Sharing Shadymont, My Mountain Cottage

The cold wintery weather has really dampened my creative spirit.  All I've wanted to do is sit in the family room with the logs on and keep warm.  FINALLY, today the sun is out, the sky is blue, and I felt like doing a little project.  I've had this tray for a couple of years, bought at consignment, and have used it in so many ways.  Here is the original look. Gray (kinda like I've been feeling)! I carried the tray filled with other items that needed a touch of white, and went to the basement to my craft table. I didn't completely cover the gray, just did my usual dry brush, hit it with a little Annie Sloan Dark Wax, and let it dry.  Then I sanded in a few spots with a sanding block.  This is the new look. The gray can still be seen in spots, but it is lighter and brighter.  This was very easy. I've had this display on the wall for a long time. The 'rock' the bird sits on reminds me of a baking potato!  So a...

We have all been busy making our homes look spring-like.  We've pouffed and fluffed, and brought out the pastels, the bunnies, and eggs.  We need to take a moment  to remember why we celebrate Easter.  The Resurrection. The new birth!  I am showing an Easter vignette I created and shared last Easter. The pencil sketch below was a gift to me from a coworker.   This picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane hung in my Mother's dining room when I was growing up.  I believe it may have been a calendar page.  It's still in the same frame. He is Risen!! Happy Easter everyone! Come join: Table Top Tuesday Wow Us Wednesday

Our weather man hasn't looked at the calendar I guess! Doesn't he know it's Spring??   It's 46 degrees today and overcast!  I so want it to warm up some.  I guess if the weather outside won't cooperate, we can just go about tweaking the inside so it looks like Spring. I know it won't be long until we're complaining about it being so hot, so I'll enjoy whatever we have.  Here are a few spots of Spring at Shadymont.  I know you have seen some of these before, but maybe some of you haven't.   This sits on the coffee table in the family room.  The tote came from Michael's a year or so ago. I love this box with the rabbits on it.  I believe it is from Michael's also.   I added this small book underneath the cloche with the bird and flower.  I think it adds interest, and it is the perfect color. I found these sweet birds at the Dollar Tree. I went through a bunch of my decor bins earlier this week, and came across...

Last week I showed how I have updated the guest room by rearranging the furniture, adding a vintage table updated with a little paint, and changing the window treatments.  Here is a quick reminder of the changes I made. There was one problem with my update!  I forgot to buy a matching window panel for the french door, and this white panel was just bugging me! BEFORE I have procrastinated all week on going back to Lowe's to get another window panel.  But this morning I went, (and a good thing) as they only had one left!! One , I tell you!  They had several left when I bought the first three.  So glad I went.   These panels only come in 84" length, so when I came home, I cut off the panel to a length of about 75".  Door panels are usually around 72" so 75" allowed for a hem for the bottom rod.  I simply hemmed across the edge folded it up a couple inches, and sewed across that.  This was about a 15 minute project w...

I was looking for peat pots in the garden center at Lowe's recently and ran up on these rolls of landscaping burlap for $9.98. I think it looks just as good as that bought in a fabric shop. I'm thinking I might make some kind of window treatment for the sun room from it, but so far all I have used it for is as a runner of sorts on the dining room table. I loved the table setting above, but decided to 'lighten' it up. I removed everything from the table. One side of the burlap is fringed.  It looks like this when it is spread out completely.  This would be fine for fringe on a window treatment, I think. But I decided to change it some and just folded the edges under for now.   I think this looks alright, although I might trim or hem the sides at some point. This urn was a ten dollar consignment find as was the cake plate below.   Pfaltzgraf tray I like the look of white and pink with the burlap. ...

Ever since we did the furniture shuffle a couple months ago when we put the king sized bed in the master, I haven't been happy with the furniture arrangement in the guest room.  I am happy to be able to have matching furniture for that room, but the dresser was covering one of the windows. The room has some quirky angles which makes arrangement difficult, but I just couldn't stand the window being covered. I wanted to place the head of the bed between the two windows on that wall. BEFORE Yesterday morning I went to Lowe's and purchased new curtain panels at $14.97 each, to replace the white panels I had up. Here is a photo showing the new panels. These panels capture the taupe of the walls and the turquoise of the bedding. AFTER This shows the bed placed between the two windows.   The bed now faces the doorway (left).  I think this is better. After I finished rearranging everything and hanging the new panels, I decid...