Before It's Too Late!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  Can you believe it's already here?  I canNOT!

 

If you saw my house right now, you'd laugh because it's suffering a serious identity crisis!  The outside is decorated for Halloween ... the kitchen has the beginnings of Christmas ... and, the sitting room has Fall splashed around.  I almost feel sorry for it (and, me, lol)!

 

Before the leaves and pumpkins are put back into the Fall bins for another year, I snapped a few pics of our sitting room, dressed in blues, creams and pops of vibrant orange.

 

 



Glass cloches are often my BFF when it comes to styling ... they're the perfect way to showcase ANYthing, aren't they?

When I spotted "Mr. Owl" at Michael's, I just *knew* he had to come home with me ... esPECIALLY since he was on sale (40% off)!

 

Once again ... another glass cloche to the rescue.

 

 

I still can't wait to change out our chandelier!

Behind the loveseat, I added a sofa table recently picked up from a consignment shop.  You know I love having another place to add a few goodies:

 

More pieces of orange found its way to our accent chest, too. 

 

 

My favorite part of the day is when the afternoon sun shines in:

 

 

So, tell me ... is your house suffering an identity crisis right now, too?

 

I'm joinging:

 

Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Kristen's Creations/Share Your Creations

French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday



 

Getting Cozy with Little Lamps

 I'm hoping this post is finding everyone safe and sound during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  My thoughts are with all of those affected by this devastating force of nature. 

Happy Tuesday!

I have this addiction to little lamps.  

They follow me home from Estate Sales and then I have to find homes for them.  I don't mind though, especially this time of year when it is getting darker much earlier.  They make me feel cozy and warm when I see just a bit of light brightening up a corner or a small nook.  Come along through the house and I will show you my little lamp collection.

 This little lamps sits in the kitchen on our built in buffet hutch.  I picked it up at an Estate Sale in the most gorgeous house.  It looks like a ceramic covered dish doesn't it?

It's in good company with my other Estate sale finds on display.

 This itty bitty is in the Powder Room.  The butterflies caught my eye when I first saw it and it beckoned me to bring it home.  Our Powder Room can be quite dark so this little lamp comes in handy.  I like to have them all on timers so they come on at dusk.

 

 Another tiny lamp sits on my Wine cabinet in the Living room. 

The timers really work well in this room.  I often forget to turn on the lights and the so this little lamp just gives off a soft glow in the room.

  This little guy found his way into my Library/Office area.  I love the vintage green glass on the shade.  I could probably polish it up some but I like the old patina of the brass.

 

And here is my latest find!  

It's not that little but I do love this Bouillotte lamp that I found this weekend.  I love that you can put real candles in the bottom.  I can cozy up to that!  It's sitting on my Entry table waiting for the rest of the table to get a vignette going...

It's almost Halloween!

For last minute decorating tips,

see my Halloween Table post

HERE  

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves,

XO Cindy

 Kim at SavvySouthern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays  

 Judy at DIY by Design

Quick, Call the Exterminator!

That's right, friends, our mudroom has been taken over ... a-GAIN!

They're everywhere ...

 

*sniffing out* the family ...

 

 

making themselves right at home in their little houses ...

 

 

and, engaging in surprise attacks on us AND each other!

 

Apparently, they aren't our only unwanted guests!  This crow stands perched on the soffit, ready to swoop down on his next victim at any moment!

 

 

Even our "command central" has been taken over ...

 

we can't even go close to our candy corn (which, *per-abably* isn't a bad thing)!

 

 

And, don't let "Miss Ezmeralda's" endearing smile fool you ... she's just waiting to pick a spell out of her book and cast it on you while you're folding laundry!

 

 

Just look what she did to ME ... stitches, fangs and icky blood vessels, oh my!

And, we can forget about trying to escape ... just take a peek at what is out there waiting for us!

 

 

So, tell me ... has *your* house been taken over by unwanted Halloween creatures?

 

NOW, You're (Home)Talk'n...

What is it about Spring and Fall that makes so many of us want to declutter and organize?  Yes, friends, it’s that time of year when I feel the “urge to purge.”  And, in order to complete my mission, I’m constantly looking for ways to make sense of my home's chaos!
 

Enter HOMETALK!   You know ... the amazing online community where members can post their home projects … ask for opinions … and find creative and inventive ideas to implement into their own homes!  One of the many great elements of Hometalk is its “Clipboard” feature.  You can save (or “clip”) any project you see to refer to later.  Annnnnd, your friends can follow your clipboard so that they may be inspired right along with you!

And, speaking of clipboards … when my sweet and beyond talented friend, Karianne (from her “ohso” famous blog, Thistlewood Farms), asked if I’d create an “Organizational/Storage” clipboard to be shared on Hometalk's Facebook Page (and her fabulous Facebook page, as well), I, of course, said "yes," especially since organization is something I'm trying to conquer in our home as we speak!

When you have a minute, simply click HERE to visit my clipboard.  You just might be inspired by the incredibly organized pantry that has a place for ev.er.ee.thing; the awesome wall mounted storage made from crates and palettes; the shoe organizer created from simple molding; or the storage bins made from twine covered cardboard boxes (yes, cardboard boxes) ... I could go on and on!

And, while you're there, be sure to become a member of Hometalk (if you aren't already) and start creating your own Clipboards that we can follow!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm off to finish taking pics of our Fall sitting room before it turns into our *Christmas* sitting room!

 

Festive Fall Pumpkin Floral

I took a break today from my basement remodeling project 

to do something fun for myself.  

You ALL know how much I love fresh flowers in my home.  

It is so difficult to walk by the flowers at Costco 

and not pick up a bunch for the house.  

So, I did!  

Can I tell you first how much I hate 

going to Costco on the weekend?  

Huge traffic jams...enough said.  

I loved the fantastic fall colors that they had in their bouquets 

this week.  Pretty yellows, golds, and pinks.  

I Had to find a container that would say Fall too.  

So,I snagged one of my carve-able pumpkins 

from my Halloween table to use.

Now I know that I didn't invent the 

"Pumpkin as a floral vase" 

idea but it sure is a good one.  

And, since carving out pumpkins 

is my least favorite thing to do.  

(I leave that up to Mr. Beaux every year)  

I loved the idea of using the carve-able pumpkin.  

I just Sharpied a design around the top.

And carved it out.  Ewwwwww, look at the inside!  

Floral wet foam in a small plastic bowl.  

I still call it Tupperware.  

Do you do that?  

When is the last time you went to a Tupperware party?  

And arrange your flowers.  

There is no right or wrong way to arrange them.  

Arranging flowers is therapeutic for me, 

kind of like cooking without the calories.  

And like cooking you just add and step back and look and then add some more...

I placed the pumpkin top to the side and didn't even wire it in or anything.  I like the fact that it's not perfect.  And I really like the fact that it took me just a few minutes to get a custom looking arrangement for my entry way table.

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

 Susan at Between Naps on the Porchfor Metamorphosis Monday

  Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Remodeling a Groovy 70's Basement

Help!  I've been held captive all week in this 70's Basement!  

Well, I guess it was consensual captivation since I did willingly sign up for the job of renovating my clients basement back in June.  Things are all happening at once which is both exciting and exhausting at the same time.   Painting, cabinetry, tile, granite, oh MY!!!  I haven't shared any of this with you so I guess I had better start at the beginning.  

This is the same house that I just finished remodeling the Master Bath.  The basement hadn't been touched since the 70's I'm guessing. This is what it looked like when it was up for sale.

Here it is all cleared out on move-in day.  Should we start with the obvious?  70's carpet, Mirrored columns, and can someone PLEASE tell me WHY in the world anyone would build a mile long bar butting up to the Fireplace????  

This is the view from behind the bar.  Squint real hard and look at the tiny little windows up there.  They don't let much natural light into the room.  The three doors lead to (starting from right to left) A storage room, a bathroom and the sump pump room. 

 We spent a lot of time kicking ideas around for this space. 

pinterest

 Things that the clients knew they wanted included a new bar,

pinterest

  a media space, 

google

 a place to play poker, 

pinterest

 and to turn the storage room into a craft room,

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All on a budget!  

Whew!  

That's a tall order! 

As much as we pondered and planned 

the budget always won out.  

Doesn't that always happen?  

That's reality!  

What was great is that it forced us to get creative and re-purpose and narrow down exactly what it was that the clients wanted out of the space.  

Here is a little peak at the progress.  

See the new windows?  

That just by itself is the best improvement that could have been made!  Brick is being applied to the columns and lots of other good things are happening.  But you will have to wait a little longer for the full reveal.  

I'll continue to update you as progress is being made but for now I have to get back to my command post.

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

 Susan at Between Naps on the Porchfor Metamorphosis Monday

  Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday