Home is where you hang your hat.

Home is where you hang your hat,
and I've got a new place to hang mine.

Here it is!

Just a few months ago, this is how our front entrance looked.

Jeepers creepers!

I could have brightened the photo, but I wanted you to see

how dark and haunted the space really was.  Now that I see
how gloomy it was, all traces of painter's remorse have suddenly vanished!

I painted the door a creamy white and that just made the

dark wood trim look worse.  So I painted the trim.

And the walls.  And the brass door hardware.  And the built-in bench.

And the floor.  Whew!  That was a lot of painting!

I painted the floor with Rustoleum oil-base paint.

  Here's how it looked before (below).
  As you can clearly see, I had nothing to lose by painting the floor.

Our plan was to have the floor refinished at the same time as

the bedrooms, but it was beyond repair.

Before we could remove the 1960 era linoleum floor, we had to pull up the narrow 

 molding around the perimeter of the room, as well.  The wood was so old and brittle that

many of the pieces broke in the process, so I installed new trim, too.
It was good practice for all the trim that needs to be replaced upstairs.

I painted the built-in bench, but left the top as is.

I stripped the old battered finish off the bench a few years ago.  Since then,
I've grown to like the weathered look of the natural wood against the painted finishes.

An old mirror and a few of my blue & white plates
adorn the wall above the bench.

For the opposite wall, I made a coat rack with a display shelf above.
Now that I've mastered shelf construction, no wall in this house is safe!
I brought out my straw bags and a sun hat for a summery display.
The empty wine bottles?  Medicinal pain relief
for the many hours spent on my knees while painting the floor.

I made a simple shelf out of plywood
trimmed with inexpensive wood molding to cover the radiator. While I was at it,
 I gave the radiator a fresh coat of creamy white paint, too.

I couldn't resist these adorable straw shoes
 for only $3 at a local antique shop.   

I hung my 4 miniature cuckoo clocks on either side of the doorway.

As you can see there's plenty of room for my clock collection to grow.
  Christmas?  Birthday?  hint hint

Off to the right is the dining room which has also been painted.

And to the left............

.......mmmm, lots of painting yet to be done in the living room.  Sigh.

I think I'll be needing a few more bottles of wine.

This is what I do on my summer vacation
when it's too hot and muggy to play outside.

Thanks for visiting!
Vickie

I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Tuesday
Common Ground Be Inspired
Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk
The Style Sisters Centerpiece Wednesday

Fans & Fannies

Have you heard about the latest design trend?
 Ceiling fans are tres chic!

So take down those outdated chandies and get with the program girls!!!

While you're at it, you may want to update your loo with

a gen-u-ine padded toilet seat because, wouldn't you know,
they're back in vogue, too! 

All joking aside, I bought both of those items.
  I have a lovely vintage chandelier in storage that I fully intended to hang in the guest bedroom,
 but now that summer has arrived, I realize it will not do.
  Our house is OLD.  As in no central air.

That bedroom gets darn hot during our 9 days of summer, so I had to

change my plan and go with a more practical fixture.

 My mission was to find a farmhouse style ceiling fan.

Surely there's a company out there that manufactures a
vintage looking fan that won't break the bank?

Nope.  Nada.  Nothing.

Fast forward several months, because that's how long it took me to find.....

This?

While this bubblicious fan might look adorable in a sweet little girl room, it wasn't quite the 

look I was going for.  Desperate to get something on the ceiling, I bought it anyway.

$35 worth of bling (http://chandelierpartsonline.com), a dollop of trim paint on the blades,

and it's gone from Barbie Dream House to a simple country fandelier.

(Ella 48 inch ceiling fan just under $100 at Menards)

The arms were given a few coats of Martha Stewart
gold acrylic craft paint to tie in with the original
wall sconce in the room. (I didn't want to spray paint in the room,
or dismantle the light fixture to paint it.)

The glass bobeches were attached with
E6000 adhesive to keep them in place.

After my nap, I also replaced the wood pulls with glass fluted pulls and

the silver chain was painted with the same gold craft paint.

Easy breezy transformation!

As for the cushy toilet seat in the basement,
sorry to disappoint you, but photos are unavailable for your viewing pleasure.  :)

Stylish or not, I'm feeling cool and comfy
from top to bottom here at 911.

Thanks for visiting!

Vickie

For Sale:

3 pink satin lampshades (never used).

 Cold hard toilet seat (used quite a bit).

I'm joining the parties at:
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Ivy & Elephants What's it Wednesday
Common Ground Be Inspired
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson Share Your Cup