patterns, projects, and peonies ~

It's been so hectic around here lately!  I spent yesterday at the Springfield Antique Show and some other shopping and then home to do some nesting and fluffing.  Mick is full speed ahead with his "second job" at the golf tournament, so I'll have the next few weeks as a golf widow.   I always spend this time of year working on things around the house like weeding, spring cleaning and decorating.  

Lately I've really been drawn to patterns, particularly I am loving trellis and quatrefoil designs.  I picked up a new cushion for my vintage chaise yesterday while I was out and about.   I love the neutral against all the pretty greenery starting to pop up in the garden.  That gnome had to come home with me too!  My Mom loved gnomes and when I found one that was all white and crackly, I knew he was made for me.

I've had this quatrefoil rug in my foyer for about a year now and still loving it..........

 And of course I just added this one to my dining room a few weeks ago.....

 My office just got bit by the pattern bug too!  Just a little hint of the quatrefoil design under the coffee table.  The dark grey mans it up a little bit and the pattern offers just enough of the modern element I like.

 

 

 

 Last year, we transplanted my Mom's favorite peony plant from her yard to ours.  She had transplanted these peonies from house to house over the years and they had survived.  Everyone told me not to expect any blooms this year.  But, we have two blooms coming in!

 

 One for my Mom and one for my Dad, bless their hearts and God rest their souls.  I was so happy when I saw these blooms yesterday!

Working on a few projects for the shop as well.

I found this table a couple of weeks ago.  It's not an antique, but sometimes I see something that has great lines and potential.  This would make a great table for a small foyer or sofa table, even at the end of a bed.  I immediately envisioned it in a "driftwood" look, so I've been working on creating that.  I will share completed photos soon.

 I'm always a sucker for corner cupboards too!  I think they remind me of vintage dining room built-ins.  This one definitely needs some love!  Annie Sloan Old White and some new hardware should help with this transformation.  Just getting started on this one!

What are you working on lately?

Whatever it is, hope you're having fun with it!

~ vintage love ~

Polly

barn love ~

I remember driving around the countryside as a child taking what my parents called "the scenic route".  We'd drive and drive with the windows down, maybe make a pit stop at a country market where we'd buy hunks of cheese and ripe plums and commence to eat them with our bare hands while we continued to drive.

I remember driving with my best friend's parents sometimes too.  We got to cruise the country roads in a butter yellow vintage convertible that was big enough that we would slide into each other in the back seat when we turned a corner.  Loved that feeling.  The wind flowing through our long curly teenage 1980's hair, the sun shining down on us, the fields rolling by.

I remember the barns we'd see.  Those pieces of art looming tall and majestic against the turquoise skies.  The barns that housed farm machinery and cows and horses.  Those barns that make my mind go crazy with wonderment.

It was a beautiful day today, and I decided to drive down a country road to visit a friend who I knew would be working hard getting ready for Springfield at the workshop.  I've made this trip many times and I've oogled over this chippy, broken structure.

 every.single.time.  

Definitely thinking a photo shoot must be planned here.

barn love.

Polly

Happy Mother's Day ~

A Happy Mother's Day to every Mom out there!

This is my second Mother's Day without my Mom.  A very difficult day of the year for me.  We always spent Mother's Day at her house planting flowers and filling her flower pots.  Steaks on the grill and always a DQ ice cream cake, as it was her favorite.

My Mom was a creative farmgirl.  She grew up milking cows, gathering eggs, sewing, baking and creating.  She was Miss Pleasantville in high school and was known to win an award or two for the clothing she created for 4H.

As a child, my Mom got my love started for all things DIY.  We yard saled, antiqued, and auctioned on a normal basis.  She taught me to reupholster, to paint furniture, to save things that someone else might just look past.  We crafted like crazy.  When I was bored, she'd send me outside to gather up little bits of nature then she'd give me some paper and glue and have me make art out of what I had collected.  She taught me to roll up magazine pages into tubes and glue them to cans and round bins to create funky holders, totally 70's style!  We did decals and stencils.  We scrapbooked.  

She loved to cook.  She baked, canned, and rarely used a recipe.  She just whipped up the most delicious home cooked food by memory.  Unfortunately, I didn't inherit her love for cooking, but I am trying.  Sometimes I phone my Mom's sister to get insight on one of their family recipes that I'm trying to replicate.  One of the things I miss most is her homemade noodles.

My Mom had a HUGE vegetable garden when I was kid.  Tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, onions, kohlrabi, peas, cucumbers with majestic sunflowers gracing the far North edge of the garden.  I loved that place high on the hill behind the house.  I learned about plants and bugs and canning during those years.

And animals were an integral part of our lives out in the country.  We took them all in.  We had oodles of outdoor cats and of course, always an indoor dog which was always a mutt, generally the runt of the litter.  My Mom showered love on the poor old dog that noone else wanted.  She even let me catch tadpoles and keep them in a big washtub.  We had bunnies that I named Johnny Bench and Mary.

In her own way, my Mom continued to take care of me until the end.  She couldn't walk and was so very weak, but she could listen and smile and let me know everything was going to be alright.  I knew that I would make it through today when, at 11:11 this morning, I happened to look at my phone and those numbers were staring back at me.  11/11 is my birthday.  My Mom was saying hi to me, I just know it.

My Mom often told me that she just wanted to be free of her pain, she wanted to walk again.  With every ounce of myself, I know that she's not only walking, but running and dancing!

 ~ all my love to my Mom today and every day ~

Polly

"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible."

 ~Marion C. Garretty

featured at Common Ground ~

What a pleasant way to start my day.....waking up to a note from Debra Oliver at Common Ground that she would be featuring my little old dining room on her blog today!  So exciting!!

If you haven't visited Debra's blog before, you should!  Her site just explodes with ideas, inspiration and beauty.  Debra has a wonderful eye for vintage decorating and puts vignettes together like no other.  You will just love looking through the photos of her home.  In addition, she hosts weekly "inspiration parties" where we can all link up to see what everyone's doing in their home.

I just love her blog and link up whenever I can!  She's a very active blogger and has new posts all the time.  It's fun to keep checking in with her!

Thanks Debra for the feature!  You're a gem!
 

~ vintage love ~

Polly

nature's beauty ~

While walking old girl this morning, we came across the simplest of nature's beauty.  Truly the color of a robin's egg is nature's prettiest of colors.  So vibrant against the dull cement.

 

And so symbolic of fresh and new life.

~ vintage love ~
 

Polly

dining room changes ~

 Over the past couple of years, I have slowly but surely been taking my home decor in the direction of french farmhouse with a modern touch here and there.  I want that farmhouse look with feminine and modern undertones.  I also want very little color.  Sometimes I veer off my design path and try colorful things around my house and in the end, I don't like it for very long.  I live with it for a while, but then it bores me.  The classic look of muted tones, white, and farmhouse never bores me.  It just feels right and comfortable to us.

I have added a few things to my dining room recently, so I thought I would share how it's all coming together.

New rug from Garden Ridge, just $100.  It is not the highest quality, but it is exactly what I wanted and online, I was going to spend closer to $1000.  Rugs get trashed in our house because we have pets, so it just doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money on a rug.  This rug is soft grey and bright white in a trellis design. 

 I am hoping those wrinkles work themselves out over time.  I also added the two french chairs on each end of table.  I used to have metal industrial chairs there which I loved, but I parted with them when I found these at TJ Maxx the day after Christmas.  I used my Christmas money to purchase them.  {thanks Carol and Alex!}

I have ALWAYS wanted a hutch for my dining room.  But I had never found the perfect one.  My criteria were:  vintage, pine, farmhouse style, storage, some open shelving, and tall.  As you can imagine, this was not an easy search.  But not too long ago, this beauty landed in my dining room.

 

 I could not be happier!  It is everything I wanted!  Actually, more.  It has cubbies!

 

 It was delivered a couple weeks ago, so I have been playing around with it since then.  Adding things, taking things away.  I knew it would house some of my ironstone and white dishes.  I absolutely love how the white looks against the raw pine.

 

 The bottom half has three openings and I wanted to find large greywashed baskets to set inside there.  No luck at Hobby Lobby or Michaels, but I found these at Garden Ridge yesterday, just $15 each.  I'm sure they will eventually be used for storage of some sort.

 

 

 

 

 Elsewhere in the room, I haven't done much.  I still have my favorite ruffled curtains from Big Lots and family heirlooms on display.

I decided to switch from tea lites to fresh white tulips for Spring in my antique bottle carrier centerpiece.  I placed a huge antique mirror under it.

Another new addition to the room is this vintage wine crate from France!  LOVE.  This treasure came from my friend Janet of Open Market Style.  Janet is the best picker ever..........she finds chippy, shabby, french style goods like no other!  I was honored when she said I could buy this from her.  I added some faux lavender and placed it on top of the hutch. 

So that's what I've been up to around home.  I have a few other things I'm looking for to help complete my french farmhouse look throughout my home.  I love that the search is always on looking for the perfect additions!

~ vintage love ~

Polly

linking to:

Primp 
Blissful White Wednesday at TimeWashed
Common Ground 
Jennifer Rizzo

Rural Society Antique and Garden Show ~

If you are looking for something fun and relaxing to do this weekend around the Central Ohio area, I've got just the thing!  

The Rural Society Antique and Garden Show's Spring Sale is this weekend in Mt. Vernon, Ohio!

The show's setting is a picturesque farmground owned by Page and Greg Price.  There's barns and tents filled with the antique wares and farm goods of approximately 30 talented vendors.  You'll find plants and gardening supplies.  You'll be greeted by peacocks and lambs and dogs.   

You can see sneak peek photos from the various vendors by liking their Facebook Page.

My friend Shannon of Vintage Restyled will be set up there.  Check out this sneak peek of everything she's been preparing for this twice a year show!  I can't wait to see it all displayed!

 It's sure to be a fun little road trip!

~ vintage love ~

Polly