The Morticia Rose

It's springtime in Texas and everything is growing and blooming.
Beautiful!

 

 

The front yard smells wonderful...all my roses are blooming!

 

 

The trellis is doing a great job holding up that rose...

 

 

 

Gorgeous, right?

 

 

Well, that was what it looked like in the fall.

This is the Morticia version, definitely not new and improved.

 

 

I don't know what happened...

it was green and full of blooms and enjoying life...

and then it just kind of died.

 

 

So sad :(

 

 

I guess there may be a little good news...

 

 

 Seems that there are new canes beginning to grow :)

 

 

 Maybe I should call it the Phoenix rose?

 

Here's a few shots of the front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I figured I'd take a few pictures before the

dumpster and port-a-potty arrive  :)

 

ann marie



Kitchen Lanterns

 

I had the best "before" pictures.

I didn't realize I didn't have a card in my camera.

So, these lanterns with glass and an ORB finish looked like this.

They were a little dusty.

 

 

Pretty boring and generic.

They were in a box at a local church's yard sale.

$10 for the two.

Not bad, right?

We're toying with the idea of a very narrow island in the kitchen.

Something that isn't permanently attached.

Something along the lines of this.

 

 

or this...

 

 

When Marc found these lights I thought I would try to DIY

this inspiration lantern I found on Pinterest.

 

 

Oomph

 

These will hopefully hang over our narrow island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we're talking about the kitchen/bedroom/bathrooms addition,

We finally have our permit from the City.

It took our GC, Jeff, almost a month!

Everytime he went in with all the paperwork asked for there was something else he needed to provide. 

What a process!

Thank goodness for Jeff...I hope he's as good as Steve's contractor, Sam :)

It's a good thing this journey is finally starting, our house is starting to look like a home improvement store!

 

ann marie

 

 

 



Powder Room Thoughts

While we're waiting for permits to begin the actual building,

I've been trying to fine tune my ideas on all these rooms.

Here's what I'm thinking...

 

 

 

 

old oak dresser as the vanity...needs a little TLC.

Maybe stain it a darker color?

Maybe paint it?

Still exploring different scenarios.

 

 

marble or granite top similar to this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this large oval antique mirror...

 

 

antique brass faucet...

 

 

upholstered walls...at least the top half or so.

I'm toying with wainscoting in a darker color...

 

dark olive green that's in the fabric...

 

 

or maybe the blue...

 

 

 

This is similar to the tile we're using...

a porcelain travertine look a like...

a light background with shades of greys and browns.

I haven't decided on vanity hardware or lighting yet.

It's definitely been a fun challenge doing this as inexpensively as possible.

We'll be pricing ourselves out of the neighborhood.

Good thing we don't plan on moving anywhere any time soon.

 

ann marie

 

 

 

 

 

 



Vintage Jacobean Floral Fabric

 

I love beautiful fabric.

I feel there are some patterns and colors

that I have loved since I was a teenager.

My folks let me choose the wallpaper and wall to wall carpeting when we moved

into our new house.

I was in 8th grade.

I chose a wonderful Jacobean wallpaper that had such vibrant colors-

reds, greens, yellows and blues.

And birds.

I also chose red...for the carpet.

Looked great, horrible to live with :)

Every speck of anything showed up against it.

Yep, the 70's in New England.

Every room in the house had different color carpeting!

To make what should have been a short story longer,

while out shopping Estate Sales this weekend I came across this.

I realize some of you will think I've gone over the edge.

Not exactly a contemporary print,

however,

it speaks to me so that's all that matters!

 

 

It's vintage...I'd say 70's...maybe 80's.

The selvage is gone so I don't know who made it.

It's a cotton chintz.

It was lined with this-

 

 

Ivory Blackout Lining.

 

 

This is blackout lining after many years in the Texas sun.

Shreds when touched.

These were custom, mostly hand sewn draperies.

The blackout lining protected the fabric from the same fate.

It still has the wonderful sheen that chintz is known for.

 

 

The fabric is in pristine condition...

that's not discoloration in the pictures,

 it's the shadows caused by the lighting in my studio.

 

 

So...I bought all 7 panels.

Each panel has 1 1/2 or 2 widths of fabric.

Each panel was about 100" long.

That gives me about 40 yards of gorgeous fabric

to remake into panels for our new Master Bedroom.

All for the ridiculous amount of

$25.

 

 

I know, crazy!

 

ann marie

 

 

 

 



Upsizing Our Downsize Home

 

This is where we started 5 years ago...

we put a lot of love and hard work into her and this is

how she looks now.

 

 

This house has been a great size for us until about a year ago...

when the Grand Daughters were babies the size of this house was OK...

Then they started walking and running and playing  and needed someplace to nap etc.....

We also love to cook and entertain at home, especially when Mark and Andrea and Caroline and soon Grace are visiting us.

We wanted a bigger kitchen that could accomodate more than 2 people at the same time...

and when I say 2 people that's really pushing it.

My kitchen is 9' x 11'.

It will be 11' x 23'.

Oh, and we're going to have a dishwasher!!

We also needed somewhere for them to stay.

Four people in one bedroom was beginning to be a problem.

So, we decided to go ahead with plans to add on to the house.

We'd been thinking about it for the last couple of years.

This is the original layout.

Same as it was the year it was built-1951

 

 

So with lots of excitement we got our first set of "plans".

 

 

The dark line you see is the original wall of the house.

We now have the plans and things should start rolling this week!

 

 

There are lot of decisions to be made, but we have a really clear vision as to what the finished rooms will look like.

That being said, there will be some tweaking I'm sure.

 

Hope you enjoy the journey with us...

I hope we enjoy the journey too!

 

ann marie

 

 



Schoolhouse Lights

Hi everyone!

Life's been busy, all in a good way.

My Etsy Shop has been keeping me very busy.

So busy, in fact, that we may be adding on to our house.

More on that a little later, we're waiting for the $ numbers to see if it's a feasible plan.

Keep your fingers crossed.

With all this being a possibility,

 I've been keeping my eyes open looking for ways to add some wonderful details with a teensy budget.

I was browsing Craigslist when I came across a listing

for 2 Schoolhouse Lights...

I don't have that picture, but here's what it all looked like when I tore them apart.

 

 

The chain was a heavy iron chain,

I've replaced it with plain brass chain for right now,

somewhere in what I call my storage section of my studio is some really nice vintage chain from our $15/$300 Estate Sale light.

 

 

The globes are a nice, chunky, 12" in diameter.

 

 

Cleaned them up a little, I wanted some character and some brassiness.

I didn't want them to look like they were made yesterday.

 

 

Voila!

 

 

They aren't identical, and that's just fine with me.

The ceiling canopy thingy ( for lack of the real term )

is different.

 

 

Twins...just not identical.

My studio is beginning to look like a lighting boutique.

 

I found this light at an Estate Sale in the garage.

 

 

 

This had really old wiring.

The shade is what I would call white Carnival Glass.

 

There's some corrosion on some of the silver parts. 

 I haven't figured out what I want to do with that.

I don't have any problem with things that show their age. 

 

I found this light at our local Habitat for Humanit Re-Store.