Back Home Again...and the Next Stop on the Home Tour

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Well, hello there!  I slipped out of town last week for a trip to Kentucky with a couple friends to attend the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs in Louisville, and to spend some time in the Lexington area visiting horse farms.

When I returned home earlier this week, I was greeted by two surprises...

 
My husband and brother-in-law bought this tom turkey while I was away...and, yes...he's going to be Thanksgiving dinner. :(

The second surprise came later when I checked my blog email account: I was stunned to learn that I won The DIY Club's 31 Days of Painting Contest!  With nearly 100 seriously outstanding entries, I figured there was no chance I'd make it to the top 10, much less win the grand prize of two free gallons of paint from Dutch Boy.  Thank you DIY Club and Dutch Boy!

My winning entry was the cane back living room set I painted and then had reupholstered in drop cloths for my English-inspired reading nook.  I shared with you guys the before and after photos earlier this year, but here's a quick refresher.

And with fresh paint:

However, when I posted the after pics, I still had many more plans for this space.  Since this room is now finished, it's the next stop on the Carolina Country Living home tour!

This loft is just 8 feet wide and runs 15 feet long, and it overlooks the living room and dining room below.

I imagine when my son gets older, this will be his space as it's adjacent to his bedroom. But for now, I've co-opted it and have tried to inject a bit of vintage English country flair, inspired mostly by Cath Kidston fabrics.

Since finishing the furniture set, which was an auction find, I polished the room by white-washing the horizontal tongue-and-groove boards on the back wall with Minwax's Pickling Stain.

Envelope-style pillow covers made with Cath Kidston fabrics found on Etsy adorn the sofa and side chairs.  The larger pillow is covered in Provence Rose in Light Blue.  The smaller pillow is covered in Summer Blossom in Light Blue.

For an easy-peasy tutorial on how to make the pillow covers, visit Restoration House. 

This tutorial changed my sewing life!

This darling little pillow is a new arrival courtesy of Etsy shop Cornflower Creations.  The aqua ticking, hint of red gingham and the ditsy floral spiced up with the polka dots made me melt!  After seeing this pillow, I think I need to work more polka-dotted fabrics into this space. :)

In addition to all the floral pillows, there are three linen pillows on the sofa.  Two round ones with a button detail hide behind the blue floral Cath Kidston pillows below.  And a bolster that was recovered in linen by my upholsterer sits in between.

A pair of gorgeous yellow French Provincial tables from Spruce Antiques are a fun, colorful counterpart to the subtle hues of the cream and grey-painted furniture and drop cloth cushions.  They pick up the hints of yellow in the Cath Kidston pillows and further brighten the space.  The vintage hooked rug is a neutral backdrop to this sassy table.

Simple curtains sewn from fabric found at Hancock Fabrics dress the four windows.  I have no idea the manufacturer of this semi-sheer, quilting fabric, but it reminded me a little bit of the linen and faded floral fabrics made famous by Cabbages & Roses, another iconic English company.

For a romantic but frugal touch, the fabric panels were hung on $2 tension rods, then gathered, balloon style, and tied up with ivory grosgrain ribbon.

In between the windows, over the sofa, hangs a scrap of Cath Kidston stationery in an IKEA frame repainted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg.

The floor lamp was a purchase made by my husband in his bachelor days.  A quick coat of white spray paint on the base, and white pom-pom fringe hot glued to the beige shade, spiffed it up in a whimsical kind of way.

Milk glass adds to the vintage feel of the room. Here I cut a circle of fabric from Lecien's Flower Sugar line to provide a little more contrast between the white glass and the tinned candle, while adding another dose of this happy shade of yellow.

This wood tray was a thrift store find that I spray painted in Krylon's Cornflower. I like to keep my British home magazines here, since it only seems fitting!

The non-matching chair in the room is a slipper chair that came from my childhood bedroom.  Reupholstered in Waverly's Rose Sonata in Robin's Egg, and a coat of paint added to it's turned wooden legs (capped in casters!), I think it adds an element of older English style.   

Bright flowers--in this case, dried strawflowers--look sharp on a yellow table.

The only thing missing from this picture is me, stretched out on the sofa with a book in hand! :)

Thanks for coming along for the latest stop of the house tour.  We'll continue with the kitchen next week!

Hope you're having a great weekend,
Erin

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Liberty Loot and a Lovely Quilt

On Friday, we attended the Liberty Antiques Festival.

Held in the middle of a pastoral field at an old dairy farm, it features a couple hundred vendors from up and down the East Coast, selling all sorts of furniture, vintage items and curiosities.

 

As you can see from the photo, it was a ridiculously beautiful day. Temperatures were in the mid-70s and sunshine abounded. We arrived about 8:30 and didn't leave until after 3, so it couldn't have been a better day to be out and about.

I forgot to photo my mom's goodies, but she picked up a pair of galvanized chicken feeders and a pair of square galvanized washing tubs.

My husband was delighted to find a number of utilitarian items, particularly a cast-iron sausage grinder, a child-sized rake for our son, a pair of small axes, and a cast-iron cider press.

I concentrated on looking for pretty things! Brown transferware, glass nesting hens, ironstone and linens were at the top of my list. I succeeded on all counts but the transferware. I just wasn't interested in spending $30+ for a plate!  Liberty prices are usually more than I care to spend because I'm a bit of a tightwad but I kept my eyes peeled for relatively reasonable deals.

How'd I do?

Well, I found these two hens for $12 to start a glass hen collection:

This Blue Bird flour sack for my husband--who builds blue bird houses--and this unusual floral grain sack from western North Carolina were $15 each:

Destined to become pillow covers.

Three matching pieces of English ironstone for $20:

A couple yards of sweet, vintage rosebud fabric for $5:

Will definitely make some pillow covers with this, too!

A book of sheet music for $3 and pair of skeleton keys for $2:

Can't wait to decoupage with the sheet music!

A milk glass vase for $5 and nearly 20 zinc mason jar lids for just $.50 a piece:

Because I need another milk glass vase like a hole in the head...but I couldn't resist. And the zinc lids were a real deal--I saw other vendors selling the same Atlas and Ball jar lids for $1-2+ a pop.

This pristine, vintage dress-style apron for $15:

Wonder if I could get away with wearing this over jeans and a form-fitting t-shirt? It's a shame to limit wearing such a pretty thing to just around the house!

A Fire King casserole dish (lid not shown) for $8:

And last but not least...this gorgeous Depression-era quilt:

See, I'm working on a summer update to my bed based off this photo from (one of my very favorite decorating books ever) Enrica Stabile's Comfortable Country:

Isn't that photo so relaxing looking?  I've always liked it since my bed's headboard is a honeyed pine. I did a bit of saving, and splurged on flax and white linen sheets and pillowcases last month. Peeking from behind the book, you can see a white thrifted duvet I found at Nest. So the quilt was the last element I needed to complete the, um, bedscape?  Is that a real term?

Anyway, the quilt was buried on a table at a vendor's tent at the back of the festival. I just happened to spot a patch of the red, white and blue out of the corner of my eye.

My mom and I made a beeline for the quilt, unfolded it and discovered it was in outstanding condition for its age.  And look at that pattern...and border...and all that lovely puckering from the hand-quilting!

I held my breath and flipped over the price tag, hoping for the best.

$75. Fair enough. I could swing that.

My mom and I began folding up the quilt so I could purchase it, and then I heard, "I can do better than that!"

I looked up, unsure if the voice was directed to me. It was, and it was the seller.

We made eye contact across the row of tables and he repeated, "I can do better than that. How about $35?"

My mom and I undoubtedly did a poor job of hiding our shock.

I quickly responded with an idiotic, "Yesthankyouverymuchplease!"

I don't know if the seller didn't realize the price on the tag, but I didn't ask any questions and accepted this rare gift from the antiquing gods.

So, Liberty was a real success this time. We had fun, managed not to get too sunburned and I can recreate a gorgeous bedscape as soon as I get my act together.

I'll be back tomorrow with photos I snapped while we shopped of several interesting and beautiful vintage pieces.

Happy May Day!
Erin

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