Carol's Home Store

My favorite local store is

Carol's Interior Home Store

Sherman Texas.


When I don't have time to stop,
just glancing at the outside
gets me inspired.

 Everything they use to decorate
is sold inside the store.



 Open the door and you'll find

the store is set up in a variety
of rooms using the furnishings
and décor sold here!

Love the chandeliers hanging

everywhere you look.

 Everything was on sale 10 to 20%
yesterday for the Christmas
Open House party.

So many trees done up with
lights, nests, birdcages...

Then there was the de-constructed settee,
which had me at hello!

Each area had a chalkboard
giving it a name...

Even a snow capped picket fence

got dressed up for display.

I'll be back soon with more to share...

(you have to see their book-page wall)

Hope this gets you in the
decorating mood!


 

Kitchen Tour

 

My favorite season is Fall,

but I didn't decorate much this year.

 

The kitchen got a few leaves and pumpkins.

 

 

The old cut glass bowl on the stem was

handed down through my husband's

family. I'm lucky my mother-in-law

saved so many family things and

passed them on to me.

 



The little orange striped pumpkins

are real.

They were 99 cents a piece at the market.

 

Anyone know how to preserved pumpkins?

 

Rather than orange,

I'm stuck on blue this year.

 

I think the kitchen needs a little blue.

 

Everything in here is pale.

 

 

So I bought some blue milk paint today.

Miss Mustard Seed's 'kitchen scale'.

 

 

I'm thinking the hood over the stove

and the white center island...

 

What do you think I should paint blue?

 

The wall color is a pale yellow that goes

green when the lights are on.

Same for the wall tile.

 

I know I shouldn't use a flash or lights

when taking pictures, but as you can see

there are no windows near the kitchen.

 



 

The breakfast room to the left of

the picture is the nearest window.

 

 

When we paint the center island,

I plan to add some feet to it to

make it a little taller.

 



The stove is a dual-fuel type.

The burners are gas and the oven is electric.

 



The kitchen cabinets sold me

on the house.



The cow head will move to the hood

above the stove after I paint it. 

 

I put the cow above the doorway temporarily,

to get it out of the closet so

it wouldn't get broken.

 



The inside of the glass cabinets

might be a good place for blue.

 



Still need to sand the paint off the seats of
the bar stools and age them down a little.



 

We bought the house in a slightly

unfinished stage.

No floors (just cement), no window trim,
no appliances!
 

That type of stuff.

 

We're slowly moving forward but...

It's a one-thing-at-a-time approach!

 





 

 Thanks for stopping by!

 

Here's where I'm partying this week:
 

* Savvy Southern Style's Wednesday Party

 http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

* No Minimalist Here has Thursday's Open House Party...

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

 

 * and Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday...

http://missmustardseed.com

 

 





Redneck Goblets

Right before the 4th of July, I received a Christmas present from my oldest daughter.

 

Nope. It wasn't early...

That acorn didn't fall far from the tree

almost 40 years ago!

 

She said she saw these goblets

last November and thought

of my love for canning jars.

 

 

Then she put them on a shelf and forgot

about them until she was doing "late

Spring cleaning" in June.

 

I thought they were darling, but I

think if she were a little wiser, she

might of waited until December and

sent them as a present this year!

 

 

 

Cheap Tricks: Decluttering With The 10 Percent Rule

I was thinking I needed to de-clutter, so like a true procrastinator, I got out one of my "organizing" binders full of articles torn from magazines and sat down to read.

The first article I read was probably 5 years old. I should have read it 4 years ago.  

The article stated the key to de-cluttering is to try to get rid of just 10 percent of your clutter each time you tackle it.

This may not sound like a miracle to you, but it was a big relief to me. I usually tackle a room thinking get rid of it all! Then I get everything out and make a big mess, get overwhelmed, and put it all back.

So, using the 10 percent rule suggested, I picked up a few things I could part with off each shelf I tackled and put them in a box, then moved on to another area.

Soon, my box was full so I went to the garage to unload some boxes (yes, 3 years after "the move" I still have unpacked boxes) and ended up clearing out the garage with Wild Bill!  

We decided to donate even  "the good things" we were saving to sell on craigslist. As soon as the pick-up was full with 2 room size rugs, furniture and all kinds of knick-knacks, we quickly drove it to the local charity store and donated it. Done! Gone! Yay!

OK, OK... I admit I waivered a bit when

we dropped it off.

But, once we got home and I saw our empty garage, it felt great!

In a few days, I'll tackle another area of the house, looking for another 10 percent that can go. 

I'll never be a minimalist, but now I don't feel like a hoarder either.

Pottery Barn Blogs. Who Knew?

You know I love Pottery Barn.

 

I've showed you my
 

3-tiered tray...

duvet...

pumpkin pillow...

 

and knock-off desk chair

 

So why didn't someone tell me
they have a blog?

 (picture sad face with tears)

 

 

I found out when I was checking out

Common Ground's bloglist.

 

 

So, of course I added it to my bloglist.
And then checked it out a few times,
and a few times more.


I don't get paid for advertising
or for anything I say on this blog.

I just don't want you to miss out.
But, I'm probably the last to know!


Here's my latest PB purchase.

Turkey plates...

Sadly, I've already wrapped them back up
in the wonderful box they come in,
so I can return them

the next time I go to the PB store.

They are pretty, but not functional.
I would not want to put food on them.

In my mind they are for decorating,
not for eating from.

And, I have too many pretties,
and too little storage, so I'm requiring
things to be functional from now on. 

 

Sandy's Cabinet Makeover

Last June, I joined Curves. I've been going 5 days a week and love it. These are my own thoughts and, believe me, no one would pay me for them!

When I first started at Curves, I noticed a darling old cabinet that needed some paint!

Of course, I volunteered to rescue it.

Some might think "refinish it", but I always think paint. In this case, Annie Sloan's Paris Gray to be exact.

It turned out too sweet for my taste.

But the owner, Sandy, liked it in the pictures, so I took it back to her to let her see it in person and decide if she wanted me to add some dark wax.

The before was sad. Some of the trim pieces were in the drawer, some pieces were missing, and the drawer itself was wonky.

I used some clamps and Elmer's wood glue to attach the thin pieces of trim back on. Sadly, I felt really crafty when it actually worked!

The wood was dried out and really brittle. I don't think anyone would want to use sandpaper on wood that's so brittle and thin.

Sandy has red at home, in her bedroom, where she plans to put the cabinet.

The more we looked at it... and thought about it... the more we thought it should be black.

So, soon little cabinet will get a coat of black paint to toughen her up a little. Not all of us can be prim and proper, right?

Hope your weekend was cool enough to enjoy it!

Pottery Barn Pillow

Are you like me? I often regret buying things.

That's not the case with this pillow I purchased at Pottery Barn last week.

I put it on the couch, across from my favorite chair, so I can see it all the time.

Wild Bill is so tired of hearing me tell him how much I love that pillow!

I'm not an "orange" person normally, but the soft oranges of the pillow have me dreaming of painting the walls a spicey color.

The pillow has lots of texture, something the living room really needs. I tend toward the bland and have recently been painting everything white.

This pillow made me realize I really need some color in my life.

The pillow also inspired me to get out my Fall and Halloween decorations.

This scarecrow is from Cracker Barrel, a chain restaurant here in the South.

I bought him 3 years ago. Cracker Barrel doesn't carry him anymore, but he could be easily made.

I put him on a chair in the living room with some lighted pumpkins I bought a few years ago at Walmart.

Love those pumpkins. They were only a few dollars and they're still burning after so long a time.

Getting a good picture is almost impossible for me since my photo skills are so low.

My Christmas request from Santa is a good camera that I vow I will read the directions and learn to use properly!


I'm joining the following parties:

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com

http://homedecorbyeva.blogspot.com/