Silly Girl

It seems a certain little girl snuck away with her mommy's camera. 

A funny surprise for mommy.  Thought you might enjoy.

Hope your enjoying your day.

Robin

Book Review: Summer House

Good Morning!  Today I have another book review to share. 

Terry John Woods "Summer House".

A lovely book filled with beachy inspiration.

Sorry the pictures are not the best.  My mother had picked this book up at her local libray and brought it along on a camping trip we took together back in July.  The photos, taken in a hurry as we were packing up to head home, I think turned out well enough to give you a resonable sense of how good this book is.

Terry Woods has another gem on his hands with this book. 

(The first book, "New Farmhouse Stlye" is a personal favorite of mine and I shared a review on it here.) 

If your looking for a casual, beachy (sometimes camp-y) look with strong farmhouse or cottage roots you won't go wrong checking this book out.  True to his stlye, Terry has kept the book simple.  Consantrating on beautiful photos and keeping the chatting to a minimum. (I sincerly wish more books were this way)

To give you an example of what you'll find inside this book take a look at some of my favorites.

Bright rooms filled with miniumal clutter.  I really like the collection of vintage clocks and the landscape painting.  Ok, and the dresser - - did you notice the drawer pulls?

This photo had me gasping for breath and running to show mom!

Simple -  stunning  -  very achievable don't you think.  I've been collecting small rocks for years and you can bet once I'm fairely certain my kids won't toss the rocks around the house (breaking who knows what)  I'll have a similar arrangement in my dinning room.

Gorgeous!

Speaking of gorgeous, look at this.

The dog painting is very unusual and caught my eye right away.  But the arrangement on top of the dresser I found had even more appeal to me.  I think the simple stack of plates topped with a soup tureen is genuis.  The collections of silver candlestick finished off the look nicely.  All togther the painting, ironstone and candlesticks produce a classic, uncomplicated look.

Since were talking Summer House what better item to add than boats.  How fun and easy it would be to make a few reproductions of these peite boats.  The kids would love it- mommy too!  Not to mention the hours of fun racing them down creeks or rivers.  This idea is going in the file for next summer.

I thought this next example would be the perfect way to add a little nautical whimsy to my home.

The book isn't all about the homes interior or just the summer for that matter.

Outdoors was also addressed.  I loved this example using a birdbath for something other an bathing birds. 

Holiday decor was also shown, I enjoyed the Christmas ones the most.

Like this urn filled with winterberry.

Or this bottle, wrapped in vintage tinsel and holding a glass ornament.

And finally, a matel incorporating two of my favorite things.  Ironstone and vintage family photos.

*Sigh*  This book is such a great interpretation of how I would love my home to look.  I'll be adding this book to my collection of favorites very soon.

Hope you have a great day, and I'll talk to you soon,

Robin

A Vintage Stepstool Chair

Tucked into the corner of the kitchen is a recently found favorite item.

A vintage step stool chair in the perfect shade a white.

For over a year, I'd been looking for one and was delighted to find this one a couple months ago.  A better match would be hard to come by.  It's slightly rusty and some of the disressing on the egdges of the seat show it's red undercoat - - see what a mean, perfect for my red and white kitchen.

The kids liked it as much as I did - - for weeks I'd  find it all over the kitchen.  I'm just now able to use it for what I bought it for.  Display!

Love those legs! 

I simply placed a few items to reinforce the kitchens theme colors and called it a day.

Man! I love easy projects.

Any quick and easy projects happening in your home today?

Robin

I'll be linking up to:  Nifty Thrify Tuesday, Vintage Thingie Thrusday, Treasure Hunt Thrusdays,

An Organized Kitchen Office

Hello!

With the kids back in school full time I wanted to take the time to streamline the office area in my kitchen. You all know how quickly this area can get cluttered and out of control.

The finished result makes the kitchen look much more spacious.

In order to get the whole effect, take a look at where I started.

WHOA!

The overflowing bulletin board was useful yet a constant source of frustration to me.  It seemed to overpower the small wall and eat up visual space in the kitchen.

The counter top is a clutter magnet for anything and everything I'm too lazy to deal with right away.  Kids toys, parts of projects, returns, pet rocks  - - you name it.

Once it's all cleaned up it looks good.

The tiny wall looks so much better now don't you think?

I kept one of the magnetic strips to hold stamps, grocery list, shopping list and the like.

I added a wire mesh file pocket, thirteen dollars from Office Depot.  Simple folders were each labeled and hold things like gym schedules, reciepts, school calendars, permission slips, etc.  On the front I've used a binder clip to hold anything that needs to be taken care of a.s.a.p or outgoing mail.

I also kept the purse hook.  I love my purse hook.  Its so handy and helpful.  I think we should all have purse hooks.

A few small changes had a big impact on the kitchen.  And I'm loving it.

Talk to you soon,

Robin

Best Bathroom Makeover EVER!

Many of you may know Heather from Love and Life at Leadora. 

Heather and her husband just finished a bathroom makeover that made my jaw drop and I just had to share.

Take a look . . .

Fabulous doesn't do the room justice.  I.  LOVE. IT.

  Click on over to Heather's place to see more photos and say hi!

Have a great night.

Robin



The Summer Bedroom

Good Morning!

Since the weather is changing so quickly here in Minnesota my thoughts have turned towards making the house more cozy.  Normally the first place I start is my bedroom.  Out goes the bright and airy spring and summer decor to be replaced with cozy reds. 

Mid-way through changing things up the realization that I had never shared this years look had me replacing everything and holding a quick photo shoot.

Lime green, lots of white and a touch of black were all that was needed to make the room bright and cheerful for the summer.

The  headboard shelf arrangement was keep very minimalistic.

(You can take a look here to see how I made the shelf)

The grouping in the middle gave the arrangement some height and a touch of green.  The artwork is a personal favorite, the hand painted number five is a completed project from the early days of blogging which I still love, and the tiny bell I borrowed from my daughters bell collection.

To finish off the arrangement I place two groupings of vintage clocks and two urns filled with faux ferns. 

Vintage clocks seem to be a staple in almost every arrangement I've done lately - - can't get enough!



The ferns introduced a nice texture, plus I like the contrast against the white.

Hope you enjoyed this impromptu post.  I'm hoping for some time this week to finish changing things up for fall and winter.  I'll be sure to share that also.

Have a great day,

Robin

Book Review: At Home With Country

I recently had the chance to read Christina Strutt's newest book.  Have you read it yet?

I swear the lady can do no wrong.  The book is gorgeous.  Simply oozing with inspiration.

I love her simple, uncluttered yet colorful take on decorating.

A few of my personal favorites from the book include this table.

I'm over the moon about the color.  It's simple lines and distressed state had me falling for it even faster.

And since were talking colorful painted furniture what do you think about this bench?

I love it.

It's not always about color. 

I'm drawn to shape and simplicity as well.  Like in this photo.

(I'd take that bench any day - - but did you notice the mailbox?  I'm swooning!!!)

Here's an example of using white and a single accent color in varying shades.  I have to say this is my favorite thing to do.  It always looks amazing and is a very "achievable" look for a person like me who is not overly talented in the decorating department.

Need another example?

Simple black and white.  You can't get a more classic combination.  Here it looks both classic and modern, cozy and country all at the same time.

All in all, the book is great, one I'm sure to reach for time and time again.

Until tomorrow,

Robin

Kitchen Shelves

I haven't showed off the shelves in my kitchen for a while ( the last time was way back in December , here).  I've had a bit of a problem with this spot in the kitchen.  I'm never one hundred percent satisfied with the items I choose to display so I'm constantly rearranging, adding and taking away items. 

A month ago in pure frustration I decided to try again - and it worked.  I haven't changed a thing since that first day and  love it as much now as I did then.

 I had been collection clear glass bottles so I knew I wanted to use them plus I was craving more red in the kitchen.  I'd hoped that keeping it simple - clear glass with red accents - I might have better luck than in the past.

Glory, Hallelujah it worked!!

On the top shelf I added a red rimmed enamel dish propped up in the middle with two small milk jars in front.  Next I added a tall glass bottle found at a garage sale.  Followed by a canning jar with a glass lid and metal handle.

Don't you just love the texture a little rust can give?

On the bottom shelf I started with a favorite floral picture frame and a cast iron bird.

Next I added another canning jar and a small textured glass creamer.

On the other side of the frame I added a small milk bottle and another, larger milk bottle with a metal handle.  (I picked this out from Amy's Etsy shop and I simple LOVE IT)

What's not to love!  Here's a better look.

On the counter below the shelves I've add a collection of red books.  A glass sugar bowl and a galvanized planter with some faux boxwood.

And there you have it. 

Very simple, yet I hope stylish.  Regardless I love the look - you can bet I'll be keeping it just the way it is for a while longer.

Lesson Learned: 

I'm a simple girl - - best to not try to get too fancy LOL!

Hope you enjoyed,  talk to you soon,

Robin

I'll be joining theses parties:

Farmhouse Friday, Vintage Inspiration Friday,

Here in Minnesota we're in the crazy, unpredictable stage of late summer.  When the days are still hot yet the nights are cool and you just know autumn is closing in FAST.

I figured I'd better get myself out the garden to take a few pictures or I'd by kicking myself come mid-January when I'm planning the next growing season.  Which gives me the perfect opportunity to show how a few hours in the garden every spring with a handful of seeds has given me armfuls of cut flowers all summer long.

The garden looked like this in May . . .

Today it looks like this . . .

Full and lush with lots of flowers for picking.

I planted a few things to eat - corn, tomatoes, cucumber, dill.

Mostly, I planted zinnia's.  Lots of zinnia's that love to bloom.

I have a few perennials like phlox and saliva also.  Any gaps were filled in with annuals like marigolds and small zinnia's.

I'm completely shocked the gardens looking as good as it is.  It's been sorely neglected this year with our busy summer schedule.  But it seems to have survived my neglect.

Have a lovely day and I'll talk to you soon,

Robin