Quick Change: Red, White and Blue!

Welcome to my living room!  Well, its not exactly 'dressed' yet in this picture!  I was lucky enough to get new furniture this past year and I decided I would go with a neutral 'palette' that would make it easy to decorate for the holidays.  I LOVE to decorate for the holidays and when the boys were young, they loved coming home from school and seeing the house transformed.  Now that they are out of the house, I needed to find a way to decorate a little simpler, since I do not have so many hands to help anymore!

The neutral couch would be perfect for changing out pillows, the coffee table will get a runner and centerpiece, and the small shabby shelf above the couch, could hold some seasonal trinkets.  The shelf holds small, cherished photos of my grandparents all the time, but it has space for a few treasures!

  I found the vintage bicentennial tin plate with an eagle on it at a thrift store so I put it on the small gold easel.  The salt glazed pitcher and a deep red candle in a pewter candlestick add a bit of color and the metal star from Joann's Fabric Store balances the bright red of the candle. 

The coffee table vignette!  I first placed a neutral linen tablecloth I found at Homegoods, down the middle of the table.  Next came the vintage piecrust pedestal mirror - I found it that day with Margaret at the Sacramento Antique Fair.  I was so excited when I saw it because it was the nicest one I had seen in years, and in years - I had to have it for my collection. The deal was sealed when the kind lady came down $20 from her original asking price!  I added a vase, darling little crystal creamer, apothecary jar and a red vintage candy dish - to which I added (in order!) some flags and a baseball, penny candy sticks, red, white and blue poker chips, and a family favorite - Hershey's Kisses in the candy dish!

Fourth of July is enchanting for children . . .and adults!  It just brings out the child in all of us thus the reason I had to add some of my cherished collection of Boyd's Bears to my decor.  This red bear sits atop a vintage ammunitions box topped with a vintage lace hankie.  I painted the flag table years ago when three other neighbors and I all had toddlers at home.  We did country craft shows together and called ourselves 'Four Friends' - cherished memories!

Now for my quick change pillows!  I took a plain red and white striped pillow. . .

. . . and laid a large star-spangled cloth  napkin on an angle over the top of the pillow.  I folded the napkin back over the top of the pillow and safety pinned it to the back of the pillow, making sure the safety pins wouldn't show. By using safety pins, I can remove the napkin and change it out to a different one for a different season!  I needed to secure the napkin to the front of the pillow so something that will be pretty since it will show . . .

I dug into by jewelry box for some brooches!  I used a vintage sun brooch to pin down the point on the top of the pillow. Luckily, I had two sun brooches for my two pillows.  Star brooches, or even rhinestone brooches would work for the Fourth of July!  Done! You can adapt this method to any holiday.  The red and white striped pillows do triple duty for me - I can leave them as they are for a nautical look or for a candy cane Christmas! But the addition of a colorful napkin affixed with a vintage brooch and the pillows are only limited by your creativity!

Here's a close up of my other sun brooch!

Abracadabra! The quick change is complete!  A tall tin flower pitcher filled with red geraniums and white mums grounds the coffee table centerpiece.  I found the blue denim print pillow at The Tattered House, the fleur-de-lis pillow at Restoration Hardware and the red pillow with the shell accent at Homegoods.

 As empty nesters, my husband and I have lots of quiet times in the house.  The days of three boys running in and out the doors are gone for now and we can display mercury glass candlesticks on our fireplace hearth which we would never have done when they were all at home.  A photo and the teddy bear are reminders of those wild Fourth of July's when we saw sparklers and smoking snakes scar our patios. 

So from all of us, to all of you - have a Cherished Fourth!

Before and After: End Tables

Multiple tiered tables make great end tables, either bedside or next to a couch or chair.  This one, found at a thrift store, was sturdy and sound, though is had multiple scratches and the varnish was peeling off.  Nothing that a little elbow grease, sandpaper, and paint can't cure!

Now its all freshened up!

This end table has great lines and detailing - perfect for a shabby project!  However, it needed a little extra work as the drawer had swollen wherever it was stored so the drawer would not push in all the way.  I pulled out the drawer and sanded down the rails and sides of the drawer and it worked fine!  It was also missing one of the screws that held the drawer handle, and needed lots of sanding to get rid of surface scratches.  But after sanding, primer, paint and then some extra sanding to shabby it . . .

. . . it is now ready for a Victorian parlor, a country cottage, or a seaside bedroom!

This simple end table's top was badly scratched and the varnish was flaking off.  Again, lots of sanding, some tightening of the leg screws, and this table was ready for finishing.  I always wrangle with color choices in my head, but the simplicity of this table just reminded me of calm times sitting by the ocean.  Blue is a calming color so . . .

Now it's in my space at Melange- the centerpiece of my summer display! The vintage picnic basket is filled with some petit-point vintage dishes, there's a beachy striped runner, vintage flash cards, vintage hand embroidered linens, and of course some starfish!  If you look closely on the left, there is a mosaic cream colored vase that sits atop my handmade mosaic porthole mirror done in blue beach glass.  The paper parasol is perfect for keeping the summer sun of fair-skin types like myself, and I embellished that birdcage with seashells as well!  Ahhh, summer!!