The little found chair ~

 I found this little chair on the curb one morning a few months ago - it was a throw away. I thought it was adorable even in this deplorable condition. It had obviously been sitting outside exposed to all kinds of weather. The wood was very damaged, the bottom and springs were falling out, and the handmade needle point upholstery was ruined.

I knew that eventually I wanted to use it in my living room as part of the new redecorating scheme. I took it home where it sat in the garage while I painted, wallpapered, made drapes and had the other furniture reupholstered.

I eventually finished everything else and when it was time to tackle this. I originally thought I could handle the refinishing myself, but I quickly realized it was far too damaged and needed a professional furniture restorer and re-finisher. Before I took it for restoration I brought it into the house so I could strip off all of the old upholstery, which turned out to be quite a lengthy process...so many nails and tacks!

  My neighbor recommended a really great craftsman to do the work. Below is the finished result. I found the leopard fabric, which I love, online.

I thought is would be fun to take an 'after' picture to compare with the 'before' photo.

As it turned out this little throw away chair is a high quality piece of Victorian furniture. I found the signature of the maker after I removed the old needle point coverings.

Now back to it's original finish, with it's pretty new fabric it is a nice accent piece in the living room. 

I couldn't be more pleased!

Thank you Linda for your recommendation.

I hope you all have a creative day. Thank you for visiting.

A little cheating ~

I love having a fresh arrangement on this table in my living room...but I am lazy.

So I cheat. Not all of the time, during certain seasons when the garden is full to brimming with flowers it is easy to throw together a nice bouquet. But once the really hot weather hits that becomes more difficult.

It is during these months that I look to plant material that is long lasting in the vase and readily available in my garden. This time I used two standbys: succulents and foliage from a Smoke Bush. 

These will last in the vase for about two weeks. By then the succulents have grown roots and can be planted outside. 

Now comes the cheating part. 

I don't want to upset purist, but if my garden is really bare, I add high quality silk flowers. 

You don't need a lot, just a couple pops of color bring it all together and by keeping mostly natural plant material it is extremely hard to tell that anything is artificial.

Sometimes a little cheating isn't that bad.

Thank you for visiting.

Have a lovely day!

The Solution - Part II

Part II

The Solution

In my last post I told you about the problem with the floor of the pavilion which sits in the far back of the garden. Over time, especially before I added the solid tin roof, it was very exposed to the elements and in recent months I realized that the floor, which had become quite damaged, really needed to be repaired...or replaced.

Below you can see what bad condition it was in. What ever I decided to do this time I didn't want to  to use any type of decking and I did have a certain look I wanted to achieve.

So...I took a risk.

I have always loved black and white checkered floors. I almost put one in my kitchen when I last remodeled it, but my beloved french terra-cotta tile won out. Here I thought, crazy as it sounds, was a place to use it!

Black and white tile outside, yes it does seem weird, but I went ahead and did it. And, I love, the way it turned out!

First backer board was laid down to level the surface then the tile was glued down. I used plain old 12 inch commercial tile from Home Depot - inexpensive and almost indestructible, the same tile you see in grocery stores. The whole job took my handyman less than a day to install.

The next day I put down two coats of liquid wax for addition ease of cleaning and shine.

I already had the black wicker outdoor furniture and I painted two 'found' side tables black to match. I was able to find the perfect outdoor fabric to make new seat cushions - black and white with a flash of color. The lantern was brought home from Morocco many years ago, as was the brass tray. The stained glass window I originally made for a door. I think that it now has the Victorian Brighton Pavilion look that I was trying to achieve, although I would like to add a potted palm tree.

And the best part...so far it is easy to keep clean!

I hope that you like it, I know this will not suit every taste but it's rather fun to do something a little quirky once in a while.

Thank you for visiting.

Have a happy day.

The Dilemma ~

I went out in the garden this morning to take some photos for a  post on a project I have been working on. I came in, edited and downloaded the pictures, then decided this time I would do  something new - this post really needed two parts.

So, for today...

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Part I The Dilemma

 As I have shared with you before, in the back far reaches of the garden is what I am now referring to as the pavilion. It was built by my husband as the site for our daughter's wedding, because of this it has very strong emotional ties for me. But the poor structure has had some issues in the past few years.  First, the original lattice top was completely blown off in a windstorm. I had it replace with a tin roof which has really worked out well and looks quite charming. But now the flooring has started to rot away. 

This structure is pretty much the centerpiece of the garden.

It is flanked on one side by the pond and the other side by the gravel garden.

One of the orange trees, which must have been planted on the property at least 50 plus years ago, adds shade and definition to the area.

All things considered it really is important to keep the structure looking as good as possible - an asset rather than a detriment to the overall look of the garden.

So now the current problem: the flooring and how I solved it.  I took a risk and did something quite daring and I love it. I hope you will like it too,

I will share how I went about this with you in my next post, Part II The Solution.

Don't you love a bit of mystery...I hope you will come back.

Thank you for visiting.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Entry hall drapes ~

Somehow, without meaning to, I seem to have taken a blogging break during the month of July. The extremely hot weather really reduced my energy level and time just seem to slip away. I really am looking forward to cooler weather but that is not going to happen for at least another two months. Like people in northern climates look forward to spring, we look forward to autumn.

Meanwhile...

I have finally finished the new drapes for the entry hall. I used sage green linen. It has a nice soft hand and puddles beautifully. They are trimmed with ruffles made from the same fabric as the newly reupholstered window seat cover.

I felt very lucky to find just the right gimp for a bit of contrasting detail and a little zip.

This is kind of a strange color to use but I fell in love with it and it was of primary importance that the drapes tied in with the colors in the adjoining rooms. I ended up using the same fabric for the two bergere chairs in living room. I think I left you saying that I was using a caramel colored velvet for those chairs - not right! They were delivered one day and sent back the the upholsterer with in a week. A terrible extravagance but I simply couldn't live with them. Now in the sage green they are perfect.

I didn't want the drapery rod to show so I covered it with fabric. I have never done this before but I like the way it turned out and it was a much easier fix than using a cornice box.

I am quite pleased with the way it all looks. The mirror by the way is new, a gift from my brother. It fits the spot perfectly and I am of the opinion that every room needs books, flowers and a mirror.

I hope that you are having a wonderful and enjoyable summer.

Thank you for visiting.

PS Barbara, this post is for you, I hope you enjoy it.