I Can See Clearly Now...

that the grody busted windows have been removed! Buying windows/glass for your house is like buying tires for your car - an evil necessity that keeps you from getting the good stuff. I would have much rather spent the $$$ on something pretty and fun.

When we bought the house this big patio door was clouded over and the home owners opted to credit instead of replace - and it only took us 7 months to replace - shame shame!

Before:

(This is Gerry from Gerry's glass - he's the cheapest most reasonable in town!)

After:

Ahhh.....just makes you breathe easier, doesn't it?


In that time the kitchen window became worse, so it had to go to.

Before:

And as he replaced the right side glass in the garden window, he said - oh - look this other left pane in the garden window is bad too, only another $135?? Sure Gerry, what's another $135? An end table!?

After:

In 7-10 days when Gerry comes back I can say ahhh over this one too.

I have debated on this garden window. Once we paint the cabinets I wonder if the black trim will be too much against the creamy white. I could paint it white? My friend Gerry told me that a lot of people take them out because they let in too much cold in the winter. What do you think?

A cold 80's hole in the wall?

Or a nice light and airy herb garden is calling it's name?

Sara's Bedside Table Rule of Thumb

I've Been Featured! Judy at DIY by Design was so sweet to feature my guest room redo on her blog last week after I joined in her Swing Into Spring linky party. She even used the word stunning! Wow, talk about making me feel warm and fuzzy!

Judy's kitchen had me at hello and I knew I needed to see what this talented gal was doing in her house.

Check out her delicately beautiful daughter's room.

Thank you Judy!

I have been improving on my room, and I just learned something new from Sara last night on Sara's House. The rule of thumb with nightstand/lamp proportions to the bed is:

Your nightstand should be as tall as the mattress and your lamp should be about as tall as your headboard - wow! Who knew? Did you?

So what I bought for my new room, might be a little off...what do you think? Lamp too small here?

As you can see, I still haven't taken off the plastic wrap from the lampshade yet, so I can totally take it back (I think I say that about most things - which is why my MIL laughs as she picks up most things in the house to find the price tag that is still stuck to the bottom of things I've had for years).

I love the nightstand, so I might need to raise the headboard up a bit?

What do you think of the plate arrangement, it wasn't the arrangement I had on the floor, but when we put it on the wall I kind of ran out of room. Does it look off kilter, not enough plates, just need to move around a bit?

OK, now I am off to finish the Variety Show program - which I should have been working on for the last hour....

Pretty Plates and Platters

So I have been out looking for plates to fill the space above the headboard in my new guest room that is eagerly awaiting company...

I couldn't decide - simple classic white, or graphic black and white?
A random arrangement or something more streamlined and symmetrical?

I found a few inspiration pics:

With so much pattern on the bed and windows I think I might go with plain white, and I think I am definitely a symmetrical kind of gal.  What do you think?