Double rainbow

A friend sent me this photo that she took last Saturday on her farm near Jonesborough Tennessee after a pretty dramatic thunderstorm.  Lovely and rare.

Union Jack dresser

I just saw this dresser and had a little design moment.  I know you guys are going to love this piece!  I am looking around the house right now to see what piece of furniture that I have that I can paint like this.    The photos and information on how to do this yourself can be found at Miss Mustard Seed.  Wow.   

Plates on a mirror.....ooh.

I recently saw this brilliant idea on a blog called LaurieAnna's Vintage Home.  What a great idea!  She was trying to give her plates a little more impact on the cream wall and came up with this concept.  She glued D rings to the back of the plates, and hung them with fishing line from the top.  I frequently put mirrors on dining room tables and love the impact they give reflecting a chandelier, but I never would have thought of this.  But I do plan to steal it soon.

Here is the tutorial with information on how she attached the hangers to the plates.  http://laurieannas.blogspot.com/2011/01/floating-plates-easy-diy-tutorial.html

Mantle makeover

After

Before

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to makeover this mantle and update these bookcases.  I removed (well, I stood on the floor and bossed my friend RJ Powell into doing it from a ladder!) the items that were on top of the bookcases and raised the painting a few inches.  We added floral sconces that I had custom made from Southern Treasures in Gray, TN and beautiful glass hurricanes from Pier 1.  We also added handmade pottery vases and some fabulous reproduction mercury glass vases from Stein Mart on the left shelves.  The shelves on the right were trickier because they were built so close together.  I asked the homeowner if she had any books we could use to fill out the shelves.  She opened the bookcase doors to reveal many, many antique books.

I had to sit down for a minute.

They were gorgeous.....some over 130 years old.  If you double click on the top photo, you may be able to see them on the right shelves.

The whole family room looks pulled together and polished, just by rearranging the shelves and redoing the items on the mantle.  Pretty!  The photos of this room really don't do it justice.

Simple and elegant after photo.

Pretty side table with orchid arrangement from Southern Treasures.