For the beauty of the earth

One of the great blessings in my life is the privilege of living in an old neighborhood.  Our house is fairly new (built in 2004), but it was built on a lot in one of Durham's older neighborhoods.  That translates into lots of trees and shrubbery.  All these photos were taken within a block of our house over the past few weeks.

Now the azaleas and dogwoods and wisteria have mostly faded, but look what I found peeking out this morning:

The first hydrangea bloom!  Later it will be brilliant blue, but isn't the subtle color of these early petals lovely?

May the miracle of springtime bring hope to our hearts!

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise!
                                                                     --Folliot Pierpoint

~What's your favorite springtime scene?

Guest room re-do (If You Give a Blogger a Cookie. . . )

. . . she's going to want a glass of milk.As I was finishing up my guest room this past week, I was reminded of reading my boys If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Remember that story of one thing leading to the next and the next?

Last fall I found some wonderful fabric and made new draperies, bedskirts, Euro shams, and bolster pillows for my guest room. And I loved the new look. But then I noticed that the walls sorely needed painting. The fresh new fabrics just emphasized the dirty old paint. So I chose a lovely light green for the walls ("Limesickle" color by Benjamin Moore; my paint is actually Duration paint by Sherwin Williams).

I was so happy to get the walls all nice and clean and fresh! But then I noticed that the new wall color didn't quite work with the old green headboards as I had hoped. (Confession: I don't ever do samples. Maybe I should start?) And the fresh walls and the new curtains and bedskirts and pillows emphasized that the finish on the nightstand really needed some work. And I didn't really like the frames around the reproduction posters above the beds. And I wasn't thrilled with the lamp I had painted blue last year. So. . . one thing led to another, truly. Here's the result.



This long, narrow room is hard to photograph, but here are some views around the room.







I'm so happy with it.  I used to think of this room as the place where old furniture went to die.  Now, with a little elbow grease, it's become a place where old furniture goes to shine!

A few little details:

I made the upholstered headboards years ago (click here for tutorial). Changing them was super-easy--I just ripped off the trim and the last fabric, stapled new raw silk ($7.99 per yard at Not Just Linens in Durham) in place, then re-attached the same trim. Each headboard required 1 1/2 yards of fabric, so brand new headboards cost me just $24. By the way, I love twin beds in a guest room. I find they make the room more versatile than a double or queen. We often have two college students visiting at the same time, and they can share the room easily since they don't have to share a bed. Married couples don't seem to mind sleeping separately when they visit; I tell them they can pretend they're on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

I painted my old Bombay Company chest with a homemade chalky paint mixture. You can click here to read about that project. I love the look of my nightstand now.

I added scrapbook paper to the back of the open shelves in the secretary. The paper was on sale at Michael's for 25 cents per piece, so this update cost only $1.50.

I found these cool finials on clearance at Target for $5.48 each.

I didn't like the frames that were previously on the reproduction posters above the beds. I was poking around my attic and found some more substantial frames that just happened to be the perfect size! I just spray-painted them black.

I use antique hatboxes as a side table beside the chair. At some point I'll have this chair re-upholstered, but for now it still works.

In this corner, I updated the look simply by painting my lamp a rust color to coordinate with the new headboards. Free and fast. This photo gives you a glimpse of the bath beyond; click here to read how I made the shower curtain.  The black dresser on which the lamp and TV sit was an unfinished oak piece that my parents bought back in the 1960's.  It was their bedroom dresser for awhile, then it was my bedroom dresser.  Then when I had my first baby in 1991, my parents painted it white and gave it to me to serve as a changing table.  There's a lot of mileage on this little dresser!

You can see the lamp a little better when it's turned off. The spray painted finish was a little bright, so I rubbed it with a bit of stain to darken it. Not bad for a free update!

A few elements stayed the same:

DIY "antique" shutters ($3.00)

DIY decorative plate (free)

Old prints and Haviland plates from Goodwill (68 cents each)

So my guest room has gone from this:

To this:

With that, I think I'm done. For now.

Does one thing lead to another at your house?

I'm joining these wonderful parties:

Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Inspiration Friday, At the Picket Fence

Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

DIY Talent Parade at Pretty Handy Girl

Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal

Best DIY Projects of April at Beneath My Heart

Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner

Show Us Your Home at Thrifty Decor Chick

Best DIY Project of 2012 Contest at Not Just a Housewife

Using plants at home

One of the things I love best about my house is that it's situated in a neighborhood full of trees.  Trees are my favorite thing in the created world, I think.  And I like the little sisters of trees, too--all kinds of plants.  Plants, flowers--you name it; I like it.  Here's the view from my back deck.

While I love all that beauty outside, I spend a lot of time INside my house.  So I like to add plants to indoor landscape, too.

I start at the front door.  My front porch is shaded, but coleus do just fine in the shade.  By the end of the summer these pots will be overflowing!

Inside the front door, nestled by the antique deacon's bench:

As a simple but elegant centerpiece on the dining room table:

I have plants tucked here and there in less prominent places, too, such as beside the kitchen sink:

On a side table in my bedroom:

Or in the corner of the guest room. (I always add fresh flowers when guests are here, but I like to have a live plant in this room all the time.)

Those last two photos display one of my favorite plant tricks.  Plants need light, but the light doesn't have to come from the sun.  If you want to add greenery to a dark spot in your home, place a plant under a lamp.  The plant will happily grow toward the glow of the light bulb.  Another favorite trick?  Add some moss to hide the exposed dirt in which the plant is growing.  This will give your plants a little nicer, more "finished" look.

Need a foolproof plant?  One of the easiest house plants to grow is golden pothos.  Its heart-shaped leaves are lovely and it grows nice and full.  That's the plant on my dining room table.  It's not finicky at all.  It'll look a little droopy occasionally, which means it needs a little water.  Then it perks right back up and keeps on growing.

Another favorite houseplant is spathiphyllum, sometimes called peace lily.  The great thing about this plant is that it'll tell you loud and clear if it needs water.  Here's how it looks if it's thirsty:

And here's the same plant a couple of hours later:



As you can see, I have plants growing in baskets and pots of all kinds.  Don't let the baskets fool you; for the most part, they contain plants growing in cheap plastic pots.  I line the baskets with plastic bags and just plop in the cheap pots.  Instant beauty!  Also, if you need planters and like the look of aged terra cotta pots, you might want to check out my tutorial on making your own.  You can make any size you need for very little money and just a few minutes of time.

Do you have plants in your home?  What's your favorite?

I'm joining the Nester's Planty Party.  You'll find lots of inspiration there!