Opulent Cottage

Where I Have Been

In the garden of course! I snapped a few quick photos to share with you all. 

Funny how these photos don't even begin to portray the amount of work that has gone into these beds! Trust me when I say that I have gone to bed every night aching, for weeks now. We have worked our way through a truckload of compost and 2 yards of mulch. 

I'm so happy that we finally took the time and energy to transform some of the areas of our back yard that were just being wasted. With the crazy property taxes we pay here in Dallas, I want every inch being used :) This sunny side of the pool is the perfect spot for daylilies, zinnias, thrift, coreopsis,  marigolds, green beans, basil, Swiss chard, squash, and zucchini. 

The parterre garden was completely overgrown with an invasive, weedy vine. We took it all apart, dug out the vine, and put it all back together. Four different kinds of lettuces, carrots, dill, 3 varieties of basil, cilantro, chives, jalapenos, fennel, rosemary, mint, lemon balm, garlic, onions, pole beans, morning glories, spinach, zinnia plants and seed, and squash are all planted in there! I'll let the squash trail over the spot where the lettuce was when it gets hot this summer. 

We added a raised bed by the parterre, in another small sunny spot. Tomatoes, two kinds of basil, eggplant, more Swiss chard, and some mini-pumpkins are in this bed.

I'm growing these peppers and tomatoes in pots. It gives me the chance to move them during the day to get more sun. Some people go to the gym to work out, I just move tomato pots around :)

There's even more! I'll do a second post later to show you the other new veggie beds and some ornamental beds that we updated, too. 

I'm joining:

Elaine's Sunny Simple Monday

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday.

 

An Amazing Garden, and New Planting Beds

Isn't this garden beautiful?!!

No, it's not mine -- I wish it was mine! But it's right next door, which is almost as good. It is beyond dreamy. It looks like this year round, but with seasonal plants. Soon he will replace the springtime geraniums with caladiums, as the geraniums can't take all of the sun in the summer. Then this fall we will enjoy gorgeous mums and pansies. Azaleas next spring. It's always gorgeous!

We have installed over 170 square feet of new beds here! I'll have a garden report soon. In the meantime I have to go next door and look at my neighbor's amazing garden if I want to see something tidy and beautiful :) But we're getting close!

See you soon :)

Love, Andrea

I'm joining:

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday.

 

Spring Roses

Oh, how I just can't wait to show you all what we have been up to! Major garden transformation has been happening here. Several new beds have been created. We have hauled and planted again and again. Yesterday I became completely overwhelmed, and decided to draw out a map of the garden, as I could almost not remember what all I had planted and where. I counted, and we have planted 35 different vegetables and herbs.

The yard looks like the Tasmanian Devil has been through a few times. Tools, rocks and wood scraps are scattered everywhere. But the roses are beautiful! I plucked a few to enjoy outside the back door while I come in and out. I lit some citronella votives as it became dark, to welcome our other springtime friends, the mosquitoes. Grrrrr.

Hope you are looking forward to a nice weekend! I'll be back when I can :)

Joining:

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday.

Do You Polyvore?

Most of you have already heard of Polyvore, right? Founded in 2007, Polyvore is a platform to create virtual collages of either home decor or clothing. It took me years to finally decide to try it, and now I am completely hooked! It's so user-friendly that you'll be designing rooms, or outfits, in mere minutes.

Last month our friend Stacey called out to blog pals for feedback on her dining room decor. In just a few minutes, I threw this inspiration board together using the ideas she had contemplated. And it was a hit! She just needed to see all of her ideas put together, to get a feeling for how her completed room would look.

(You can see her now-fabulous dining room here.)

Playing around with Polyvore helped me realize that I needed to move my black floral rug from the living room to our dining room.

And I must say with great results! Reveal coming soon :)

Now I'm working on our daughter's first apartment. She and her roommate hope to create a comfortable college apartment that feels like a real home. They both love to cook and entertain, and want a home that reflects both of their individual styles. 

My trend-loving girl craves bright, bohemian prints, jewel tones, and somewhat modern lines. Her roommate prefers more traditional furnishings, and draws her inspiration from the classic colors of Talavera pottery. Each girl has a few handed-down items to bring, and we will be shopping very frugally for the remaining pieces. 

It's my job to help them blend their styles while using whatever thrifty pieces we come upon to fill the rooms. Creating Inspiration Boards on Polyvore has allowed me to show them how their individual items will work together, and see how they can blend their different tastes into a home that gives each of them a bit of what they want. Here is the most recent Living Room Inspiration Board.

We already own the white slipper chair and bamboo ottoman,which were great yard sale scores. We just purchased the glass-front Ikea media stand on Craigslist for a bargain price of $30. 

In our garage we are also hoarding saving a round MDF table with a neutral skirt, a small pallet to create the trendy coffee table on wheels, and a retro lamp that we hope will paint up to look a little like mercury glass. I'll sew draperies from some leftover canvas and burlap.

So we'll be shopping for the biggest and potentially most costly piece, the sleeper sofa; a pretty but practical rug; and a bookcase for them to stash all of their books and photos. I think Craigslist might be my best friend this summer, next to neighborhood yard sales and of course, Freecycle. 

Not too shabby for a college apartment, huh?!! But I hope you can see how the power of a little creativity, combined with the magic of Polyvore, is helping us create a WAY above-college-standard living room for our girls.

If you haven't done so yet, give Polyvore a try! Please feel free to email me if you have questions, and I'll try to help. You can follow me on Polyvore here.

Joining:

Yvonne for Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Homemade "Arnold Palmer" Iced Tea

I have been grabbing the yummy Arnold Palmer iced teas lately when out running errands. They're so refreshing! But swimsuit season is right around the corner, and I can't be wasting calories on sugary drinks. I decided to try a homemade, low-calorie version, and it's just as good!

Add a cup of boiling water and two green tea bags to a quart mason jar. Let steep for 30 minutes, then add 10 drops of liquid stevia (or two packets of granulated), the juice of one lemon, and fill to the rim with water. Today I added a couple of ice cubes with mint leaves frozen in them. 

Sip this all afternoon, and you will not only be 32 ounces closer to your water intake for the day, you'll have received some of the wonderful health benefits of green tea and vitamin C from the lemon. 

Enjoy!

I'm joining:

Brenda for Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

My Cozy Porch

Please join me at Brenda's Cozy Little House today, where I talk about our cozy porch!

I'll show off our front porch, all decorated for spring.

And share a few fun facts about porches in the U.S.! You can find it here. 

I'm joining:

Debra for Be Inspired

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday.

 

 

 

China Hutch Spring Vignette

My poor house is so neglected because of the garden! We have been out there every possible minute lately. And everyone seems to have come alive again with the spring weather. We could hardly get anything done this weekend because of all of the socializing. It was so fun to catch up with neighbors and be outside in the fresh air.

As we have been coming in and out and working on the outside, a big pile of miscellaneous items had been collecting on our dining table. So you know what I did? Spent a few minutes the other night creating a vignette out of all of the things that didn't have a place to go. 

This was all on the table! Plates, bowls, a carafe, some flatware, and even a shell ball that I found at the thrift store last week. 

Pearl-handled knives and a random sterling silver knife were coralled in an old crock.

These little bone spoons were inside a vintage plaid thermos that I bought in Canton, and I didn't discover them for months! They are displayed in a shot glass that Maurie found among some old bottles his dad had collected. I'm thinking that both of those items are pretty old!

I probably couldn't have put this display together if I tried! It was just a happy accident that will make me think a little more creatively about my vignettes in the future.

I'm joining:

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Dawn's Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Friday Favorites

So much garden inspiration has crossed my path this week! I couldn't wait to do a Friday Favorites post and share them with you all. Let's look at some garden-ey, floral-ey, nature inspired goodness --

The last few days I have seen flashes of yellow darting around our garden, and I finally got a good look! We have American Goldfinches who must be migrating. They are so tiny and adorable! I'm stocking the feeder with sunflower seeds today to give them a good meal while they are on their way.

I'm so glad it's almost Mother's Day! These gorgeous floral plates are at the top of my wish list. From the Threshold line at Target.

Have you ever?!! A bean teepee! Abby would have spent all day in one of these. Found on this darling blog.

I ordered Lasagna Gardening on Amazon, and read through it in one sitting. Just a brilliant concept. There's just nothing better than taking something that would be waste and making it useful. 

I am so trying this! Talk about making use of space. Found here. 

Happy Friday, everyone!

A Gardening Weekend

It was a good gardening weekend here! 80 degrees and a little overcast, with a cool breeze. Maurie cleaned up the winter's worth of acorns and mulched in front, and I puttered in our courtyard and worked on some new planting beds in back. 

My neighbor put this kitchen cart on the curb, so you know exactly what I did -- ran right over and snatched it up.  How nice it will be to have this storage right outside the back door, and a new spot to decorate. I just gathered up some items from around the house and yard to display here. Do you all think I should paint it? Oh, really, we all know that I will paint it :)  Maybe I'll leave the top weathered and just paint the base. 

We made multiple trips to Home Depot this weekend. Annuals for 50 cents? Yes, and yes! And seed packets are buy one, get one free. I needed to replace a few plants that had been munched. I kept hoping they were being eaten by caterpillars, but no, I found the first giant grasshopper of the year. I swear, the thing was so big that it looked like it had teeth. They can plow through an entire plant, roots and all, in one sitting. He was promptly evicted to the alley.

I can't wait to show you all the new areas we are creating to plant in this year! Thank you for coming by today :)

I'm joining:

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Dawn's Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

DIY Linky at Little House in the Suburbs

 

How I Styled Our Bedroom Bookcase

I told you all in a previous post that I had struggled with what to do with this bookcase for over a year now. Then one day, I realized that it was the perfect place to display our family photos. 

These frames have been collected over the years, and there is no real theme or continuity to them. I kept arranging and rearranging them, and it seemed that no matter how I styled them, they just looked like a messy hodge podge. Buying all new, coordinating photo frames is not something I really wanted to do. Many of these were gifts and have sentimental value to me.

After looking at it over time, I realized that I needed to add some texture, and a little color. I started by grounding the shelves with a couple of Bordallo cabbage plates. It instantly added a balance that helped the collection of frames seem less messy. Next came the glass vases with some faux hydrangeas, and then my gorgeous new tole tray. I loved how the tray gave the entire bookcase a central focal point. A few milk glass vases, some greenery, and voila, the collection seemed a bit more cohesive and pulled together. 

So in the end, using items from around the house brought my frame collection together without spending a dime. The next time you're struggling with creating a display or vignette, give it a try!

I'm joining:

Yvonne's Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at FrenchCountry Cottage

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home