My hobbies

I've noticed that many people put their hobbies on their blogs. Believe it or not, I do have interests other than my grandkids. I thought that I'd start out by sharing with you my greatest passion (other than church and family). If you haven't been around me much you would be the only one who doesn't know how much I love to decorate my home. Every time I move to a new home I get all excited to try a new look. Our home in Lindon looks very different than our home in Albuquerque. The one thing that I enjoy most, is decorating on a shoestring. I can't stand to just go into a furniture store and buy stuff. I'd much rather collect things here and there that I love. Usually I can find something that I find charming at a deep discount, or at a garage sale, or at a thrift store. I have been very lucky to have inherited some pretty cool things, too, which helps.
The first room I have pictured is our dining room. I bought the table at a consignment store when we lived in Albuquerque. It has beautiful lines, and even though it is probably over 50 years old it is in good condition. I didn't have to do anything to it. The chairs I also got in ABQ at the same consignment store. They were cream color and had needlpoint covers on the chairs. I used them just the way they were in ABQ, but I painted them white and recovered them in the fabric that I made the drapes out of. (The needlepoint covers are still under there if I ever decide to use them again. They are beautiful and hand done.) Speaking of the drapes, found the fabric at a discount, and painted cheap wooden poles for the top. The dining room light fixture was super cheap but it was bright turquoise. I painted it with metal-look paint. I am lucky enough to have access to my dad's oil paintings. I found this one of red hollyhocks and put it into an older frame which I painted white.


The three little prints on the wall are just cheap little prints and I found some unpainted frames which I painted a soft green, white and black. The mirror is also cheap and I painted it white.
I love this little black table. In fact, I think it is my most favorite piece of furniture in my house. I alos got it at a consignment store, for a song. It needed no work at all. It was perfect just as it was, and has only a few very charming scratches on it. The best piece of furniture in the room is the armoire which belonged to my great Aunt Edie. It was a mess and my dad helped me to refinish it. Ken put shelves inside and I covered the whole inside with padding and fabric. It now house my china and silver.
Well, that is all I have time for now. I will show you more of our home next time.