• Sweet Home Chicago…

    As you have probably figured out by now, this blog is a work in progress – just like life.  Last night, I completed the “page” Sweet Home Chicago with lots of photos of our small condo in the community of Ravenswood in Chicago.  Sweet Home Chicago “lives” on the right side of the blog under the title PAGES…along with a few other works in progress.  While our main residence is on an acre and a quarter in a countryside development next to a farm and cornfields, we enjoy our time in Chicago with our two youngest sons and their families.

    For as long as I can remember, I have loved decorating.  Over the years, I’ve subscribed to Country Living, Country Home and Southern Living – just to name a few.  I love coming up with decorating solutions for spaces.  This condo allowed us to do just that.  Check Sweet Home Chicago out here.

  • Snow poles?!

    Not too long ago, the house looked like this.  Spring and Summer here were wonderful.  The second year for perennials is always a beautiful show and we weren’t disappointed.  We enjoyed the front porch with rocking chairs and an indoor/outdoor rug.  Granted, there were lots of days when the temperature and humidity were too high to even think about sitting on the front porch but it was nice on cooler days.

     

     

    All the plants on the front porch are gone after the freeze but the pumpkins made it.  Inside, it is definitely Autumn…at least until the weekend after Thanksgiving when the Autumn decorations are put away and the Christmas decorations come out.  Autumn is my favorite season.  Everything about it – from the colors to the clothes to the food!

    Doug was working in the garage one day this week and the next thing I see outside are these poles lining the driveway.  For my friends and family in the deep South, just in case you haven’t seen these down there, these snow poles mark the depth of snow.  When the snow is a foot deep, it helps to know where your drive and walkway are.   When I asked him about them, he mentioned that the ground is soft enough right now to get the poles in the ground.  So in they went.

    I’m a very happy camper with the first snow.  I get downright excited.  Watching the snowflakes fall with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.  I even get excited for the second and third and fourth snow.  Eventually, however, there are piles of snow eight feet high left by the snowplows everywhere.  The roads and parking lots turn into a black, dirty mess.  Snow boots track in sand and dirt.  This goes on for weeks sometimes.  I haven’t even mentioned the well below freezing temperatures and the windchill.

    There is something to be said, however, for living in Iowa where there are four distinct seasons.  You can count on it:  the green of Summer, the beauty of Fall, pristine white snowfalls in Winter and the new birth of Spring.  One after the other.  The circle of life.  I’ll take it.

     

     

  • Turquoise…

    I love the color turquoise.  I love it paired with any number of colors – white, yellow, green, red.  I love it paired with copper.

    My love affair with decorating and the color turquoise started years ago…when I was a high school student.  I had a part-time job at a neighborhood bakery after school for a while (until it appeared it would challenge keeping make my A+ average).  I remember taking part of my meager salary (we’re talking 50 years ago when the hourly minimum wage was downright sad) and surprising Mama with everything needed to redecorate our one bathroom in the little house on Victor Drive.

    I was only 16 years old maybe and knew absolutely nothing about decorating.  Nevertheless, I purchased turquoise paint for the bathroom walls, white paint for the trim, and a turquoise and white striped shower curtain.  I added some new white towels to the mix and  headed home to surprise Mama.  She was surprised – though she said I shouldn’t have spent my money on the house.  Even so, I think she was happy and we set about painting.  Have you ever wished you could go back in time – knowing what you know now?  I’d like one more shot at that little bathroom with the skills and knowledge acquired over the past 50 years.  All the same, it was an improvement and Mama liked it.

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    Earlier this week, I created a “board” about the color turquoise on Pinterest.  It was fun sorting and browsing through all the ways turquoise is enjoyed.   If you don’t know about Pinterest, I wrote about the joys of  Pinterest here.   If you’d like to see my turquoise board, it’s here.   These photos are on my Pinterest board and are from another favorite place of mine:  Joss and MainThere’s a link to “follow me” on my Pinterest site and I’d love it if you did!

    turquoisebedding

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  • Decorating…

    The finishing of the “basement” at Doug’s townhome is progressing nicely.  The HVAC, electrical, drywall and painting are all getting close to being completed.  We’ve ordered a light beige plush carpet for the guest bedroom and purchased a cream colored stone/ceramic tile for the bathroom and a beautiful laminate wood floor for all the rest of the space:  the family room, office and my “super closet”.  The wood floor will be an enormous project!  For now, the decorating is all coming together in my head and purchasing as well.  It is very exciting!

    I will post pictures of the space as soon as it is a little further along.  In the meantime, I will share a few decorating plans/purchases.  The walls of the family room and office are painted Country Linens by Behr paints.  It is a warm color but not too dark.  Our furniture will look great in the midst of it.  (We’ve ordered new furniture for the upstairs living room – that will be for a later post!)

    The guest bedroom is painted several shades lighter than Country Linens but in the same “family”.  The bathroom adjoining the guest bedroom is painted a rich vanilla called Accolade by Pittsburgh Paint.  The bathroom is small and will benefit from a lighter color.

    We went with a corner shower – not that large but it will be great for occasional guests.  I love the vanity we selected below.  We’re using brushed nickel fixtures.

    I purchased soft “spa blue” towels called “Lagoon blue” to go in the guest bathroom.  As well as a few accessories from the Mosaic Leaves collection by Croscill.  I love the colors!vanitymosaicleavesrug

    mosaicleavesMy favorite thing about the downstairs guest bath will be the artwork!  If you haven’t shopped Joss and Main, take a peek at their site!  Right now, they’re having a great sale – including their art work!  One (or two) of the 18″ x 26″ canvas paintings below will go in the master bath…just not sure which one(s) yet!  I really like them all!

    Twelve+Sunflowers+by+Van+Gogh+Canvas+Print Summer+Floral+I+Canvas+Print Path+Through+the+Corn+at+Pourville+by+Monet+Canvas+Print

  • Pinterest and farmhouse sinks…

    A while back, I was trying to explain to my daughter about Pinterest.  It’s a bit like a cyber wish list where one can categorize all the things that make your heart sing a bit.  Actually, taking a close look at someone’s Pinterest just might tell you a little bit about that person.  Pinterest is also a place to store photos of ideas and things you’d like to have in the future.  There is always a link back to the original source of the item so, no doubt, that would help sales for them.  It’s a place to keep the photos of the homes or designer items that I may never have again, but there is nothing wrong with dreaming.  It’s fun to “follow” someone else’s dream pages and have them follow yours.  Pinterest is also a terrific source for finding all sorts of tutorials, knitting and sewing ideas.  It’s like a million Sears wish books!  I think that is what Pinterest is about to me…

    Right now, this condo/apartment needs a new sink.  The homeowner is aware of the rust that has been on the backside of this expensive rental all along and, hopefully, that will be next on her agenda.  Granted, she is not going to put in my favorite type of sink but if I ever have a little cottage of my own, I would love one of these farmhouse sinks!  It puts me in mind of the classic 40’s and 50’s movies and the homes often depicted in them.  I think the copper sinks are neat, but I would still prefer the farmhouse white.  Obviously, others feel the same way about farmhouse sinks because these photos were found on Pinterest!

     

     

     

     

    By the way, there is a link to My Pinterest on the right sidebar…just scroll down a bit and feel free to follow my wish list!  I’d love that…

     

  • Porch dreams come true…

    My daughter and her two youngest surprised me this morning with a beautiful delivery…an early Mother’s Day present from her and her family and her “baby brother” and his sweet wife and daughter!  As she kept carrying everything up the stairs to my apartment, I was amazed and ever so grateful!  A beautiful wicker settee, wonderful outdoor pillows, two lovely ferns, tons of gorgeous flowers and hummingbird nectar and an angel hummingbird feeder sculpted by one of my very favorites:  Jim Shore!

    I will look for a small companion table and a side chair to go with this delightful setting, along with two small, cheap tables to hold the ferns.  It is so exciting!

    I swept the porch (including the popcorn that I had fed MamaBird who is sitting on her nest above the porch lamp) and it is looking great!  I have told MamaBird to hurry up and hatch those eggs so she and the little fledglings can be on their way!  I want to curl up on the settee with the sweet pillows and read a good book in peace…

    Note:  If you recall, I wrote about my “porch dreams” here.  My daughter had already purchased everything when I wrote that but, at the time, I was sick with a bad cold and contagious and they couldn’t come over.  She said that she worried that I would have preferred two rockers but, to be honest, this settee is a better idea by far!  I love it all!!! 

     

    I love the angel hummingbird feeder by Jim Shore! All I need now is a hook to hang it from the porch roof. I almost hate to put her outside but I will…and will enjoy hummingbirds all Summer!