White Out

Whites, creams, and ecru combine for white out conditions, and I'm not talking about the kind of white out conditions I'm privy to in the Midwest. The talk is all about decorating with lack of color or hue, and in artsy terms, a surface that REFLECTS EVERY color, thus appears white. 

    

My favorite white basket is filled with an off white china plate, a silver plate, and a distressed thingamajig (thingamajig: item with absolutly no purpose, but adding color or texture). My black pedestal table displays a candlestick, a vintage pottery piece, a children's tea set and a glittered star.   

When putting together vignettes of one color, (or in this case, lack of color), choose pieces with texture and variations of the same color. Think of visual texture as the glue that holds it all together. If all the pieces were glossy or matte they would seem to slide away.  The weave of the basket adds visual texture that allows the sleekness of the pottery and silver pieces to (visually) stick together.  The pottery and the thingamajig add another type of glue due to their distressed appearance.  Even the star contrasts and adds texture against a glossy tea service. I like it simply for the pop of sparkle :) 

I prefer combining white with its complementary color: black. This works well for me because I have touches of black around my home, like the table where this vignette sits. I added silver pieces because black and white mixed together makes gray (silver).  Easy peasy. Get it? But, remember the best rule when combining items, do you like it?   

My friend Mary at Vintage Patina really knows how to use white and creams in her home. The following pictures are from her Christmas post, (I know, I just can't let Christmas go).

 

Look at those textures! 
 This is the kind of white out I don't mind!

DIY: The star in the little silver children's teapot is an easy do it yourself project. You can buy chipboard stars already cut out at your local hobby store. Paint the star silver, and glitter away!

Blessings, Ele

Men+nail guns=?

Mr. Pink Heaven and his posse have been sawing wood, grouting ceramic tile, and using the nail gun. The sun room is progressing.

I have been filling nail holes, and painting the room a cottage white..
men+nail guns=a trillion gazillion nail holes.


I added amber glass knobs to a stained table.


Beadboard on the walls, a fabric basket to hold stray shoes, luscious pear candles, an art glass bowl for keys, and a sky blue mirror were all put in place. The mirror is a vintage find repurposed with spray paint.

This room is not finished yet. I still have more nail holes to fill!

Blessings,

Ele

Organizational Heaven

I LOOOOOVE organizing.

I am an organizational diva wanna be. My kitchen has one drawer for metal utensils, one for plastic utensils, and one for outside barbecue utensils. Oh the joy I brought my boys (when they were much younger) as they would "plant" a plastic item in the metal drawer and wait to see how long it took me to find it!

The shirts in my closet are organized by short sleeved, long sleeved, and color, and face lotion had better not plan a visit to the eyeshadow/mascara drawer, or we will need to have a little talk. I've been known to lurk in the container/basket aisle at the store. Organizational heaven is where I want to be.


Can you imagine my joy when Jessica sent me this:

While searching flickr. I found the following lovelies:

Vintage Flair made the gorgeous organizer below. Beautiful vintage wallpaper and papers were used to make this wall hanging.

Pink Paisley incorporated vintage doilies and embroidery into this hanging organizer.

Sunny Days Here is the creator of this super cute organizer with slots specifically for markers.

I just had to share with you this organizer by Whimsy Love.The bright colors are perfect for your child's room.

There are areas in my home that are not always organized, but I will keep working on it. With items available like these, who wouldn't want to be organized!

Let me know what you think about the larger print I've been using. Do you like it, yes or no?

Blessings,

Ele

A Bit of Heaven

Peeking through the cottage garden, I see my favorite windows.


The windows of my church studio, A Bit of Heaven, are beautifully framed by hollyhocks in colors of pink. I have not spent any time in their this summer, but soon, I hope.


The cottage garden is home to a purple bench,


multicolored pots filled with moss roses, a weathered angel, and a vintage spade.


A sweet rusted red tricycle also has a spot in my cottage garden.

Tucked behind my green potting shed is a secret place to sit. Look carefully and you will see a vintage iron headboard beside the deck, and a vintage iron railing hanging on the wall.

In this same spot, a vintage wooden ladder rests against a tree.

Blessings, Ele

Sweet Tweet Swap Sneak Peek!

Hosting the Sweet Tweet Swap has been a lot of fun! On June 5th, I will have links to all the swapper so that you can ooh and aah at all the great items! For now, a little sneak peek at the items I am mailing my partners! Embellishments include vintage jewelry, music, paper, birds, glass glitter, and millinery flowers.

I hope you are all having a good month of May!

Blessings,

Ele

Dining Room Update

Dining room makeover (almost) complete.

If you want to see what the formal dining room looked like before go here. I really did like the room before. I just felt a change was needed, and wanted it to coordinate with my sitting room here, (scroll down).

The items in my home are my treasures. My treasures are vintage, antique, almost new, and may only be beautiful to me, but they each have their own story.

When I redecorate, I incorporate my "treasures" into the design. Do you do this? Do you have things you LOVE and just have to make them part of the design, or do you start totally new? I can't start new. It's not me. Read on, and I'll share.

My seashells...

...fill the base of a very large glass vase. A reminder of wonderful vacations with Mr. Pink Heaven, and my children. Laughter, relaxation, love, and warmth are inside this vase.

The walls have been painted a soothing pale shade of blue and new white flowers top off the seashells. I reupholstered the chair backs in the same fabric as the sitting room couch. I actually haven't recovered the seat cushions yet. Because I like to mix and match, I am looking for a darker blue in the same hue as the walls. What to you think?

The antique chandelier (70 years old) from my husband's grandmother's living room. The stories of his childhood, hang from our dining room's ceiling.

A new mirrored dresser graces the corner, (yes, I said new), and a vintage picture gets a new coat of white paint.

On top of the dresser, I have displayed a Swedish Art Glass heart vase from someone I "heart", my favorite teapot, (picked out by my pink girl), and faux cuppies made by Shannon of Paint Mine Pink. Don't you love the reflection? Isn't the mirror with silver trim a great look against the blue?

More of my treasures include...

...vintage china plates from three grandmothers, a plate from the church where Mr. Pink Heaven and I were married (27 years ago), a few plates from friends, and a plate from the church I attended as a child, with my grandmother.

Remember the inspiration picture?

It received a fresh coat of white paint, (the original pic I took is a little washed out....geez!).

A new table runner with white embroidery brings in a little texture.

Vintage teacups.....

...that once belonged to two of my great aunts. They were Norwegian immigrants who homesteaded on the Midwestern prairie. I'm sure the teacups can tell many stories. Another treasure, a coffee pot painted by my husband's great aunt.

Three generations of vintage plates on my wall. A plate from my mother's first set of plates, a plate from my grandmother's dishes, and another from my great grandmother. Can you hear the families gathering around the table? Children laughing? Families praying? My great grandmother had 13 children. It's a miracle the bottom plate, which is hers, survived.

Now, I said my formal dining room was almost done. Besides the bottom chair cushions, I also need to sew drapes, curtains, and/or valances. I'm not sure what I want. Any suggestions? Take a look at the windows.

I really don't need to cover the windows, as I live out in the country. It doesn't matter to me if the cows look in, ha! The window on the left side of the room looks into the sun room. I'm sure there are many great ideas out there. Help me out!

Happy Mothers Day!

Blessings to all of you,

Ele

Fleurs en Bleu

Looking out my farm house kitchen window, this is what I see.

My vintage church studio building surrounded and covered with snow. It is looking pretty lonely as my visits this time of year are few. I am still cleaning, and organizing my house.

It is cold outside, but the sun shines brightly. The air is fresh and crisp. Despite the beauty of winter, it is this time of year that I begin to hold on to the promise of spring blooms. I am well aware of designers who are shouting, "get rid of the silk flowers", but I wonder.....do they live where I live? Do they KNOW that the upper mid west growing season is extremely short? Do they realize that some of us yearn for blooms. Dare I say....even fake? Every year, I promise myself that I will not succumb to traditional FAKE blossomry, but I do. Especially when I came upon this huge bouquet.

My dining room table can seat 12 people, and this bouquet is a grand size. I was also pleased at how well it matched the upholstery on the chairs.

Fleurs en Blue.

Flowers in Blue.

Admiring the blue hydrangea flowers, I realized that I have a blue flower theme in my home.

Blessings, Ele