Following My Own Advise!

Following my own advise from my previous post, I created a January centerpiece vignette for the dining room table. The runner is stenciled burlap from Bella Inspirations.

Dressing up the paperwhites are birch "sleeves" from Pottery Barn, last year. Birch pillar candles keep with the theme.

Mercury glass hurricanes and candleholders add a little glamour to the rustic centerpiece.

My favorite mercury glass candleholder though is this one, a gift from my special friend and fellow blogger Netierose at After Glo Vintage Baubles.

I am glad to put away the Christmas greens and flowers. I've been waiting a while to use the burlap runner, and no doubt it will show up again in a future tablescape!

The hutch got a January makeover too. Gone is the red transferware, replaced by neutral brown tranferware and white ironstone. More mercury glass, this time as mini vases holding white flowers, leftovers from the Christmas arrangements.

In the living room, the mantel is a work in progress. I got rid of the dried up cedar garland, but kept the burlap for now.

A few family photos are a nice transition from the Christmas mantel decorations.

Later, I'll put away the burlap and photos and simplify the mantel for Spring.

I'm not even thinking of Spring yet, but learning to love the simple beauty of Winter in January.

I'm joining Marty for her 46th Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life.

I'm also joining Kim at Savvy Southern Style for her BTB Party for the first time.

Be sure and check out both blogs for lots of ideas and inspiration.

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What I Didn't Buy At the Antique Show

This booth at the Hillsborough Antique Show was filled to the brim with linen, grain sacks, mangle cloths and pillows. It made my heart skip a beat!

I passed up this lovely yardage. Now I regret it! It's unusual to find flax linen like this with the caramel brown stripe. It would have been a wonderful runner for the Thanksgiving table!

There were other colors too. Red stripe, purple stripe, blue and black striped runners. Why didn't I at least get a couple of yards?

I thought these Christmas stockings were adorable! They would have been perfect for my #1 daughter's family. Passed them up....

As well as these monogrammed sachets filled with lavender. They would make great little gifts, but no, I left them there!

There were many monogrammed grain sacks too. My BFF, Maureen found a mangle cloth with her initials. Perfect as a tablecloth. I made her buy it! But again, I didn't buy a thing. What was wrong with me?

As much as I love this look, there is just so much that one can have before it becomes too much of a good thing.

For instance, I had slipcovers made for these two captain's chairs out of grain sacks. If I added a similar runner for the table, it would be too much.

I even upholstered my four French chairs out of coffee sacks!

Which went great with the linen and burlap tablescape I did back in May.

The living room is a study in linen!

I even had a French grain sack framed!

As much as I regret passing up all the great European linens at the antique show, I think it was probably the right thing to do. For once, I listened to my gut and told myself, "you have enough of this already!"

I found it interesting that this was the only grain sack I found in Italy!

Seriously, I did not see one bit of burlap or linen there.

Which also confirmed to me that I shouldn't invest anymore in this look!

I did get the dealer's card though, just in case!

That caramel stripe runner is calling my name!

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The Mud Room

The Mud Room. This is technically the "entry" to our house in Asti.

This photo was taken when we first moved in.

Another photo of the mud room last year.

We were fortunate to inherit this lovely antique "settle" from the previous owners, as well as the decorative wooden farm implements.

I found these grape botanicals at the flea market and framed them myself for over the bench. I also made some feed sack pillows to personalize the space, but those wooden farm implements were starting to bug me. They were always in the way and getting knocked off the wall.

The mud room last weekend.

Notice the difference?

I found this burlap sack at the flea market for $20 and framed it.

I don't know what this says in French, I'm just glad it replaced the wooden farm implements!

Since the walls are Venetian Plaster, there was no way to patch the large holes from the brackets that held the tools. The new addition hides the holes nicely!

Looking through the door from the side porch, I am loving the new rustic framed burlap sack.

For sale: one wooden rake and two wooden pitchforks!

Never been "used!"

I'm joining Kimm at Reinvented for the first time for "Trash to Treasure Tuesday!"

Please visit her website to see what others are reinventing.

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The Big Burlap Pendant

The big burlap pendant is finally hung up!

I saw this burlap pendant originally in the Anthropologie catalog, but ended up getting it on Ebay for half price over a year ago. I felt I had made a mistake. Mr. A wasn't sure about it and the whole thing needed to be rewired.

Then, two weeks ago, we saw two of these hanging at Restoration Hardware in Corte Madera. They looked so cool! Finally, Mr. A agreed that it would look good hanging over the center island afterall. It has been sitting on the floor for a year and a half waiting . . .

Waiting for our friend Richard to risk his life to hang it! What a job!

The ceiling in this room is maybe 14 or 15 feet high at the center. So first the ceiling fan had to go. It was like a three act play! Two ladders, two flashlights and four people to get the job done.

This is really not a way to treat our guests--having them hang light fixtures!

We had fun though! Everybody had a job. Maureen and I held the flashlights, Mr. A cooked dinner and Richard did all the work!

Because the fixture was made in Poland, it had to be rewired. It had aluminum wiring instead of copper. Not good. Also, a rope concealed the wiring and that was tricky to duplicate. The rope had to be the exact length, so measuring was key.

Our calculations proved correct because the length was perfect. Notice the pull string inside, which is easily reached.

I'm loving how this light fixture warmed up the kitchen.

Thank you Richard for going through all that trouble to re-wire it, wrap rope around the wire and risk your life on a 12 foot ladder to hang it!

The final result! This was the best birthday present ever!

The next morning with the sun streaming in creating a lovely tabletop vignette with the pendant overlooking.

Besides being thrilled to finally get my pendant hung, it was also such a great birthday weekend spent with our dear friends. We shopped, antiqued, ate at lovely restaurants in Healdsburg and even made it to the Alameda Antique Faire on Sunday!

I'm linking up to Barb at Grits and Glamour for Tabletop Tuesday. Be sure to see the other participants who have vignettes of their tables, cabinets and mantles.

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VINTAGE HOME Lifestyle's Barn Sale

Cathleen at VINTAGE HOME Lifestyle in Healdsburg had a barn sale this weekend and we stopped in to introduce ourselves and do some shopping. She is a fellow blogger, and we have been communicating with each other. It was nice to finally meet her.

Here is her barn behind her 100 year old farmhouse. It was just begging to be explored!

Inside was filled with wonderful vintage treasures, like painted furniture, candles, soaps, plants, and accessories. Cathleen refinishes all the furniture herself. She is also a genius at merchandising her store. Everywhere I looked, I discovered something special.

Like this candle that she wrapped in upholstery webbing and tied with an old skeleton key. How cool is that? I loved it so much, I bought them all!

And these bottles that she labeled with old French paper and tied with a crystal prism. She has her own line of soy candles and bath and body products that she originated in her Farmhouse kitchen!

How adorable is this wreath?

Cathleen made this bulletin board. I love the hotel silverware and bistro dishes.

Another inside shot of the barn.

Outside, this old bicycle has been re-purposed as a planter.

Cathleen and Mr. A trying to get two tables in an SUV for a customer. Believe it or not, they did it. It's a good thing we showed up when we did!

Cathleen and I posing in front of a beautiful painted china cabinet.

It was so much fun meeting her. I plan to visit again when she has the next barn sale in February. No doubt the barn will be filled again with more great old painted pieces and found objects.

Be sure to check out Cathleen's blog here and her online store here.

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