Last chance.

Our little town up north in the middle of nowhere hosts the last curling bonspiel

of the year called Last Chance Bonspiel, for obvious reasons.

As I've been dragging junk out from under the beds for my next garage sale,

I'm rethinking whether or not I'll ever use said junk and giving it 

one last chance to shine in our home.

Sometimes all it needs is a little refresh.

I asked my design assistant to remove the shiny black paint from this old window frame

and voila!  Gorgeous weathered wood hiding underneath!

I'm not completely sold on this arrangement yet, so I haven't painted

over the 49 nail holes I've filled from the previous look.

I picked up these sconces in July of 2011 and they've
been granted a temporary reprieve from the garage sale pile.

On May 7 (Just like the birth of our daughters, I remember the exact day they were delivered.)
our sofa and love seat will celebrate their 26th birthday.  Our daughters flew the coop
at 18 years of age, but our faded and worn furniture is reluctant to leave.  sigh

As you may remember, after reading her book last summer, Marie Kondo changed my life.
After selling a garage full of vintage items for pennies on the dollar, I'm much more discriminate
 as to what I'll fork out hard earned dollars for.  I actually went to an estate sale
today and left without spending a dime!

But.....

Lookie what I found in our youngest daughter's garage sale donations!
I violated Rule #625:  Do not look through items your daughters are giving away.

I held them in my hands and contemplated their fate.
Do I really need them?
Yes, I do.  No, I don't.
What to do, what to do........

Have you noticed that Pinterest seems to know exactly what you're thinking about?
I clicked on Pinterest last night and look what popped up....

source

 source

source

That settles it.

Rufus and Barkley will be staying.

So.
It seems I've still got some work to do before I'm completely cured,
but those dogs didn't cost me a dime!

 Well, actually, I did buy one of them.


Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!
Vickie

* I'm joining the parties at:
Thoughts from Alice Sundays at Home
The Essence of Home  Share Your Style

Simply white.

It's moving day!

A little more than 3 months behind schedule, but the dollhouse is done

and on its way to Mack and Maggie's playroom.

When we asked our daughter what color to paint the dollhouse,

she said white.  Since she recently painted all the rooms and the dark trim

in their bungalow Simply White, it's only fitting that the dollhouse
wears a coat of white paint, too.

It resembles the new 2 story homes that are replacing the single story dwellings
 in our daughter's old neighborhood.  Instead of shutters, we chose to embellish the windows
with chunky craftsman trim, inside and out.
 

It's got a little Mr. T bling going on with the bright brass door handles and hinges,
 but brass is back, right?

The flokati rugs and oversized chalkboard fit right in with their uptown style.
The chalkboard was pilfered from our youngest daughter's garage sale boxes.

I stitched up 2 comfy beanbag chairs for the children to recline in while

they watch movies and cartoons.

Oops!
 In my haste to take photos before loading the dollhouse into our car, I mistakenly placed

 prematurely-gray-haired Father in the chair instead of Brother.  hehe
(Building a house for his demanding wife really aged him this winter.)

Mom and Grammy sit in their thrifted chairs while they discuss the kitchen appliances

 that have yet to be purchased.  The table and chairs were 50 cents at our local thrift store.

Father and Daughter movie night.  hehe

One of the unfinished bonus rooms on the third level is ready

for fun times with the addition of a glittery disco ball (Hobby Lobby Christmas ornament).
Or maybe Sister would like this room as her bedroom.  They'll have to sleep
on the floor until they buy bedroom furniture, but not to worry, there's plenty of
flokati left over for makeshift beds.  Also, we've seen how Maggie plays with the house.
She empties out the house and fills each room with a large stuffed animal.
And covers the house with a blanket.

Father and Gramps discuss politics in the living room.
Let's get out of here!

We'll let Maggie open up the box with fixtures for the bathroom.

I'd like to be a mouse in the corner when the dolls use the facilities.  :o)

Partially furnished house.  It's just right for a 3 year old and her brother.

So long Rangers!  Minneapolis, here we come!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!
Vickie