe away the stresses of the day.  So come on in and enjoy a long, hot soak in the whirlpool tub.

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to light a few candles…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help yourself to the assortment of bath salts, powders and bubble bath.

 

 

Relax and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure you would like to soak longer but you’d better grab one of those fluffy towels and dry off before your fingers and toes start looking like prunes!

 

I know you don’t want to look like a prune when you stop in to visit the other participants in  the Beach Party celebration at

The Shabby Chic Cottage. 

 

“Today’s Thrifty Treasures” From Goodwill

This week I certainly didn’t need a truck to haul my Goodwill buys home but, nevertheless,  I was quite pleased  with the two things I did find. 

And neither item needed a makeover, so that is always a plus!

I bought this 14 x 14 inch framed print for $8.00, which I thought was a little on the expensive side for a thrift store…but don’t get me started on those inflated Goodwill prices again!

It was such a unique piece of art, I had to have it, regardless of the price…and even though there are a  few little dings in the frame.

The background appears to be an actual piece of blue and white ticking fabric with a piece of blue and white toile fabric  layered on top.  Then there is some sort of dimensional cream-colored bouquet mounted in the center.

It looks like it was specifically made to go with the quilt in my French country cottage inspired guest bedroom/office, which is blue and white toile on one side and reverses to a blue and white ticking. 

I really don’t have any wall space left in this room so, for the time being,  I just propped it up on the nightstand but I sort of like it there.

 

My other find was this small floral plate.  I didn’t “need” it, but it was just $1.00 so I wasn’t leaving it behind.  :)

If you stop over at Rhoda’s, you can see what great Thrifty Treasures other bloggers  found.

White Button Wreath

Kathleen over at Faded Charm hosts a weekly  “White Wednesday” party and she so graciously allowed me to join in.  For my first “White Wednesday,” I wanted to share my white button wreath.

 

Making a wreath from buttons is certainly not a new or novel idea.  I didn’t think of it on my own.  Actually, I first saw it done in a magazine years ago.  More recently,  I was reminded of the idea when Cindy @ My Romantic Home  made several beautiful button wreaths and posted about them on her blog.

 

A while back, I wrote a post about what a wonderful seamstress my mother was and how I inherited her  stash of buttons when she died.  Looking for a creative way to display some of her buttons, I  decided  to  make my own wreath with the many shades of white buttons I found in her sewing chest.

It was a little time consuming, but oh-so-easy.  First, I used white spray paint to paint an old grapevine wreath I already had.  Once it was dry, I then wrapped it with white lace and secured it on the back of the wreath with a dab of hot glue.  After that, I simply used the hot glue gun to attach the buttons onto the wrapped wreath.

This little wreath is not only cute, but it has significant sentimental value to me since it was made with my mother’s buttons.

Heirloom White

 

For large painting jobs, I like to use my Wagner airless sprayer but I’ve got a few smaller painting projects I want to do so I thought I would try “Heirloom White,” which seems to be the most popular choice in Blogland for those who want to paint anything white.

A wild goose chase is what I feel like I’ve been on trying to find this stuff.  I’ve checked Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Michael’s Crafts…none of which had this particular color.  Interestingly, when I did a retailer search on the Rust-oleum website using my zip code, it shows 3 of those 4 stores I checked carry it.   Huh???

Please share… where do you buy your Heirloom White spray paint?