Monday, March 28, 2011

heart of a home

I think it's the little things around a home that make you smile. Make you realize ~
 "This is what makes my house a HOME."

Pretty blue and white teacups and saucers...
(Blue and white anything makes me smile!)


A kitty peeking through the flowers
even though she's not supposed to be on the kitchen table...


A stack of vintage books with a pretty heart atop...


 All three cats sleeping in the sunshine, on my son's unmade bed...


My son's decorated bedroom door...


Little "pretties" on display in the kitchen...



Take a look around your own home.
What are some of the things that make you smile?
Make your home uniquely yours?
I'd love to hear about them.



Saturday, March 26, 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

think spring!

Little touches of spring around Comfy House...








It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!
~ Mark Twain


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

laundry room makeover

I don't exactly have a laundry room, per se - but I do have a laundry area. It's in the unfinished part of my basement, AKA The Dungeon. The area basically consists of a washer and dryer with two ugly pieces of plywood serving as shelves, nailed onto plywood above the washer and dryer.

These shelves became a catch-all for all kinds of stuff: snacks, cat food, rags, laundry detergent, extra Tupperware, a plastic grocery bag filled with cut-out recipes, and lots of dust.

I'm a little embarrassed to even show you all what the area looked like BEFORE:




Here's the AFTER:



This was just a super-quick-maybe-one-hour makeover on a Saturday afternoon. I started out by taking everything off the shelves, taking the shelves down and washing them in the laundry tub, then lining them with yellow "rubbery" contact paper from Wal-Mart. It doesn't have any sticky backing, but "holds" to the shelves with its rubbery material.

I then took a look in my scrapbook papers and found some yellow and purple papers I liked. I simply taped those to the drywall beside the shelves.

Found a copper wire basket that used to hang in my kitchen and hung that above the washing machine to hold the rags and clothespins. The green basket on the bottom shelf is from Michaels. I'm using that to hold the cat food cans. The little round basket on the top shelf (found in one of my bins of household decor) holds dryer sheets. The green bird planter on the top shelf holds extra plastic grocery bags that I use when I scoop out the cat boxes.

I then added some cheerful decor that again, I found in my stash of household decor.

Now if the Laundry Fairy would just make a visit to my house...


Thursday, March 10, 2011

thrifty treasures

Oh, Goodwill...how I love thee so!


 Josef Seibel shoes - which retail for an average of $130 - for $4.99.  The leather is like butter. They feel SO good on my feet.


Snowman salt and pepper shakers in a cute red basket for $1.99.


Bath sign which had a $14.99 HomeGoods sticker on the bottom - $1.99.



Couple of hardcover books, for $1.79 each. The Kennedy one is for my husband; the poetry book for me.



One of my favorite finds...100% cotton cableknit LL Bean cardigan for $3.99! Look here http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/51561?feat=611-GN1 to see the retail price! ;-)




Brand-new fleece gloves for 49 cents.


And a beveled glass picture which will be perfect in my re-done basement family room - $4.99. Clementine approves.


Have you found any wonderful treasures by thrifting lately?



Sunday, March 6, 2011

kitty cat love

Zippo - almost 12 years old - is still King of the House. I remind him regularly that he's still #1.


Monkey, the baby, is now 5-1/2 months old. He is so cute - but such a terror. He gets into garbage cans, knocks plants over, tears the tablecloth off the kitchen table, and has a plastic fetish. Plastic grocery bags, anything covered in plastic wrap - he will tear up and chew on. This morning I heard rustling in the kitchen and went in there to investigate. Monkey was up on the counter and had torn off the plastic wrap that was covering a pan of carrot cake - and was happily licking the cream cheese frosting!



Couldn't help but laugh when I found Monkey hiding inside my son's bass drum...


Monkey thinks he's friends with Zippo and will curl up beside him when he's sleeping...sneaky kitten!


Mama Clementine is still very protective of her baby and loves to wash him...


Clementine and Monkey...this photo won my veterinarian's competition for their monthly Facebook profile photo!