Decorating with Silver and White

I've got a silver and white thing going right now.  I love the combination of old silver with white ironstone.  I don't have any ironstone yet so I combined my silver and pewter with some cream-colored Lenox Butler's Pantry china.  I also like to see it mixed with wicker baskets.  I went exploring Pinterest for some inspiration pics.  The first pic is my silver and white and the following pics were found on Pinterest.

ACountryFarmhouse.blogspot.com

House Beautiful

Pinterest

Jennifer Rizzo

Shabby French Cottage

Aren't these pics beautiful!  I have a lot of work to do on my collection but I have found so much inspiration.  The last photo is from Shabby French Cottage and was featured in Romantic Homes.  I especially love the white and silver trays on the backsplash.  That is a great idea that I want to try in my own kitchen!  I hope you found something  that inspires you!

Linky Blog Hop

Many of you have probably already heard that

GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT WILL GO AWAY

on Feb 29 for any one that is not with Blogspot BUT

there is good news

There is a NEW awesome tool–Linky Followers

RULES:

1. You must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.If you see that your link has been deleted you need to add the LINKY FOLLOWER tool to your site and then come back over and re-enter your link. You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS toolto participate in this party hop.
2. You must follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.
3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.
4. Then grab the BLOG HOP code.You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE
5. Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site.You can grab the party button code in the FOOTER at Its So Very Cheri
   You can grab info from my post if it helps you with your post.
6. Follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

 This is a Blog Hop!

Demijohn Bottles

Okay, I know that these bottles have been floating around blog land for a while but I just discovered them!  So I guess that makes them new to me.  Maybe there are other clueless people out there as well.  After eyeing these on savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com I went looking for one for myself.  I looked in no less than a dozen antique stores around where I live.  I couldn't find one anywhere, not even one!  How do all of these other people find such fabulous stuff?  Where are all the good antique stores anyway?  I had to go to the internet to find one.  I really wanted to find one in person.  The fun thing about collecting is the search and looking for just the right one.  Well, my just the right one had to come from ebay.

It's about 14 inches tall and green and wrapped in wicker with a little handle.  I have no idea where it is from or how old it is.  I did some research and this shape bottle was usually made in America and the green bottles tend to be not as old as the blue ones.  I am on the look out now for a large bottle, tinted blue without the wicker cover.  They are so expensive online!  I hope that I can find one a lot cheaper at an antique store.  It looks like I'm going to have to venture across the state line to Tennessee to find one.  Here are some beautiful bottles I have found online.

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

BHG

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Add caption

Decor Pad

Who else out there is Demijohn crazed?

Baked Spinach Ziti

Ziti is cheesy, saucy, yumminess.    It's super easy and makes A LOT.  It's a great substitute for lasagna.  I get tired of the same ole' lasagna so I decided to change things up a bit and make ziti.  It's great if you need something easy for a lot of people.  It's rich and very filling and a 9 X 13 casserole dish goes a long way.  Serve with a green salad and garlic bread....yum...you've got a hit.

Silver, Roses, and Chalk Paint!

I finally got my shelf painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I painted it Paris Grey at first then Duck Egg Blue, and then a mixture of both colors, and then back to Duck Egg Blue with dark wax.  I don't know why I couldn't settle on a color.  I looked at so many pics online of ASCP and I love all the colors.  There is something about painting something for myself in my house that makes things different.  I can paint something for someone else, no problem but me not so easily.  I am going to work on it though!

I dug through all of my cabinets and found a little bit of this and a little bit of that to place on the shelf.  I've got some silverplate from when I got married, some from Salvation Army, antique stores, and I threw in a little bit of mercury glass from Target.  I also have some Arthur Court pewter and Lenox Butler Pantry's Gourmet china.  Yep, I have a little mix going on here.  I tried to just put it on there without analyzing symmetry and all that but unfortunately, my brain doesn't work that way!  I moved it around and finally just settled on this arrangement.

You can see the duck egg blue with dark wax in this next pic.

These are the white roses I got for Valentine's!

I love my new shelf in duck egg blue.  I'm planning on doing many more projects!  What are you working on?

I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen

I love the look of these gorgeous white kitchens that all over blog land and Pinterest.  My cabinets are maple stained cherry.  I know that sounds pretty but believe me they need help!   The wood grain looks very odd and not straight like maple should be.  The stain is also faded and the doors are no longer uniform in color.  Several years ago I painted my cabinets in my first house.  It took forever!

I have this syndrome called non-complete project syndrome.  You know that's where you start something and then before you finish with that one you start on another then another.  You get the picture.  Then pretty soon you're standing there staring at it all wondering how did this happen?  Then I go in overload shut down mode.

 Maybe that is why it has taken me so long to do mine. Kitchen cabinets are something I want finished quick.  So I have to be ready and have all of my other projects completed before I start my cabinets.  Seeing all of these pics are really getting me motivated to get things done around here.  I wasn't able to find all of the sources.  If you know help me give them credit.

This first one is from one of my favorite blogs For the Love of a House.  I love the windows!

For the Love of a House

Better Homes and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens

Velvet and Linen.com

Country Living

This last pic shows several elements that are my favorite...the wood counter tops, beadboard backsplash, open shelving, and farmhouse sink.  I also like having a window above the sink.  Not all of these things are possible with the kitchen I have but I still can incorporate some of them.  Has anyone redone their kitchen..painted cabinets, installed wood counter tops or beadboard backsplash?

My Daffodils Have Sprung!

I completely forgot I even planted daffodils last year!  I was thinking what are these pretty little green shoots coming up out of the ground? It's not spring mmmm... then they bloomed!  Oh Yeah!  Daffodils!  I totally for got I planted those last year at this time when we put our house on the market.  It's amazing what a little pop of color can do for curb appeal.

I have officially have Spring fever after seeing these!  I can't wait for my other flowers and shrubs to bloom.  Next should be my azaelas followed by oakleaf hydrangeas, and then my knock-out roses. I have   hollyhocks and foxgloves but I have no idea when they will bloom.  They didn't bloom last year but are suppose to this year.  I'm super excited about those!  Have you planted any of these and had any luck?

Antique Fun in Hartselle, AL

This past Saturday I made a little trip to Main Street in Hartselle, AL.  They have several great antique stores that I haven't been to in a while.  I knew exactly what I was looking for...ironstone, demijohns, dough bowl, and if I'm real lucky a French Provincial piece for 50 bucks for my dining room (yeah right).  It helps me a lot to go in the stores with a plan because then I can walk in and look at the tons of stuff and not get so overwhelmed.

Anyway, the first store I went in literally had thousands of dishes!  And not one piece was white ironstone.  They did have a piece of  French Provincial furniture that wasn't too big that would look great in my dining room.  But it was 350 bucks over my furniture budget.  The next store no ironstone but had dough bowls.  The largest one was perfect but cost $157.  No way I'm going to pay that.  The rest of the stores I didn't see anything that was on my list. I did stumble on two beautiful doors that were amazing but out of the budget.

The store I had the most fun looking around was Bella Reese.  This store had gorgeous painted, distressed furniture.  I don't know if it was chalk paint because I've never used chalk paint and don't know exactly what it looks like in person.  The feel of the furniture did have a very soft finish and looked as if it had wax over the finish so I'm thinking it was chalk paint.  It was so beautiful!  Here are a few pics.

This first one actually is a nice robin eggs blue.  I have this exact furniture and I am definitely going to paint it with chalk paint now that I've seen it how gorgeous it is with a distressed finish.

This next piece is meant to coordinate with the above dresser.  It was my favorite in the store.  I like that it wasn't exactly the same color.  It had more of a cream color.  Check out the bedside table! It is so different.  Never seen anything that shape.  I love anything different or unusual.

This is what the entire bedroom furniture looked like.  The headboard was painted cane.  I wish you could see it better.  I used my phone for all of these pics.

This next pic shows how good antique chairs look with modern fabric.  I love the look!  Totally updates it and keeps the furniture from looking too stuffy.

More modern fabric on this next bench.

These last pics were my favorite find of the day.  I wanted to take these home so bad!  These 7 ft. arched doors had the most beautiful aged finish.  I have the perfect spot for them in my house if only they weren't 200 bucks a piece!

I am already planning my next hunt in Nashville.  I can't imagine what goodies are waiting for me!  I plan to visit the Downtown Antique Mall.  The reviews are pretty good.  Lots of junk in a huge dingy warehouse with no heat or air.  Sounds fun to me.

Update on Changing my Paint Color

Here are a couple of pics of  the painting in progress.  I did choose to go with the Cream Fleece by Benjamin Moore and I love it!  It is so soft and well creamy looking.  Sorry the pics aren't great but hopefully you can tell something about them.  The first one is of my breakfast room.  I drug a few items in there and put them against the wall so you can have something to compare the color to.

This next pic is taken from my family room looking into the breakfast area.  If you look in the top left corner of the family room you can see the difference in paint color.  The darker golden color is tobacco road and the lighter color on the left is cream fleece.  It really brightens the place up a lot.  I love it!

I hope to be finished in the next day or two.  I'll share more pics then.  I can't wait!