Arizona

I'm writing this from Arizona. Yes I'm at Michelle's house and while the cat's away, the mice will play. The cat(Blaine) has been deployed and the mice(the rest of us) are playing and eating whatever we want.

Horses, horses, horses!

Now that the snow has melted the horses are out and looking for some grass to eat. One of the best things about where we live is the horse "farm" behind our house. (They breed and raise horses.) I looked out our back door the other morning and this is what I saw. Pretty cool, huh? I love horses and wish my back wasn't bad, because I'd love to go ride these guys. But sometimes I can get them to come and eat a carrot or apple out of my hand. Ah, paradise. I really do like horsie slobber. Go figure.

My Hobbies

I know that the cardinal rule of decorating is to make your color scheme such that it will flow from room to room. So, these two rooms which are on my second floor, break that rule to bits. But, I didn't care about rules when I did these. I just wanted to have a change. I love the aqua walls of my office. When I go in there I feel at once soothed and regenerated. It is bright and cheerful, but also relaxing. I chose a beach theme, which to me is the most relaxing place on earth. You can't see it very well, but there are sea shells and ocean pictures. I got the little rack in the corner at an antique store. I was so jazzed when I found it because it was exactly what I had been looking for.

This little guest room gave me an opportunity to get out all of my pink and girly yayas. I was also able to use some of my pink stuff that I had saved from our last house. I thought that I was sick of these colors when we moved, but I missed them afterall. I decorated this room very cheaply. The headboards on the beds are miss-matched ones that I bought at yard sales for $15 and $20 dollars. I painted them white and they almost look like a set. The green metal hangings over the beds were white and I painted them green to match the bedding which I bought at Kohl's. The antique dresser was already white. I got it here in Utah at an antique store for about $150. Pretty cheap for an antique. You can't see it in this photo but there are cat pictures. I found the chenille pillows at an antique store on Cape Cod. I couldn't believe how perfect they were. They are made out of an old bedspread.

My hobbies

I love a very casual look. Slipcovered furniture is my new favorite. What could be better than washable furniture? I'll never have to worry about a grandchild spilling on the sofa. I had all of the family room furniture made with slip covers and it's great. The "coffee table" just an old chest that looks like it's seen better days. I, however, find it charming and additional scratches will never show, there are already so many. When I brought this home, Ken thought that I was completely out of my mind. Why would I buy such a thing, he asked. I ignored him and sat back to admire my newest find.

Another "find"was this magazine rack that I found at Deseret Industries (the local thrift store). It was like $5 and with a bit of yellow paint it became a treasure.

Okay, so the entertainment center isn't an antique or particularly cheap, but it's cute, don't you think? The quilt and pillow on the blue denim chair are treasured gifts from my friend Jan. Cubby likes them, too.

You probably can't really see it in this pciture but the wall behind the cabinet is painted red. Va va va voom!

Well, I forgot to mention that the kitchen chairs are circa 1956. My parents bought those chairs when I was 6 and we moved into our first house in Burbank. I've been sitting on them for 52 years. When Ken and I got married my parents handed them down to us. Well, about 10 years ago I stripped them ( they had 40 years of Pledge on them) and painted them off white. They still look good and have never had to be glued or repaired in any way. This is a great testimonial for buying quality furniture. It doesn't hurt that they are classic windsor chairs. I couldn't love them more.

My hobbies

Okay, next is the kitchen. Are you bored yet? Too bad, this is all I've got. When we were building our house the one thing I had to have above all else, was white kitchen cabinets. I've been clipping magazine pictures for over 35 years and the one constant thing I've been drawn to was white kitchen cabinets. They are universal in time...they never go out of style. They are clean and bright. Every time I walk into my kitchen I have to smile because it is just so happy and cheerful. The yellow paint on the walls just draws the white cupboards out and scream spring.

Once again I have used cheap plates from TJMaxx and yard sales. The little strawberry jar was a wedding gift in 1969 and I still think it's cute. The blue cupboard is my surprize for kitchen. Before I painted this cabinet blue, there was only red and yellow in my kitchen and family room. One day I just decided that were needed a touch of clue. The addition of the blue made me integrate the blue china plates to pull it all together. The blue cabinet used to be a very light wood which looked good in my Abluquerque decor. Here it just sat there and looked dull. See why I love paint?

My hobbies

The next room that I will feature is the master bedroom. The one thing that I did spend a bit of money on was the Laura Ashley spread, pillow shams and dust ruffle. When I found this set I knew that it would be the defining item for our bedrrom, so I went ahead and spent the money for it. Sometimes you have to spend a little bit of money to get the perfect fabric for the look you want. The lamps were cheap and the night stands are the same ones we bought in 1970 for our original bedroom. I just painted them white to go with the new decor. The four pictures on the wall over the bed are wedding pictures of us that I had copied in black and white (to achieve a more chic look than color photos) and I framed them in $5 frames from Walmart that I painted black with craft paint.
One day when I was in TJMaxx (one of my favorite stores) I found a small curtain in the same fabric as my bedroom stuff for super cheap. I brought it home and made it over into a faux balloon shade. One of my favorite things is paint. When we painted the walls green, the room just popped!! I love it. Paint can be a lot of boom for your buck. And Blaine, it doesn't look like Christmas, despite the color scheme.

I make all of my own flower arrangements and that saves, but even doing that, flowers are amazingly expensive. Fortunately, I don't like a whole lot of them.

This little shelf and mirror were also very inexpensive. One of my obsessions has been plates, and these were purchased at TJMaxx.