I’ve been having so much fun lately with my house! I love decorating and I love my home, but since having to work full-time, I haven’t given my home nearly as much affection as I used to. Plus, I am easily discouraged by the messes!

But I did pick up a few pretties recently and I completed a little project, so I wanted to show everything to you.

I picked up this cute little piano bench from the curb during community clean-up a few years ago. It was stained and very beat up. The upholstery was typical “hurculon” abstract gold and brown ugly. It’s been out in my shed waiting and waiting! Well, a couple of weeks ago I was at Salvation Army and fell in love with this old metal file box. So vintage! It’s dark olive drab on the outside and the inside is this pretty forties Nile Green. I just happened to have that color in my craft paints. I had barely enough to paint the piano bench. Then I reupholstered the top with this fabulous vintage barkcloth that I bought on ebay for ten buckaroos! I know! It was seven uncut yards! It’s not the typical cabbage roses that everyone wants, but it is in the palette I love and already have in the living room. I plan on making some throw pillows with it too. Anyway, pretty cute, huh?Plus, I wanted to show you my cute little Seth Thomas alarm clock I bought at Goodwill. I love it! I’ve always loved mantel clocks, but I don’t have a mantel. This is perfectly sized for my end table. (The butler is waving hello, don’t you know?)I have a lot of other fun ideas for the living room- I just hope I can get to them all! This room has been challenging for me ever since we bought the new furniture and re-painted a couple of years ago. It’s a big change for me to be so muted in my palette. I love cottage and I usually associate that with color combos like yellow and blue or pink and green or even kitschy turquoise and red. I think I’m really beginning to see how to make these colors work with a cottage eclectic style. Speaking of cottage eclectic, check this out:

It’s rainy here today so you can’t see how golden this really is. So pretty! Another ebay find. It’s from the twenties and I love it so much! I was so lucky to already have a pillow form that fit perfectly. My children have been severely threatened if they even think about abusing this pillow!

So, I guess that’s it. I will leave with one more pic. This is the owl that my father carved along with this ceramic Mission Carmel that I begged from my talented high school art teacher so long ago (thanks, Mr. Leenarts!) and Pointy Kitty. This is on top of my bookcase and it makes me smile when I look at it. I hope I will have more photos for you when the room is done.

(Doggone rain! Can’t get a good shot!)

Hugs to all!