Dining Outside

With such pretty weather outdoors, it's hard to resist eating outside.

There is one bloom left on the Japanese Magnolia tree.

And the table can be pretty to look at as well!  Love bringing a mirror outside and letting it reflect what beauty we have.  The table cloth is an old Ralph Lauren sheet! Such pretty fabric! Jan

Almost Easter

It's almost Easter and this year we are extremely fortunate to have blooming azaleas. This doesn't happen every year and I am bringing it indoors! What could be prettier than azaleas on your mantel? I have mine in my mother's nice glasses. They are very sentimental to me and I love having them out for more than just one meal this Easter.

I also had the azaleas down the center of my dining table.

Jan

Kitchen and Dining Room

Hey everybody!  Today is the day we tour my kitchen and dining room.

It's no secret I love green.  And red.  And blue.   But in the kitchen I really go for green!  I don't ever get tired of it.   Green walls, along with green countertops and of course the wallpaper with lots of green!  We are drawn to the light wood and thankfully went with that when we built our home.  As you see the stairs come down into the kitchen instead of the living room.  This has worked great for us.  When you have people over they always want to congregate in the kitchen.  Having the island and table works well but the stairs also work for extra seating and especially for kids.   I also like that the kitchen feels so open with the stairs here.

We didn't build with the open concept.  I had thought about it and asked around.  I was told over and over about the noise.  Think about three kids running around while you are cooking and your spouse is trying to talk quietly with someone.  Or you are engrossed in a movie and somebody decides to cook something and starts  banging pots and pans while you are trying to listen to the show.    My husband may like to watch football.  I don't care for it so I go in the kitchen and cook/pinterest/watch desperate housewives of somewhere or work on my next blog post!  There's also a cozy factor to me.  I like cozy rooms at night and a wide open room during the day.  But I imagine most of us do, don't we?

Okay!  To start with, no, I didn't know I had left our Merry Christmas framed photo up!  I got caught!

When we did the stairs I specifically asked for these balusters (I am hoping that's the correct name for them).  I liked the straight lines instead of the curved country look that was going around a lot.  I also like them closer together than you see on some stairs, it just looks more finished to me.

Now ya'll know I love pattern so here's the proof.   The bird wallpaper was my launching off point in decorating the house.  It can be overwhelming when you are starting from nothing.  Actually the truth is I started from the sofa we had when I started decorating.  Yes!  It had reds, greens and blue, which you see in the wallpaper.  I will go with a neutral wall color in the hallway or walls that are the center like in this photo below.  I use the neutral  color as a palate cleanser.  You know like in the high brow restaurants when they serve sorbet to cleanse your palate so you can go on to the next course.

Okay enough of me chewing on your ear...let's take a look.

 

 



I have always mixed woods, much more interesting to me.

 



 

 



I was fortunate to find a small desk that fits into this corner perfectly.  I use the hutch beside it for storage.  We had this built to use as a closet when we lived in a home built in the 1930's and the baby room had no closet, so we had this made.  It worked great for that.  We put another shelf in so it's very handy especially next to the desk.  We whitewashed it and it still looks great.

 



 

 



I simply use a chair from the table for sitting at the desk.

 

I found it especially compelling that a certain magazine  ran photos with similar flooring and cranberry color in late 2013!  I am seeing a lot of buzz over black and white floors, have you noticed?



 

The teacart holds our phone, etc.  Now in the next photo below I didn't go in very close but the mister has a thing for coffee.  We have everything you would possibly need to make coffee!  I have a lot of blue in the cabinets with the glass right now.  I change that out a good bit.  We love our light wood cabinets.  They don't make the room dark but add to the warmth.  Yes, we have a pot rack and it's used daily.



 

 

              Do you remember me going on and on about the old mirror I found and have had on the mantel in the living room?  Well, I have been wondering what it would look like in here and I really like it.  It shows up much better and gives the room a bit of mystery, like very old and a hint of gypsy with the old throw.  Now I have to figure out what I am going to do with the mantel!

 

        I didn't listen when they said get rid of your brass.  I got these canisters at a consignment store and really love them with the decorative brass plates.      



Hope you enjoyed the view!

You can follow me on Facebook!  Go to justjanblog.com and click on the "Like" button!

Jan

Nature

 



 

 





 



 



 



 



 



 



 





 

 

and when you go home it helps double the view when you place your fresh flowers in front of a mirror, any mirror.

Jan

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Buffett

Hey! Hope everybody is doing good!  Today I want to share a few vignettes I have done on my buffett.   This buffett is white and distressed, which is truly popular but  I tried it and I am going to paint it tomorrow.  Wish me luck I haven't painted a piece of furniture in a long time!  The paint color is more of a warm green than I usually go for.  We will just have to see how it comes out.  Of course I have stored a lot of things in it, so  the dining table will be the storage for the next couple of days!  I think the more warm green will work good in that spot since it doesn't get a lot of natural light. So on with the show.....I have had the buffett for just a few months so you can see I really like to do my vignettes on it with my concrete cherub.  I think I should name him since he's always in the spotlight, don't you?  Any suggestions?!

 

 



 

 



 

           

 



 



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

Ya'll can follow me on Facebook!  Go to justjanblog.com and click on the "Like" button!

Jan