Shabby French Cottage: June 2010

Tweaking Accessories

I've been re-arranging some more. . .if only you could see the rest of the room--it is TERRIBLE. I have an antiques dealer coming on Tuesday to sort through some things and hopefully unload some of my overgrown collection to make room for new treasures.

I quickly grew tired of my re-done mantel, plus I had my dining room table covered with stuff from rearranging furniture, and saw items paired together I hadn't ever grouped before, so I re-did it. I promise my big living room reveal is coming soon, but I work slowly in small steps....if only I could be a full-time interior designer and devote all my time to all things beautiful!

Apothecary jars--I simply love them! Here one is filled with spools of twine and the other is full of bone and mother of pearl buttons. In the center of the bow on the jar of twine is a vintage trefoil rhinestone brooch by Weiss, and on the other jar is a very regal rhinestone brooch off of a Rachel Ashwell Simply Shabby Chic stocking from Target on after-Christmas clearance. Click the photo for a larger view.

More garden items indoors--I love crusty urns and garden statuary! Isn't she a beauty? Bust: Marshalls, Urn: eBay, Roses: GardenRidge.

I adore these empire cage wall sconces! Look at all the detail--I might electrify them, for now they are just hanging on the wall.

I love this very French and very Vintage clock. It is made out of small bits of mother of pearl held together by some sort of resin material. I've had it for about a year, regrettably I passed up one nearly identical--it was teal....a few months back.

Who needs to know the flowers are fake? Oops....

I am forever changing things! Right now my house is a DISASTER!!! I'd be ashamed for anyone to see it right now. But, alas, you can CROP photos!

Coming soon--recent yard sale finds, Dining Room reveal--I'm having a custom table with benches built for the room! Catch you all soon!

~Mikey

The View! (not the TV show...)

I know this doesn't have much of anything to do with decorating, but I wanted to share the beautiful scenery I enjoy every day at my new job! For those of you new to my blog, I went nearly 5 months without a job.

Where I work is between the James River and the Haxall Canal--one of many canals in Richmond.

The building in the background is where I work.

This is the Haxall Canal and part of the Canal Walk. The bridge goes to the parking deck. Because this is on the river in a flood zone, the first six floors of the building are parking deck.

Another view.

Christopher Newport Cross
"On May 24, 1607, Captain Christopher Newport and a party of explorers who had landed at Jamestown just days earlier arrived at the site of modern-day Richmond. Hoping to find a passage to the Pacific, they found instead a fortified Indian village with outlying agricultural fields. Newport, advised by the leader of the village not to proceed farther than the falls, where a rival group of Indians lived, traveled the next day a short distance upstream. There he planted a cross in honor of King James I of England, probably on a small islet not too far from the fall line." *

A view from the other side of the canal.

For some reason this crusty, old, dilapidated building fascinates me.

I love the Italianate and Second Empire influences.

This is the view from my office.

Here is another view--there are often great blue heron out in the water and on the rocks.

This is another view--I love this building--the round sections are silos!

*Source: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=23819

Holiday with Matthew Mead

If you didn't know, there is a chance to feature your home in the Holiday 2010 addition! Click the link for more information!!!

I am so excited about this! I just pre-ordered my own copy of this--remember that it is only available on there. I plan to enter this contest! Wish me luck--and good luck to all who enter! I can't imagine how awesome it would be to have Matthew Mead and crew come and take over my house for a few days and gussey it all up for Christmas! That would be so wonderful. In fact, last year I started decorating for Christmas in August! I just couldn't wait, as it was going to be my first Christmas in the house--I know, 4 months early...eh...I'm strange, what can I say! Fa la la la la la la la laa......! To inspire all of you out there, here are a few photos from last Christmas at my house. Check back in July for a full fledged post on Christmas for my Christmas in July posting!

A festive Pretty in Pink Christmas Tree from Treetopia!

Santa Claus is Watchin' You!

A few vintage Anna Lee figurines.

A lovely silver and cream tableau. I just love all the bottle brush trees!

And a little touch of woodland!

I hope after all of this HOT weather we've been having here, that this will cool you down!

Flowers, Vintage Jewelry, and Wishes!

I LOVE hydrangeas. They are my favorite flower. I had a wonderful day today--good day at work, plus I had a massage afterwards! It was so relaxing--before I left I scurried over to the huge hydrangea bushes hiding on one side of the house. I picked a huge bunch! Don't worry--I didn't steal them--the owner told me to take as many as I wanted! Woo Hoo!

While on flowers--look at this darling little ballerina. The tiny porcelain roses on her tutu are so romantic.

Here are some photos of where she lives, nestled among part of my collection of vintage jewelery, glass stoppers, and glass furniture pulls.

These all live in the super shabby chic bookcase in my guest room.

This vintage silver tidbit tray makes a great display for so many precious baubles.

Again, with the etched silverplate! I can't seem to get enough!

Look at the cute little silver box!

I also have part of my collection of white pottery in the cupboard.

What vignette would be complete without PINK milk glass?

Here is our ballerina friend dancing under a Heisey compote overflowing with vintage pearls, bottle stoppers, and beads.

Since I started this post on hydrangeas, here is the completed arrangement--simple blooms spilling out of a crusty cast-iron urn! Now we get on to the "wish" section of this post.....

I want all my readers, i.e. YOU, to make a wish--it can be trivial, something you've always wanted, or something serious. You decide--add this as a comment--I want to see what you wish for, etc...I'm toying with the idea of having my first give-a-way, and this is a way for me to hone in on what you might like!

I'll start with a few wishes...

1. I wish you would follow my blog and leave lots of wonderful comments.

2. I wish I had my own antiques shop one day.

3. I wish I had huge hydrangea bushes in my beautiful English Cottage Garden--oh and for a beautiful English Cottage Garden!

Thanks in advance for your participation.....

One more thing.....A preview of what's yet to come!

While many of you were barbecuing, sunning on the beach, or just relaxing on Memorial Day Weekend, I was busy at home doing a bunch of projects, including re-arranging furniture, cleaning, yard work, and painting this....do you know what it is? Do you recognize it? Some of you may wish that I hadn't painted solid mahogany furniture, but I tend to frustrate a lot of folks for that....! That was a hint--it used to be a dark mahogany color.....Check back soon for a post letting you know what this is all about!

~Mikey @ Shabby French Cottage~

Living Room Re-Do

In case you don't remember, here are some before shots of my living room. These focus in on the corner I just re-did! You can click on any of the photo to make them larger. The entire "before" post on my living room is here.

I love the giant armoire--circa 1820 made of chestnut and beautifully stenciled with birds, fruit, flowers, and faux raised paneling--all original! but it made that whole corner so dark.

Here is the same corner, after:

I've had these mirrors for some time now, just lying around! (really) I'm so glad I finally got them hung! I took the corner cabinet from the dining room, and generally moved around accessories, etc.

I traded the former mahogany and floral print chair for this pink chaise--it is so comfortable! I took a nap on it yesterday!

Now this corner is so much lighter and brighter!

The wonderful teal chippy dresser was an indirect birthday present! My aunt gave me some birthday money, and I went antiquing! I just love this piece--you can't faux an authentic patina like this!

Georges candelabra and giant clam shell filled with garden twine, and another fleur-de-lis.

Antique water bottles make great vases, plus the great teal color really emphasizes the teal, pink, and green color scheme going on.

So light and airy!

I so love painted furniture! Look at the detail in the antique gilded frames.

My favorite giant chandelier makes a cameo appearance in this shot!

I just love how the light reflect in the antique bottles!

Here is one last picture of the first part of my living-room re-do! I hope you enjoy. Your comments are much appreciated. Please follow my blog--I will follow back--to be sure I follow back, comment that you follow my blog! Make sure your privacy settings are such that I can view your blog through your comment or profile! I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! I'm off to church now--then maybe to a local park for a walk, even though I need to finish putting my living room and dining room back together!

Wacked Out Mid-Century Modern House

This is a little different than my usual posts. A good friend of mine, Wanda Bond, is a Realtor, and a new property came available--so we went to check it out! We were so completely blown away by the decor that we had to go back to get a camera!

Above is the built-in bar! Check out those super retro stools!

If you think this yellow couch is sweet, wait until the next pic.....

There must have been a sale on yellow furniture when they bought this 50 some years ago? Don't pay attention to the weird guy in the background.....note to self--those shorts really make my butt look big!

Here is another view of the mod room!

This is in the den--a very mellow minimalist thing going on here.

Some nice Danish Moderne furniture in the dining room.

And a freaky retro chandy, to boot!

A space-age modern kitchen complete with ORIGINAL 1950's Stainless Steel Appliances! Even the drawers were stainless with wooden fronts.

I've coined this the Brady Bunch room.

Weird wooden room divider thingy. Look through to the hallway--the original grass wallpaper--that stuff is still stuck after all these years, no wonder it's making such a comeback!

This is the Mystery Machine Bathroom.

Sacre Bleu! Is that wallpaper on the ceiling, too?

This sight to behold is a milk glass sphere supported on a clear acrylic or Plexiglas base.

And for one last pic....the sun-room complete with AstroTurf for carpet! I think you'll really like my next post, as I am re-arranging the living room! Hopefully that'll be done in a few days!

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