At Considerable Cost

  My first rule for outdoor furniture is that it must be used or deeply discounted.   It's not just because it's cheaper that way, but also because it's just common sense.   I grew up in south Louisiana, with heat and humidity.   Now, I live in Texas, with heat, a bit less humidity, and intense sunlight on our home.   Outdoor furniture takes a great deal of abuse under these conditions, so no matter how much I might spend on a brand new set of it, the wear-and-tear is still going to happen.   We gradually outfitted our back porch and last spring, I found furniture for the front porch at an estate sale.   The set was a little more than I wanted to spend, but it's hard to find pieces like these.   They are from the 1960s and were used on a screened-in porch.   Another selling point for me was their small scale.   It's hard to find diminutive patio furniture.   ...

To continue where my last post about our house projects left off,  I have some new pictures to post. I wanted the kids' rooms to be finished before the first day of school, so it was a mad rush to get it all done.   There are still books on C's floor since we have run out of bookshelves!   I know the kids' room colors are terribly traditional and awfully stereotypical, but they chose them. E's Lavender Room  Update: I exchanged the white bed skirt for this ruffled lavender one.   It looks better and it was on clearance at Target for less than $5. This was the girls' dress-up center, but now it's Emmeline's dresser.   The next project for her room is painting this, since the finish and wood quality are not great.   I don't like seeing wood pieces painted, but the damage on this one is too great for a refinish. Mama bought the "Emme" boutique hat box after Emmeline was born.   There is ...

You walk into the living room from our entry.   I looked at hundreds of pictures on-line for decoration inspiration and I tended toward the living rooms with a warm, English feel.   I chose a taupe that I still like just as much as when I chose it.   The satin finish makes it even prettier.   The furniture is all leather or tweedy shades of brown.   It's intentionally a room of browns with pops of red and gold.   I am waiting to tackle the biggest wall in the room.   I'm a little scared to drive the first nail!   I love the way the architecture of the room allows me to continue my eclectic decorating style, antiques with touches of old South and Craftsman/Mission. Before: Our living room as it appeared when we first looked at the house   The olive green was not a bad color, but the paint job itself was terrible.  I felt the room would be cozier and more traditional with all four walls pain...

I'm on a painting kick.   If you stand still for too long, you will end up being painted black--either brushed on or more likely, spray painted.   I do this every couple of years.   Mama had lots of metal yard pieces--plant stands, flower carts, etc. and they need to be repainted every so often.   I love metal pieces because you can so easily freshen them up with a fresh coat of paint.   I think nothing looks sharper than a crisp black finish.  The last time I was on spray-painting-spree, I called a friend and told her our fence would look really great painted black.  "I think you need to stop spray-painting for a while, Terri," was her reply.   Here are a few of my little projects. BEFORE: Outdoor love seat and coffee table purchased a  garage sale.   I found a great deal on a cushion at Overstock.com! AFTER: Metal outdoor furniture will rust over time, so I waited until I could find som...