~ The Decorated House in .......... Artful Blogging Summer 2009

A little sneak peek, pg. 84 & 85
of the wonderful 6 pages.





(Artful Blogging Summer 2009
Roses on Front by Me!)

A very special Thank You! to
the wonderful people at Artful Blogging
for choosing The Decorated House blog
to be in their Summer 2009 issue.

I don't quite remember the first time I picked up Artful Blogging. But I was impressed not only by the blogs which were featured, but by the beautiful editing and layouts as well. It is an eclectic mix of very colorful blogs and then more neutrals ones like mine and Sara of Sadie Olive. That's her picture of the man & baby on the front. Although Staci found my blog, and first asked if I would like to write an article for the magazine, I worked with Christen Olivarez to finish it up. Thank you to both of you and to the editor. They did a fabulous job with my blog and work. I think it turned out beautifully. Let me know what you think when you see it.

Thank you also for the very sweet notes here, and the emails. I appreciate them very much. It was so nice of you to take the time to write.

When my dear friend Kim of Daisy Cottage was in Artful Blogging last year I was totally thrilled. Although Kim is not a traditional artist in the way we might usually think of, she is an artist with her blog. And like many artists, what she creates for her blog comes from her heart. As more and more blogs are doing advertising to receive money each time you click on their site, Kim remains true to her guests. You always know she is welcoming you exactly as she would a guest in her home. Just for the pleasure of your visit.

The trip to Savannah was fantastic. Come by for the next few days if you would like to see pictures and hear about it. I'm am certainly no expert on the city or traveling, but I love Savannah and I know it was so helpful when I found blog posts about visiting there before we went the first time.


Were you wondering if I looked for my old friend, and maybe about how she was doing? (another photo) Sorry to say she still has not found love. The houses on each side of her are so beautiful. I wasn't sure if she could be still be saved. But Sweet Hubby said look up. She has good bones you know. I am still hoping someone will come soon and take care of her.

Look at the lovely haight blue porch ceiling still waiting to keep the old place happy.

This is the house next door. Doesn't that just call out to your heart?

See y'all soon!

~ I Love Spring Time, Anytime

(New Collage in Etsy Shop.)

I think we are at the end of all our company visiting. Most of our relatives live out of state so we don't have a lot of visitors anymore. But for the last couple of months we made up for it. There hasn't been much time for visiting my favorite blogs, so I have catching up to do!

The season of spring is quite short here. Sometimes after its fleeting appearance and we feel like it's summer already, we get a little reprieve when a little dash of coolness returns. I love those days and night. But this might be one of the last days that can I keep the door to the porch. Cody Puppy loves being able to just come in and out. He especially likes that wrought iron lounge chair out there.


I was looking for a little inspiration, and came across gardening pictures from years past. It was surprising to see them. Each year is a new beginning of a love affair with annuals in pots. I can't help myself.

Looking for some inspiration. Spring and summer colors are calling.

Sometimes inspiration is in your own backyard and front yard. Or maybe it was there last year or the year before. I certainly have nothing to look at right now. But I know how to get my hands dirty. Now to find a few extra hours each day.

See Y'all Soon!
Thank your for stopping by.

*Stacey, a bath cabinet is the best place to start with a paint project. The antiqued white finish is really very easy. Just make sure you start with a good paint job to begin with when doing the white. The rest is easy!

~ Happy Easter

We found this lovely vintage rosary on one of our little trips close to home. I had been looking at over-sized rosaries for years but this is the first one I bought. Maybe it was the fascination I had as a child of the large rosaries the nuns wore. It looks beautiful just sitting on a table.

Happy Easter to You & Your Loved Ones

~ Savannah, 1895 Inn Bed & Breakfast

This has to be one of our favorite places we have ever stayed. Not only is it beautifully decorated, but Ed is a fabulous cook! Food is one of the top things we look for in a bed & breakfast after the other important things.



We only began staying at Bed & Breakfast a few years ago after hearing good reports from friends like Rhoda. This particular one was rated high on tripadvisor and an ol' internet friend Deb had stayed there, too. There is no parking except in front of the these old houses. But that didn't seem to a problem. And the fire station is directly across the street. That made me want to run. But we never heard a siren of any kind in the 3 days were in Savannah.

The owners have a fantastic collection of art and antiques. This is the foyer.

Beautiful , comfortable area for sitting and relaxing & wine and cheese in the evening.


Every morning Ed has this table set so beautifully with old china and crystal. As lovely as it is, the food still stands out as the best thing to check out!
(The business was for sale, so someone else might be cooking now.)

You can visit their website here. 1895 Inn, Bed & Breakfast.

We stayed in ...
"The Sovereign Room, at the top, front of the house, has a large arched window with a view of the spires of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. A massive four-poster canopy bed welcomes you to this terra-cotta colored room with rich gold and cream fabrics. An oriental carpet is framed by the original heart-pine floors; and antique oriental water colors, Japanese wood-block prints, and Japanese scrolls from Kyoto cover the walls. The Sovereign Room - with its luxurious bathroom with extra-long soaking tub."
It has the largest bathroom in the house!

I'm looking through pictures that might be of interest to you all.
See Ya' Soon!

~ Do You Lean to the Left or to the Right?

Sometimes it's hard to tell which way someone really does lean, to the Left or to the Right. The fabulous blue color of the shutters is what first drew my attention. Then we noticed the incredible leaning. This is what can still be seen today of the aftermath of the earthquake of 1886 that hit Charleston. So which one is leaning?

In the second picture you can see the distance between the two houses at the bottom and then at the top! And there are people living in both houses. Which by the way are both leaning some.

I've been thinking about painting my shutters black again for a while now. Isn't this old home beautiful. Something so special about a yellow house.

I don't know how you can be homesick for some place where you don't actually live. But Charleston and Savannah are calling out to me again. It should be time to go somewhere else, I know. But I just want to go walk around the cities again. We need a vacation. So we'll see if we wind up there.

Some people say they just don't understand why I would want to go to the same places again. But those who have been there, over and over again, understand.

See ya' soon!

~ Happy Friday! Shall We Dance? (Doggie Dancin')

At the end of a busy week, don't you just want to dance? Or have a really good laugh?

You know not a single one of you very sweet and kind souls asked if I had seen "Marley & Me" before we got Cody Puppy who as you know is a Yellow (White) Lab Mix. Sweet Puppy (most of the time) is in doggie school, or rather Darling Daughter and I are, and Cody goes along to get treats. He's such a little smarty, he has learned everything very quickly and just does it all so we give him some treats. Now who is training whom?

The second or third class as I was asking the trainer a question, he asked me one. Have you seen Marley & Me? Well, that's what you've got. And he'll be that way for the first 2 or 3 years. After that, he'll be the best dog in the world. We still love him bunches, but wouldn't leave him a lone with a sofa that's for sure.

Today as I was doing my end of the "high-five" trick, I remembered this video I had seen a while back. See if you can just sit without wanting to dance along.



(I changed the picture to a link that takes you to YouTube. I think the embedded video slowed down the page loading.)

Enjoy, See Ya' Soon!

~ A Lovely Day For An Art Show

Sunday was such a beautiful day to stroll in downtown Winter Park. At least it might have been if not for the 100,000 other people walking in the same space. That could only mean one thing, it was time for the annual Winter Part Sidewalk Art Show which draws up to 200,00 plus in the three day show time. This is one of the best and most difficult to get into art shows in the country. Sweet Hubby has shown here a few times and is talking about doing it again once he retires at the end of the year. Maybe he doesn't really remember how much work it is.

The flower paintings by artist Michael Kuseske were absolutely beautiful.

I haven't resized, or hardly looked to see what pictures I took because I've been sick with a mean cold. The first in many years, so that was the good news. Gee, I can't remember the last time I was this sick! My company who is arriving on Friday will definitely be seeing dust bunnies, now newly manufactured to include white puppy hair. But it's my sis, so she won't really care.

See ya' soon.

~ Spunky Victorian Girls

When I look at the faces of Izabella and Emily Grace with that darling touch of spunk, I image it is their determination to remain true to their own Soul Whisperings as the grew up. We often see very stern and sad faces on the women of this time. I always hope that some of them are actually happy people, maybe even happily married, and their clothing is just too tight and uncomfortable! And that is what makes their faces appear not so happy.

Yes, she did bite the ear of her large white chocolate bunny.
And she would do it again.

There have been some wonderful old friends of Izabella asking if she will have her portrait available as a cabinet card for Easter. Yes she will! Thanks for asking.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We celebrate by eating.. what else but chocolate!
Irish on both sides of the family,
and I almost forgot.

See ya' soon!

~ Thankful Thursday

Cara, the fabric in the Dining Room is by Robert Allen. I don't have the name handy anymore. But I'll try to find it. You can see all of his fabrics in swatches at robertallen.com There are a lot to look at! So I didn't find it when I took a quick look.
It is a beautiful fabric, and I still really love it.

Kathy, yes the porch floor is still painted the same. It might have some changes in the near future. But it will be pretty much the same. There are just a few changes I want to make. It will pretty much stay the same though. Right now the furniture is still piled on top of each other, and it needs some attention. It' on my list.

It's tough not to be thankful when you walk outside and it is this perfect. Clear skies, warm, and just plain fabulous. That's OK, you can rub it in when we are running into the air conditioned spaces as it heats up very shortly.

I finally purchased a car yesterday. A quite sensible one again, another Camry. Although I've looked half-heartedly for a couple of years, I had no choice this time. My sister is flying down to pick up my old Camry for her granddaughter. This makes me happy because I could give them a great deal, and someone will appreciate that it only has 45k miles on. A little ol' lady must have driven it. I think the mindset of the country had me a bit frozen about spending money.

Funny that the prices have actually gone up since I started looking semi-earnestly in Sept. Not the same incentives to the dealers from the company as before. I did however get it for that same lower price, but at a different dealer, using my 6 month old quote from dealer #1. Dealer number 2 met the quote even though the first one said they no longer could. So of course I'm thankful that it didn't cost me more.

So a little tip for car buying is to save all your notes and quotes when you are looking. One offer might turn out to the best one, even if you don't use it right away. The rebates change almost every month, so sometimes they won't honor what they quoted a month earlier.

Also take your camera! I took pictures of the car I wanted, the wheels, interior, etc. And this gave me the proof of what I wanted. It wasn't a big deal, because I never buy a bunch of stuff loaded on a car anyway. We are simple people with not much need to try to impress.

I knew someone must have found a table and chairs like Sweet Daughter's at a yard sale or flea market for a lot less. For some reason those kinds of bargains are much harder to find here. And I'm very happy for you. I can truthfully say that even though I paid a little over $100 more than Debra, I am still so thankful that I found it at that price. It's probably more likely that you really good bargain hunters are willing to go to yard sales, and I don't. So you deserve the better deals.

I love taking pictures at these big markets, because it is impossible to remember everything you see. And I totally forgot about this area and had intended to come back that way and look more closely. Looks like a few good things just waiting.

Sweet Hubby found this frame. Actually the painting is a very good quality original. I'm sure it is not a listed artist, but I'll find something to do with it.
The frame is going to be painted white. I think it will be so pretty in a soft white.

We also finally made it over to the Barn & Stable in Lake Alfred. My good friend Kim
of Daisy Cottage, talked about this wonderful antiques store years and years ago, but we just never got around to going. We were so surprised! For this area, the prices were exceptional. Sweet Hubby had his truck and was so ready to load it up, but I didn't find anything completely perfect that we really needed. We will be going back though!

If you travel to the middle of FL and stop by the Barn, you might want to drive a couple of miles into the town and have lunch at the Lake Alfred Cafe. Excellent food.
We highly recommend dessert as well. Like the triple chocolate cake and carrot cake. But like grandma should have made! I know the Barn has a tea room where a lot of people eat, but if you are in the mood, drive a little bit down the road.

Thank you for stopping by & for your kind comments.
See ya' soon!

~ Love of Wrought Iron & White Furniture

At the end of one of the last rows, late in the day, on the way to the car, at last I found something that was on my list of treasures I was searching for. A wrought iron table and chairs. The price was much better than all the ones in stores or shops I had seen for the several years I've been considering it getting one. Yes, I know some people find this type of thing at garage sales and flea markets all the time. It's not that easy here. The price was good, but I asked the guy his best price. Then we loaded it in the truck. I had to find something to put in that truck since Sweet Husband told me a few times ..... we've got the truck this time, get something big! It's a small truck, so this filled up the whole bed.

We headed back to town and went right over to Sweet Daughter's house to give it to her. The rest of the week while we were out treasure hunting, I found a couple more sets, all were much higher priced. So I was very happy I grabbed it while I could. However, I was kicking myself for not getting another one that they also had for sale. It would have been a perfect for doing art work on the porch. But Sweet Daughter isn't giving hers back.

On my long to-do list is to accomplish a little decorating for her porch. It's not at the top of her list yet. There is still many more things she wants to do like new counter tops and hardware in the kitchen and a new backyard patio with pavers, and grass out there, too. We'll get there.

I'm still wondering if I could have found a place for this. Love the lines of this piece, and they painted their furniture really well. This will be a vendor I'll look for again.

New life for old furniture with a warm white finish, isn't it beautiful? And the love of old, or new wrought iron, makes you long for a cool summer night doesn't it? Me, too. But we don't have "cool" summer nights!

I'm off car shopping today. Not all that much fun, but necessary.
See ya' soon!

~ Paintings & Black Glaze Cabinets, Answers to ??s

I forget to answer questions just because I forget, not because I don't mean to get back to you. So here is one old one and one new one answered.

The first question is about the picture which appeared in this post.
Antiquing White Technique for Cabinets and Furniture.

The painting in this picture, and many of the ones you see throughout our home pictures that I post are by Sweet Hubby. He works in watercolors. Some of his work is available on Etsy as prints. Some time soon, I hope he will do some smaller original pieces for his shop, too.

Thanks so much for asking about them. I love his work so much, and feel very lucky to have such wonderful original paintings in our home.

Black Glaze on Wood Cabinets, Kitchen

Quite a while ago, someone asked if you could do the black glaze technique shown above on newer "finished" cabinets. Most likely yes! The pigment in black paint is so concentrated in most paints, that it will indeed stain the area you are wanting to highlight. You just have to be careful that you don't let it sit too long on an area where you do not want the black to be. Every so often the finish may be so "hard" that it won't take the paint. But that is not often.

For those not so pretty oak cabinets this will change them a lot. You can do the black glaze or the white. Either way, they will be greatly improved. I've had lots of people do this who had never done anything like it before, and every one of them did a fantastic job and loved it when they were done.

See Y'All Soon!

~ Junk to Treasures

Junk waiting be made into Treasures.

Junk made into Treasures.

Great Baskets.

Just Treasures.

See ya' soon.