Nautical Christmas Tree

Hi Ya!  Guess what I've been up too?  If you guessed getting started on Christmas decorating you'd be correct!

Though I am usually not this early in putting up a tree before Thanksgiving, I decided to go ahead and get a jump on things by putting up the Christmas tree on the screen porch.  Once again I have been perfecting my nautical tree for the screen porch.  It's been a lesson learned after a few years of unexpected weather obstacles that I've had to learn to accomodate.

This year I have added a new tree.  Well, it's actually the tree I've used in the kitchen the last few years.  I am not doing a tree in the kitchen this year due to that being the puppy's room while I am at work and believe me when I say she cannot be trusted around a Christmas tree.  I have already witnessed her tugging on the outside tree branches a few times.  Bad girl!

Now back to the Nautical tree on the screen porch.  I have slowly added a few more pieces to complement the look I am going for.  I have yet to find the right tree skirt but that will come.

I was especially excited to find these sailboats at Kirklands this year. By the time I found them there were only 3 to be had but they did say they really didn't get many in at all.   What a treat to finally be able to have some sailboat ornaments that are large enough to represent the sport that we love so much.

I also found a crab and a sea turtle ornament at Kirklands as well.  A few other new additions to the tree was the green and blue glitter discs and the blue mirrored balls.  I also added several glittery green and blue ornamental picks that somewhat represent seaweed to me.  LOL!

And For this years tree topper I added more funky seaweed looking picks in blues, greens and silvers along with a bluish green ball pick that reminded me of water bubbles.

And it's all centered around these adorable kissing seahorses.  Awww!  The seahorse ornament was a cute find at Kirklands as well.

Thanks again for stopping by and checking out my Nautical Christmas tree.

I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Placemat Solutions

Sometimes the simplest of solutions is right under your nose.

My husband and I love dining in the den now since it's just the two of us.  After refurbishing this table and adding it to the den I have been very selective in setting it up so that it coordinates well with the rest of the room.  I purchased this giraffe table runner from work and love how it coordinates with my decor and other animal print pillows in the room. 

 The real decorating dilemma for me came in finding just the right placemats that fit in well here.  Luckily, I already had these lovely oval shaped woven grass placemats that fit the curvature of the table perfectly.  I thought the style seemed to fit in well enough but....they were so much higher (or thicker) then the table runner and that uneven balance was throwing old picky me waaayyy off!

Then there was the fact that as beautiful and interesting as the texture is on them, they just were not practical when it came to everyday dining and everyday cleaning from food spills.  I cannot stand when food stains and particals linger on placemats!

After a while I began to search around and keep my eyes open for just the right placemats.  I have a huge selection already to choose from but they are mostly all rectangular which just do not fit the size of this table without looking awkward and cluttered.   I tried my square placemats and they too where a bit too large for the space of table available between the existing table runner and the edge of the table.  I looked and looked everywhere and finally bought another somewhat pie shaped placemat that did fit the space well but looked strangely out of place to the rest of the room.

The oblong shaped placemats fit perfectly so I wanted to find more of those.  I did actually find some that were perfect in color and size but they were linen and again not practical for everyday cleaning unless you don't mind doing laundry everyday.  No we're not extremely messy but accidents do happen you know.

After searching around for weeks a light bulb finally came on when I remembered I already had the perfect placemats at home.  I had purchased the placemats shown above from the clearance section when I worked at Steinmart.  They are made from a rubbery type of woven plastic and are the perfect color and texture solution for this room.  If your wondering why I didn't remember them to begin with it is because they were rectangular until last week.

After remembering I had these and how flexible yet durable they are I knew I had the perfect solution right under my own nose.  I simply laid down my oval grass mats on the top and traced an outline with a pencil and then got out the kitchen shears and cut them to size.  Eureka!!!!   The beauty of this product is not only that they are so easy to wipe clean but because of the material of the weave they will not fray.  No sewing or edging needed after cutting and they are the perfect fit!

I can just imagine all the different shape adjustments you could cut these into and still look cute and decorative while dining without being too cheesy, can't you?

More importantly now when we are not using the table at night the emphasis here is on the beautiful table and runner and not the placemats that blend beautifully now.

Who said, you can't be practical when being decorative?

Dropping by Metamorphosis Monday today to share this small little tip of practicality with anyone else who might be interested.  

Have a wonderful week Y'all!

Brown, Teal and Yellow Fall Mantle Decor

Good Morning!  Finally, it feels like the right time to start pulling out the fall decor.  Oh, it's still plenty warm here, buuutttt... I am feeling hints of a change coming in our weather.  I am also very eager and so ready to embrace some of the more comforting colors of fall. Especially after visiting many of your beautiful blogs.  Thanks for the nudge!

My choice of warm colors for the season are browns, teals and golden yellows. 

I realize the whole blue and brown color combination maybe yesterdays news for many but not for me.  I just love this color combination even more so during the fall.

I also love to use copper for fall color decorating.  It has such a rich amber hue to me!

You may remember my fall vases that I found at a resale store several years back.  Yes, I am still dragging out the old stuff, but hey, I like it and it still works well in here this time of year.  I especially love the bamboo vases.  I know bamboo is usually more associated with summer but because these vases are such a darker brown they have always seemed more appropriate for fall decorating to me.   The dried grasses, cattails and leaves were still looking good to me but I added just a few pops of yellow into the mix with the small sunflowers to brighten things up a bit more.

My glass pumpkins are my favorites and pretty much set the tone for the mantle.  For some reason I was thinking I had another glass one that I added last year but have not found it so maybe I never did buy it.  Oh, it's rough getting older and trying to remember what all you have packed away. LOL!

I did add something new to the mix this year.  I came across these brown and teal ceramic candlesticks at a resale store recently and immediately knew I would be using them on my mantle.  I think they sort of have a bit of Tuscany feel to me, wouldn't you agree?

The sign was purchased a few years ago when I was working for Stein Mart.  This is the first time I've used it here under the mantle.  I can't believe I didn't think of this before. 

I am going to attempt to join a few parties today if I can remember how to link up as it's been quite some time since I have.  Join me at the following links for so much more inspiration okay?

Metamorphosis Monday

Tabletop Tuesday

Well, if you happen to stop by today and take a peek thank you so much!

I truly hope you enjoyed your time here.  Mostly, thank you all for your continued blogging of such beautiful decorating.  I always enjoy visiting your blogs for inspiration when time permits and can only hope that I've also given you just a bit of the same. 

Have a wonderful day and great week!

Pawleys Island Beach Home Circa 1945

Hey Yall!  Yes, I am a terrible blogger and I do apologize for my sporadic appearances.  I guess I just feel like I really don't have lot's of new projects and such to share that are very inspiring or anything so it's probably not something you would want to read about anyway.  However, since I have kept this blog going mostly to share and keep track of the goings on in my world I thought I'd share a cute and very vintage beach house that we rented this past week at Pawleys Island SC.  Though I am sure it is not what most of you would like to see and experience in a vacation home, it was filled with so many neat and quirky things that I thought you might like to see anyway, or at the very least at least I have recorded it here on my blog should I care to ever look back to reminisces.   I am sorry to say I forgot to photograph the outside of the house which was also very quirky.  Maybe if we go back to Pawleys any time soon, I'll take a few shots.  Until then you'll just have to enjoy the inside of this very old, circa 1945, original Pawleys Island beach home.

As you walk into the back door of this home you are greeted with a small entry hall that leads toward the family and dining spaces.  The owners have kept this home in it's original state complete with heart of pine everywhere!  It was pretty but the decorator in me was constantly day dreaming about how lovely, cozy and light this home would be with sand colored painted siding.  

As you first come through the back door there is an entry to the right where a very large open and fun kitchen is located.  We ate dinner every night on the round table built into the post in here instead of the dining space.  We loved being inside this spacious kitchen!

There is a double bar on both sides of the kitchen and dining area.

The wood paneling in here was lighter but I still couldn't help but dream again of what color I would paint in here as well.  There was a gorgeous old style ceramic sink along with several open shelving areas for pots, pans, and dishware.

I thought the two large ceramic  flower pots holding utensils was so cute and clever!

The back side of the kitchen was loaded with plenty of light from the all the windows and lots of counter space with cute and clever designated spaces for guests supplies.

The cabinets were painted a shabby blue making their old age rather charming.

Along with messages about where to store your goods inside the cabinets were messages to help remind you where to return things too.  Cute idea!!!

A pair of french glass doors led out  to the long and interesting side porch that was another favorite of ours.

I would have enjoyed a bit more comfortable seating out here but I did find the tables to be very enjoyable for my morning cup of joe with breakfast.

This barn style sliding wall door that led to the front porch was so cool!  Both the hubby and I loved that!

Cute vintage looking gas lanterns that hung from the ceiling were very appealing but... I sure would have adored some ceiling fans out here just a bit more.  Too bad I don't own this house, with all the ideas I had for it!  Haha!

We enjoyed sitting on the joggling board everyday and I was quite surprised to learn my husband had no idea of what this was.  And here I thought I was married to a true southern boy!

We rented this house because it was pet friendly and we could bring our new pup Maizey.  My son also came down for a few days and brought his dog too.  What a treat to be able to take Maizey walking on the beach every morning.

This is the master bedroom located just off the front of the house.  It was a bit small but was able to sport a king size bed and a small bathroom as well.

Surprisingly enough we all slept very comfortably in this house. I wonder if all the hard wood paneling makes it much more sound proof.

This was the center bedroom with a queen sized bed and a bathroom to the right that I forgot to take pictures of.  My bad!

And in the very back of the house is the larger bedroom with another queen and a set of bunkbeds.

This bathroom was original to the house with a few minor upgrades.

I would have loved  to share a few more pics with you of the house, like the rooftop deck that overlooks both the ocean and the inlet rivers behind the house that we kayaked everyday.  Unfortunately, I had this post in draft before finishing it and in the mean time between my computer crashed.  I have just gotten my new laptop up and running and am still in the process of trying to figure out how to retrieve all of my lost stored photos.

That I am sure will take quite a bit of work....so I have decided to go ahead and publish this post to get it out there and hopefully protect it as well.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your stop at one of SC oldest and most endearing beaches!

We're on Maizey time!

Hi All!  I'd like to say I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, but the truth is I can.  It's been a wonderful break and for many good reasons.  It's amazing how much ones life can change within a few short months.

If you saw my last post then you know what's been keeping me occupied.  On July 11, my sweet little Maizey will be five months old.

 The sleepy little girl that you see here is usually quite rambunctious and full of herself.  Our beautiful little pup who is long overdue for her first formal grooming has literally turned out home and lifestyle upside down.   

Just today I have finally removed the coffee table from the living room after deciding it is just no longer safe to leave in the room.  No longer safe for her, not the table because it has long already been determined a loss. I am scared of all the wood splinters she has been eating after she has made a feast of the table legs and totally destroyed them.  In this picture you can see the plastic tubing that we had put over the dowel but you can also see she then went after the legs and the drawer underneath.  She's quite the little chewer!

And now here is our den this morning minus the coffee table, but did you notice...

it's minus the rug too?  We have rolled up almost all of the rugs in the house to keep them from being destroyed while she is being potty trained.  The two club chairs shown here are also showing some wear and will most likely be replaced after we pass the puppy teething stage.

In the kitchen the drink station has been converted to her own den though the only time she sleeps here is when I am at work because when were home she prefers total run of the house.

We brought two of the rockers from the front porch to the back porch so we could sit here with her.  Now that she's older she enjoys spending more time out in the yard though still on a leash. I like keeping the porch this way because she can be off the leash here and still feel as if she's outside.  It's not as cute and decorated as I might prefer but it's less for her to get into. 

Just outside the screened porch on the lower deck between our deck that spans the house and our pool we have recently put up a tent gazebo for shade.  It's on a collapsible frame that can be folded and put away.  I have been wanting one of these for awhile now and was so happy to find this one for a great price at Sams Club.  It is 13 x 13 in size.  I have also been eyeing a few pieces of outdoor furniture and rugs at Walmart that I may use to complete this new outdoor seating place.  I can imagine all sorts of beautiful ways to spruce up this spot but am trying to keep it as inexpensive and as minimal as possible due to keeping it thrifty and of course due to the puppy factor as well.

Life sure has changed around here, but it is all good.  I anticipated a lot of these changes prior to getting her which was very important.  Can you imagine the shock that some must go through if they aren't prepared for all the destruction that one little puppy can do?  LOL!  I knew ahead of time I would be replacing lots of things that might get chewed up or destroyed during the puppy years.  Since I had wanted to update some decor anyway it's not been a big issue...it's just a timing issue now.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to be back again before too long to share my completed outdoor gazebo area with you.  But uh, truthfully don't hold your breath okay?  Even if I get it done soon, I'm not sure when I'll be back to share it because we're on Maizey time around here.  I'll try though!   

Hope you all are having a great summer so far!