do you wanna?

…be a Cowboy?

Or how about a Cowgirl?

With the reno projects nearing completion around the house, I decided to make some pillows yesterday for the shop.  Because I live near “The Cowboy Capital Of The World” (Oakdale, California), there are a lot of cowboys and cowgirls in our parts. With that in mind, I thought some “his” and “hers” pillows would be fun to make up.

The pillows are made with a burlap front and a brown and cream ticking on the back.  Fluffy feather and down inserts make the pillows nice and squishy and as plump as Santa’s belly.  (Ok, maybe not THAT plump, but you get what I mean).

 I’d love to be a cowgirl!  Give me a horse, a good saddle, a picnic lunch and away I’d go!  Giddy up!  Riding into the full moon tonight, just me and my horse.

Y’all have a good day, ya hear?

Floored … The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Like many bloggers, I am a bit shy and reluctant when it comes to showing the hideous bits of my home that aren’t always “picture perfect”.  But, that is life, right?  A home is to be lived in and a bit rough around the edges at times.  As of late – like, lets be real here, the last two months – our home has been in shambles and in stages of ripping out cabinets, ugly 18 year old Berber carpet, painting, more painting and boxing up things that really aren’t needed anymore.  But the end results feel so great!  And I am beginning to feel a heavy weight being lifted from my shoulders….for the time being…till the next project is started. 

As I have shared in recent posts, we have been wanting to put down laminate floors in our living and dining rooms of our home.  This post is about just that…come along.

 

Here comes the “being real” part of this post.  No matter HOW much I vacuumed and cleaned the beige Berber, there was always the feeling that they really weren’t getting that clean at all.  Enter now the evidence above…..grotesquely dirty, dirty carpet …and yes, there HAD been an area rug there.  Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that one, eh? 

Let the games begin…..rip out that stuff!  No remorse here either!  Adios, good riddance, auf wiedersehen, so long….and I am not even feeling the remorse over this break-up.  Not. One. Bit.

My husband is pretty handy when it comes to remodeling and he replaced the pinkish rock like tile (it was popular back in the 80’s…like big hair, Angel Flights and Ditto pants) and now the fireplace surround has a pretty ceramic tile in muted earthy tones.  Love!

 

The picture below shows the lovely dated tile.  So not missing that break up either! 

After months of searching for laminate (and boy I did not know just how many there were to pick from), we decided on a Mannington laminate floor in a butterscotch Hickory color.  I wanted one that had a cottage feel to it and one that would look nice with the new tile and our furniture.  We also liked the planking look of this floor.  It is pretty close to looking like real wood, too.

 

Our installers were wonderful and did an amazing job laying the floor down.  If you need a good referral and live in the Central Valley of California, just let me know.  We could not be any more pleased with their work.

 

All I needed to do now is to mop and get the floors ready to have the furniture moved back in. 

And here is what the rooms look like with everything put back into place.  The area rugs are from Lowe’s and are an Olefin product that looks like natural sisal, but is much softer than a true sisal rug.  Less messy, too.

Many of you shared with me how much you love having hardwood floors or laminate and I do appreciate all of the feedback that you provided.  We asked ourselves “what took us so long to do this?!”  Now that it is all done, we notice a huge difference in the feel of the rooms –very cozy - and how the house doesn’t smell like old carpet any more.  We also paid extra for a really good thick padding which keeps the noise down when walking on the floor.  As for the Scotties, well, they seem to be liking the floor as much as us as they can be found napping in certain spots during the day.

 

 Next Wednesday I will be sharing with you the next remodel that we did.  It has something to do with the items below and I will share “the scoop” about all of that then.  Stay tuned as there will be a give-away right around the corner.  Something rusty, metal and with a cute face on it!

Till next time….

Smiles for you!

Today I am linking up with "A Favorite Thing" at Claudia's blog, Mockingbird Hill.  Stop on by to see what other favorite things are being shared! 

Feeling The 60’s

One of the things that I love about spending time in an antique store is to listen to the folks strolling the isles, reminiscing about their younger years when finding something that jars their memory of days gone by.  Hearing them say things such as: “Grandma had these on her kitchen table” or “I remember these when I was a kid and I always wanted one but we could never afford it” or “Now this is something I’ve not seen in quite a long time” never fails to make me smile and wonder if I, at that moment, am in a segment of The Twilight Zone.

Walking through the store the other day allowed me to take a mental walk back to the 1960’s.  Though being a youngster during this era, there are many memories that are permanently etched in my mind.  Rocking horses on metal frames with bouncy springs that allowed the most awesome of horse rides – back and forth, back and forth for hours on end.  Red Radio Flyer wagon rides down the dusty dirt lane of my uncle’s dairy and weekends spent playing house with the metal dollhouse that was a Christmas gift one year.

 And if you were around in the 1960’s, you will remember “The Fab Four” – The Beatles.   Take me back to The Ed Sullivan Show and watching John, Paul, George and Ringo make their debut on TV.  From that point on, I was a fan – and in love with Ringo.  Why Ringo?  I don’t know why, but I was, and I was only five.  Go figure.  Perhaps if I’d been a bit older, I would have fawned over Paul.  Or George.  Or John.

 One Christmas my parents – oops, I mean Santa - gifted my brother and I with new bikes.  I got a pink Schwinn with a cool banana seat and my brother got one that looked very similar to the one below.  From sun up till sun set, we rode the tires off of our new bikes.  Mom always would say, “Come home when the street lights turn on” and away we went, only coming home to catch a quick bologna sandwich, a peanut butter cookie and downing a glass of frosty cold milk. 

No cell phones or internet to occupy our day…just good old child play time.  Those were the days, eh?

Groovy baby, just groovy!  Yea, those were the good ol’ days.  Makes me miss that simple time in life.

Note:  photos compliments of The Antique Warehouse.

Time Worn

Call me crazy, but in the midst of all that is going on around with doing some remodeling of our house, I’ve stretched my wings out at the antique mall that I sell at.  I’ve been thinking about having a space to group all of the rusty, time worn and farmhouse style items all together.  When merchandising, I like to group similar items together for more impact.  It just looks better, I think. 

 

Old galvanized buckets and tubs, wire baskets, wood packing crates and smaller decorative items can now all be found in my “farmhouse” section.  Though I am still tweaking it, I am quite pleased with the space so far. 

Below is an antique wash stand that I bought and had delivered to the store.  When it was first put out on the floor, I added the antique wash bowl and the mercantile scale for display.  Now, thanks to the store manager Dennis, it is at the front of the store and he has it decorated with fall decor – which looks great against the green tile backsplash.

It is such a beautiful piece and I would have kept it for myself if I had a spot for it at home.  The marble top on it has such a beautiful and mellow patina and the deep green tile backsplash is simply gorgeous.  It is a super piece, right down to the pretty legs and metal wheels.

 

I’m a bit “time worn” myself, but I am loving the changes around our house and look forward to having them done here pretty soon.  I am thankful to those who do the heavy work for me and make it all come together, both at home and at the store.  I could not do it without them.

Till next time…..

That Nasty "D" Word!

So what is the nasty “D” word? 

Not “Duhgall".

Not “Dundee”.

Not “dining” room hutch with some of my scottie dog collections on it. 

It is D.U.S.T.

Can’t live without it!  (Oh yes I can!)

The 18 year old Berber is O.U.T. and the laminate is in!  Now there is a “good” word that starts with a “D” and that is D.O.N.E.

Now on to the next redo and I will share about that in the next few weeks.  And with the hustle and bustle going on here, I am going to do the giveaway in October.  I hope it will be worth the wait.  :)  It has something in common with my next project.  A little hint:  kind of farmhouse style.  I know, such a tease, such a tease.