Spring Fever Collage

It appears that March will be coming in like a lamb here this year. In the sixties all week. Early spring can be the loveliest. We get a lot of wind further on. I can't believe daylight savings happens in just one week! 

A few hothouse flowers and a little vintage tin on the hearth for a change.

My cement pineapple garden finials, a recent find, are vintage too. Just the structure I need for my spring fever collage. . . .

A vintage McCoy jardiniere and ironstone pot with a few bits of floral china. 

A pretty botanical print leans inside an old vintage mirror frame to round things out and unify the background for this shot.

Welcome to March!

Jacqueline

Savvy Southern Style~Wow Us Wed

Common Ground~Be Inspired

French Country Cottage~Feathered Nest

The Charm of Home~Home Sweet Home

My Romantic Home~Show & Tell

How Sweet the Sound~Pink Saturday

Between Naps on the Porch~Metamorphosis Monday

My Little Country Chateau

Last week I showed our new front hall paint job with the old ceiling fixture still hanging.

And here's a fuzzy look at the new one. . . .

The entire house had this amber glass lighting, and this is the last fixture to go. . . . Buh BYE!!!

Before

After, with some ghosty light thrown in.

A cheapo Home Depot version. We liked the vintage vibe. Lest this post fall short of glamour, I am also showing some lovely white things and a new vintage vanity mirror that I found while I was kicking around this weekend at my beloved grungy flea market. 

Late afternoon through the dining room lace. . . .

Un peu de linge romantique! (A little linen romance.) 

My Boulangerie candle helps me pretend that my house is really a little 16th century chateau. (Et l'odeur est delicieuse!)   

Love that foxy old mirror glass!

A flip to a 16th century French country house. . . Now that would be some before and after!

 But since I find myself still here, I must simply say adieu and merci!

So lovely that you paid me a visit . . .

Jacqueline

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Between Naps on the Porch~Metamorphosis Monday

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Pink & Purple Potpourri Tablescape

I love garden style inside or out. Vintage cast iron garden objects have a wonderful variety and patina that make an interesting statement wherever they are used. This metal frame was indeed once a garden cloche. It still has metal prongs lining the interior supports, and I have entertained the idea of replacing the glass. But I love just using it for display on the table.

But it is my purple campanulas from the grocery store that are the inspiration for my Thursday tablescape. They are what sent me on a search for the few lavender and violet hued china pieces I have stowed away in cupboards.

A few inherited  English tea plates by Royal Grafton in the Golden Heritage pattern suggest the mix of colors of the potpourri of dishes I have gathered together here. I think I have actually stopped picking up orphaned cups and saucers and pretty single plates here and there, but I'm probably just lying to myself! *smile*  A plain white vintage matelasse  coverlet unifies it all underneath, and grey linen napkins from William Sonoma  

keep it all toned down and less formal like a garden theme should be. My impulse was to use my ruffled white napkins, but I found it all a bit too much.

The flower sprays on the china plates even have purple flowers that mimic the purple bell flowers on my table!

My fading Valentine tulips emphasize the pinks I want to add in, and make the red transferware pieces less "red". I also love the lush look of different bunches of flowers displayed on the same table, but find it a little extravagant to do very often. The zinc flower bucket adds to my garden theme.

I don't have a name for the teacups with the strewn flowers, but they bring in all the color variations too!

The transferware pieces are the same Johnson Bros. pattern in both red and lavender. I'd love to have little satiny pink and white petite fours to serve with tea too, but alas! that will have to happen some other time! 

A vintage glass cake stand with a lacy crochet doily elevates the tea plates. I find that I use my cake stands for dishes more often than I ever use them for cakes!

So nice you could join the party!

See y'all next time!

Jacqueline

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Between Naps on the Porch~Tablescape Thursday

French Country Cottage~Feathered Nest

The Charm of Home~Home Sweet Home

My Romantic Home~Show & Tell

Front Hall Before and After

We had to empty our small entry way for painting, and I am loathe to return a single thing to it's former place. The hall tree has just been temporarily rotated around the corner into the dining room. But we also had a convenient coat rack to the left of the front door that was always loaded down and blocking light. 

Not only does the man of the house like the hall tree, but it hides the register you see in the forefront of this photo.  So it may be going back in.

But this story is really about the woodwork. It's common in homes of the Southwest to have a lot of stained woodwork. And that was true for the former owner of this house. This door is one of those off of the entry that will be painted next. The hall closet, freshly painted, is to the right, and the front door is to the left. All the doors had the same wood stained finish two days ago.

You just can't imagine the difference in light and the feeling of spaciousness with the change. 

This wall is plastered adobe brick, and was mostly hidden with the coat rack. 

 We have also just completed the woodwork on the dining room beams which was part of an ongoing painting project of the dining room trim on doors and windows as well.

The small dining room feels less boxy now. The white has made a world of difference.

The view from the front room into the dining room showing the contrast of the beams.

One room down. . . . Lots more to go!

 But you probably shouldn't be holding your breath . . . .

*smile*

Hope your week is great!

Jacqueline

Join me at

Between Naps on the Porch~Metamorphosis Monday

Savvy Southern Style~WOW US Wednesday