New Color in the Bedroom

Hi Friends!  I am hoping this post will serve dual purposes here today!   I am conducting a trial post on the new blog to see how I like it and I get to update you on my master bedroom.

[gallery ids="14392,14393,14394,14395,14397,14398" type="rectangular"]

Well I have to say as far as posting goes, I am struggling quite a bit but I am optimistic. Figuring out how to add pictures to a post is easy, figuring out how to get rid of duplicates in the Media picture file is a challenge.  Would love a tip on that if anyones out there.  Anyway, enough of that let's get to the good stuff.

I wanted to share my new bedroom color with you today because well, I love it!   What a change from the parakeet green I had in here.  I still have some very dated furniture and a few unmatched linens now but we will get there eventually.  The new color is called Breaktime from Sherwin Williams.  It is a bluish greenish color that is just so perfect in this room.

I am not sure why, but I am guessing it has to do with the exposure from the light of all the windows certain colors can be really off in this room.  I tested at least five different colors in here before this one hit the mark for me.  Most colors came out either to blue, too green, or too gray.  Blah!  I will have to show you a color that I tested in here that is in my sons bedroom.  It was so gray in here and in his room is a tranquil blue-green.  Weird!

I also went on a search for a new quilt that would compliment this new color. This one works though it's a little bright. I really wanted something with a pattern but couldn't find what I wanted that would pull in the coral from the cornice boards. They are definitely staying.  I have a beautiful very large quilted white bedspread I normally use but since Maizey has decided she loves our bed I didn't want it getting ruined.  It wasn't cheap so in the closet it went until winter when we can use it under another quilt.  Oh the sacrifices we make for our pets right?

I certainly don't mind though, she is my heart!

I have kept the white pillow sham out that has our initial embroidered on it.  I love this idea I had to do this back when I worked at the embroidery shop.  I am thrilled that I can now do this for others as well on my machine.  I decided to just put one large last name initial on the sham instead of having two different sets of initials on shams.  With my white bedset I used three standard shams instead of the two king sized ones.  This blue quilt set sold the king shams with the quilt so that was that but the white still works here. Eventually I may get a white bed skirt as well, or something with some white in it.

 For those who want to dress up their linens without spending a lot on embroidery this single initial is a great option.  Even if you were to do both shams with a single initial it's a great choice because lets face it, most men really don't care if their initials are on their shams or not.  I have listened to so many ladies struggle with whether to put their husbands initials on the shams or just theirs. Then there is the whole font issue.  Hubby doesn't like script but wife does, he want's his masculine she wants hers feminine.    I know to each his own, but here's a nice compromise just in case!

I think this shot shows the best real shot of how the color actually looks in my room.  The camera and outside lighting in here is doing funny things to change it up a bit, but this is pretty dead on.  It is such a relaxing and tranquil color in this room.  I cannot tell you how much I love our room.  As you can also see I've been very hesitant to put anything on the walls in here too.  I want to keep it breezy and light and uncluttered.

I would love to hear what you think of the new color?  In fact I would just love to hear from any of you in general.  Just drop me a quick reply to let me know if your here, that would be great.  If you're so inclined I would love ideas on what color to repaint my hutch in here.  My dream is to one day replace the furniture with soft white washed or grey washed furniture but that's further down the road.  Tips, ideas, suggestions, I would love to hear them all!

Thanks so much for stopping by y'all!

Hugs and Waves,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You bring the Seafood...

....and I'll bring the rest.  Cause restins about all I can dooo....on my stay vay-cay-shuuunnnn!

Sounds like the beginning of sad ole country song doesn't it?  Haha, I thought so too.  No worries, dreamer friends, this post and the beautiful summer tablescape I have set to join some of my friends over at Tablescape Thursday promises to be anything but sad.

  True to my pen name, I am dreaming, dreaming, dreaming of the beach though.  This is the first year we have not booked a vacation in I don't know how long!  We decided not to make any plans because we've got one son doing an out of state internship for the summer (in very pricey downtown Atlanta) and another who has made a very hard earned recent job change.  This summers scenario made for a very difficult family vacation plan to come together.  Additionally, with me not working and being at home again it seemed like a good year to cut out that one big expense.  You see we are beach people, those local SC people who as close as we are, still have to go to the beach prime season despite that it's the hottest, busiest and most expensive time of the year.  But not this year, and while I am missing those beautiful waves it's actually also feeling like a bit of relief.   So don't be sad for me because I do have a beautiful boat on the lake just a stones throw away, a pool in my backyard, and time at home to enjoy it this year. Who knows maybe we will catch a weekend down there at some point.  Life is still pretty darn good here you know, in fact it's really pretty awesome! I am so thankful!

   I have been enjoying my beachy decorations quite a bit more this year since I've been missing the ocean.   It's so fun to have a beachy attitude.    I also really enjoyed putting together this beachy tablescape in "The Mermaid Lounge", and I hope you'll enjoy it too.  So enough of the chit chatting and woes me, let's get beachin gals!

Welcome to Mermaid Lounge!  It's ever evolving and has just received a few more shifts of furniture this week.  The table got moved over to make room for the bakers rack which meant the chandy had to move too.  It's always in progress out here!

There was one single element on this table that inspired the setting.  I will get back to that in a bit if you don't figure it out first but I'll give you a hint.  It has a lot to do with the location.  Heehe!

One of my most favorite things about tablescaping is when you start off with a bit of inspiration that just leads from one element to the next.  That's how this one came together for me.  It was so exciting to have everything I needed right in my cabinets to pull it all together.

I knew right away somehow I was going to use my iridescent oyster plates.  I just had no idea it was all going to pull together so well until it was all done.

I started off with two layers of placemats to add a bit more texture and color.  I then added the white shell embossed dinner plates bought from a thrift store a few years back.

Then I decided to add my blue and green swirl melamine luncheon plates.  I can't recall right off the bat where I purchased these but will add it later if I remember.

Finally, it was time to top it off with the beautiful iridescent oyster plates purchased several years ago from either TJ Maxx or Marshalls.  They were sold as a set of four.  I have seen these in many different colors over the years but still love the clear ones I got because it reminds me so much of shells and beach glass.

I started thinking the plate looked like it need a little something and since I had no seafood, I then remembered I have these beautiful silver pickling forks maybe?  IDK!  Anyway, I thought they would be so cute as an oyster fork.  They have our initial on the back because they are part of many pieces of silver from both sides of our family that were engraved and handed down to us.  It's a southern thing, yes, and it's true, I did come into monogramming very naturally.

For my flatware, I knew my bubbly looking, hammered stainless was going to perfect.

I am especially thrilled to finally be able to pull out these glasses I've had for years.  The bubble glass tea with multi colors on the bottom came from Stein Mart.  Kinda looks like a coral reef doesn't it?  Well, maybe if your a dreamer like me you'll see it.  Haha!

My stems are also blown glass with embossed shells in a teal blue.  So refreshing!

The little vintage mermaid fits in perfectly don't you think?  I love her sweet little self  with her adorable little headband.  I thought the rope styled napkin ring pulled it all together even more for me, don't you?  Yes, you think so too, don't you?

  And because you all are so smart I bet you already guessed that this adorable little Mermaid was my inspiration.  I know you did!  If you follow either of my FB pages or my Instagram page you already knew because I shared this adorable set of napkins with everyone as soon as I made them.  That's right, I stitched this out myself on my machine.  I am still stitching away and enjoying it so much.  I've added lots of lighter weight and smaller designs to my collections for linens.  I am doing embroidery for others now as well.  Because I am enjoying my embroidery so much is part of the reason why I have been so absent on the blog here lately.  It's all good though.  If you'd like to follow along on either of my Facebook pages, just click on the links here at:

 The Decorative Dreamers Embroidery 

and/or

 The Decorative Dreamer.

 Please make sure you LIKE the page when you get there so you will get my updates.  If your interested in anything yous see on those pages, send me a message if I can help you.   You can also find me on Instagram and Pinterest too as The Decorative Dreamer.

I stalled for just a small bit on the centerpiece because my space was so limited on this smaller sized table.  Then I remembered I had this very tall stem glass my son gave me when he worked at Home Goods one summer while in school.  After I had the stem in place, I remembered several other pieces and then it came together so fast.

I even had everything I needed on hand to fill the stem.  Well, okay it's not quite filled but its just enough.  I layered a bag of white sand, then a few shells, sea glass and more shells.  The shells were a bag from Stein Mart a few years back and the sand and sea glass were from the dollar tree.

My old ceramic beachy S&P shakers from when we had our camper are still so adorable.

The willow basket candle holders were from Wisteria several years back and were the perfect heights for the sides of the tall stem.  I pulled out the clear glass that is usually inside of them and added my mercury glass jars for extra shine in between the wood.

  And here it is, and that is how it all came together!

 Thanks so much for stopping by today and if your feeling kinda beachy and you'd like to bring some seafood...well, come on over!

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!  If you happen to have a moment I'd love to hear from you too!

Hugs and Waves!

 

Give me a Sunday Morning Full of Grace

...a simple life and I'll be okay, here is small town USA.

Good morning dreamer friends!  How are ya?  This Sunday morning I was up early and enjoying all the beautiful visions out in blogland.  Y'all sure do have it going on and looking good!  I am always so amazed at how much others are able to accomplish when I barely am able to keep up with what we have.  I sure haven't been keeping up with blogging like I had hoped to.  One reason I haven't kept up with posts is because I've been waiting for something great or something inspiring to show you.  You know, something pretty to see!

So I ran outside to take a few shots, because I think there is beauty in my backyard.  Then I stood there looking around on this dreary morning and thought beauty?  Maybe....for me, maybe not so much for you.  Last night we had a few rains that came through and well, our backyard looks much like the morning after today.

I couldn't help but notice I had left my beach towel out and it got soaked in the rains, The chair cushions are a little damp but not as much as they could be because they usually end up staying in this position all the time because we don't like the cats getting cat hair all over them.  And then there's the puppy float below that sits around the pool all summer but rarely in it just waiting to take our dog (who never wants to get into the pool) for a ride.  It sits out because even with all this decking we have, we still don't own a deck box for storage.

Storage that is well needed to store things like floats and the pool brush that is laying on my patio table.  Yes this one here below.  Thats right, that the one with the paint project that still needs finishing, the one with 3 white chairs and the last black chair sitting there like an outcast.

Even with the sun just now starting to peek out as I type, I resisted the urge to wait on a post.  I could have waited until the sun was all the way out and shining, and I could have waited until I cleaned things up a bit more.  I could have waited until I finished all the little things I want to get done.  But friends, I if I wait, and I stage, and I make sure everything is spot on, well then, your not getting the true picture here and that is what I want you to have today.  I want you to know that as I live and breathe in a dreamers world, I also stay grounded in reality that is full of grace.

At first glance, I thought my deck was looking quite enjoyable,even after being soaked in the precious rains.   I thought with all the color I've added this year I'd go up the steps to get some closeup shots.

I could have moved the camera just a bit so you would see only the ferns and the beautiful Ivy geraniums.  I could have angled it just perfectly so you wouldn't see the small deck planter I insisted my husband include on this deck when he built it.  You know the one, that I now dread because it has thrown off the whole balance of the deck for me with the planters but we are too thrifty to just yank up all those boards and replace them until they actually need it.

I could have zoomed in close on the Tomato plants to show you only the green parts.  You didn't need to see that they are struggling did you?  

Or that the small leftover florals I stuck in the these pots aren't really going to take off like I had hoped they might, and if I'm going to add more to them, well then perhaps I should.

You might find these flowers quite pretty and doing very well if you overlook the fact they are still in their original containers.  The truth here is I intended to leave these in their actual containers but I had also intended to cover the containers with burlap and twine.  Hasn't happened yet!

Nor have I found the perfect pot for this beautiful plant even though I have found the perfect spot for where I want it to sit when I find that beautiful new pot I want.

Yes, honestly I know what you are thinking now. How much more of this do we need to see right?  

 I could have skipped sharing this photo too.  What is there to look at here?  A ladder laying in the side yard, that the Mr. needs to put back up.   Never mind the fact that its there because he stores it under the house and it's near the entry underneath.  It's not pretty to see is it?  But it has a story.  He pulled it out because we can hear something through one of the vents in the house...something like a creature moving about. EEK!   We are pretty sure it is a possum that has figured out a way to get in and out near the heating and air conditioner units but we cannot catch him yet.  Well let me rephrase that...hubby cannot catch him yet. I want no part of it!  I want to call the exterminator.

Sorry, I get sidetracked, let me refocus on the backyard again.  All righty now, yes I could have cleaned up all the spent blooms that have fallen off my beautiful hibiscus plant before taking pictures...

...and cleaned up all the ones from gardenias too.  Could have, should have, right? 

Lastly, (because I know your getting a little disappointed or bored by now) I could have angled this shot a little better as well right?  You didn't have to see the dirt we piling in the corner  behind my newly planted palm to try and level it off from the slope that happens beyond the fence.  

And just like the poison ivy that is growing up my deck, I didn't have to share any of this with you.  I could have kept it all perfectly posh when sharing.  I could have shared only that which is the most pleasing.  I could have just not shared at all as I have a tendency to do when everything isn't perfect.  Yes, I certainly could have let the poison of feeling inadequate, of feeling less then choke out the joys that I do have and that I do see.

  When all I  (or you) can focus on is the ugly, something is wrong.  It's time for a reality check.  It's time for a step back and to take another look.  Thank you God for showing me that pesky old poison ivy vine. The one that if left unchecked will grow and grow and choke out everything around it and causing an itch that won't go away untreated.

My life is certainly not picture perfect.  I certainly don't have the best of everything and a lot of what I share is not going to take your breath away and I'm not going to pretend it does.  

But did you notice among all the chaos, there is life going on?  What some of you probably don't see here in these pictures is someone who is living and loving her reality.  I don't begrudge those who have finished up this and that because I know how hard you work for it and I'm glad to see it.  I work for it too but I've also learned to slow it down more and to focus on enjoying it more as well.  It's okay if everything doesn't get finished quickly.  It's okay if I seem to be jumping from one project to another before totally finishing one.  It's been crazy this summer so far and so much has gotten done really yet all I seem to be able to share with you in my blog is the outside.  LOL!  

I guess I'm sharing outside again because even among all the ugly,  I can still see the beauty in what is and how far things have come.

I remember when we built this pool I had a vision of this planter area between the deck and block wall being filled with gardenias.  It has taken several years to fill in nicely.

This year that vision has come true in abundance, and it smells devine!

I've also had a plan to save money on plants this year because I'm not working outside the house anymore.  My plan included buying less, but also searching for discounted plants.

I purchased lots of flowering plants that were marked down because they were either neglected or in need of pesticides.  I also looked for very large pots of flowers that were marked down so that I could divide them and spread them around.  Husband hit them once with the strong stuff but I have also been treating them with a spray bottle of dish washing liquid mixed with water.  The combination will kill bugs on contact but not harm your flowers.  I'd say they are adapting well wouldn't you?

My very inexpensive water feature got a boost this year when I repainted the urn pot blue to match the pool and the containers around it.  Suddenly the cheap PVC pipe even looks better to me.  Not to shabby for a makeshift fountain.

Yes, we have a ways to go outside and sometimes I wonder if it will ever be what I'd like to see.  

But look how far we have come!  Sometimes that all it takes to see the beauty of things.  A step back and fresh perspective and heart of grace.

Thank you Lord!

Have a blessed Sunday friends!

Hugs and Waves!