Pretty Petals

Chippy Stools... love those!

 I adore chippy stools... a true weakness of mine, which I do have many weaknesses I know. I especially love the original paint on them...

 

 

Um, no I don't usually keep them piled on my coffee table like this but they looked cute when I was cleaning the floor. ;)  Sometimes cleaning the floor can inspire a blog post...

 

 

 

This pink one, such a sweet one.

 

 

I loved the legs on this one.

 

 

This is my newest one, it is an old piano stool.  love love the claw feet... I would love to know who painted it this wonderful color. They must have been fun.

 

 

Also, A special thank you to Kristin from My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for featuring my blog today on her Feature Friday post. Thanks so much for your kindness Kristin! Love your blog and always enjoy your posts... check out with this girl did with her kitchen. I love the before and after photo. thanks for thinking of me Kristin!

 

have a happy weekend! xo Heather

 

 

Oh, So Pretty!

Hydrangeas are oh so pretty! I LOVE them... and every year I wait anxiously for my hydrangea bushes to bloom... and pretty much every year for about 6 years they have  never bloomed except for once along the way. I have an extreme case of hydrangea envy when I see them blooming so beautifully in my neighbors yards. I was thinking I needed to give them some time to establish, so I just let them be. Now I am finally tired of waiting so I am going to move them to a new location. I think it may be because I have them planted under a tree and I read that the tree will try to steal all of the nutrients from the hydrangea plant and cause them not to flower. I don't know... that is my best guess?
 
So anyway, I bought myself a few new bushes to add to my yard this year... I am thinking if I add a few friends maybe they will be happier. lol! Two of the new bushes are called All Summer Beauty. I can't wait to see these next year because they are supposed to be easy to grow and flower on the new and old wood and continue flowering from summer to fall. Anyone out there have this variety? 
 
I was able to gather an armfull of hydrangeas from the bushes I bought this year. I had a little fun with them snapping away... I am trying to play with the settings on my camera and teach myself how to use photoshop actions. So there may be alot of photos but I couldn't narrow them down... hope you like them!
 
  















































Happy Hydrangea picking! xo Heather

The Lavender Farm

This weekend my family and I went on a little trip to Ohio to a pick your own lavender farm. I had been searching for a place on the internet and Daybreak Lavender Farm in Streetsboro Ohio was the closest to us. They grow sweet smelling french lavenders and use them to make soaps, oils and beauty products.  
 



When we arrived we saw the rows and rows of lavender that we could pick from. they give you a few pairs of scissors... and a few rubber bands and off you go. There were lots of bees! 









It is a very picturesque setting with the farms all around... I loved it! I truly love roaming around through farm country. 






They have a beautiful lake on the property. It is not very common to see lavender farms in this part of the United States... so this is a pretty unique place.












While we loved the lavender and the views... the one thing we were really fascinated with was the sweetest little hens and roosters. They had quite the personalities! 




A few just chillin.... so cute..




My son got stung by a bee while we were there so he really wasn't have any parts of the lavender picking because there were tons of bees flying around the sweet smelling flowers. He was much more ineterested in what these hens were up to... 





He is on his way over to tell me to "come and see Mom... they are coming out a secret door"! lol. 





This one was the most interested in us... the others pretty much just pretended we weren't there. They were busy doing their hen things. 






Ohio farmcountry, we loved visiting you... we will be back soon! 






These are a few photos of my bounty of lavender that I picked... :)






so pretty... I am thinking of trying to make some soap and I am not sure what else. It sure does smell lovely!

see ya soon! xo Heather


p.s.- I am thinking of having a blog party...  I am working up the details and will be back with them later this week... I was thinking of doing a party where we can all share a little view into the land where you live. It could be a favorite view of  something on your own property or snap a few photos of a favorite old house in your town that you always look at, or maybe you live near the beach or close to the mountains or in the middle of farm country. Each of us lives in such different climates and all over the world. It would be so fun to get a view of something pretty in your part of the earth. Don't you think it could be fun? 

Super Sweet Goblets & a few Cupboards too..

Good Morning
 
I am sitting here drinking my cup of coffee. Just LOVE my morning coffee. We got up late today. I love that about summer. 

My oldest son is with my husband at work ... he is going to be 16 next month and is working this summer with his Dad. He is finding out that work isn't so fun! My youngest son has his friend over for the day and I am listening to their chatter & giggling back and forth as they play a fave video game. I am sitting here looking at pretty blogs and websites trying to find some dining room ideas.... life... sometimes sweet memories are just in these ordinary moments of the everyday.  

Know what I mean?




I wanted to show you these cute goblets I bought last week at the dollar tree! Yes the dollar tree! aren't they cute? If you live near a dollar tree you should check out the glasses. They have some pretty ones. I bought 8 of them... they look so much like vintage ones I think. 















 This is my little dining room. It isn't really a formal dining room space... it is just off of my kitchen and is kindof small. 





 See this cupboard? It was my husband's Grandfather's tool cabinet. I drug it out of his grandparents basement when they sold the house. It was dirty and filled with tools when I got it...  but I saw the potential.  It will be moving to my bedroom soon.  It was only here in this space temporarily until I could get another cupboard that i have been working on finished to move in...


 




 This is her.... the new girl that just moved in.  My husband moved it for me last night. My sweetest Mom gave me this cupboard last year when she decided she didn't have a place for it... which was SO nice because I really LOVE it! It is an old bakers cabinet. It was in the process of being stripped by my Stepfather so the part that is white-white is the part that I painted. The doors and drawers are the original paint and weren't stripped yet. I kindof like the chippy paint on the drawers and doors so I thought maybe I might just leave them like that. . but am not sure if I should try to match the paint on the main part or leave it as is? It still needs glass and hardware added. I am just kindof still thinking on what I want to do with it. 

What do you think? leave the two tone look? or try to match the paint? or paint the drawers and doors the bright white too? any opinions?? Or maybe I should paint the whole thing a color? I am just not sure what to do with this girl. 

I am also a little worried that it might be too big for my small dining room. So anyway, I still need to think on this one... 


Well, I hear the kids calling now... I am going to take them out for pizza for lunch. It went from late morning coffee to lunch time since I started & finished this post.. :)   Have a great day!!
xo Heather

Ikea Slipcovered Sofa Review

I bought my Ikea slipcovered sofa a little over a year ago... thought I would do a little review of how I like it. Mine is the Ektorp sofa.  I have received many emails over the last year asking if I liked it, and a few of you asked about it in the last post.  Since I have had it for a good while now I feel like I can give it a fair review. 

I really do LOVE it!

When I was looking for a new couch I really really wanted a slipcovered couch but I was on a major budget. My first reaction and even my husbands when we brought it home  was that  it is a very solid couch with well made arms and the cushions are very sturdy. After a year they are still just as good as new. For the price (around $400) we were expecting it to be kind-of cheaply made. It really isn't! 

The cover is a nice and durable white denim... it does get a little dirty... after all it is white... there is no changing that white gets dirty but honestly I just pop those covers right in the wash and it all comes out! I have spilled tomato soup, iced tea... and my kids spilled green slime on it too... and all of it came out. I use spray and wash on the spots and just wash in the washing machine. Sometimes I use bleach when I wash and I don't ever dry the covers. they will shrink if you dry them. I usually wash the cover once or twice a month. 

 



I have a little dog that does like to sleep on the couch... and at first I kept her off of it but now she has weaseled her way to being allowed on it! lol  If I had a big dog I am not sure I would really want the bright white cover unless I laid a blanket on the seat cushions or something like that. The kids do just fine with it... and I do let them lay all over it with their feet up. ;)

I love the slipcover part! I love the fact that I can take the covers off and wash them. It makes me feel like my couch is so clean. This is a plus when you have kids and animals and I really think it is the best part of having slipcovered furniture. That clean feeling!  Sometimes I lay a lightweight cover over the seat part because one thing I find is that people sometimes are afraid to sit on white couches! lol!! I always say... don't worry... sit! I can just wash it.

Another really NICE feature to the Ikea sofa vs other brands is that you can buy a replacement slipcover for 50.00 which is really so inexpensive if you had something that doesn't come out. At that price it is easy to get 2 covers for your couch so that one can always be clean and ready to put on, kindof like sheets. They have a new linen slipcover that they just came out with for this same couch. I really really want to get that one! They also have a pretty gray color that is new and I love it! the other colors and patterns cost more than the white... they vary depending on style.

There is one thing that I have to say about the couch that is good and bad... it is a very firm couch. It isn't the sink down in type of furniture that some slipcovered couches are. I like this feature because it is not going to break down easily and will hold up for a long time... but at first it seems a little stiff. My couch now is alot more comfy so it does get a little less firm over time. I also like to soften mine with lots of pillows and throws. 

 
This is the Chaise Lounge that I want to get to add to my living room... it is so pretty! I love how it has the arm on one side. I can picture cozying up on here with a comfy throw and and a good book. 


Well, hope I didnt' bore you but thought I would share my thoughts on my Ikea Sofa... just incase you ever wondered.
xoxo Heather

Living Room~ A fresh coat of paint and some hard work.

Hello there! I had mentioned awhile back that we have been doing some remodeling and a little bit of redecorating. I finally took some photos to share since my husband and I finished the baseboards!
 



We installed new floors all through our house in many rooms... it was SO much work. We took forever to get all the little details finished like the baseboards and trims.








 I also repainted and did some freshening up with my little space. I love to buy new pillows... and do so often! They make such a big impact on a room. I took out most of the floral fabrics that used to be in here and took out things that I didn't love. 





I moved this sweet little dry sink from my dining room to my living room.



 and put a collection of old bottles on top. 




Our floor is a pergo floor... I love the color, I am so happy with it. It is a breeze to clean!



 I love this little spot. You may recall this corner from a previous post when I had the wallpapered window on top... it has since been moved and replaced with this beautiful lady that I purchased on a girls trip to Leesburg last year.

 

 

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers... I have a few bushes and for some reason they NEVER bloom for me! So frustrating. These are a few stems I bought at the grocery store. My favorite flowers are any flowers that are blue.









 I painted my walls a pale shade of grey... (dolphin fin by behr) I love it. I love to read Scandinavian & French blogs and I see it often in European homes.  It is such a beautiful color.  The designers are saying grey is the new beige. :)






   See that book The Well Dressed Home by Annette Tatum? I LOVE that book!


















You can see that on the other side of living room connects to my entry way... you have to come up a flight of stairs to enter my living room. 



My living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to each other. I have some photos taken of my dining room too so I will share those on another blog post soon. I won't be sharing my kitchen though... I have a very ugly kitchen! I am planning to paint my cabinets to help it along until we can remodel it... I hope in the next few years we can get all new appliances and cabinets. Kitchens are so expensive! 




Well, that is all for the little tour of my living room. My huband and sons really don't use this room much. We have a family room in the downstairs level of our home where our tv is and that is the room that gets most of the action. I use this room alot to sit and read my magaiznes and drink coffee. When I have my family over for dinners we use this room because it is connected to my dining room. My littlest son trys to take over in here with his legos but I have been trying to redirect him back to his room! lol

thank you for stopping by today,  xoxo Heather

You have got to see these!

Did you know about these GORgeous ruffled duvets at  Urban Outfitters ? I about flipped out when I saw them. This gray is all mine... all mine... except one thing.



My husband probably would kill me if he had to sleep on ruffles like this, it is a little over the top..
but oh how I love.. 



  And they have WHITE


  And PINK


And I LOVE this yellow... 


Hubby might go for one like this more.... with the ruffles in the corner. I do love this one too! what a beautiful color that is.



I ADORE this curtain. 



  And the laundry bag...can you even believe how cute that is. and that door looks just like my door, so funny!



and don't even get me started on these shower curtains. $68.00~ doesn't seem all that bad compared to a few others I have seen.



  All I know is I want something with these beautiful ruffles on it... just haven't figured out which one,
one of each would be nice! 



and a few of these too... OH how I love these little hooks for only 8.00 each.
Just had to share this little window shopping trip with you girls... just incase you would flip over them too!
xo Heather

All of these things are from Urban Outfitters .

The Anthropologie Scarf

My Mom, my littlest son and I went out for the day on Thursday for my birthday, which is on S unday. My Mom treated us to lunch at the  Cheesecake Factory and then we hit Anthroplogie and Ikea. I love Anthropologie. I usually don't buy much there... it is really expensive.... but I DO love to just browse around.  I can see why so many are inspired by all of the beautiful wares and displays. The clothes are so pretty too and I LOVE the jewelry. I really wanted this bracelet but resisted and didn't buy it.

What I did buy with a little of my birthday money was this beautiful scarf! I originally had the yellow one in my hand, I love yellow lately. I went back and forth from the yellow to this one... but in the end chose this beautiful grayish green color. I LOVE it. And it looks pretty cute draped with my door! I can't wait to wear it in the fall with a pretty sweater.

The ruffles are devine.

Yes there is that door again.... I hope I don't share it in every post from here on out but not only is this scarf the perfect accessory for me... but for my door too... hehe! I think the designers at Anthropologie would even like this little arrangement. 

I also bought a beautiful blue candleholder... I will show ya that in my next post along with a few other things I got at Ikea. For now it was all about the scarf.

xoxo Heather