Our Colorful Autumn Front Porch

By Cate | September 26, 2012 - 7:00 am | decor, Our House, porch

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a room for my “Our House” series, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one post and show you our front porch while it’s decked out for fall!

I’m loving this bright, colorful image from Pinterest (I think this is the original source), and am inspired to keep things fun this fall.

Source: greaterrecipes.blogspot.com via domesti on Pinterest

We haven’t actually gotten our pumpkins yet (am I the only one who holds out till October?), but the Mums and the wreaths bring that autumn feel to the space.

The front porch has always been one of my least favorite spaces in our house, and because of that I’ve never decorated it. I’ll throw up a couple of wreaths or some potted plants, but it’s such a small spot, and those wrought iron railings are such an eye sore, I typically choose to ignore it.

But, we recently discovered that the castors on those cane chairs were gouging holes in the travertine on our new back porch, so they had to move. I had upholstered them in outdoor fabric, so this was the perfect place for them. And they’re small enough to fit in this narrow space. I pulled out an old outdoor rug and picked up some Mums to complete the space.

It’s like the builders circa 1968 wanted to imply there was a porch, but were too cheap to build a real one. It’s too narrow to really enjoy. When those front windows are open, they swing out into the space and essentially cut off access.

When we (eventually) take down those wrought iron railings, I’m thinking we’ll just replace the columns with wooden ones and not put in a railing. The porch is low enough that code doesn’t require a one, so no railings would make it easier to move around.

The wreaths I made years ago, and the bright fall colors always make me smile.

Surprisingly, I’ve found myself sitting out here each evening, reading and watching EB play with her neighborhood friend.

In the summer the sun setting made this space too hot, but it’s downright pleasant with these cool fall temps!

Does anyone else have a “fake” porch on their house? Have you ever discovered a spot in your home that you thought you hated, but ended out loving?

Linking up at Thrifty Decor Chick.

Cue the Chorus of Angels

By Cate | June 16, 2012 - 8:48 pm | link parties, Our House, porch

21 Comments

Alleluia, Alleluia! The porch is finished!

Thanks to my talented husband, we’ve gone from this (a slab of concrete):

to this:

After many many days/weeks/months/years of hard work, last week Frank left me with this beautiful blank slate.

And I have filled it with furniture and items I’ve been collecting for years now. I have many tutorials and details to share. For now let me just take you on a ~~little~~ photo tour…

From our foyer you get a glimpse through the dining room of the brightly colored pillows on the day bed.

Years ago I found these four cane chairs at the Habitat Re-Store, then painted and reupholstered them, thanks to an upholstery class I took.

My dream of a day bed on the porch has come true. I sewed a zippered cover for the twin mattress, and created deep foam bolsters for the back cushions. I’ll have a tutorial about that coming up. It really makes the bed feel more like a couch. Until you want to toss those bolsters off and take a nice afternoon nap!

I picked up this old wood crate from a thrift shop. Frank made a top for it, and I painted then distressed it. More on that to come.

Here’s our lovely 13 foot pew in all it’s glory! I haven’t done a thing to it, other than wipe it down. I had plans to paint it or strip it, but for now I’m liking it just fine.

I picked up this old high chair from Craigslist. We modified it to fit up to the table and I sewed a “strap” to hold our little girl in. More on that to come.

These pine Windsor chairs were hand-me-downs. I had plans to paint them too, but I think I’ll sit on it (ha!) for a while. That yellow-y wood usually bothers me, but I don’t mind it so much here. It’s similar to a color in those Suzani pillows.

Extra seating waits for guests here. We hung the folding chairs on bicycle racks.

This table sits right under our kitchen window and is a handy place to set out snacks or a buffet dinner. And my duck finally has a home, holding a dish towel. Under the table I’ve stashed a few crates full of toys for EB.

I created a unique light strand out of collected jars. I’ve had this vision forever and am so glad to see it come to life! These lights create the perfect ambiance for a late evening gathering. I’ve got a step-by-step for you coming soon.

Frank helped me make this huge chalkboard. It’s long enough so that kids can color below, and adults have space to write above.

A screw secures a simple tin can to the wall to wrangle chalk and an eraser.

You guys, this space is more than I ever could have dreamed. From the pale pale blue ceiling to the cool breeze from the ceiling fans, to the bright happy colors, I am totally in love! I’ve spent most of my time out here since we finished (I’m stretched on the day bed as I type!).

There are a few more little projects to finish up, but I’m SO glad we have this space to use all summer. It’s still cool enough here in Brevard that we’re living with the windows open, so this space truly feels like a new room in our home. I have a feeling we’ll be living out here for a good chunk of the year.

Here’s a look at some memories we’ve created here so far…

Last night we had a party, and the space worked so well.

Thank you, Frank, for building the porch of my dreams! You are the best husband I could ever ask for. Love you!

Thanks for sticking with me through this super long post, y’all! Don’t forget to come back to for future posts on:

creating cushions for a day bed
distressing new wood to match old wood
creating a “strap” to hold a baby in an antique high chair (or any chair, really)
how to make a twinkle lights out of collected jars (canning jars work well, too)
making a giant chalkboard

This will probably be my last post before Haven. Can’t wait to meet many of you there! Rhoda is one of the founders of Haven, and I’m linking up today to her fabulous porch party. Click over to get lots of porch inspiration. And if you don’t already, you should be following along as she fixes up her sweet new-to-her home. I’m so impressed with what she and her parents have done so far. The transformation will be incredible, I can already tell!

(For more on our porch progress, click here, here, and here.)

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Spring Flowers

By Cate | March 26, 2012 - 11:00 am | gardening, Our House

1 Comment

After a week away, we came home to blooming flowers! This was the first time we’ve had winter pansies. I planted them in the fall and have enjoyed them all winter. They’re on their last leg I think, but I’m loving it while it lasts. And our tulips popped up!

Happy Spring!

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Floral Spring Wreaths

By Cate | February 29, 2012 - 12:00 pm | crafting, decor, Our House, spring, st. patrick's day

5 Comments

Back in the day (maybe 10 years ago?) I made two floral lampshades. I just hot-glued fake flowers onto a cheap lampshade. It was romantic and whimsical. They lived in Elsie’s nursery most recently, but I’m way over them now. (Soon I’ll share the “new” lamps I’m using in there.) I decided to upcycle the flowers into something fresher. This is what I came up with:

Here’s a look at the old lampshades:

I was thinking I’d have to disassemble them, removing each flower, then attach them individually to the wreath. But, I started to just cut the shade apart. I knew the shade itself wouldn’t be usable anyway. Look what happened:

It was a perfect arc for the wreaths I had! I just trimmed away the extra shade.

I used floral wire to attach them to the wreaths.

I picked up some green ribbon to wrap around the wreath, to visually blend the flowers and the twigs of the wreath.

The striped ribbon didn’t stand out enough, though, so I got some wider solid ribbon and liked it much better. I used hot glue to join the two ribbon ends in the back.

From the back some of the old white lampshade shows. I’m fine with it though, since it mostly blends in with the white petals.

Even if you’re starting from scratch, this would be a great way to assemble a wreath. You could use heavy paper or cardboard on which to glue your flowers. Then just attach that to the wreath. It will be super easy if when I decide to change the wreaths up.

The white and green color combo is classic, and will be seasonally appropriate for months! St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Spring, and even into Summer.

What’s going on with you guys? Any happy crafting coincidences lately?

Check out my fave link parties: Southern Hospitality, At the Picket Fence, Serenity Now, and Making Lemonade

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Tiny Pantry Makeover

By Cate | February 3, 2012 - 12:00 pm | DIY, Our House, pantry

6 Comments

Yesterday was Frank’s birthday, and I cooked up a pretty yummy meal, if I do say so myself. I’ll share the recipe next week. I’ll say it involved potatoes, cheese, wine, and duck. Yum!

I’m jumpin’ on the pantry makeover bandwagon. I’ve been inspired my many bloggers who have done the same, and our lil pantry was getting out of hand!

New shelves, a fresh coat of paint, and a few new baskets made all the difference.

The first thing I did was take a quick inventory of everything we had in there and thought about what we wanted the pantry to hold in the end. That helped me think through how many shelves we’d need and how much height each shelf would require.

Those wire shelves that used to be in the pantry weren’t installed level, and didn’t maximize the space. I started by removing them. None of the screws were in studs, so every single one was in a drywall anchor, leaving dozens of huge gaping holes once it was all removed.

I glopped spackle in and let it dry. I knew from experience that when the holes are big and you use a lot of spackle, it shrinks a bit when it dries. So, once it had dried, I went back and added another layer. I like the pink variety…you know it’s dry when it has turned white.

Once all of the spackle had dried, I sanded the spots and used painters tape to map out my new shelf locations and the depth of the new shelves.

I knew the highest shelf needed to be pretty shallow (8″), since it was above the door frame. Most of the shelves are 12″ deep, but the one right in the middle is the full depth of the pantry…18″. Once I had decided on the locations, I wrote down all of the measurements and took down the tape. Then, I painted the inside the same color as our kitchen, a pale blue.

Next it was time to get out the power tools. I’m so lucky to have a handy husband who has a pretty nice workshop set up in our garage. I feel fairly confident using several of the tools, and was able to complete this whole project on my own. I picked up pre-primed 0.5×2″ slats to screw to the walls, on which the shelves would sit. I needed to cut these down to fit in the pantry. As Norm would say, the most important safety equipment is your safety glasses!

Our pantry is less than plum, so the slats to support the shelves would all be slightly different. I just made sure to mark them well so I wouldn’t get them mixed up and used the chop saw to cut them to length.

I shopped through Frank’s drawers to find screws that would be long enough to get through the slats, the drywall, and well into the studs.

Using a level, I screwed these into the back wall, making sure to hit the studs.

The side slats varied in length, depending on how deep I planned each shelf to be. You can see that here, under the shelves. I painted those the same color as the wall.

I used a circular saw to cut down the piece of plywood I used for shelves. I set up sawhorses, and again measured and cut each shelf for the specific location it would be installed.

Once the shelves were cut, I primed, then painted them. I used leftover off-white paint that was used for our cabinets before we moved in. I was so anxious to fill the pantry and get all of this stuff off of our counters, I neglected to take a pic of it empty. Here it is all filled up!

Frank and I are both pretty tall, so we use that top shelf for tall shallow things like cereal, and we can reach it easily.

I made the labels in Word using Emily’s cute new Fancy Font. It was only $1.99 and comes with a bunch of adorable symbols. Then I “laminated” them with packing tape, cut slits, and threaded white grosgrain ribbon to tie them to the baskets. Our printer was running out of color ink, and I’m pretending it’s an intentional ombre effect.

It’s a mishmash of baskets and containers, some of which we had before, and some of which I picked up at thrift shops. Ball jars work for some containers. Oh, and whenever I see lazy susans at the thrift shop, I grab them up. They are so handy in kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I used one here.

Recycling sits on the floor.

If you’re wondering, our cans and jars live in another place. See that door just to the right of the pantry? It goes into our laundry room.

Hanging on the back of the door is this handy rack. In a perfect world we’d have a big walk-in pantry, complete with small appliance storage, bins for flour and sugar, an extra fridge/freezer, and plenty of room for cans. Actually, I’d take Jen’s in a heartbeat. She just made over her gorgeous roomy pantry.

So far I’m loving it! It feels so much more organized, and the space is used more efficiently.

Linking up at Serenity Now.

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Our Porch…so far

By Cate | January 23, 2012 - 12:00 pm | design, inspiration, Our House, porch

7 Comments

As I mentioned in our Home Goals post, our major project this year is to finish up the porch. We’ve been working on it for over a year (and by “we” I mean Frank). Slowly but surely, he’s been plugging along on weekends and holidays, weather permitting. I wanted to give you guys a little background on how it all has progressed so far and some inspiration images of where I’d like it to end up. Like this lovely spot…

source

When we moved in five years ago (! where did that time go!?), our backyard boasted a cement patio and an oddly shaped “garden” including an old stump.

And here we are today:

A few years ago Frank dug up the stump, we redesigned the garden area, and included a raised garden for veggies in the summer. Last year Frank started on the porch.

The new porch roof prompted the replacement of our entire roof, which he and some friends did this summer. That was a huge, time consuming job.

So, here we are now:

The bulk of the porch work is done, but there are lots of little details left to do.
- seal, grout, then seal again the tile floors
- install 2 porch doors
- build the railings
- cover the columns with finish wood
- build a small platform and stairs to the yard
- install the finish boards on the ceiling
- install electrical/lighting
- paint it all
- screen it in
- furnish and decorate (my favorite part!)
- finish the bottom of the porch with lattice or some slats or something (including a small door for access)
- landscape along the perimeter

I’ve sketched up a little visual of the finished space as I see it. Seating area on the left, dining area on the right.

Of course, I’ve been pinning like crazy since the work has been underway, thinking through how we can best use the space, and envisioning bright, happy colors and soft deep seating. Personally, my number one wish is to have a space to nap. I would love a big daybed that would also function as a sofa. There are some amazing hanging bed photos floating around, which are just dreamy.

[All inspiration images can be found here.]

But, as much as I like to rearrange furniture, a simple day bed is a safer bet.

Another priority is a big dining table. I imagine us having having meals out here often.

Extra chairs for big gatherings will be hung nearby.

And the ceiling simply must be painted haint blue.

The railings will be white, and the door frames black.

I have a project in mind, similar to these mason jar lights. They’ll be strung around the rafters.

And I have this beautiful vintage bicycle that is much nicer to look at than it is to ride. I see it hanging against the house, in the peak of the ceiling, with a basket overflowing with trailing plants. I couldn’t find a picture of that. Maybe mine will be the first!

The steps down to the yard will be strewn with pots.

I can just feel the warms breeze,

hear the laughter of friends,

taste the cool crisp wine,

smell the freshly cut grass,

and see those fireflies flickering.

Y’all come on over when we’re done! Do you have any suggestions or ideas for a comfy, functional porch? Is there something I’m missing that you think we’d like? Any thoughts on weather proofing a mattress or cushion for the day bed? I’d love to hear any thoughts.

Linking to: Chatty Chics

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2012 Home Goals

By Cate | January 11, 2012 - 1:00 pm | goals, link parties, Our House

6 Comments

Last week I shared a few personal resolutions for the new year, but today I’m focusing on tangible goals for our home. Have you guys read The Nesting Place blog? I stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago, and was hooked when I read her tag line, “it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” And “do less, be more.” LOVE that! I have a hard time finding this balance, and often strive to make things in our home “just right.” But, I see the futility in that, and long for more simplicity. The Nester encourages us to love what we have in our home and to make it our own, rather than trying to mimic others. Her philosophy kind of goes along with my personal resolution this year to love what I have.

So, she posed some thought provoking questions and invited us all to share our own home goals. Frank and I sat down to talk through ideas that are do-able for this year. This is what we came up with.

1) Frank cut down a tree in the front yard this fall, and the stump still needs to come out.

2) Our backyard is quite wide and shallow, backed by a steep ivy-covered bank. Currently there are four small trees/shrubs scattered randomly in the open grass. We need to get those suckers out, to open up the yard. We will relocate them to more suitable homes. There’s a small dogwood, a rose trellis, a flaming azalea, and a random shrub.

3) Our neighbors did a LOT of work to their house this year, including adding a wall along our property line. Unfortunately we had just put a fence there last year, so theirs has rendered most of ours useless. Here’s what our fence looked like then. See how it comes out of the side of the house, then goes back, all the way up that steep bank in the back?

This is what it looks like now:

Their fence is a little more substantial than ours, would you say? Most of our fence panels have been removed, but the front facing gate area needs to remain and function for keeping the dog in. These harsh winter shadows are making it difficult to see the gap, but there is one. We’ve propped loose panels to block the opening for now. Here’s an angle from our back yard. Is anyone in need of picket fence panels? We have 5 or 6 to get rid of.

So, we need to reconfigure the fence in this area. And remove the excess fence and posts along that wall.

It wasn’t easy building the fence on that steep bank. Of course we cemented those posts so they’d be extra secure. Those’ll be reeeeal fun to get out. Maybe we’ll just take a chainsaw to it.

So far the projects are pretty small and could be tackled easily in a weekend each. Now, for the big one…

4) Finish the porch.

I am SOOOO super excited to have this porch, and so very grateful to my handsome, supportive, loving, capable husband for building it. He has worked so hard to get to this point, slowly but surely. I’ll write up an entire post soon about the process so far and my vision for the finished porch. This is what we have left to do:
- seal, grout, then seal again the tile floors
- install 2 porch doors
- build the railings
- cover the columns with finish wood
- build a small platform and stairs to the yard (to the left of that sliding door above)
- install the finish boards on the ceiling
- install electrical/lighting
- paint it all
- screen it in
- furnish and decorate (my favorite part!)
- finish the bottom of the porch with lattice or some slats or something (including a small door for access)
- landscape along the perimeter

There’s a lot to do. Having the little Bean around has slowed things down a bit. It’s difficult to work on the porch on the weekends, when we can all be spending family time together. I’m always amazed to see bloggers doing major projects with little ones around. How do they do it?!

5) Fix the rail on these stairs. It’s rusted through and really sketchy.

The plan is to build a deck in this space that will join up to the porch. You’ll walk out of this door onto the future deck, and could turn right into the porch or go down to the yard via stairs.

But, keeping the Nester’s suggestions in mind, we’re taking it slow and not pushing ourselves to have this deck portion done this year. Perhaps it will happen next year.

Also on the “maybe” list:
- Our master bathroom is a hot mess. Should we find ourselves with a surplus of time and money, we’d love to gut and reno it. I’ll spare you a photo, but leave you with this visual: Avocado green tile, some of which was covered with beadboard by the previous owner. The grout in the cave-like shower is all chippy and broken, and I’m scared to even think about what’s growing behind it.

- The black wrought iron on the front porch is waaaaay past it’s prime. Let’s revisit the first photo.

Our front porch is low enough to the ground where we could just have a couple nice substantial painted wood columns, without railings. I’d love to replace the weird ceramic tile on the floor of the porch, too. Again, when win the lottery. Or maybe next year!

There are a million other things I’d love to do, inside and out, but this list feels honest and doable.

Thanks, Nester, for inspiring us to think through this!

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Our House, Elsie’s Nursery

By Cate | January 8, 2012 - 8:25 pm | baby, decor, design, nursery, Our House

7 Comments

I’m back with another glimpse into our little home. One of my favorite things about being pregnant was designing the nursery! I took these photos just before Elsie was born, so they’re almost a year old now, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like then. Things are shifting around, as she grows and as her needs change. Soon I’ll write up a post about that, and what to consider when decorating a nursery, knowing how things will change as the babe grows.

This is what the room looked like before:

The wall color, window treatments, and light fixture above were all as the previous owner had left them. I had been using it as my craft/sewing/junk room. This photo was taken after I cleaned out all of my stuff.

We knew we were having a girl, and I wanted to create a unique, eclectic nursery with feminine touches, without using a lot of pink.

I was inspired to choose a navy blue for the walls by Lauren Liess. I just loved her son’s nursery, and am truly inspired by all of her design work!

We owned a dresser to be used as the changing table (it’s the companion to the one in our guest room), and some bookshelves and a desk. The only furniture we bought was the crib, and the upholstered chair (a $20 thrift find).

The footstool was passed down to me. It’s part of a glider set like this.

source

I made a slipcover to hide all of that wood. The pleats in the slipcover allow it to still glide easily.

The curtain panels are painter’s drop cloths from Lowe’s. I pleated them at the top and hemmed them to the right length. It’s definitely the cheapest way to buy neutral fabric, at about $10 a panel.

One of my favorite parts of the room is the gallery wall behind the chair, inspired by the Petersik’s nursery. This vintage French magazine advert was my starting point for the whole room… a watercolor of blues, yellows and a few touches of pink.

We picked it up at a flea market in Provence a few years ago. I just loved the colors and whimsy, and each time I see it I’m reminded of our amazing trip. I had it matted in pale pink to feminize the room a bit. It’s one of the few pink things in the room.

I made the dog and cat silhouettes after seeing the idea on Prudent Baby. The cross stitch of dancers on the top right was made by mom for my childhood bedroom. The painting of the boy is a study that was done of Frank as a child, for a larger portrait. The two black and white photos are of Frank and I at about 18 months old.

It’s difficult to see, but on the bottom right I framed a tiny pale pink baby’s vest that was worn by my mom in the 50s.

That Brian Andreas hanging to the right of the closet doors was in Frank’s childhood room.

I found the globe below at World Market. It’s propped on a small glass tea light holder. I can tell you now what a great purchase Sophie was! Elsie still loves her, even after 9 months of play time. She’s scuffed up and worn down now, but well loved.

On the little bentwood chair hangs a very special quilt. In the 1980s my grandmother made it for my future children. I was a child at the time, but she had the foresight to create this heirloom gift.

She passed away long before I even thought about having children.

Mom and I spent a fun afternoon creating the mobile you see hanging over the crib.

It’s simply scrapbook paper circles and buttons hanging from a wire frame we created.

The framed map on the wall below is actually a piece of wrapping paper I got from Paper Source. It’s a vintage map of Paris, and a great inexpensive piece of art! We happened to have a frame that fit it perfectly. Woot woot for happy coincidences!

Vintage childrens’ books were gifted to us by our families.

Now, for the crib bedding. We went with crisp white sheets, as I love on all our beds. I whipped up the bumpers and crib skirt myself.

I wanted the skirt to “grow’ with the crib, as Elsie grows and we move the mattress lower. So, I simply sewed up four individual panels, one for each side of the crib. I then pinned those to a mattress cover that was exactly the size of the crib. That cover and the pins sit right below the mattress. We’ve since lowered the mattress, so I repinned the panels to be the right length for the new mattress height, and it all works really well.

Does that make sense? I’d be happy to do a tutorial post on this. Leave me a comment if you’d be interested in that.

On the left side of the crib is a bookshelf, similar the one under the Paris map. These two bookshelves used to belong to my grandmother. They’re similar sizes, so I painted them both a crisp glossy white, then lined the backs with polk-a-dot wrapping paper. It makes them feel like a set, even though they’re not.

Hanging above are more vintage baby clothes that were passed down to me. I love that these pieces have sentimental value, and as a novice seamstress I can appreciate all of the intricate details (can you see that scalloped hem!?).

Behind the door hangs a cork board I covered in fabric and ribbon. The white tacks on the blue ribbon are pushpins.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the nursery. Leave a comment if you have any questions!

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My “Office”

By Cate | January 5, 2012 - 12:53 pm | link parties, office, Our House

Our House: Guest Room

By Cate | January 4, 2012 - 1:00 pm | Guest Room, Our House

4 Comments

Good mornin’ to you! It’s another chilly day here in western NC. Yesterday we woke to a dusting of snow! The first of the season.

I’m back with another installment of Our House. I started this tour with a look at our foyer. The bedrooms are off the hallway on the right side of the foyer. In the photo below, the front door to the house is on the right (unseen), and the hall to the bedrooms is through that door you see on the left. Does that make any sense?

Our little home has three bedrooms, the master, the nursery, and the guest room. From the hall, the guest bedroom is the first door on the left.

Before we move on, I’ll show you the pic I took of this room before we bought the house. Eeek.

I kept it neutral, but did paint the walls a warmer cream/greige.

The bed used to belong to my grandparents. It’s a double frame that we added a queen conversion kit to. Crisp white bedding is my favorite! I do like to switch out the pillows for interest. The hooks to the right are handy for hanging coats, purses, towels, whatevs.

This ginormo mirror belongs to a dresser in the Master, but didn’t work in there. Here it brings more light and helps fill that big wall.

The dresser is also from my grandparents. Two of the paintings above are from Frank’s family, one is from my grandmother’s collection, and one is actually a small mirror.

It holds a couple of photos from our wedding, and a collection of our grandmothers’ perfume bottles.

This is a guest book we’ve always had in the room. Each time a guest leaves, I look forward to seeing what they’ve written. Every once in a while we’ll go back and read from years past, reminiscing about visits with friends and family.

There’s also a small milk glass bowl where guests can leave their jewelry or keys while they’re here. I have acquired quite the milk glass collection, most of which lives in the kitchen.

To the right of the dresser is a bookshelf filled with photos, books, and family treasures. The painting above it was done by my mom years ago.

For this nightstand we used an old end table, draped with a hemstitched linen. It’s shorter than the night stand on the other side, so I stacked a few books under this lamp, so the lamps would be closer to the same height.

This old sewing box belonged to my great grandmother.

I’ve left the contents as they were when I received it. Those old wooden spools are so cool!

For the drapes, I used old hardware that had been left from the previous owner in a different room. It used have a brass finish, but I sprayed it all white. I don’t think the spray paint would hold up too well if those drapes were opened and closed often, but they stay open, so the paint works fine. The white shade is an old curtain panel from our last house. I hung it, and used white ribbons to tie it up at this height. The blinds are the only part of the window treatment that really functions. The drapes and “shade” just add visual height and width to the window.

Two white chairs offer a place to rest a bag or clothes. Our cedar chest moves around the house, and works well at the foot of the bed, but is serving a purpose elsewhere at the moment. So, there’s a little look at our guest room!

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