a collection of blue and white ~ and home disaster update

 One of my favorite color combinations is blue and white.

I have quite the collection going on a bookshelf in my office.

All are pieces I've collected at Goodwill, Savers, and other thrift stores.

The only pieces that are marked on the bottom are the pitcher in back

(hand painted in Portugal) and the little Dutch shoes in front (Delft).

It sure was a busy morning. The new springs for the garage door were installed

at 8 a.m. The old water softener was hauled away and the new one installed

at 9. And the restoration crew was here at 10 to take away all the fans

and industrial dehumidifier in the basement. Basement is all dried out now

and all it needs is all new baseboards installed. Not bad - could've been

a ton worse. Good thing we caught the water just in time (it was only about 2"

deep) and that the restoration company was able to come out right away to

start clean up. Now my days will be spent going through the tons of stuff

that we had stored down there and either putting in bags for donation (I already

have huge piles ready to go!) or re-organizing on shelves or in plastic storage

boxes. Gotta get all that stuff out of the garage as soon as possible so we can

park our cars back in there. 

I leave for my yoga class in about 40 minutes. I know I say it every Monday,

but I really need it tonight. All that breath work and stretching feels so

 good and quiets the mind.

 

midwest bloggers meet-up

 About twenty-five of us Midwest (and a couple from KY, too!) bloggers met

 up yesterday at Room 363 in Naperville, IL.

The lovely and sweet Jen Rizzo (standing) organized the meet-up. We went

 around the room introducing ourselves, then milled around the store for a couple of

hours ~ shopping, talking, and enjoying a continental breakfast.

I have no problem introducing myself to others. But if it requires any more than 

that, especially in front of a group, I almost freeze with fear. I don't know what

to say and gibberish seems to tumble from my mouth. We were supposed to

tell a fun fact about ourselves; something that would be a surprise. I couldn't

think of a darn thing off the top of my head! Everyone else had such great and

interesting things: Teresa used to be a clown; Barb has a glamper; Peggy is a 

military wife and has lived all over the place, including Alaska. KariAnne even

chased a robber out of K-Mart! I think what came out of my mouth was something

ridiculous like, "I can't think of a surprising fact about myself. I'm pretty much 'what 

you see is what you get.' " Oy. On the way home and even while lying in bed last night,

I kept trying to think of something that I could've told them. Isn't that terrible? So

here's what I came up with:

• I've been writing poetry since I was 12 years old.
• I used to have rats as pets.
• I like to play tricks on telemarketers when they call (disguising my voice as a foreigner; trying to order a pizza; playing music for them).
• I wish I lived on lots of land so I could have a horse, a donkey, a couple of sheep and goats, and chickens.
• And KariAnne has nothing on me....I once chased a drunk guy down the street in Mexico because he stole my 7-year old son's Happy Meal toy out of his hand!

Anyway, the store we met in - Room 363 - was filled with gorgeous displays.

A delight for the senses anywhere you turned.

This cabinet would be perfect in my bedroom. I didn't dare look at the price!
 

The one thing I did treat myself to from Room 363 was this Tru Blooms perfume.

I'm very picky about perfume, especially since I have allergies. It can't

be too heavy or overly sweet. This one is perfect for me - light notes of rose,

 lavender, white oriental lily, and violet.

There are some really talented and generous bloggers out there.

Jen passed out tote bags full of little gifts from each other...there was

nail polish, home baked treats, a painted Easter canvas, this gorgeous necklace...

a handmade shamrock...

and even the cutest little pot with wheat grass seed that we can plant!

After we got "kicked out" of Room 363 (Mark, the owner was gracious enough

to let all us women descend upon his store for a few hours), we all went

our separate ways for lunch and shopping. I went out to lunch with none other

than Penny from At Home in English Valley (it was SO wonderful to finally

meet Penny in person ~ if you remember, we were supposed to meet for

thrifting last week and I had to cancel because of my sister-in-law's passing),

Lynne from Irish Garden House, and Barb from Babs Just A'Babblin.

 On the way home, I just had to quickly stop at Savers. I found this

great mama hen and chick butter dish (Otagiri, Japan). Think she's

happy up on the fridge with a couple of roosters?!

a whole lot of tweaking going on

 You know how I'm constantly changing things around...

Here I go again!

First, I lined up my collection of pottery and vases on the decorative window ledge.

I also added the white stool stacked with books in the corner. Kitty on the blanket optional.

 Found the lime green and aqua votive holders at Pier 1 Imports.

The two perfect colors for my living room - and I think they really brighten up the side table

next to the sofa. Spring-like, aren't they?

 Spied this chair at Goodwill last week for $4.99. Loved the design and how someone

had already re-painted it. Knew it would be beautiful in my living room or even outside

in the garden during the warmer weather.

 

Amazing how it perfectly matches the little black and gold side table that

I already had. (The table belonged to my grandma.)

 Here's the entire window side of my living room where the chair is.

This area is so hard to decorate, especially with the front door to the immediate left.

The seating area is on the other side of the living room, across from the window.

The tall black table in front of the window is purposely bare on top because the cats

use it as a perch to look out the window! I was thinking maybe a light blue round rug
 under the chair and little side table would make this area look "warmer" and not so linear.
 Or, I would love to find a small rectangular table to center in front of the window.
I could use the black chair as one of the chairs at the table, and then find
another antique wooden chair for the other side of the table. Granted, I couldn't really
decorate the top of the table because of the cats, but it still might look nice.
Thoughts?

Oh, and the curtains are new, too. Another thing I've had such a hard time with was

the window treatments. It's really hard finding curtains that will fit a double window.

All the panels that I tried were too short (standard 81") and too wide. Covered

most of the window. This is the only light that the living room gets, so anything that

covered most of the window was a definite no. Finally found this swag at 

Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Not crazy about it, but it'll have to do for now.

Moving on to the bookcase wall, I stacked vintage suitcases by the bookcase

and switched the ottoman for the little side table that's now by the black chair.

There's two new finds on the bookcase; one being this very cool, wavy plate.

It's made by Villeroy and Boch, Germany. Pattern is New Wave. They
sell for quite a pretty penny at places like Macys and Bloomingdales.

While shopping at Savers last week with a friend, we both found these plates.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the matching cups. Guess that's why they were at Savers!

I kept telling my friend that I loved the plates; that I wish there was something I could

do with them. She suggested using them as decor...maybe put a candle where the cup

is supposed to go, and then put rocks or seashells in the plate section.

Great idea, girlfriend! Here's what I came up with:

Here's the intended purpose...

(Source: amazon)

 And while at Savers, I also found this cute, modern vase. It's made by Amano Germany Pottery.
There's a couple of listings for this vase on etsy - one listing for $28, the other for $40.
I paid $4.99. :-)

Thanks for visiting my updated living room!

Linking up to Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

and

Creative Cain Cabin Budget Decorating Party