A Bright and Sunny Day at Lucketts

Megan and I headed out first thing Saturday morning for a bright and sunny day at Lucketts! It was an absolutely gorgeous day. But gosh, the pollen count must have been sky high - achoo (repeat over and over and over again)!

We loved all the industrial furniture just outside the back entrance. There was a definite Restoration Harware vibe going on there. And then this piece caught our eye. What a cool kitchen island, craft room table or awesome counter for a vintage shop. It reminded me of the desk I found at Lucketts a few years ago and turned into our Elizabeth & Co. counter. Someone asked if I was taking a picture to copy it. Ha! Maybe it's really the other way around!

Vintage letters in all shapes and sizes were EVERYWHERE!

And yes, that is Megan's yellow sneaker in the picture. I bet you're not at all surprised that she wears yellow sneakers!

Garden elements were very popular. These rustic boxes with tool handles were just really fun and creative!

Loved the simplicity of vintage jars with fresh flowers.

And everything is better with numbers, don't you think?

I've been wanting to do a piece in this color combination - pretty inspiration!

The Union Jack theme is still going strong. And I think it's even more fun in fresh color combinations!

One of the hightlights of Lucketts is connecting with some of my blogging friends. This of course could only be Miss Mustard Seed's booth. We chatted about her new milk paint line. I will definitely give it a try. And while we were talking, Sherry from No Minimalist Here stopped by. Nice to fnally meet you Sherry! ... I know, I should have pictures. But seriously people, my allergies were killing me! I was trying to take it all in while juggling a handful of tissues!

The tags that Jamie from Freckled Laundry made for Marian are just adorable! And Ann from On Sutton Place, we checked out your linens too - just beautiful!

We also met Connie from Hartwood Roses and Deborah from Confessions of a Craigslist Junkie. They teamed up and shared a fabulous space. Connie was making sure that everyone was wearing their sunscreen. And the best line of the day came from Deborah. When she met Megan, she said, "Aren't you the one who does a lot the work?" ..... Yes she does!

This was our favorite vignette of the day! I dream of having a gorgeous garden party on the patio just like this one day!

Megan and I just loved the combination of rustic and elegant elements all throughout this booth. And check out those placemats.

Yes, they are slate roof tiles - genius!

My favorite purchase of the day was an olive bucket. I have wanted one for a while now and these were reasonably priced (reasonable is a relative term). When I brought it home, my husband said, "That will never hold water!" Funny guy, second best line of the day!

After Lucketts, Megan and I  headed off for some additional retail therapy, as in outlet shopping. That was of course after the crazy detour that the policeman directing traffic out of the parking lot sent us on. Not sure what the heck that was about! .... And thank you to all the strangers who said, "Bless you!" as I sneezed my way through the day! .... I am blessed. It was a wonderful day, hanging out with my best girl!

I'm a guest at Redoux today!

I am so excited to be hanging out with my friend Karen at Redoux today! This girl is a bundle of positive energy, talent and creativity!

Karen loves junque (she's French you know!) and she knows what to do with it. Her motto is ... Don't throw it out, Redoux it!

Karen's pallet pot hanger was recently featured in Country Living!

How cool is that!

This vintage sewing cabinet is topped with Karen's specialty, junque wood!

And how gorgeous is this plank topped farm house table!

Karen even created her own work bench from pallets.

And as you can see, this girl has mad skills!

 When Karen invited me over for a visit, I asked if there was anything in particular she wanted me to share today. She said that she would love to know how I got into the furniture refurbishing business. Well it certainly wasn't planned, that's for sure! For the whole scoop, you'll just have to join me over at Redoux today!

And while you're there, browse around and get to know my friend Karen. You'll thank me later!
Au revoir!

Be Inspired Features and Link Party #19

Happy Tuesday! Welcome back for features and party day!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I took a break from all the inside projects going on around here and worked in my gardens - my idea of a perfect Mother's Day weekend!

It was another week of wonderful projects! Thanks so much for taking the time to share. Here are just a few links that caught my eye this week.....

First up, Laurel at The North End Loft added some spring color to her loft craft room with this sweet bunting. What a bright, happy and creative space. I seriously LOVE everything about this room!

And be sure to check out Laurel's tutorial on how to transfer a printed graphic onto a metal container!

On this project, Shari from Turnstyle Vogue was inspired by her favorite weekend outfit - a good pair of broken-in jeans, a white t-shirt and gold jewely. The result is stunning!

And Shari also shared her DIY rope cloches with a great tutorial on how to drill holes in glass. These girls sure are multi-talented!

Becky who blogs at From Generation to Generation  painted her china cabinet a soft buttercream color to showcase her lovely ironstone collection. So pretty!

Megan from Apple House Revival worked all kinds of magic on this yard sale find. Check out the detail on the top drawer. She used a sheet metal grate for a stencil!

And as much as I love painting furniture, I think Julia of 551 East made a good decision on this dresser. She has great tips on how to refresh wood with Danish Oil!

Kandi from Woven Home shared this Tomato Summer Salad that looks pretty and sounds simply delicious!

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up and linked back! If you've been featured, feel free to grab a cute little button from the sidebar!

Now on to this week's party! The guidelines are simple...


* Link up your furniture makeovers, DIY projects, home decor, crafts, recipes, thrifty finds, etc... We want to see whatever is inspiring you at the moment!


* Grab a party button and please add it to your post!


* Be sure to follow along with us!

We'll be back next week with features and a brand new party.
Now let's share some inspiration!



Stripe Canvas Tote Beach Bag by Simply-Bags

Early last week I received an email from Simply-Bags asking if I would be interested in reviewing their Stripe Canvas Tote beach bag. Of course I said yes. And by the end of the week, this cute bag was in my mailbox. Now that was fast service!

This bag has a fun nautical feel in red and white stripes, heavy-duty handles and grommet details.

The zipper keeps things from spilling out.

And the inside pocket is perfect for keeping track of all those little things that tend to find their way to the bottom of your bag.

The navy monogram is beautifully stitched.

You can choose your name, monogram initials or just a fun word, like beach!

Simply-Bags offers a wide variety of bags to choose from, including backpacks, diaper bags, cosmetic bags, lunch bags and more. But with summer just around the corner, I couldn't resist sharing a few more great beach bags. Aren't they just the cutest?

If you're in the market for a new bag, be sure to check out

Simply-Bags! You'll find great gift ideas too!

I love my new beach bag! Thanks so much Simply-Bags!



A Whole Lot of Projects Going at Once

I know there has been a serious lack of posts since our tag sale. You probably think I'm kicking back and relaxing on some sunny beach somewhere. Well, not exactly. I'm always a little wiped out after a sale, but I'm also excited to turn my attention to new and completely different projects. And that usually means catching up on my house. It looks all peaceful and quiet on the outside, right?

Well believe me, we've got a whole lot of projects going all at once! You've seen pictures of our master bathroom and the hall bathroom, but never the bedrooms. That's because they were pretty boring and in serious need of an update. So first up, we are putting in all new closet doors. All the bedrooms and the linen closet had these crazy metal doors that went all the way to the ceiling and totally overwhelmed the rooms.

And as an added bonus, they had really grungy metal tracks in the floor. Those definitely had to go.

The new wooden closet doors required new framing.

Now the entire upstairs is being painting. That required testing out colors of course. 

And moving a whole lot of stuff from one room to another, and back again. This is Megan's room at the moment.

Ryan's room.

And the guest room. And seriously, they were out-of-date, but neat and tidy before the painting started.

After the painting, comes all new carpet. I still have to make that selection. Then there will be another whole round of moving stuff around. Not convinced that we need new carpet, this house is over thirty years old and still has the original carpet upstairs. And  I step over this spot about a dozen times a day.

But as you probably know, it usually looks pretty bad before it gets really pretty! We're still in the thick of it, but here are two of my inspiration pictures. The first is a Sarah Richardson room. Megan and I just love Sarah. I would let her do whatever she wanted in my house! Megan picked this Pottery Barn duvet cover as the starting point for her room. It's going to be bright, happy and full of color! Even though my children are grown and don't actually live here, they can still have cool rooms, don't you think?

And the plank paneling in this room (from Pottery Barn Kids) is the inspiration for the wall behind Ryan's bed. (Just ignore the fact that this room is cute and girly, just look at that cool wall.) He doesn't know that yet. And actually, my husband doesn't know that either. We'll see who really reads the blog!

And one last thing upstairs (not really the last thing) is this cool pebble tile for the shower floor. Too bad the grout is chipping out in there, really too bad.

And if all that's not enough, we're also trying to finish up our landscaping project in the back. Remember the rock wall project of last summer and fall? The plants finally arrived last week, just before the rain. Here's just a peek!

And at the same time, the pond developed a leak and needs a new liner. Yes, that's a man in my pond.

We've temporarily diverted the water. Thanks goodness it's the upper pond.

Because Bubba and his friends would not be happy if it were the lower pond!

As soon as the forecast calls for a day without rain, the guys should be back to call this job complete!

So there you have it, that's what I've been up to. I'm not quite relaxing on a sunny beach. I have been crazy busy. But if you know me at all, you know how much I love a good project! And in the interest of full disclosure, we are not doing these projects without help. Then I would really be going crazy! .....  Hopefully there will be pretty pictures to share soon. And in the meantime, I may even get a piece of furniture painted!