Crystal Author
I realized this afternoon that I’d made no plans for our dinner table. What?? Easter is tomorrow! I need to wow and impress Mr B with my clever centerpiece. Um, well, no I don’t. He likes to sit down to a nicely appointed table as much as the next man. (Read here what you will.) But I don’t need to impress him. He loves me, he really doesn’t care if I dress his plate with cute sheep, ferns and an off the cuff place card. He knows exactly where his place is. The same place he sits for every meal at that table, next to me. Still, it is a holiday and a special day so I threw some bits and bobs together.
I put this table together in about 5 minutes, 7 if you count the time getting the tablecloth out of the closet. I grabbed some things from around the house. Spent no money and the table is dressed with our normal everyday thrift store dishes, thrift store glasses and our everyday stainless. A couple of pots of greenery in a lidless tureen, with the addition of last year’s Dollar Store eggs and some candles and we’re good to go. Nothing fancy. Those little sheep have been hanging out in the dining room….they came to the breakfast table without much effort. And for fun, I ripped up an Easter note card and wrote in sharpie, “You” and “Me”…..you know, just in case one of forgets where to sit.
You don’t have to spend lots of money, or any money to set a “fancy” table. You don’t have to go over the top…..unless that’s your thing. The most important decoration at any table is the people around it. Sharing a meal with those you care most about. That’s what’s important. There isn’t enough fancy in the world to top that.
I hope that tomorrow and every day, you share your table with those you care about. Take time to savor the food, the friendship, the love. Celebrate renewal and hope.
Happy Easter from me and Mr B. We’ll be here at My Suburban Sanctuary, stop by, there’s always room at our table.
Create the home you see in your heart. Love the home you’re in no matter where it is.
I’m sooooo excited. We are finally getting started with a couple of projects to “charm up” the kitchen. I like my kitchen. It has a lot going for it. High ceilings. Lots of cabinets, a walk-in pantry, counter space. Plus wood floors, a hand made looking subway tile and granite. But it’s still lacking in charm for me. The cabinets are plain, no crown, no varying heights, just a long row of brown. I want to warm them up a bit by adding some reclaimed wood.
The problem is, we are of a “certain age,” the age where you know your time in a house is limited. We’ll be making the decision to move within the next few years. To a maintenance free home, condo or villa…. when the time is right. We’ll want to sell this home, and will have to be sensitive to the sales market in our area. That means paying attention to classic finishes. Not over renovating for our neighborhood, and going easy on trends. Beadboard, subway tile, shiplap, board and batten….. I have to weigh my desire for charm against what our market will bear. So there’s that.
But…..here’s why I’m so excited today! The country border is gone! GONE!! Oh yes, it has departed. I am thrilled. Well….. sort of. I have to do some patching and sanding before the painting is finished, I painted up to the bottom of the border last year thinking that would satisfy me (it didn’t) and I’ll have to sand the line between the new paint and the old, but the hard part is done, thanks to Mr B. So I am thrilled, albeit temporarily. I still must contend with the buzz killing, “Oh crap, I still have to do the other stuff” part. I’ll be thrilled again when it’s all done!
Removing that border was a project put off for quite some time. Mr B was reluctant to tackle it. He put the border up at my insistence, years ago, with extra glue so it would stick. He was meticulous in matching seams and going around corners. There were no visible seams at all. That border was great and I loved it…..until I didn’t.
And now I’m asking him to forget all the hard work he did to put it up…..and do even more work to take it down. Is that fair? Why yes….yes it is. It no longer compliments my style. Reason enough for it to be removed in my mind. (What’s in Mr B’s mind is altogether different).
But I digress. In recent years as I’ve been defining my style, that border became an eyesore. It was too busy. It was a remnant of my classic country days. Don’t get me wrong, it was a cute border, I searched for a good long time to find it. I collected blue graniteware at the time, and this border was the compliment. It’s lived happily up there for years. The blue graniteware is gone, packed up for someone else to enjoy. The border served its purpose.
I dislike it so much now that I hate whatever I put on top of the cabinets. Even my prized stoneware bottles and vintage crocks look a bit…off. That.border.has.to.go. Mr B wasn’t enthusiastic so I began a search for a handyman. As it turns out I didn’t need to hire a handyman, I have the handiest man of them all, annnd he works for free! Well, almost free, he does like his snickerdoodle cookies. But that’s almost free, right??
One morning last week I awoke to a most wonderful sight! Mr B on a ladder, with a bucket, sponge and assorted border removing supplies. My beloved, coming to my rescue. Again. Of course I had to assume the duty of micro-managing. Um….. I attempted it. One major stink eye later and I was safely in my chair, reading …… pretending not to watch.
So the border is gone. And the charm may begin. We’ll be adding reclaimed wood to the vent surround, the front of the breakfast bar and removing the two cabinet doors over the fridge to add glass, or open shelves backed with the same wood to tie it all together. The paint will have to be extended up to the ceiling line. The ugly builder grade formica covered landing spot for junk desk will be removed. Replaced with a replica of the vintage desk in my office (and built by Mr B.) I’m excited. I hope you follow along to see the changes.
It doesn’t take much to add charm to a kitchen. Sometimes it’s as simple as changing the hardware, or changing light fixtures…. or adding a classic backsplash. Subway tile isn’t the only option, consider beadboard, thin brick veneer, tin, (either salvaged or new), decoupaged and sealed recipes, or pallet wood strips, sealed with a matte sealer.
Removing outdated decor is simple and mostly free. Paint is your friend. Paint your cabinets. Or paint your island a different color. Add some artwork. Rework collections to curate them for a simpler look. Or begin collecting vintage kitchen items.
Consider how long you will be in your home, and what the market is if you aren’t staying long, but in the end, do what makes you smile when you walk into your kitchen.
Create the home you see in your heart. Love the home you’re in, you deserve a sanctuary no matter where you live.
I have no walls for art in my kitchen. And only some very narrow areas in the breakfast nook. I have room for a sign or a piece of arch sal above the breakfast nook window and as soon as the wallpaper border is removed and the walls painted, I’ll hang a sign I have stored.
The kitchen itself is all cabinets, yes! I know I’m lucky, I have more cabinet space than I need, plus a walk-in pantry. And a small area for a desk with a tiny bulletin board above it. No complaints. Our kitchen isn’t huge but it has plenty of space for our life and the things we need.
I do like art and feel it’s a great way to add personality to any room. While thinking about art in my kitchen I quickly came to the conclusion there was no space. I won’t drill into my subway tile backsplash to hang something, I could use command strips, but I love my subway tile and don’t want to cover it up. I have a couple of feet above my cabinets (tall ceilings) that could take some long narrow art pieces, but I want to keep that to a minimum in order to show off a collection I have planned for there. There really isn’t a place to hang art of any significance. So I stopped thinking about it.
There is a belief in our house that countertops are for function and should be kept clear. Um…..that is not necessarily my belief, but it is someone’s. And in the spirit of compromise and a good marriage, I agree with that belief……up to a point. We’re a weird couple. I don’t like functional things displayed because most of them are ugly. My beloved doesn’t like non-functional things out…. because, well…they don’t function.
We compromise and keep most of the functional pieces under or in the cabinets. (Except for that blasted coffee pot, I lost that battle. Sigh.) And I keep most of the counters free for the cooking part. But I’ve claimed certain areas for me. I have planted my flag and designated areas for cute stuff! Yes! Because while the kitchen is used to prepare food, I get that……and I do enjoy eating, I still want it to be pretty.
I see all the photos with farmhouse signs, cows, chickens and all manner of farmhouse critters on Pinterest, in blogs and in my Facebook groups. But I’m not interested in those, as cute as they may be……and there’s the no wall space thing to contend with…. so I’ve not been on the hunt for anything for the kitchen. My mason jars and some scales and other vintage finds live on the counters and I’ve stopped thinking about framed art.
While out on one of my junking trips last year I stopped at my local Goodwill. I wasn’t looking for anything specific, just browsing, when I noticed a small matted and framed print of an old tractor thrown in with the other orphan frames. It looked hand drawn, not mass produced. I picked it up and put it down, picked it up and put it down again, then went on my way to the furniture area. That little print kept calling me. Of course I went back and got it, thinking I could use it in the guest room. And there it’s lived for a year or so, although it’s never seemed at home. I hung it up, took it down, hung it on another wall and took it down again. Then I leaned it up against the mirror on the dresser and called it a day.
Last week while moving some things around in the guest room I looked at that little tractor and decided on a whim it must go in the kitchen. I leaned it up against the backsplash in my corner just to see and it suddenly found its place. I like the way it draws your eye to that area but doesn’t overwhelm the space. I could hang it on the subway tile with command picture hanging strips, but I like it leaning….for now. Mr B has not complained…but that’s my corner and the little print can’t possibly interfere with cooking….. right?? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
You never know where something may end up, at least in my house. Things purchased for a specific area sometimes don’t want to live there. And I like to change things up. I already notice I need to re-arrange a couple of things in this photo. That’s the way of it in the Sanctuary. Look around your home for something you may have intended for one space and try it somewhere else, you may be happily surprised.
And…..if you love art but have a tiny kitchen, or one like mine with no wall space, don’t despair. Try leaning something against the backsplash, use a small easel, or command strips to hang it. Or hang it on the ends of upper cabinets. If you have space above the cabinets, hang a long, narrow print. No window over your sink? Hang a painting or enlarge a favorite photo of somewhere you love, the mountains, the beach, a field……
And if you have lots of wall space, well….I hate you. But with love.
Create the home you see in your heart. Create a sanctuary no matter where you live.
I give up. I call defeat. I am uninspired. My 2017 Spring Table is, um, not very exciting. I have no new ideas and even my old ideas bore me. I’ve fallen into the dreaded blogger’s block. So you’ve been waiting patiently to be wowed. I got nuthin. Here’s where we’ve been:
What’s happened since then:
I tried this one for about 5 minutes. Underwhelming. Why? I was using a variety of things I had that shouted Spring! Milk glass, bottles, my favorite pitcher and some McCoy pottery pots. Eh. Nothing made me smile. I asked myself what was really bothering me. And the answer came swiftly. I was trying too hard. I wanted something cute, different, and really wonderful so that you would look at the photos and say; “why didn’t I think of that!?” But the truth is, I want simple, I want what would have been on the table of my Grandmother.
She didn’t have an abundance of bunnies on the table, the table was functional. It was for meals. Maybe games after dinner. She didn’t have time to rearrange multiple decorative things when it was time to eat. She was busy. Our table had a vase of flowers from her garden or a pitcher and a bowl of fruit, or the morning’s eggs. That was it. And that’s what I wanted. So I went back to basics and put my pitcher filled with cuttings from the yard, and a bowl of eggs back on the table. Similar to what I started with. And immediately felt peace.
So here’s what it looks like now. I may add a bunny for Easter……probably not. I used to go all out for holidays and I may do so again. But not this year.
Moral of this story: Don’t decorate for others.
You won’t be comfortable in your own home. It won’t be authentic and won’t feel like a sanctuary. It’s your home, make it the way YOU want it. If you love Easter rabbits, pastel eggs, chicks or pots of flowers…..use them. Your home should reflect you. The minute you start decorating to impress other people, your home loses something vital. It loses YOU, your heart and your vision. So be true to yourself and create a home that reflects your heart.
Happy Spring everyone. Create the home you see in your heart. Be authentic. Create a sanctuary no matter where you live.
My spring table is giving me fits. I started out so simple. It was fine. I liked it. Mr B liked it. Then I found sheep. Simple went out the window. Replaced by something…..not simple. I decided to try different looks, using what I had, as in, using some of my collections that I thought might look good with those stinkin cute sheep. They don’t really stink, in fact, they don’t have any odor at all, but they are cute. Let’s recap. Version 1 was the simple one. Version 2 involved milk glass and pressed glass and plants and the afore mentioned sheep. In case you enjoy visual reminders, Versions 1 and 2 for your viewing pleasure:
Version number 2, with the milk glass vases didn’t set my heart on fire. I didn’t love it. I didn’t even really like it to be honest. Mr B walked through and said; “Wow, that’s cluttered.” Um, yeah, so that meant I was gonna be changing that table pronto. I don’t always take Mr B’s opinions to heart. Most of the time, I just ignore him. (That’s not true. I pay attention to his opinions all the time. Really.) But the man had a point. And he’d just echoed what I knew in my heart…..I didn’t like this version, even with the stinkin cute sheep. So I tried again.
For version number 3 I brought out my favorite vintage glass bottles. I love those bottles. And if you didn’t read Version 2’s post which told you about my attachment to those bottles…um, why didn’t you? In short, the bottles all bear a connection to ancestors or places I’ve lived except one, I bought that one just cause I liked it. There’s a quiz following this post to see if you can answer which one is not connected by family or location. The correct answer will win a great prize. Just kidding. No quiz. Ergo, no great prize. But for fun, leave a comment if you know which bottle is NOT connected to me in any way.
Sooo, Version 3 of My Spring Table for your enjoyment. Try to contain your squeals of wonder and amazement. It’s that good. Linda Mains, I’m talking to you.
So there you have it, Version number 3 in the seemingly never ending attempt to come up with the perfect spring centerpiece. There may be more. I make no apology. There is trial and error in my quest for perfection.
Create the home you see in your heart. You deserve a sanctuary no matter where you live. Create one.
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