Savannah or Bust...

Hello, Hello!!!  I'm back all refreshed & rested...it feels great (I hope it lasts).  We headed south this past weekend and spent 3 days in gorgeous Savannah, GA.  We really needed to get out of town and just relax.  It was a 5 hour drive and our timing was perfect because we missed a bunch of storms while we were gone.

I'm just going to load you down with some shots around town.  We started at the Bonaventure Cemetery.

 These pictures don't do justice to the beauty of this statue.  It's carved marble from Italy. The azalea's were scattered around her when we got there.  It was stunning and very sad.

"Allured to brighter worlds and led the way."

Brian taking in the Jesus statue marking a family grave.

The details were amazing.  Again carved marble from Italy.

 

This lady was an actor telling the story of her husband's death.  It was a little jarring to see her gliding through the graves.

  

 Azaleas were in full bloom.

 Trees covered in Spanish moss.

 John Wesley Square

 Market Square
This is where you can get some great pizza at Vinnie Van Go-Go's.

 Lady & Sons block 

(We didn't go to Paula Deen's restaurant, btw.  You have to queue at 830am inorder to make reservations by 9am and the line goes around the block THEN you end up waiting for over an hour to eat.  Sounded like too much work to me.)  We went to a place call The Pirate House and it was amazing food!

 

 This stove was in The Pirate House. It's the oldest house in Georgia and is rumored to be haunted.  They encourage you to explore the building, so you can do your own ghost hunting!

 The patina on the railings and brick were so pretty.

Right before I took this picture a man was picking flowers to give to his wife - what a good husband!

  These horses were huge!  We saw a woman wiping one of the horse's rear end...that's dedication.

Savannah is so beautiful.   There are tons of nice hotels to stay in right in town, you can walk to most places. We must've walked 10 miles (no joke) including up and down this flight of stairs!

 They were super steep...but look what waited for me....

 

 !!!FIESTA!!!

 I've been collecting Fiesta for years and it's fun to see the older pieces.  These nesting bowls were over $2,000.

 There were tons of antique shops to poke around too...

Entry to 37th & Abercorn

Peeking into a closet.

                                                                                  

 Delicate hankies, linens & silver were in this room.

 Clocks everywhere.

 

Very, very old babies.

This piece was just gorgeous!

Look at these details!

And of course the resident kitty found the coolest chair to call his own!
 

Shiny happy people!

 I'm painting furniture this week and working on my new blog - all fun stuff but we're also seeing our accountant to file taxes...double blech!  Weekends like this make dealing with the day-in/day-out things a whole lot easier!  I hope you all can make a little time for yourselves soon!

Slipcover the house already

I seriously think I may need a slipcover intervention.  I finished another piece today.  It's the curvy number I bought last week and I'm pretty happy with how it looks cleaned up.
 
 Before:

  I actually prefer to buy older furniture; I think it's just made better.  We have new pieces and I really like them but you just can't beat dovetailed drawers, solid wood tops, unique hardware, upholstered pieces with hickory frames and cotton batting, the smell of old wood and the thrill of the hunt! LOVE it!

Back to my chair, here she is:

 I made a point to overstuff the seat cushion.  It's a very comfortable chair. I had been asked in an email if I ever double piped - I have now!  It was really out of necessity,  you could still see some of the old tapestry peeping out at the bottom and I needed to add a bit more length.  It worked and I like the look, so yay!

I did have to do a very minor repair job on the seat springs.

I needed to add strapping down the middle. There was a spring that had sprung!

Just followed the other two and stapled down. Easy enough.

Kinda messy job covering it all but it's on the bottom.

And a parting shot...

I made the curtains and hung them last week.  The table to the right was given to me by my mom and she's threatened my life if I paint it (I wouldn't even without the death threat).  It's a gorgeous piece.  That pillow won't stay but for now, I'm pretty pleased with it all.

I'm going to spend this evening tinkering with my blog and linking the 'furniture for sale' blog to it.  I need to figure out a better way to list the linky parties.  I've seen where some people list all the buttons at the bottom of the post and I like that.  Until then, just follow this link for the party buttons & Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage.   

 Halfway to the weekend - have a good one!

Chairs: A success, A FAIL & Finds!

I've been working on chairs..pretty much all chairs all week.  Some pieces I research to find out who made them, when and where. It's been pretty interesting with some furniture.  We're also adding on to our workshop and that's exciting. Just to have the space to really work and the equipment/tools right there when you need them and NOT be all over the living/dining rooms is pretty awesome! 

This seems to be an American Empire chair:

This is one scary before picture.  

Beautiful shape and nice sturdy mahogany wood frame. 

I had to cut out all the upholstery and basically gut it.  This part sucks eggs, that's for sure, but it's a work in progress.  Beer me patience! (Office joke)

I finished this beauty:

Love the lines, wide seat & back..mid-century modern Danish style.

Eww..yeah, this wasn't working.  It reminds me of a nurses uniform from the 50s - FAIL.  I stopped before attaching the seat - back to the drawing board!

 Black distressed paint is much better and I tied in the fabric from the drapes. Yep..this will work!

One more..I picked this up Wednesday and I'm making the slipcover now:

It's a solid frame and super comfortable.  And it reminds me of armchairs I was admiring at Williams-Sonoma.  It has that 30s-40s sitting room style and it's perfect in the den.  So my little den is really shaping up and everyone in my house is diggin' it!

I  celebrated my wedding anniversary yesterday and my sweet, sweet husband gave me a beautiful locket with a picture of him and my son in it.  I just love it!  We're also going on a little trip to celebrate and I am taking plenty of pictures of the cool shops I'm planning on visiting.  Alot of fun stuff to look forward to!  

I'm linking to these parties and Feathered Nest Fridays & Inspiration Friday!

Have a fun Friday! 

Making Progress!

I didn't finish any major projects but I did make some headway...

Mom and I set off for IKEA yesterday morning to start her kitchen remodel.  She picked out gorgeous cabinets.  Here is a model of the kitchen she's chosen:

 It's the STAT model with beadboard fronts.  She's getting granite countertops & her appliances are black/stainless steel.

Now the fun part of tearing down the kitchen and putting it all back together begins...this is where Brian comes in, bless his heart.  We have to switch around some electrical, vents and do some demo first.  I'm going to drag all willing to come through this process with us.  I have some experience hanging sheetrock, but I want to really learn how to frame a wall, minor electrical, plumbing, the artful use of shims, etc.


And while I was at Ikea, I bought another piece for our entertainment center.

I will have this loaded down with my beautiful crap in no time!

 Also, if you are anywhere near Atlanta, then you must go to Fabric & Fringe Warehouse in Marietta.  A guy in town who does upholstery tipped us off to it a couple of years ago.  They have a HUGE selection of gorgeous fabrics, trim, and even custom made jewelry.  Really good prices too, some of the fabric is $5 a yard and it's not cheap stuff.  We had a blast in there..although, after awhile it can start to feel like too many choices - a problem I will gladly work through.

So here is what I picked for den curtains:

  Love, love, LOVE it!!!  The background looks like a paler shade of the wall paint and the black has a distressed look. Perfect!

I'm getting some furniture ready to sell today - it's painting weather here!   I hope you all enjoy your Sunday & I'll talk to ya soon!

Jennifer