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Friday, March 29, 2013

Christinizing the FL Home Family Room

It has been a very busy week here in Florida, I had so many boxes to open and stuff to put away and had company (John' daughter and SIL and 3 kiddos came just about 2 hrs. of our arrival and stayed for 2 nights with us), and planned a birthday party too, all at the same time. There was not time to rest. I could not sleep but I could not do too much work at night either, afraid of waking up the guests sleeping in 2 guest rooms.

Anyway, I got the house to a point where I can be comfortable. I am done with most of the house, except for pictures on the walls, which I do not have yet. But let me show you what I have done to the family room first. Understand that most of the furniture were left by the sellers and weren't my first choice of furniture but I wanted to work with them to save money. They weren't bad, just not my style and they were in perfect and clean condition. I do like the Italian leather sectional they left though cause the leather is very soft and is comfy.

I took the picture below when I was looking at the house for the first time, deciding if we want to buy it or not. My daughter and her family lives next door, which is the big bonus here. When this house went for sale, she called us and told us to come look at it and buy it. The sellers already had a cash offer by then but because they knew Tina and Scott, they agreed to wait for me to look at it before making any decisions. To make the long story short, they accepted my offer because June, the seller told me it warms her heart knowing the grandparents live next door to the grandkids.

I like how bright the room is but it seemed too cold for me.

They had the sofa pushed all the way to the back making the family room look very long and narrow. They also had the towers pushed all the way to the corners. They gave us their TV and Bose speaker system but I am still trying to figure out how to use the speakers.
 So, the first thing I did was push the sofa forward and moved the towers closer to the TV. It immediately made the room NOT look too narrow anymore. I changed the picture on the right wall and moved the palm tree picture to one of the guest rooms.

 I added more pillows and an area rug to warm up the area.
I added a wooden chest behind the sofa, which I might replace with a sofa table, eventually.
 View from the breakfast nook.
 See that huge mirror on the wall? They left that too and I still do not know what to do with it. It is just too big and too bulky. I was thinking of painting it white and distressing
 it so it would not stick out too much. What do you think?
I bought the cabinet under it from Joss & Main and I love it.
 The towers and this media cabinet were also left here. I will eventually want to replace the cabinet with a fireplace media cabinet. I think I need the height to balance the towers.

 I brought the accessories below from our MS home.
 The throw pillows and the rug make the space a lot warmer, I think. The sequined ottoman in the foreground is from One King's Lane, I think. This is the only one I forgot and was pleasantly surprised to see it when I opened the box.


 All the glass tables that you will see around the house were all left here, including this coffee table. I love the colors of this Van Gogh repro painting.
 I brought the bee burlap lamp, box and pitcher from the MS home too, bought the orchid from a roadside vendor we passed on our way here.

 I love the tray ceiling! There is one in the master bedroom too.
The family room is really comfy now.
Thank you for stopping over. Thanks to all the hostesses too!

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday and
Anything Blue Friday
Susan for Metamorphosis Monday
Lori's Mandarin Orange Monday
Marty's Tabletop Tuesday

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

First Party and First Tablescape in Florida Home

I am finally in Florida ready to decorate the home here. I was too excited that I could hardly sleep at night. I would go to bed around 2 AM and then wake up by 3:30 AM and start working on opening boxes and organizing again.
 
Anyway, I thought I would find some time and enjoy my morning coffee and this is my favorite spot in the house to have it.
 

 Last Monday, we decided to throw a birthday party for 2 grandkids born March 20 and April 4 respectively. Holden likes construction stuff and Zoe likes ladybugs so I bought some John Deere hats and ladybug cupcake picks. I found some tractor chocolate candy pops from Ebay for party favors.
 On our way here, John and I passed by a sidewalk vendor selling orchids and I bought this bright yellow cattleya.
 The grandkids all played together well and had a great time.

My daughter Tina had many activities for the kids and one was painting. Reese had fun painting but did it on herself, lol. Good thing the paint was water washable.
 The celebrants blowing the cake with tractors and ladybugs. Publix did a really good job making it.
 AJ, our oldest granddaughter is growing way too fast.




The next day, I cooked dinner and invited my daughter and son in law who live next door.


I had brought my Old Britain Castles set to use here.
 I did not even have matching napkins to use so this was the best I could do but I brought my ceramic bunny napkin rings from home in Mississippi.

 I used postal napkins. John likes this postal stuff so you will see a lot I am using for decorating this house. I will show our family room for Metamorphosis Monday. It is finally done.

I am making progress in opening the boxes. I have a few more to go but the boxes below are already empty.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I am trying to get this post done to catch up in linking it with the following memes. Thanks to the hostesses, really, really appreciate you all!
Kathleen for Let's Dish
The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wed
Susan for Tablescape Thursday
Katherine's Thursday Favorite Blog Hop
 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Yard, Deck, Garden, Spring of 2013

I am leaving for Florida in a few days and although I really enjoy being there, I miss our garden and yard when I am away. So, I thought I would take pictures so I can always go back to my blog and look at them when I start getting yard sick.  This is the view from the house that I see as soon as I get up. This is taken from the home office but we see the same view from our bedroom, which is adjoining to the right. You can't get to the bedroom without passing through the office, so you can't go to the other parts of the house from the master BR without passing through here either.

See our  antique wedding Qing Dynasty chairs by the window? I moved them here from the family room sometime ago.

 I like to go out to the deck from the kitchen bathroom and this is what I see as I step out.
 and to the right.....the blood orange is full of blooms

 The Carolina jessamines have climbed up on the gas pipe, which I don't mind cause it conceals the ugly pipe, an eye sore but we need it to heat the pool.


 The azaleas are just so pretty at this time of the year. The peach trees are also blooming. Do you see them behind the azaleas?
 Here is another entry into the secret garden. I think I want to put a small iron gate just behind the tree trunk going across to the retaining wall, when I find a nice ornate one.
 View of the secret garden from the gazebo. I like to drink coffee here in the morning enjoying the sight, the birds chirping, the chipmunks and squirrels running around and the skinks crawling.
 The ajugas are busting with purple flowers.
 Sorry for the pillow on the ground that the wind blew. We had a thunderstorm the other night. I did not notice it until I loaded the pictures.
 I love the smell of lavender, love the way they look and really like the color of the leaves. I have no success growing them on the ground so I am trying to grow them in pots now and they seem to be doing well.

  See the peach trees behind the gazebo? Love the pink blooms!

 So colorful in the secret garden.
 Pretty soon, I can lounge in the pool.
My favorite..... calamundins. The fruits never get a chance to get bigger cause I pick them to season my noodles (pancit).
 We have the yellow pollens everywhere. Even my vehicle is yellow now. Yuck!

 The kumquats bear fruits all year long.

Hanging planters on the back porch. The gerber daisy came back showing off its first bloom.

By the time I get back, I think the pool will be warmer and I can start using it with the help of the pool heater. I cannot swim unless water is at least 82 degrees warm.
 The vegetable garden is prepped but the only thing I planted are lettuce and herbs such as cilantro (we eat a lot of them), parsley and thyme. I will wait until I come back to start planting more, that way I can water and take care of them regularly.
 I even have the stakes ready for my "patola" (sponge gourd) all ready. My bay leaf tree (right picture of the mosaic below) is really taking off. It kinda stayed small for the first 2 years but look how much it is growing now.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed what I have done to the garden. It has been a lot of work but I am really enjoying it now, especially with the beautiful spring flowers.
Linking with
Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday
Katherine's Favorite Things Thursday
Sarah's Homemaking Weekend Link Up party at
Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday

Festive Friday Fiesta
Kathryn's Anything Blue Friday

Pink Saturday


Scenic Sunday
Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday
Sally's Blue Monday
Jean's Bloomin' Tuesday
Outdoor Wed
Watery Wed

Seasonal Sunday