Harrington House

The Weekend

Our long weekend of fun ended today when we dropped Auntie Lisa off at Hartsfield-Jackson this afternoon.  I wasn't sure if Amelia was going to let her get away, but after explaining that Jake (Lisa's dog) was missing her and likely laying in the floor crying, she was alright.  Although, if the child hadn't been in a five-point harness, I would bet she woulda tried to climb into a suitcase.

On Saturday, we girls ventured up to Roswell for a little shopping.  

I picked up some jingle jangles, which I'm always in the mood for ...

... and wouldn't you know I found exactly what I set out to get!  Don't you love when that happens??  Because we all know that only happens a few times in a lifetime.  

I have been on the lookout for a small-ish table for Jack and Amelia for them to do some of their "work" and maybe even eat some meals.  My criteria:  small, but large enough to for them to use for a while, very sturdy, and pretty (of course).  

And here she is:

The table met all of my requirements ... and even threw in a couple bonuses.  ;o)

It is a pretty little piece that makes me smile.  Hopefully, it will serve us for many years.

This morning, I found Amelia downstairs practicing her letters.  They are crude and out of order, but they are the product of her sweet little efforts.  

On the Jack Jack front, I am trying to piece together a few ideas for his new room in our new home in Tejas.  I am not one for a themed room, but I do like a little direction and cohesion.  

His room will have a pair of painted twin beds.  And maybe one day, he'll have a brother to go in one.

What the Shell??

That was my initial thought when I came across a collection of sliced seashell at one of my little shops the other day.

I really have no clue what the intentions were for them, but I knew how I wanted to use them.

At the table...

 

A couple years ago, Mike's aunt was so sweet to give me a beautiful set of pink hemstitched napkins that belonged to her mother.  I like how the pink pulls out the naturally-occurring pink tones in the shells.

 

And I think it would be only fitting to serve something pink and beachy .... 

 

... a tried and true shrimp salad from none other than The Queen.  ;o) 

  

Sixty-Eight Dollars and Some Change

 Let me start off by assuring all of my faithful readers and friends that I am not in trouble with my husband over the kitchen.  :o)  

He is (fortunately for me) used to my antics.

 

As you can see above, I have green Corian counters and textured fruit tile on the backsplash.  I cannot tell you how limiting these are.  I am baffled by permanent choices (such as countertops and tile) that are anything but neutral.  I prefer to make permanent choices that will allow me to change the look of a room easily.  (I consider permanent choices counters, fixtures, and flooring...not paint and honestly, not even most furniture since it can be slipcovered, painted, or replaced by thrift stores pieces oftentimes quickly and inexpensively.)

At the moment, I changed out the backsplash.  The countertops will remain.  I also removed my over-the-range microwave (Hallelujah!!) that has driven me crazy from the moment we ought the house.  We never use the microwave anyway, so that won't be a problem.  

We slapped up the beadboard-like panels and painted them Ralph Lauren Rhodes Point to match the rest of the kitchen.  White would have only exaggerated the countertops by contrast.  My entire agenda is to tone that mess down.  ;o)  I still have work to do on the cabinets....just in case you notice those.  

 

 
 

I just want to also say that I am very grateful and thankful to have a kitchen....a place to make meals for my family.  I don't want anyone to get the impression that I am anything but.  As the keeper of my home, I enjoy making our spaces reflective of and inspiring to us.  :o)  Ultimately, I know that kitchens and countertops are not what make will give me the happiness and peace I seek...that only comes from The One.  :o)  
 

I Reckon I've Got Some 'Splaining To Do

Look at this picture, and tell me what you think is going on here.....

 

Pick your answer from the following choices....

A.  I fixed fried chicken livers for supper, and Mike is refusing to taste them.

B.  I found buried treasure hidden in the walls behind the tile backsplash.  We're rich!

C.  I took a hammer to the tile backsplash while Mike was at work, and he came home to a busted wall.

*************

Time's up.  If you guessed Answer C, you are correct.   ;o)

Whoopsie!

I also took off all the upper cabinet doors, and today I've spent a good chunk of time spackling the leftover hardware holes.

Jack Jack has been so sweet, offering to help me find a good place for all the screws...

 

Unfortunately, that means he thinks they should all go in his mouth...

Naturally, Amelia Kate found a way to get into something while I was preoccupied.  Just as I was finishing up with my spackle, I started to smell "man" and discovered she had busied herself with smearing Mike's brand new tube of Gillette deodorant all over a blue million things.  Can you imagine how hard it is to clean up antiperspirant?  

I am wondering if I can get some of those large stakes that you put in the ground that has a chain for you to tie up a dog (or small, mischievous children).  Hmmm.... 

I better be careful...Mike is liable to get an extra one and put all three of us out in the backyard with food and water while he goes off to work.  ;o)

 

 

      

KCMO No Mo'

We left KC on Wednesday night and pulled into our drive at about 6 a.m. yesterday morning.  I pulled what my momma calls "a fast one" and slept the whole way home and didn't do any driving.  Whoops!  ;o)  I honestly didn't do it on purpose, and for the record, I did offer to drive when we left KC.  The drive was long but the trip was worth it!  I got to see several of our church's buildings that I've never seen before.  And we got to visit with lots of family and friends.  

Now I am home and focused on the babies' birthdays!  Jack's is tomorrow, and Amelia Kate's is on Wednesday.  Since the weather is so nice this time of year, we celebrate outside.  Leaving me with a TON of work to do to get ready.  But it's the fun kind of work.

When I was in KC, I found something that's been on my list for a long time...a wrought iron patio table without an umbrella hole in the center.  And I found one for $59.  :o)  :o)  I also found a marble top one for $1600 at J'Adore.  I figured my husband wouldn't divorce me over the first one, and since I'm kinda crazy about him, I went with it.  ;o)

Now, he obviously needs painted.  If you see in the background (amongst all the other junk on the driveway), you can see the set of wicker club chairs I found to go with the table.  I had planned on getting some simple black iron chairs I found at Wal-Mart, but then I found the wicker ones for the same price as the Wal-Mart ones, and that was that.  I am thinking I may even be able to convince a terra cotta pot to sit in that center hole under the table.  We'll see...

Not only do I have to paint the patio table...I have to paint the patio.  Yes, honey, paint the patio.  As you can see, my patio area is stained in a bad way.  So I'm painting it "brick" like I did some other parts of my patio.  My old before and after pics are anywhere but here (of course), so I'm posting some other pictures that show the other parts I've done.

{This next picture is from Amelia's 1st birthday party...hence the decorations....}

I have windows all along the back of the house, and I love the look of the "brick patio" as opposed to the stained concrete outside the windows.

I best get busy!  Aside from all the painting, I have to wrap a couple presents, get balloons filled, and bake a cake!  ;o) 

 

It All Starts With One Tiny Little Crack In The Wall...

...and the next thing you know, you've already pulled out a couple tiles from the kitchen backsplash.  I am NOT doing an entire kitchen remodel.  I am (unfortunately) miles and miles away from that.  I am verrrrrrry thankful to have the kitchen I have...it's just not me in the slightest.  And it's not at all what inspires me.  But, like I said, I am very thankful that I have a kitchen and food to go in it!  :o)  Still, I can make a few little advances here and there.  

.....

Mike told me that after he goes to work tomorrow, he doesn't want me standing around all day picking at it like a scab.  Humph ..... Ooookay, Daaaaadddd.....

Little Girl Nursery

A friend of mine is expecting...   so I've been playing...   ;o)

Powder Room Sink Skirt

I've had this sink skirt done for months, but I'm just now getting around to posting it.  I know I have shown pictures of the fabric but I don't think I had shown pictures of it actually hanging.  (Did I, y'all??  If so, let me blame it on mommy brain.)

I am a fabric girl.  I looove fabric, and this one is one of my favorites I've ever used.  It's silk-like but it has some weight to it, so it hangs great!  And it's a check.  And black.  Two of my faves.  :o)

This powder room is just off the garage entry before you get to the kitchen.  Eventually, when we redo our kitchen (way on down the line), this room will be redone along with it.  The kitchen and family room and this powder room all have gray tile flooring.  We are going to put hardwoods down there like in the rest of the house.  Until then, I'm working with what I have.  

To dress up the builders' grade cabinet, I decided to hang a skirt.  I removed the doors and drawers from the base cabinet, and then used a plain old shower curtain tension rod to hang the fabric.  As you can see, I just sewed a simple rod pocket, but I wanted a huge header on top so that it flips outward from under the counter.  Initially, I wondered if it would annoy me to have fabric covering the cabinet instead of doors, but I've had this up for over 6 months now, and I still love it.  Since this is just the powder room, I only keep things like extra toilet paper, some cleaning supplies (all non-toxic), and some stuff like that under there.  But I did make sure the rod pocket is extra roomy so that I can easily slide the fabric away to the side, and also so that it covers the rubber stoppers at each end of the rod.

 

Hanging on the wall....

I adore this old set of pictures of these two little girls.  Aren't they precious?  I love their dresses and their hairdos and that big ol' slice of watermelon.  Sweet summer sisters!  :o)  I have some other B&Ws to hang with this one but I took them back down.  I just couldn't get it right yet.

 

Still hunting for something perfect for this tiny shelf...

 

 

The fabric on the window is a black and tan toile that I found at Old Time Pottery for $5.  I sewed it into a faux Roman shade.  

 

 

 

My $2 trash basket junkin' find...

 

Another new flusher to match the faucet...

 

...the faucet that I love...

 

Junkin' in Tuckasee

Just showing a few of my finds from the past month while I was away, for those of you who are interested....  

I found a sweet little sauce boat ... instant love!  This is one of my favorite things to collect:  buffalo china (or restaurant china/restaurantware), and with a brown pattern to boot.  I'll say it again...sigh, instant love.  (This isn't where it is going to stay.  It's just sitting there at the moment...looking alllll pretty and such... ;o)

It's impossible for me to stop collecting footed bowls, compotes, preserve dishes, trifles, and the like.  Highly impossible.  I have entirely too many recipes for delicious dips and bowl desserts.  

Another addiciton...cookbooks.  Y'all've heard me say it before...I could read cookbooks all the live long day and not be bored.  Plus, it's Julia Child....hello.  

(P.S.  Have any of y'all seen that Julie and Julia movie?  Thoughts?)

(P.P.S.  Did you notice the double contraction up there...."y'all've"?  Impressed?  Or did you cringe?)

Loved the coloring on this cover below.

 

I got a new swing arm lamp for the living room.  I loved these details.

Baskets.  Of course.  What can I say...

This old licorice box I don't get to keep.  It's for Kelly Jo, but don't you just love it?

I found this set of buffalo china platters with a smoky blue transfer and a crest that reads "Felicitas Multos Habet Amicos" - which translates "Prosperity has many friends." Not necessarily one of the sweetest sentiments in my mind, but hey, at least it's written in Latin and looks pretty.  Haha!  When I found these in an antique shop for a price so ridiculously cheap, I literally clutched them so tightly till I could pay for them and haul tail out of the parking lot before anyone in there realized what had happened.  The mixed sounds of my triumphant cackle and spinning gravel was all they knew.  Mwahahahahahaha!         

 

Work in Progress...Times a Million

As I mentioned, one of the projects I'm working on is trying to change up the living room a little.  The old wall cabinet you see on the left is likely to be painted, I just haven't fully decided on the color yet.  Red?  Brown?  Green?  On the living room windows are the curtains I moved from the dining room.  I'm trying to incorporate that gorgeous red in them into the room.  

This is the other side of the room.  (I can't believe I'm showing it in this state.)  It's a verrrrry small room, so the furniture arrangement is pretty much impossible to change.  I've already taken everything off the walls and everything out of there except the furniture so that I can start from scratch with new ideas.

I'm also trying to finish up sewing today for Jack's room and Amelia's room.  I hit a major mental block with Amelia's window treatments, but now I'm getting excited again!  This is one of my inspiration pics.  I found it in a magazine and took a picture of it with my phone.  (I'm sure everyone else in the waiting room who saw me taking pictures of magazine pages thought I had gone over the deep end.  Haha!)  This looks really similar to the treatments in the nursery.  

This is part of my inspiration for Jack Jack's nursery...a vintage block and Daddy's old baseballs.  I injecting some green in the room along with the existing blue and white, and I'm using the red from the baseball stitches as a tiny accent color.  

The other day, I stopped into Goodwill.  I got an armful of goodies, with the most I paid for a single item being $5.  Yea!

The bateau-shaped basket is getting painted and going into the master bath next to the shower with towels in it.  The flat round basket will also get painted, and I'll probably use it for serving food maybe (?) like breads when we have company.  I got another basket but forgot to take its picture.

I got a mess of cookbooks and a couple Martha books and a Victoria book.  I could read cookbooks all the live long day, from recipe to recipe and cover to cover.  Do y'all do that?  I already have one of these books, but I thought it would be great for a Christmas gift or even a wedding shower gift in a basket full of some other goodies.

I found some more apothecary jars for one of the bathrooms.  I think the little squadgy one would look nice with a candle in it, but I've never done that.  Maybe I'll get adventurous and try it.

I thought the cathedral-like pattern on this piece was pretty, but I don't know what this is supposed to be used for or what I'm going to use it for.  Hmmm...

I was soooo excited about this glass ice bucket!  It came with the hammered metal claw-foot tongs.  I love how chunky and heavy it is.  

So, I have my hand in all these projects.  I'm trying to work on them in between calls to poison control and warding off a case of mastitis.