antiques/junking – Page 17

The end of an era

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2010

We've done it. The shed is empty. In clearing it out, we came across the sign I used to put bythe road during sale weekends, and someone stuck it in the ground here. Isn't the whole set up cute?? I was surprised that I felt no remorse at all, it was truly a relief to have it all behind me.

I'd stopped having the sales quite a while ago, but always thought that I'd have just one more little one to clear out remnants. But each year, the stuff got dustier and dirtier. There was still some great inventory left, an old iron bed, a mosaic table, doors, colums, dressers, chandeliers…. on and on.

7 truckloads total of goodies left here this weekend. All given away. It felt wonderful.

I could have taken it to the Salvation Army and gotten receipts for tax write offs… I could have listed the good stuff on Craigs List…. I could have had a sale… I could have just let it sit and rot… all these things were in my mind for years.

But I didn't do a single one. And it hung over me. Looming as a big chore that I had to face.

Finally, I just decided to let it go. Just let it leave. I knew there were things in there that people would love to have. It certainly wasn't just trash. It was good stuff that I had lovingly scrounged! But it was no longer worth anything to ME.

I'd made my profits from the business. This accumlation was paid for long ago, and I find things so cheap that I had very little cash into it. And if I considered how much I'd made over the years on the stuff I did sell, it certainly covered the small loss on these things.

And now we are ready for chickens!

The building is large, one side long and narrow, the other a big square. I'm thinking the smaller side for birds. If I ever get a pony for Sugarwings someday, it can live on the other side. We used to have 5 horses, but have since taken down the old barn. But I think that a pony would be really happy in my antique shop.

We also cleaned out the garage, to make room for two cars and the tractor. I had a furniture painting business in the past and the 24 x 24 building had been my workshop. So, another collection I had was bits and pieces of trim and hardware and interesting bits of wood.

In other words, stuff that rats love to build nests in if you leave it sitting for a few years unused!

So, everything was pulled from the garage, some was burnt, some went to a junker friend who also hauled off dozens of cans of paint.

We got the saw out and cut up my work bench. Since it had been built of pressure treated lumber, I thought of using it the top of it as a "bridge" or sidewalk in the garden, so we sat it in the creeping myrtle behind the house. The bottom half will be moved to the chicken coop to hold the nests.

And speaking of nests, here is a baby update:

My son's Beloved is still having contractions. She did way too much yard work on Saturday building a compost pile in her yard and had a rough weekend from that. On Sunday, I was really worried about her, she was so weak and pale, from contractions all night.

But she is on bed rest and now they have slowed down.

The newest fairy baby isn't due till November 11th or so. I'm hoping that this girl will be patient and wait till then to arrive, but her folks are hoping otherwise. The momma's other 5 kids were all born early and she feels ready NOW.

I'll let you know as things move along. Keep them in your prayers, please?

Lucky

antiques/junking, family, housework, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2010

You guys are all pretty nice to have around, you know it? Thanks!

Its such a beautiful day here in Kansas, what a great October weekend. We are going downtown with good friends to hear some live music in the park, and to enjoy this weather. But before that….

I have to make a stab at cleaning out this.

It used to be my antique shop. Before that it was a chicken coop. And now we are thinking about turning it back into a chicken coop again.

So, I've been trying to get ahold of people who I thought might want some of the junk that is left over. I'd like to have the building empty by tomorrow. What no one takes will be on the curb, feel free to stop and look through my trash if you are driving by!

And this is only half the shed. The other side is just as bad.

I'd thought about turning it into a play house for Sugarwings, but the idea of fresh farm eggs is just too tempting. We already have some fencing we could slap onto the back of the building and we have some shelves that would make good roosting.

No matter what we do with it, I need to get it de-junked. This stuff has sat here for years, unused and unloved. I know there has to be someone who wants it. I thought about doing a rummage sale, but it turns out that I am too lazy. Cleaning it will be bad enough, but sitting out there early in the morning trying to sell stuff for quarters and dimes? Its better just to find homes for it all.

I had to tell myself that I've already made my profits from that business, and now I'm out of the antique shop biz and the rest of the inventory has to go. Do you ever hang on to stuff, knowing that its worth something? Well, this is GOOD junk, that for some reason just didn't sell. Wrong time, wrong place, I guess. But even though it is "worth something" its worthless to me just rotting in the shed.

The stuff deserves a new home. And I deserve a clean shed.

Untill the chickens poo all over the shed, at least. Not so clean then.

Have you seen the newest Somerset Life? Lots of blog friends are in it!

Including these pretty pages by my Texas shopping bud, Lisa.

I was lucky enough to score two articles in it. And that sweet Lisa actually called me to congratulate me on them! I don't think she has any idea how touched I was by her gesture.

See, around here, no one is very impressed by my work.

One article is about my peat pot frozen Charlotte fairies. The photography was really nice on this article, I loved the faded, blurred pastel backgrounds they used for the pics.

And I was excited to see that one of the upcoming challenges for artists is to use a peat pot in their own artwork and send it in. The deadline is Feb. 15th if you are going to make something for it.

And speaking of good pictures- my friend, Carol, took the photos of my house that are in the current Somerset Home.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. Not just being in two magazines on the stands at the same time, but in having good blog friends who leaped to my defense about the deleted post without even knowing the story behind it. Once everyone knew that it was the mom who didn't like what I said about the photos, everyone understood. Many of us were new moms at one time and knew completely how she felt.

And I'm lucky to have such a good family that pulls my foot out of my mouth for me every once in a while when I get it stuck there. And then they love me anyway, even with toe breath.

Save room for dessert!

antiques/junking, Food and Drink, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2010

The Dorothy tag books have kept me so busy that I almost forgot to show you one of the BEST parts of Roundtop- Royers!

This yellow brick road was right up my alley. And it leads to some great food.

On our first evening at the flea market, a food stand was pointed out to me and people mentioned eating there. Well, I'm not big on fast food, or fair food, and really wanted to sit down with a nice meal and some air conditioning and was glad when my friends agreed, that a cocktail and cool air was tempting. So we went to a steak house instead.

The next day, they wanted to eat at the food stand for lunch, even though the line was a mile long. I'm usually pretty easy going and can fit in with whatever plans everyone has, so I said sure. Thinking that I could always just eat a power bar if the food didn't look all that good.

But DANG! It was amazing. I had a grilled shrimp salad that was so good it could have been served in a fancy dancy restaurant with starched white tablecloths.

Now, I knew why everyone was raving about Royers. They had a shack set up in the midst of the flea market, as well as their main restaurant down town. So, the next day, we decided to try the main diner, and went early before it opened to put our names in. Good thing we did, when it opened, it filled. In a snap.

Its colorful, funky, funny, charming, and delicious. The second lunch was even better than my first. I had the same grilled shrimp, but this time on top of a tender hunk of salmon. With black eyed peas and fresh vegetables. Lunch wasn't cheap, but it was worth it, and the service was great. Happy, smiling people at both establishments.

I want to go back next spring just for another piece of their peach pie….

Gifts for me and gifts for you

antiques/junking, celebrations, Food and Drink, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 1, 2010

As wonderful as the shopping was in Roundtop, the best part was the people. Of course. I just love meeting up with blog buddies, and finding out that they are even more fun in person than I expected.

Lisa and Jodie came with gifts too, that's always a big plus when your buddies are artists!!

And I got to meet the beautiful Elizabeth, who'd I'd heard so much about on her Mom's blog.

Sandy also brought her cute daughter, Jen, who I had wanted to meet. Sandy and I have shared stories and worries about our kids and hate it that we live so far apart. If we didn't, I'd be playing matchmaker for Ryan and Jen!

Lisa and I got into the theme of the night for Sweet T's party. We were supposed to come up with unique serving ideas made from junk.

I brought my crown "cloche" for a plate of crackers to go along with her doll head dip holder. The winner was a pair of mellons in a bra, but there were some great ideas. The lamp shade behind our dishes has a plate of treats on top of it, and there was also a chandelier with the votives filled full of strawberries.

And Yay! I got to meet Cindy. Who is not only talented, she has the prettiest complexion you'll ever see. If I ever get down to her Paper Cowgirls event some day, I'll have to drag her skin care secrets from her.

Sandy made these cheerful booties for my new grandbaby. Tonight we are going to the baby shower, so I'll be bringing them to the expectant mom, she will just love them!

And there were gift bags filled with treats from the French Cupboard. From all the gifties and treats, that everyone was giving out, I could have gotten by without doing any shopping at all. But….

Of course I shopped! At Cole's, Lisa found these French net curtain panels, but didn't get them. I scooped them right up as soon as she turned them down.

Heck 2 years ago, I didn't know what French net was, but now I can't get enough of it. I guess I'd always seen it and loved the look, just didn't know the name. Its a very delicate lace, with flowers over a fine netting.

That kind of lace can run really high, but I've been lucky. These were slightly damaged, but I didn't care. The four panels were $125, which is cheaper than buying lace panels at Target. And these are Victorian. Since they were made for some old, elegant, turn of the century mansion (well, at least that is where I've pictured them) they are LONG. Like 9 feet or so. I've just draped them over a tension rod and clipped them in place with a curtain hook.

There was a tent in the "fields" that had vintage linens in mounds on table tops, for great prices. They also had them for sale by the pound too.

I bought decorated scarves, some as gifts and a chiffony one in gray with rosebuds to use as a runner on my dining table. It was 5 bucks!

I found a few more odds and ends, as I unpack I'll take some photos. But the biggest bargain of them all was this basket of flowers.

I'm choosing two winners from the guesses, no one got it exactly right. There were 89 bundles of flowers, and Sue guessed 88.

But if I count the individual blooms, there were over 250!! Cheryl guessed 135, that is the highest guess I got, so she'll get a corsage too.

Thanks for taking the time to guess. Its surprising to see just how many there were. I was shocked when I actually counted them out.

Wow, is it really October? I have to announce the winner of my September giveaway, one of the projects from Romantic Gothic Ghosts. The tutorial is still up and running, you have time to make some Orange-free, romantically inspired Halloween decor for your own home.

Or if you just want to win something to decorate with, leave a comment any time this month. I'll be giving away another one of my creations for October!

September's winner is: Elaine (Etta Rose)

The Hat Whisperer takes on Texas

antiques/junking, flowers, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2010

Roundtop was even better than I had expected, the trip was just the best. Of course, with Jodie hauling us around, it had to be good. That girl knows everyone. And everyone just loves her. I can sure see why.

It was a fun group to be a part of. Beth and I had been wanting to meet Lisa for the longest time, and just knew that she'd be wonderful, and an instant buddy. And yep, she was!

This is Jodie, the Cajun Queen Bee, Lisa, Beth and I. Beth is doing everyone a favor and holding my eyes open because we all get tired of taking photo after photo with my eyes shut.

For some reason, I tend to ruin a LOT of pictures by closing my eyes as the shutter snaps-Beth, Anne, and Jodie both have photos posted of me with my eyes closed!!

We saw some great displays and over the top booths, and we didn't even get to stay for the Marburger show, which is legendary for its originality and showmanship.

One booth that I just fell in love with was Seed Box.

Their style seems so effortless.

Oh, and Miss Sweet T….. so much good stuff to dig through!

Anne of Fiona and Twig joined us for the afternoon, with her charmer of a husband.

Her darling Mr Twig, not only snapped photos of us all together, he watched our shopping carts as we puttered around. Plus entertained us with his sparkling conversation. That guy is a keeper.

Are you wondering why I chose to wear such an unflattering dress ?

(It would be pretty on someone young, tall, and thin, but on me- it looks like a cross between something that Bette Davis wore in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and an old dress an escapee from a polygamist colony would wear)

I wore it because its made of a gauzy material that was so comfy and cool that I was able to survive the unbearable Texas heat.

The dress is 20 years old and I know I am too old to pull it off, and usually it is only worn during fairy dress up parties with Sugarwings.

But, it is so comfortable, I couldn't help myself.

Beth and I were warned we'd have sticker shock in Texas, just like we were before we went to California. But what I've learned in travelling and shopping around is that prices are unpredictable. They vary so much in booth to booth or mall to mall that it doesn't matter what state you are in, you can find sky high prices and bargains too.

Its all in the digging.

And in asking politely for the best price. These flowers and multi flowered corsages were all marked $5-8 each, which were some of the cheapest ones I'd seen in Texas. When I asked for a "volume price" she sold me the whole bunch for….oh, I'm embarrassed to say…. its such a good deal!

Okay, you drug it out of me.

FIFTY DOLLARS!!!!!!

That is a bargain in any state. I had been happy to find a couple floral hats under ten bucks to start with, but this? The mother lode!

Do I look as gleeful as I feel??????

(and yes, I see that my eyes are closed)

If you can guess how many flowers were in the basket, I'll give you one of the corsages.

Leave your guess on THIS post. I'll announce the winner on Friday, the person closest to the correct amount will win.

You can also win one of my Romantic Gothic Ghost creations by leaving a comment on any post, I'll draw that name on Friday too.

And don't forget that I have a sale in the Boutique. If you use the coupon code " Roundtop " you will get a 20% discount on all of your purchases. The sale ends Thursday.

Here is a clarification: I will count EACH FLOWER. Corsages will be multiple flowers, not count as one.

edit- contest OVER

Art ADHD

antiques/junking, fairies, flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2010

Today, I finished a fairy painting that was more than a bit overdue…. Sorry, Janice! But its finally ready now!!

I was given a stack of pictures of these two sisters, and some info about things they liked. The older girl enjoys pulling her baby sister in a wagon, so I put the littlest fairy in a flower petal cart.

As proper Lawrence, Kansas girls, they both like the Jayhawks. So I added a pet Jayhawk for them.

And the older girl enjoys reading to her sister. How sweet is that? So, I included a bag of fairy tale books.

After I have my paints out, I wonder why I don't do watercolor more often. I think that I should at least leave some paints and brushes on my desk to remind me that I am a painter…. and maybe to incorporate some painting into my collage work too.

My interests are spread out quite a bit. I adore working with millinery, ephemera, and well, most things old and pretty. But painting was my first love and I should try to get back to it more often.

What I really love to paint are flowers. Especially if I make the picture look vintage. But I do love cutting and gluing, and using cherished old lace, old postcards, WALLPAPER (yummy yummy wallpaper), and rhinestones in my art too. So, I can't picture going back to painting full time like I used to. Its just too fun to find cool old things and imagine what they can be made into.

Plus, the hunt is half the fun. As much as I love to paint, going to a retail store and buying a tube of paint is no comparison to hitting a flea market to find supplies!

Even silly things like this.

And even sillier ones like this! Life is too short to limit myself to just one style and one type of art. So, I'll dabble in paint like always, and still flit from idea to idea, playing with ephemera, and making stuff no one wanted into something pretty.

Even though, some days I wonder… if I had stuck with one thing and really worked with it for a life time, would I actually be successful?

Or just bored?

If you are like me and love to use vintage supplies, I'm adding these items to the Boutique, with more coming in the next few days.

Its the Process that Counts

antiques/junking, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2010

Lately, one of Sugarwing's favorite games is playing bride. Today I was lucky to find a vintage dress up bridal gown at a flea market, still in its original box! She spied it in the studio immediately and had to marry her puppy as soon as she could shimmy into the dress.

The dress is about 10 sizes too big for her, and kind of fragile. I'm not sure if its the right outfit for my little wild child to play in. Plus, now that she and the dog are already married, she doesn't really need to wear it anymore. It was a quick ceremony, but lovely and heartfelt, so the dress has had its use.

And we have the wedding photos from the day. Of course, she might want to save the gown, hoping that her daughter (or puppy?) will someday want to wear it, but it seems to me that most daughters want to pick out their own gown, and rarely wear mom's.

I might hang on to it for a while, to see if she asks about it again. If she's forgotten about it in a week or so, I have a feeling it will end up in the Boutique.

Another game we had fun with today, was "Find the Picture". My copy of Somerset Home has arrived, and it has the article about my home in it (with photos by Carol Spinski). Sugarwings looked at the pictures in the book and then found the spot in the house where they were taken.

She is much better at that game than my husband is. One time, when his mom was visiting from out of state, he was proudly showing her an article that I had written for Country Victorian and talking about the house and how these photos were of the room upstairs, and those were of the kitchen before we remodeled. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the article wasn't even mine.

The photos weren't even of our own house.

That is why I can do anything at all to my cottage and foof it up any old way I please. My husband doesn't even notice! He could live in a pink cotton candy explosion of a doll house and not know the difference. That gives me full license to foof!

Of course, over the years, there have been a lot of changes and I can't blame him for not being able to keep up with what our house looks like. When I was in the furniture painting and antique biz, the look would change weekly sometimes. If I found something wonderful at a garage sale, it would go right into the house and the piece it replaced would go to the mall.

Now that I don't sell furniture, the revolving door has slowed down. But I do like a change now and then, and mostly get it by repainting and rearranging.

This photo is of my studio a few years back. I've added it and a few more pictures to the Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour (hosted by Karen Valentine) post I did a while back, and added a button to my side bar with a link to that posting, if anyone wants to see some of the past looks I've had in the room.

As a matter of fact, while out junking and scrounging today, I found a new glass door cabinet to fill with supplies, so my studio is getting another mini redo this week too. I'll have some more pictures to add in the next couple of days.

Since I don't have the antique business anymore, I try to keep myself entertained with smaller foofing projects. Gift wrapping has become a big hobby of mine. This is a package sent out this week, it was a Bible Quotes booklet, so I wrapped it in hymnal sheet music and tied a little cross to the ribbon.

No matter how big or small the project is, its "the process that counts". Beth and I quote Jenny Doh to each other with that line a lot since we heard her speak at Kim's event in California. That phrase struck us both, as good words to live by. As an artist, its not always the end product that counts, its the process and the love of creating.

So, if I can't remake a room on a monthly basis anymore (yes, I was pretty bad, Beth called me a serial painter), I can get my fix in the little things I do and love the process, no matter what I am spending my time on.

Simply being creative brings joy. To paraphrase Horton the Elephant, "A project's a project, no matter how small."

If you feel like being creative with me, I hope you'll join us for a small project. 6 tags with a Dorothy theme in a collaborative tag book swap. Email me if you want to join! Just click on the button on my sidebar for more info.

We have 40 some people entered to swap so far, and room for YOU too!

3 Dorothys

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, swaps, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 2, 2010

What a nice weekend we had. Of course, any weekend when Sugarwings comes to stay is a good one. We spent as much of it as possible out on the lake, and I have no pictures from there because my pocket camera is MISSING. I've turned the house and studio upside down searching for it.

I bought the handy little thing so I could take it with me to places where I don't want to haul out the big guns. That Rebel is wonderful, but heavy and I also don't want to get it wet on the boat or beach. I always kept the little Cannon (seems like they have the best lenses for a small camera) in my bag so I could always be ready to snap a shot if something interesting popped up.

I miss it!

And since Sugarwings was mostly naked while we were at home, I didn't take any pictures of her with the big camera. She seems to be in a stage where it is awfully hard to keep her dressed. But the weather is so hot, that I really don't blame her.

When she is here, she is either outside being filthy dirty in the mud and dirt and jumping in the little pool or sprinkler, or else smearing paint and clay all over herself. Not exactly a dainty girl. So naked isn't bad for her, it sure saves on laundry. But I don't think I should post pics of a little muddy girl smeared with neon orange paint running around in her panties.

So here is a dog picture instead!

And here is a naked dog picture.

This is Twinkle's pup, Dorothy. Her name is Josie now, I gave her to my niece and Josie is named after my mom, Martha Josephine.

All yorkies are born black and then start to change colors as the puppy fur grows out. The baby fur is so fine, that it gets all matted up and nasty, and has to be shaved off to let the silky adult fur grow in.

I haven't shaved my little Agnes Rosebud yet, because I'll miss that fuzzy, floppy puppy look. But after seeing how silvery and pretty her sis is, I just might get out the clippers.

This morning, I have been adding goodies to the Boutique.

At a recent flea market, I was lucky enough to find a big box of old flowers. ALL ROSES!

Yes, these are the flowers that the puppy has been laying on in the big bowl.

One more tidbit about Yorky fur, these guys don't shed. So the flowers aren't hairy.

What do you think of this one? Its lovely, but is it old? It seems so perfect. I usually buy hats to take apart, so can date the flowers by the hat itself. These flowers were mostly corsages and single flowers, all in a big box. The others were old, but I'm iffy on this one. Either way, its nice!

I've been going through some of my jewelry supplies too, and bagged up some vintage glass beads and findings to add to the shop.

Along with an assortment of some other fun stuff.

I'll show you some pictures of what's new (well, old- but new in the Boutique) while I ask you about something else.

At the flea where I found the flowers, I also picked up a ragged Wizard of Oz book from 1920. This year is the 75th anniversary of the movie, and the story is a big favorite around my house.

Am I the only Dorothy fan, or would any of you be interested in doing a tag swap similar to the Alice tag book swap that we did earlier this year?

If there is enough interest, I'd enjoy putting one together and scanning some pages from the book for you to use, like I did with the old Alice in Wonderland book that I had.

There are just soooooo many ideas that could be cute tags with a Dorothy theme!! Witches, picnic baskets, Toto, slippers –ruby or silver like the original-, rainbows, gingham, greens, lions, tigers, and bears, oh my- I could go on and on.

What do you think?

I hope there are enough of you who would enjoy making Dorothy tags as much as I would! Let me know, and I'll come up with guidelines and some scans of the book.

Before I go get to work for the day, I need to announce the winner of the July giveaway. The pearl earrings go all the way across the ocean to another Dorothy- Dorthe.

Blather

antiques/junking, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2010

While I am away, frolicking with mermaids by the sea, I'm leaving you with a few pre-written posts. This one is nothing but shameless huckstering.

All of these pictures are of things I've been listing in the Boutique.

Slowly, but surely, I've been making my way through the Giant Tub-o-Fun, that is filled to the brim with stuff I've been meaning to get around to trying to foist off onto you list in my online boutique and offer to my readers.

So, there are quite a few new things in the shop, and when I get back from my trip, I'll have LOTS more to add. That tub doesn't seem to be emptying out very fast.

There isn't much to this post, huh?

After listing all of this, and writing a handful of posts in advance, I'm slightly burnt out from being at the computer ALL DAY. This is the last one that I've written, but it isn't posted in chronological order.

Its one of the first that will come up while I'm away, even though its the last I've written.

Hopefully, the others will be more interesting. I wasn't suffering from computer burn out when I wrote those.

I might even had something interesting to say in those other posts. Well, maybe not. I do tend to ramble on and on about nothing, on a regular basis.

Geez, I'm lucky any of you EVER come back to read this blathering, aren't I? Thanks. I do appreciate you for being there!!

A Rosy Redo

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, paintings, redos

By Karla Nathan / July 11, 2010

Now that we are in the midst of summertime, I felt like the living room needed to look summery too. I took my background of creamy whites and added a blooming garden of roses to the room with just a few touches in about 15 minutes.

The first step was taking down the Shabby Chic cream velvet curtains (from Target) and putting up these vintage curtains from a garage sale. They had pleats at the top, that I had un-stitched with a seam ripper last year, so that step was already done ahead of time.

These curtains are different lengths, but who will know it with the sofa sitting in front of them?

In the past, I had done this room with browns and had made this sofa cushion seat cover. I've got a few extra covers lurking in the back of the closet for when the mood strikes me. I don't cover the whole couch, just the seat and pillows. Making them is as easy as making a pillow case, and I am NOT much of a seamstress. I keep them simple, by not using zippers or buttons, I just sew ribbons to the back to tie the cover shut.

(I've also just wrapped the cushion in a pretty quilt before too- that works if you don't have teenagers around. Teens just kind of DO things to destroy a couch. They sit HARD)

I also keep a stash of pillows in the linen closet for trading out too. A floral pillow goes a long way towards brightening a room.

I added a dinner napkin (with roses) to the little table, and a retro kitchen table cloth to the side table, along with a plate, and a small botanical print.

When my son walked into the room, he told me that I had a "lot going on" there. Yea, I know. That is what I like about it! Its an explosion of lots of roses ranging from pale pink to cherry red.

The fastest way to add some color to my white room was to set out some fresh cut flowers from my garden.

And I already had a white millinery bloom tied to the lamp shade. I just slipped a pink rose in on top of it.

Over the years, I've had many colors on my walls, but I think they'll be like this for a while. I've washed them with layers of glazes in colors ranging from ivory to deep tan, with hints of gold and bronze. I feel like its a good background color to anything I add to the room.

Keeping the basics of the room neutral means that I can add splashes of color here and there and have a whole new look in a matter of moments.

On the TV cabinet, I draped another rose curtain and added two rose plates and a tray to what was already up there.

On the other side of the room, all I needed was a couple of throw pillows on the white chairs and 2 vases snitched from the guest room. Oh, and a table runner that matches the dinner napkin that I used on the little round table. I'm not a fan of matchiness, but this is what I had handy.

There are always hints of roses in every room of my house, like on the floor mat that I painted to set the dog dishes on, and the table and small hutch that the dog bed is under.

But even with some roses here and there, the room was predominately white and cream, and these pinks just became background until I added all the rose patterned textiles. Now, this stuff seems to stand out too.

The dog's bed is a lid to a Rubbermaid container that I put a pillow on. By sitting the pillow (in a washable sham) on the lid, it keeps it up off the ground in case the puppy pees on the floor, or Twinkle steps in the water bowl and spills it, or some other of the millions of ways that the dogs mess up the floor and would get their pillow wet. I look for shams on sale at TJMax, sometimes I can find them for under $3.

And by slipping the bedding under the table, the dogs feel like they have a cozy den to hide in, and I have a bit more space.

As much as I love my creamy whites, I just need an infusion of color now and then. Plus, I just enjoy a change of scenery. I have some old, powder blue toile curtains that are nicely aged and slightly yellowed that I want to try next. Especially if I find some pretty bark cloth rose material at garage sales this summer for making pillows.

Geez, I just redid the room today and am already thinking about the next one?

Yep, that is what makes it fun! The planning and creating and the thrill of the hunt for new bargains.