My Home is Open to the Public this Saturday & YOU'RE INVITED!!!

 

  Hello + Hello!

Long time no post!

Yeah....I've been a little behind on blogging lately...

BUT

for a great reason....and ultimately an even BETTER cause.

My home,

amongst 4 other amazing homes

will be on tour this Saturday December 7th from 1-5.

It's a benefit tour for

Bethany Christian Services

which is a very worthy adoption agency

who works with

people both locally and abroad.

If you want more details you can head right over to our shop blog

Grandiflora Home and Garden

to find out more about tickets & special discounts we are offering to

ticket holders the day of the sale only.

 

I've quickly uploaded a very few photos of my home

FROM LAST YEAR

 via my  

INSTAGRAM

feed.

 

After all.....

....I didn't want to spoil the fun for what my home looks like this year,

as there have been many changes and additions to the decor

as you can probably imagine!!!

My hubby and I have been working very hard on a tight time schedule

&

an even tighter budget

to make our home festive with

second hand treasures,

Christmas décor

&

good old fashioned talent

to bring you the

charming-est

Century Old

1913

Christmas Bungalow

you have ever seen!

LOL!!!

So,

if you're local...

come on out for a really fun day

touring not only my cozy cottage....

but

FOUR

other homes

decked out for the Christmas Season.

YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

Both of my sisters'

(also current & former owners at Grandiflora)

homes will be on tour, as well

as another gal who's hubby is a home designer/contractor...

as well as

Tami's sweet stone house, just down the road from me.

See more of her home story on her

blog right over here.

I

hope you can be a part of this wonderful tour

for a wonderful-er

cause!

;)

Hugs,

Trish



Trying to Contain Myself!!

 Hello + Hello!

As you know, I've been working on my studio/office for awhile now.

I was lucky enough to have the joy of reorganizing all my crafting supplies this past week.

What a ton of work!

But,

I'm happy to say that other than a few rogue items roaming throughout this house,

I think I've finally begun to contain myself!!

YAY!!!

I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of my colorful personality

shining through my crazy collections:

 A very happy desk view.

 Such a lovely thrifted mess.

 Colorful Doily addiction!!!

 A happy yarn ball collection.

 My so called "needles in a haystack".

(NOTE: I don't knit or chrochet...but I thrift!)

 A half finished wreath project with scraps.

The beginning of a very beautiful thing...my storage bins filled

with color coordinated vintage fabric scraps!!

YAY!!

Like I've said before,

I hope to do a photoshoot when the studio/office is done...

but until then,

Instagram is my friend.

It's hotter than blazes here lately

( I'm a weeny and declare anything over 90* to be "blazes"!)

So,

I've felt uninspired to work on new projects...where oh where is

my favorite month of the year???

SEPTEMBER

Oh yes...

she's just around the corner.

Warm days, cool nights.

Sunshine & wild colors

all enjoyed from the comfort of

Indian Summer.

I. Can't. Wait.

Cheers!

T.

xx

Progress In The Studio & A New Paint Color!

 Hello + Hello!

I'm so excited to tell you that I'm making progress again on that pesky studio of mine!

What alot of rigamaroll this has been.

I FINALLY finished painting the walls (4 coats on EVERYTHING)

But...

I'm still working on some of the furniture etc.

I have been very excited to see the new color of

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that was fairly recently released.

(I could've used this color a few months ago however...hurumph!)

Anyway,

the new color (above) is called Florence, and it's a true turquoise that harkens to

peacocks & tropical climes.

YUMMY SATURATION!!!

OH JOY!

.....

I did want to share with you the fact that I was able to start loading this old

"closet without the doors on"

with all my storage containers that I've been collecting for quite some time now.

 I have to admit, being an artist....this part of the process really sucks.

I hated every minute of it.

I know, I know.....

...you organizational freaks out there would've loved this part.

I however, can't wait to get to the creating part!

I managed by inserting some of my favorite colorful vintage containers!

 In the end?

It turned out pretty great!

Now I have to go through the heinous task of sorting through all my craft supplies

and trying to act like I'm organized.

Uuuuuuuhhhhhhghhhhhh.

Oh well,

it's going to be worth it.

Or,

at least that's what I keep trying to tell myself.

(But it would be so much easier to just sit down and make a dozen fabulous somethings!)

Pray for me....

I will need patience.

T.

xx

P.S.

Stay tuned for more progress later....



A Little White Paint Never Hurt Any Space....

 Hello + Hello!

Well, here it is.

The post I've been wanting to share for quite a long time.

Just recently I took on the

HUGE

task of going through my stockpile of unruly supplies...

 ....yep...

it was a mess to go through it all.

This is a shot of the horrible task of piling it up...going through every piece...making a huge mess,

&

THEN

piling it up again in some sort of order

(sorry didn't get a shot of that).

But it was worth it to clear out the room for painting!

I should also mention that this Bungalow is 99 years old this year;

can you imagine how many coats of paint are on this woodwork?

Hmmmm......

 I decided to don the room in solid

WHITE!

I love that look for an office/studio space.

So,

armed with brushes and rollers I went to it.

Bear in mind that this was my hubby's old "den" if you will.

The colors were drab olive on the walls, black trim

&

a Harley Davidson orangey-peach on the ceiling!

I can't tell you how many gallons of paint I've gone through....

but I can tell you that it's taken me 4 coats of paint on every surface to get rid of that color!

 I've been thrilled to see the dark colors go away!

I used to have a lovely craft room in my old house, and when we moved to this one 12 years ago,

I had a beautiful one upstairs which then became my son's room...and then the other one became my other son's room!

SO,

I asked my husband if he'd be kind enough to sacrifice his "den" for me so I could have a space.

He promptly said yes and moved into the unfinished basement.

What a guy huh?

SO,

now I have the opportunity to shine!

I've been painting for days here.

He was also willing to paint the ceiling for me...I LOVE this man!!!

 I'm not officially done as of yet...so much more to do before I can move my stuff back in...

but,

...I'm getting really close!

Here's where I had to hang a couple of things on the wall just to see what the room might look like.

I'm SO IMPATIENT to have it be done!

Hopefully next time I'll take photos for you with the big

camera so you can see better than with these hazy Instagram shots.

Until then, pray that 4 coats is enough,

I don't think I can take a 5th!

xx

T.

New Knobs NO, Blue Knobs YES! Easy DIY

 Sometimes it's the little things in decorating that bring me the greatest joy.

I was putzing around the house re-doing some things for a photo shoot the other day.

I came accross this piece of furniture and thought...hmmm...wouldn't this be super cute with

 new knobs??

I really wanted to get these knobs found on Etsy from:

Door Stop Supply Shop

who sells fabulous stuff.

( I highly recommend heading over to see the selection there!)

HOWEVER,

I had just recently bought knobs in oil rubbed bronze from

Restoration Hardware

& frankly I couldn't justify spending more money

 when I knew I could redo the existing knobs myself.

SO...

I figured out a little trick to spray paint these knobs the easy way.

This is not rocket science people....

but I thought you might enjoy a little E-Z tip on how to paint your knobs without having them roll around and get icky.

( This would work with regular paint, as well as spray paint.)

Basically:

1. Remove & clean knobs.

2. Find a piece of cardboard big enough to hold all the knobs with about 6" in between each.

3. Screw the knobs onto the cardboard like you would a cabinet door & place on plastic sheet in a well ventilated area.

4. Apply spray primer (if needed) & then eventually apply various coats of spray paint until fully covered and dry.

5. Once fully cured, remove from cardboard and apply to cupboard doors.

6. Voila! Enjoy your new pop of color!

So...

like I said before,

sometimes it's the little things that we do around our homes to make it extra special.

For me, this was a free fix up as I already had the knobs and some leftover spray paint from my vintage lamp redo.

I love it when I can do something fun for free don't you???

Here's to cheap thrills for the home.

I still keep thinking of a piece I might want to buy those pretty blue glass knobs for.

I have a dresser just waiting to be beautifully restored just sitting in my basement full of goodies....

hmmmm....

Anyway,

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far?

I'd love to hear about it...or if you have any other great tips for easy-peasy redo's and you want to share....leave a comment here.

I always love to hear from you!

xoxo

T.

:D

My Buffet, a Show and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I'm sure you're still wondering what I've been up to this past month or so...

well,

one of the things I've been doing is getting my house all spruced up for

a photo shoot

( More on that one later..I know...the suspense is eating you up right? :)

But in that spruce up time,

I was using a LOT of

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

which we stock for

Chris Kenner of

Fleur de Lis Design

at

Our Shop Grandiflora

You'll be very excited to know that if you've been wanting to see what the buzz on

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

(not to be confused with chalk board paint)

then you can head on over to

 The Spring Lynden Craft & Antique Show

at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds here in Lynden, Washington

where Chris will be sampling the paint!

We love carrying the paint in the shop as it's such an asset for all of us to use.

I highly suggest going over to check it out...and if you aren't local,

head on over to your local stockist to find out more.

I am personally in love with this stuff!

Stay tuned for more info on the photoshoot of my home...

I can't wait to tell you all about it soon!

Have a great day everyone!

:D

T.

xoxo

Hallelujah, When Sun Burns Off Fog...

 Yep.

I bet you're wondering what I've been up to for all this

"time off"

from blogging.

Well....

Frankly I'm not at liberty to tell just yet.

However...that doesn't mean I can't show you some peeks!

 Remodeling, painting, crafting, building, distressing, crying, laughing, worrying, sighing, more painting, wallpapering, sewing, dreaming, creating, staying up too late, and cleaning!

Whew!!!

 Just like these photos, I'm a bit washed out just now....in a state of sheer fog.

But....from what I remember....sunshine eventually burns off the fog.

So...

I'll wait for that moment in the sun when all is crisp, dry and bright as can be.

It won't be long now....and you'll be the first to know when my "fog" lifts.

For I'll have lots to show you when it does.

Hoping you are all well, and missing our chats together.

Hugs and Kisses for the last bits of Winter.

:)

Trish

Comandeering the Mancave for Girly Pursuits



The orginal Man Cave a la Chad Brink my Hubby
Kinda neat huh?
Circa 2003-ish



Colors resemble those of the original Harley Davidson Logo
Black, Green, Cream, &....

Orange!
( you can't make it out in these pictures....but the ceiling is a coral orange color)
My hubby picked this color scheme himself...obviously he's lived with an Interior Designer for too long!
:)

Bear in mind these previous photos were taken pre-digital....so...the color isn't that great.
I think you get the idea...this was the rock n roll headquarters of the house....with a dash of Harley, and a smidge of rugged outdoorsman for seasoning!

 There finally came a point where I had to ask Chad to move his things into the basement because my online shops were starting to take off and I needed the space for storage.

I had one failed attempt a little over a year ago at trying to paint this room for my use

( can you see the blue green in the photo below? )

Chad was kind enough to move into the basement (which is bigger anyway).
He was able to combine his passions all into one area...not very pretty or neat yet...but at least all in one place!
So I started plunking not often used items into this room...a little at a time it became very full with....junk!
Sadly, this is what the room had become. I just couldn't find the time to get into this room with 2 little ones around & all my business work.
Needless to say, I've been keeping the doors closed on this room forever!
Can you see that dust???
ICKY-POO!

There really is a fair amount of space here.
One door connects to the living room, the other connects to the main hallway.
There are 2 windows one facing south and the other west.
Of course I love all the vintage details from 1913!
The previous owners even added a sweet built-in closet which you saw above with Chads' guitars in it.
We took the closet doors off and installed hockey-puck lighting...not sure if I'll leave it that way?

Again, here is the sad failed attempt at painting. I really like the color scheme....but think I might opt for white to keep it even more clean and simple?

Here is a good example of what you DON'T want your desk to look like!
It's ok...this desk is going away anyway!

Some great space for more shelving or cupboards eventually.

Here's the built-in I was talking about...pretty great huh?

Original Fir Floors. We refinished them ourselves...so not perfect...but still pretty sweet!

Oh! What's that I see???? WHITE PAINT???
This is going to be a slow process...

I hope you're patient to wait for an "After" from me. I'm going to have to work around all the big "stuff" in the room as there is no where else for it to go at the moment.

First coat has gone on one wall....just 3 more to do!
UGH!

I wanted to show you some inspiration here for the style of office I'd like to create.

So, I figured it would be best to send you to my

Studio/Office Pinterest Board Filled With Great Ideas!

I hope you take the time to go and check it out!!!

You won't be sorry.

In the mean time I'll be here....s l o w l y   p a i n t i n g   a n d    c l e a n i n g.

;)