Dragonflies and Butterflies Anyone?

I have been working with a client on decorating her huge home. This post will only show parts of the formal dining room that I added decor to. There is much more to be done in this room.

The chairs are large and very nice but looked a bit masculine to me. So I made 8 lumbar pillows (12 x 18) with reddish fabric featuring dragonflies on the material. The background of the material coordinates with the one red feature wall in this room. The two end chairs are leather covered. I was hoping to soften the look with these pillows.

Blogversary GiveAway!

On November 14th, I will celebrate ONE YEAR of my Forever Decorating! blog website. I went from one follower to 897, over 430,953 page-views and 249 posts. I am so amazed at those numbers. And, it has been the sweetest year of gaining personal friendships with YOU.

To celebrate, I am giving away this tray that I handpainted with the word EAT, a rose teacup and an assortment of teas and coffees. Also a lovely vintage dresser scarf.

Buyer's Remorse To Buyer's Rejoice!

Have you ever bought something and had buyer's remorse when you had time to think more clearly? This happened to me about a month ago.

This and That at a Clients Home

I found this dark brown vinyl Laundry room art on Etsy. Then, I found the cute tan vinyl clothes pins from a different seller.  I ordered the two and combined them for wall art in my clients laundry room.

Anniversary GiveAway!

I would like to send each of YOU, my followers, a personal hand-written Thank You note and explain what you mean to me for this past year. I have had so much wonderful feedback from you on all my projects from little to large. It really feels good to know that others appreciate what I do and maybe I have even inspired YOU to do the same.

On November 14th, I will celebrate ONE YEAR of my Forever Decorating! blog website. I went from one follower to 877, over 424,500 page-views and 245 posts. I am so amazed at those numbers. And, it has been the sweetest year of gaining personal friendships with YOU.

Lucky Day!

I wanted to share a really lucky day that I had last Tuesday AND why it could be YOUR lucky day soon!

I went to my clients home to decorate but had to be at my local spa by 3pm for a discount party, since I was treating myself to a massage the very next day, I wanted it at a discount if I could...and I did.

Anyway, I was getting ready to leave after I paid for my purchases (make-up, massage and facial), when they told me to hang around for 5 more minutes because they would announce a give-away. Reluctantly, I stayed even though I was tired from my earlier day of decorating.  They called out a number and guess what? It was MINE! I had won $125 in products!!!  That was certainly worth the extra 5 minutes.

A Bunch of Before & Afters IV

I decided to keep better track of my projects with combining each in a simple collage of Before and After. Here is a sample of past projects.

Cherry Blossom Table

It's different




It's petite




It's oak




It's old

Think Pink ~ A sweet doll cradle

I am participating in the Go P.I.N.K., Oct. 30th...Are You Aware? Many of us Bloggers are helping spread awareness and standing to fight for this cause.. Breast Cancer! With blog posts that are dedicated to pink, you can view my post then go on over to the party and see what other pinks are out there.

A few years ago I was asked to paint a child's doll cradle. The only requirements were to also paint the words of The Fruit Of The Spirit;
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control found in Galations 5:22.

A Client's Formal Living Room

I recently shared with you a before and after of a built-in bookcase. Well, that is in a formal living room space that I have been decorating.


Here is what this space looked like when I was hired to warm it up and put personality into the room.

It had the basics, two sofas, two end tables and a coffee table...and a couple of wood side chairs.

Now I will step you through my decorating process. First, I borrowed the rug from under the breakfast room table because it looked like it would go better in this space and it was too small for the breakfast table.

Here is the room 90% complete.

Please Remove Your Shoes & A Clients Foyer

I can't say that this was my idea. I got the idea from Pinterest where there is a wealth of great ideas. I was initially overwhelmed with decorating a huge home by myself, but a friend that I helped decorate her new home recently told me, "You are the Queen of putting personality into a home!" (Thanks Lindsay) That is all it took to spur me on to this new project. So here is how I put personality into the foyer of this home.

Window Blues!

My friend Gail shared with me another project that she completed. Did I ever tell you that she is one talented lady? She is.


Anyway, she had an old window just hanging outside on her back porch for decor. It blew down in a huge wind storm that we had and Gail took the opportunity to change it up while it was down.

Here is the original window. Cool huh?

Lyre Back Chairs

Haley's Night Stand

It's funny...life.

Teacup Candelabra

My friend Gail shared with me the sweetest candelabra that she made with various teacups and crystals. Music to most of our ears...teacups and crystals!

A Clients Before and Afters

I just couldn't wait to share with you a couple of projects that I did today. I am working with a client on their new home. I am shopping for furniture, art, lamps and decor. It is all consuming and I can't believe the amount of time it takes to find things for their home. I guess if there were more than just me doing it, it wouldn't take as much time. I then am doing all the sewing, painting and decorating. I guess you can call me a one stop gal.
 

Week 26 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

First, I will share the items I purchased at a deep discount at auction...Yet another chair to fix up.

A sewing cabinet that I had never seen before...full of vintage sewing supplies that I have yet to go through. The top drawer opens normally, the bottom drawer pivots around to expose areas to put spools of thread. Wouldn't this look fun painted?

Little Toile Stool & Funny Ad!

I have re-vamped a little stool with paint, tassel fringe and bird toile fabric. I think it turned out really cute and reflects my taste and style.

I originally purchased the material from Ballard Designs on clearance for either some pillows or a to make a new valance for my bay window in the dining room. However, when looking for something to use to upholster this stool, I decided to use

Fun New Home Decorating!

For the past five weeks, I have been helping a friend and client with pulling her new home together for a more cohesive look. I have blogged about this new home in July when they allowed furniture stores and decorators to come in (before they moved in) and use the house as a way to gain more funds for the Advocacy Network for Children. This tour was over and they moved in their own furniture.
This is where I came in...

I will show you areas of each room that I decorated.

First up, the formal dining room. My friend (the owner), purchased these triplicate art canvases online. I hung them on the wall, marked off a border area and a smaller outer boarder and taped it off. Took the pictures down and my friend painted the wall area the same brown as the alcove in this room. I then switched the area rug from the living room and we had professionally made drapes hung. The rest is all decor that we found at Hobby Lobby and other places in town. I also repainted her metal art that is hung in the alcove.

From Baby to Little Girl Room

I have been helping a friend and client with pulling her new home together for a more cohesive look. In their little girls room, which she painted green, I put a huge vinyl tree on the wall, purchased on eBay.

Initially the baby bed and dresser was lost in this very large room. (This is just one tiny corner, below).

Week 25 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

This week was light in treasured finds until one particular sale. I will show you that at the end of my post. On to the treasures...

This globe is missing the base, but imagine this with part of the bottom cut away and made into a

A walk on the Wild Side!

A friend and client of mine has a new home that I have blogged about HERE. Originally, I showed you the house when it was staged for a tour. That tour is OVER and they moved all that 'stuff' out and now what you will see is all their personal furniture and decor.

She asked for my assistance in pulling her house together. In the living room, she had purchased new leather furniture. She already had the tables.  I felt that a bit of color was needed in the space, so I pulled in the rug from another room. I found the red pillows at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And then I talked her into living on the wild side...

Wall Flower Art

These plastic Wall Flowers are popular right now. Have you seen them?

I have a client that had these on the wall in her little daughter's bedroom. Since I was decorating this room, I needed this wall space for something else (I will share more on that in another post).

These flowers stick on the wall with peel and stick tape and it is very hard to get it off the wall without any wall damage. They can be purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Sailing Baby Room

I have had a recent request to show children's bedrooms, ones that I have decorated or come across cute rooms via friends.


This bedroom was not decorated by me. I did make two canvas art pieces and a child's chair. However, I thought you would enjoy seeing this cute room.

I suggested to the mother that she should hang the quilt on the wall instead of using it on the bed. As you can see, she took my suggestion. I used this quilt as inspiration for the two canvas paintings that I did for her.

You may remember them from a past post HERE.

Week 24 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

This week, I was so fun and I have so many small stories to share. As I always find that fall garage sales are some of the best ever!!!

Now is my time to share with you these treasures and stories. This first item is an old typewriter. The old guy (about 75ish) said that it had been his in college and he typed all his papers on it. I offered him $10 since it wasn't priced and he took it. My Hubby loves to collect, restore/clean these and display them in our home. So far we have six so he says that he will get rid of one that I will take to my booth. Only so many typewriters we can display, don't you think?

A Bunch of Before & Afters III

I decided to keep better track of my projects with combining each in a simple collage of Before and After. Here is a sample of past projects, Chapter 3. For past Chapters, look in my archives for Before and After.

Inlaid Table ~ Deja-vu

I just experienced Deja-vu, but this was REAL not an illusion of feeling. I am talking about two tables that have come into my life with-in a month of each other but miles apart. Here is my first one...

I am sure my blog followers remember this one. See the before shot? Notice the top and how the inlay was so far gone that it couldn't be saved? You also see my solution for its rebirth.

Well, little did I know that 180 miles away was an identical table, that I would cross paths with and purchase.

Week 23 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

This week, I was able to nab some good furniture to transform this winter. Here's my loot for the week.

This will be a fun chair to transform. Don't kill me, but it had a matching side chair that I didn't get. Crazy, I know.

I will have fun with this pair!

White Bookcase Breathes New Life!

I found a Diamond In The Rough!

It was a vintage bookcase with bad bleed-through! It cost $35 and included the wood shelves, door and some new, unused glass shelves. It needed a lot of love. The lady had misplaced the original hardware, so I will have to find some replacements.

What do you do when you have bleed-through of the stained wood or knot holes through the paint? You seal the whole piece with two coats of Minwax Polycrylic. This will stop any bleed-through to the surface of the new paint.  Whoever owned this before didn't know this. I continued on and painted the bookcase white with two more coats of latex.

Around the House...Halloween and Fall Decor!

I used an antique yellow-ware bowl for a fall floral arrangement.

I have been working on decorating for the fall and some of my Halloween decor is out. I thought I would share with you what I have done so far.

Week 22 ~ Diamonds In The Rough! Part 2

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

This is Part 2 of my week of treasures! There was so much that I had to break it up for you. In Part 2, I will share what happened when I answered an ad in the paper for a night stand. Most of this will be sold in my booth!

This is what our CRV looked like after calling on the ad!

A Mirror of Roses!

On a recent treasure hunt, I found an old mirror that was made of some kind of plastic to look like real wood. I thought the roses were pretty and would look much better spray painted Heirloom White.

Week 22 ~ Diamonds In The Rough! Part 1

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

This is Part 1 of my week of treasures! There was so much that I had to break it up for you. In Part 1, I will share garage sale treasures and what I did with some of it already.

Flea Market Fleas

How many of us out there have been dreaming of doing something or going somewhere and think, "maybe someday"! Well that "someday" came for Hubby and me.  We have been wanting to

White Iron Chair

You may recall the post that I did on the black iron chair, but if you don't, this is what the finished chair looks like...it is for sale in my booth. I also have a matching white one...

Twin Night Stands

I have a special little friend. His name is Jace and he is so handsome. Meet Jace.

I have been helping his Mommy decorate their new home (I will share it all with you soon). One of the things that was needed were two night stands for Jace's room.  I found these two at a recent garage sale.

Week 21 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

I had a good run this week...Check it out!

Two matching night stands to paint and transform.

Old books and a pumpkin.

Old Christmas Ornament balls.

Oh So Beautiful Dresser!

Boy, Do I ever have a Lovely to show you!!!

Framed Book Page Tutorial

I decided that I would treat you to a tutorial on how I make my framed book pages. Are you wanting to learn how I do it? Here we go...

A Bunch of Before & Afters II

I decided to keep better track of my projects with combining each in a simple collage of Before and After. Here is a sample of past projects, Chapter 2. To see more of my Before and After Chapters, look in my archives. 

Week 20 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

I have really gotten just a few unique items this week...Check it out!

I got 8 of these sweet cups...Yes, I am working on another teacup chandy! It's going to be so awesome and it will be for sale!

A Bunch of Before & Afters

I decided to keep better track of my projects with combining each in a simple collage of Before and After. Here is a sample of past projects.

Love Affair

I have had a love affair for the past 35 years! It just spoke to me right down to the core of my soul. Maybe because it's been a part of my life since I was a very young girl. Then tragedy struck and I thought it was lost...Forever!

What could I be talking about? This...