Little Things

"We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things..."

~ Charles W. Chestnut

Hello again, friends!

I am hoping to write today about the importance of little things in the home.

I'm thinking mainly about the details of home decorating.

~ ~ "It's the little things that make life wonderful..." ~ ~

And I would add... that make a home wonderful, too!

Have you ever walked into a big, beautiful home... maybe the type of home that is new, and a lot of money was spent on it... but it didn't feel like a home?

I think that's because the details, the little things, have never been incorporated. 

Of course this is only my opinion, and I am no expert, but I thought it'd be fun to show you a few of my little things...

I got a few new, fun things for my home, so that's what got me thinking about this topic.

I found a piece of antique embroidery on Etsy that I fell in love with.

Here's a close-up...

I was so impressed with this piece because it's from the 70's, and it's very difficult to find vintage embroidery from that era that doesn't have browns and oranges in them, since those were the trendy colors of that time.

I decided to make it into a pillow...

Isn't it adorable?!

The embroidery is on a blue linen background, which I think makes this a bright and airy throw pillow... perfect for summer!

I do want to mention something else, too, (hopefully I won't get too off topic...) and that is that it's important for those of us who live in older homes to be mindful of our home's history when decorating.

That's why I make pillows from antique fabric, instead of buying new, trendy pillows from popular stores. Nothing against those trendy pillows!!! I actually think they're quite cute, and I can find myself admiring them when I'm shopping at places like Hobby Lobby... But in the end I know that most of them wouldn't work for my home.

I want my home to have an authentic feel!

Here are a couple more examples of my 'authentic' throw pillows...

Both of these are antique needle points...

Another little thing that is new to me is this adorable set of four blue children's cups.

(I say children's cups because they are much smaller than standard cups.)

I just picked them up the other day very inexpensively at an antique store.

I love opening my kitchen cupboard and seeing them all lined up like this...

They are a bit of a mystery to me, though, because they have these painted windmills on them which makes them look Dutch, but the bottoms say Japan. 

Hmmm....

Oh well. I love them!

They match my other blue and white dishes that we eat on frequently...

Another wonderful little thing...

My mother gave me this Scandinavian print with antique frame the last time I visited her.

I've really been enjoying it on my buffet.

The colors are perfect!

~ "Never stop doing little things..." ~

~ Anurag Prakash Ray

The last thing I want to show you is my new copper tea kettle.

Isn't she beautiful?!

This is a dream come true for me because I've been looking for one of these for several years, but it seemed like every time I'd find one it would either be too expensive or in poor condition.

This one was perfect!

I plan to actually use it, which my grandma assured me I could do, since the bottom is perfectly intact! (I like to run all my antique finds by her.) No rust or holes or worn down spots! Yay!

It is replacing my old kettle that looked like this...

Nothing is wrong with it. It works just fine, but it's just a little too modern for me.

It is in the donation box awaiting my next Goodwill run.

I try to replace rather than add when I bring in new household items. It helps to not accumulate too much stuff. I don't want a house full of stuff. I want my house to just have useful and well-loved pieces. 

Oops! 

I almost forgot! 

One last little thing that I am very excited about!!!

We took the kids to lunch at a Swedish restaurant today, and while browsing through their gift shop I came upon this gem...

An Elsa baby book?!!!

I am over the moon!!!

I realize my Elsa is three, and no longer technically a baby, but I have never made a baby book for her! 

And now I have the perfect one!

(Elsa Beskow is a Swedish author and artist. Her work is most inspiring!)

It is such a beautiful baby book, and filled with the most charming illustrations...

Each one is cuter than the last...

And of course, plenty of blank lines to write on...

I am SO excited to get to work on it, and maybe even prop it up on an easel to display in her room.

I get butterflies just thinking about it!

You all know I am a sucker for this type of thing! 

I can't help it! Haha... I NEED beauty in my life!

And the best way I've found, is in 

~ Little Things ~

Take care sweet friends...

xo,

~ Courtney ~

A Pillow Story And Thrift Store Finds

When I'm not homeschooling my children, or working on housework, I'm decorating my home!

It's one of my most favorite things to do!

I always feel like it's time well-spent!

No one can bring beauty into a home the way a woman can, and I'm the only woman in my home... So, I feel it's up to me!

I wasn't happy with the new pillows I recently purchased for my front living room. I shared the photos with you in my "Spring Decorating" post. 

I've since purchased new ones that I like much better!

They're blue ticking throw pillows...

Here's the story...

Last spring I wanted to find throw pillows that would lighten up this space for spring and summer. My first attempt was these buttercup yellow pillows...

I thought I would like the yellow against my navy blue curtains. But it never set well with me and I ended up returning them.

I learned a lesson through the yellow pillow attempt, and that was that a solid doesn't look the best against another solid. The plain white couch needed pattern.

So, this spring I went out again, this time in search of a summer-y patterned throw pillow.

I was thrilled to find these...

But even though the pillows themselves were very beautiful, I still didn't think it looked right.

I kept the tags on them and pondered it for about a week. 

I picked my mom's brain about it when she came to visit. She helped me confirm what the problem was. The pattern on the pillows was competing with the pattern on the curtains!

See what I mean?...

So the conclusion finally was drawn...

I needed a pillow with a pattern, but one that would still allow my beautiful curtains to be the star of the show!

As they say, the third time's the charm!

I ordered these from Etsy, and they're perfect...

I visited a friend last week, (who happens to have a gorgeous, magazine-worthy home) and she said something that struck me. In regards to making decorating decisions she said, "The key is to REPEAT!"

That very much comforted me because I realized the reason these pillows feel right 

in my front room is largely due to it being a repeat pattern in the room. You see, I've had blue ticking on this side chair all along...

So, it causes the throw pillows to look as if they belong here.

Why didn't I realize it sooner?

Here's how the chair relates to the couch and new pillows...

If you're a really observant person, you'll notice I have a different plant on the coffee table. My poor little Oxalis that I had in this spot was getting beaten down by the direct sunlight that comes streaming through this window. I had to move it to a dimmer location. It actually traded places with this tropical plant that has been longing for a warm, sunny spot!

So, here's what my front room looks like today...

To the left of my couch is an end table with this vignette...

When I'm out junking I almost always buy a book or two. 

My most recent trip resulted in the finding of this adorable Peter Pan book...

Isn't it perfect here?...

Do you enjoy sifting through thrift store junk in the hopes of finding a treasure?

After coming across Peter Pan and tucking him under my arm to shop some more, I stumbled upon this find...

Eight tiny, little hand-painted plates!

I felt very lucky to find these!

I've never seen plates so tiny before!

Maybe it's hard to tell from the photos just how tiny... To give you an idea, look at this snack I prepared for my kids soon after I brought them home...

The plain, white plates are teacup saucers!!!

I had no idea what these tiny plates were for, so I used them in random, creative ways for the first few days that I had them...

(I recently began drawing red hearts on our napkins to tell the kids that dinner was "Made with love.")

But then my Grandma informed me that their original use, years ago, was to provide butter for each place setting!

I thought that was such a brilliant idea!

Everyone getting their own little butter plate?... Of course! Why aren't we doing this anymore?

Well, I saw to it that we all had our own butter on these plates at our very next family dinner!

:) :) :)

What do you think? Do you have any other clever ideas for how I can use my tiny plates?

Please leave a comment!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you friends, for stopping by my blog today!

It means so much to me that you take the time to read what I write!

Until next time...

xo,

~ Courtney ~

My New Desk

Hi friends!

I'm in the mood to talk about decorating!

Who's with me?!

It's been on my mind because I've been working on tweaking a corner in my home lately...

It all began with a new (old. Very old!) desk that Micah refinished for me.

Wanna see it?!

I think she's lovely!

This is very exciting for me because I've never had an office or desk since we've lived in this house. I've always just used the end of my dining room table. It worked just fine but it looked junky having my papers and computer in what is supposed to be a formal dining room!

On one of our last antiquing adventures, Micah and I picked up this desk very inexpensively. It was covered in about ten coats of thick paint!

Micah appreciates original wood that's been preserved, or else restored, (versus wood that's painted) so he took it out to his workshop to strip it and work on it.

I, for one, very much like painted wood, so our home is a nice mix of both. He really took this desk on as his own project though, so I just stayed out of it and let him restore the original wood.

He bought new hardware for it and gave it these curvy feet...

I really love an authentic look in home decorating, (and Micah's the same way!) so I was happy with his choices.

Once the desk was completed, we ran into a small problem...

We didn't know where to put it!

It lived in our basement for months! But it was perfectly finished and ready to go... What a shame! Until one day I looked at this awkward little corner in my bedroom...

And it finally clicked with me!

Other than the dresser, this corner of my room was meaningless. The items were meant to just fill the space...

I got a hold of Micah one evening and talked him into hauling the desk up two flights of stairs so that it could be in my room and be put to good use.

(It's where I'm sitting right now as I type this blog post!)

Of course, nothing can ever be quick and easy when it comes to this sort of thing... Our first step was to remove the large and heavy barn door that was leaning against the wall...

One thing lead to another and I ended up revisiting how this entire half of my room was decorated. 

When I originally decorated it, I thought I wanted "blank spaces" in this room because I believed it would be calming and serene for me. 

That resulted in empty spots such as this...

I do believe that a few nicely done "blank spaces" in decorating can "give the eye a place to rest," as my mother would say. Don't feel as though you must fill up every nook and cranny in your home. My mother also used to tell me that just because you have something, doesn't mean you have to use it! Ask yourself if what you have will be good for the space.

So, keeping those things in mind, I was ready to slowly add to this space!

I moved the wooden rocker over...

Then added this sheet music wreath that I had made years ago, along with this little watercolor that a friend had given me...

It's an original painting of a robin's nest with two blue eggs inside, because my friend knows I love birds. Isn't it just wonderful to have good friends?!

It took me a few days to warm up to this, though. I was so used to this spot being empty. 

It's also important to me that my house flows, so to speak, from one room to the next. So to figure out what's best for this wall meant taking the whole view into consideration. I stood here looking into the guest room to see if it was visually pleasing to me...

By the time I was done fiddling with all of this, Micah was ready to start bringing desk parts up...

I was giddy with excitement!...

When he got it all set up he realized that he had forgotten something... 

These tiny drawers in the insert of the desktop were never given new knobs!

Once this was realized, we both took off in different directions to check our "stashes" for something that would fit the bill. (When one decides to renovate a 100-year old farmhouse over the course of several years, one accumulates random salvage "stashes" throughout the house, haha...)

Micah came back with small, white porcelain knobs, and I came back with these...

Darling little brass flowers that my grandma had given me a few years ago.

She said, " I'm not sure what they are but I figured you could find a use for them."

(She knows me well:)

They were perfect for my little desk drawers!

Micah screwed them in for me.

I am a happy girl!!!

Would you like to see the space completed?

This was my first stab at it...

I kept the antique birdcage in the corner for a few days but it never set well with me. Because it's white and the walls are white, I felt that the corner needed something more substantial.

So I had this antique column brought in. I figured I would use it in the corner as a plant stand. I had visualized a fern for this space, but when I stopped by my local nursery, there wasn't a single fern in the entire store! I knew I needed a low-light plant because this corner receives no sunlight. Other than ferns, the only other low-light houseplant that I know of are Peace Lily's. So I bought one of those instead...

It's a beautiful plant but it's huge! My nursery didn't have one any smaller. The night I brought it home and placed it in the planter I joked with Micah when he came into the room... "Welcome to the jungle!" I laughed.

He just rolled his eyes and didn't say a word. Haha... (He's a good man. He has put up with me and my decorating for ten years now, and just lets me do my thing... )

So, this is what this corner of my room looks like today...

I really like it!

I decorated my desk with things I find beautiful... Antique books, an oil on canvas landscape, tulips, and a needlepoint chair...

And in case you are curious about how this corner relates to the rest of the room, I'll include these next few photos...

I sure am enjoying having this cute desk in my room. I'm also quite thankful to have a hard-working husband who's willing to tackle these projects for our home!

And I am thankful for YOU, dear readers, who have been with me since I started this blog over a year ago already!

I started it because I noticed there were two types of blogs for stay-at-home moms in Blogland; The keep-it-real "Mom" blogs that were promoting chaos, messes, and unruly children as normal and OK, and the "Design" blogs that were promoting magazine-worthy home decor as if that's all there is to life... I felt I didn't fit into either category. I wanted to find a blog that was about real-life mothering but in a home that was beautiful and well-cared for. I'm not saying I've achieved that perfectly, but I realized in order to have such a blog in Blogland, I may have to write it myself! 

So, that's what I did. 

And what I continue to do. 

I am still learning myself, you know! A lot of what I write is to remind and motivate  ME! Haha...

But I invite you to come along on the journey!

Let's be good and loving mama's and give our families clean, beautiful homes!

We can do it, girlfriends!

Until next time...

xo,

~ Courtney ~