My Decorating Brilliance :)

In case you don't know, I really enjoy magazines. I think I currently am subscribing to 5 different ones, but I have honestly lost track. It works nicely this way, I always have something to read that doesn't involve a computer screen. Anyway, my latest epiphany--I am seriously ahead of the times, home-decor wise. I mean, I decided several months ago that I am doing yellow and green in my kitchen. And then I get the February issue of Better Homes and Gardens and realize that yellow and green are the new "in" colors! Which makes life very handy for me this spring. You see, I told Mom that my kitchen is changing to yellow and green and she asked if it was the same yellow/gold and olive that were in when she was my age. But of course not :) I have a few olive colored decorator glass pieces, but I am going more for a lighter green and lightish yellow (and touches of red and brown to ground it.). In fact, I bought my yellow KitchenAid mixer a year ago! I just have always loved green and yellow (And I should add, as my Oregon State graduated brother was worried about this, I am NOT going for the Oregon Duck colors; in fact the correlation had not entered my head until he brought it up!)  Anyhow, as I was saying, my timing for my color decision couldn't have been better--my Mom got me some cute colorful measuring cups and spoons, a yellow butter pot (goodbye slippery butter dish lid!) and some cute yellow and green ramekins (I should also add that she also got me 8. These of course go very nicely with the set of green KitchenAid cooking utensils my sweet hubby got me for Christmas. So being as I am still rebuilding my kitchen supplies (most of mine when AWOL when we moved across country two years ago) this is the perfect year to finish that process up! Besides, having lots of pretty colors to cook with makes the process so much more fun and cheerful, don't you think?

In other news, the ice around here is finally melting, thank you God!!! Our parking lot was so bad yesterday that it took hubby 15 minutes to even get into it last night after work. We decided to stay home from church today for that reason--the roads are okay, but if we can't get safely out of our parking lot... So we had family Bible reading from the safety of our living room today, and I'm sure we weren't the only ones! 

Project 365 Writing/Photography Challenge; Post #11

This little shelf is something I look at many, many times each day. It is one of only two decorative shelves that I have up. Really, two is plenty in our little space, but I grew up in a home in which my Mom loves to collect pretty china/glassware and has many shelves and several hutches filled with her beautiful conquests. My shelves, at present, are a little different than your average collection showcase. They do not strike you at first as being valuable or important, but each thing has meaning to me. My mom found me this shelf years ago, shortly after we were married, so on top of it's uniqueness, it has been with us long enough that it has sentimental value. I have always loved the color green, ever since I can remember. I remember telling my little brother that green was a girl color and blue was a boy color, so he couldn't have anything that was green! The little green bowl is depression glass, I got it from Mom long ago; the little green vase is just pretty. The little dried rosebud in the bowl is from the top of my birthday cake this year; hubby got me the most amazing delicious little cake with carnations on top! The little tea tin I got recently in a box of tea, and I have always loved the picture (and the flavor) of this particular tea. The pink pitcher was in my hubby's mother's collection, so it is of course special. (She went to be with Jesus on October 31, 2005--a little over a year after we were married). The little violin my Mom got me because I am a violinist (again, violin is something I have loved ever since I was very young); I think it is a little dish meant to hold jewelry on one's dressing table, but I have always just displayed it. And I'm not sure where I got the bell, I think it was also from hubby's mom.
So you see, each little piece has meaning to me, making the whole a very comforting cheerful spot in my kitchen. That is me, my decorative style--things I love and that have meaning to me. I will probably never be that person who has the perfectly styled home according to the fashion at the time. I enjoy those homes, but those just aren't me. I have read more and more often in some of the recent home decorating magazines, that if you are trying to make a space you truly love, don't worry about things "matching". Take your time, and decorate with those little "mismatched" things you see from time to time that you absolutely love; take them home and they will go together! So as you decorate your own home, don't drive yourself crazy and frustrated looking at all the beautiful room designs from magazines etc. that you think are pretty but just can't afford or can't make them mesh with your home. Just wing it; go with your heart. If you love it, it belongs; if you don't, it doesn't!

Project 365 Writing/Photography Challenge; Post #5!!!

Finally, I have returned! No, I did not actually "leave", but life never goes as planned, i.e. I did not intend to disappear for almost 5 days from my little blog. I have greatly missed writing, but frankly, was too exhausted the first three days of the week to write anything. Yesterday, hubs and I watched a movie in the evening, and I had stomach cramps. Oh, and Boy didn't nap either. Today, I made a Walmart and Costco run, paid bills, and took Boy to the indoor play area in the mall. (Too hot outside for the last couple days to take him to the park...)  Tonight, I began catching up in the kitchen and finally got my shelf returned to it's rightful place on my counter! It is definitely not the color I intended, but I had a coupon for a free sample for a summer line of paint, and as they did not have red, I went for this as it is still bright and cheery--the green and yellow options were just too dull. So I am calling this color "terra cotta" as my kitchen is definitely not orange! Then this fall when my Real Simple magazine (hopefully) has another coupon for a free paint sample can, I will get a different color. Until then, I will enjoy this one. As you can see, I have more orange in my kitchen than I thought, and it really does blend nicely and add the needed pop of color. And yes, my new 2014 Ikea catalogue came in the mail a few days ago, which reminds me I also have a new Real Simple which is dying to be read while I finish my glass of wine. So adios for today; I will, Lord-willing, see you all tomorrow!