A White Tea !

 Hello everyone,
      Can you believe it is December already? The time will go by so quickly from now until Christmas.

So I hope you will have time to enjoy some quiet time and a cup of tea.
 I am slowly getting my Christmas decorating done.



 A nice cup of hot tea is soothing to the soul don't you think?

Today, I am joining Sandi again for her lovely Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage .So many lovely teas to enjoy!

Have a lovely day,

Carolyn

Part 1 of 2: My favorite Bathrooms

I've always been meaning to do a Bathroom Post, but somehow never got around to it.

So when my friend Maxine contacted me about her bathroom, I knew now was a good time.

One of the reasons I've never really posted about Bathrooms is that I currently only have 1.5 bathrooms in my house and they are uninspiring and super tiny. I'm talking 70's mirrored sliding shower doors and all. I have major ideas but no square footage. Our plan in 2011 is to add a shower to the basement bathroom, and tear down the sliding doors, but I digress.

For Part 1 of this post I thought I would show some of my favorite bathrooms. You can get tons of ideas for storage, color and design from any of these spaces:

Not only do I love the aqua / white color scheme, I love the use of back door storage for everything from a transferable shower caddy and towels to jewelry and tissues.


If you don't have a ton of closed door storage, have no fear. Look how cute this looks with a simple floating shelf above the mirror (complete with glass apothecary jars), a simple unfinished rack that you can hang towels and tools on, and lastly an industrial open shelf with cool tin boxes.


Love the rustic ledge above the bath!


I love the natural towel racks and step stools as well as the open shelves. Also, for all you renters out there...are you looking for a high-impact, low-commitment design idea--I love the idea of simple and modern decals.

You can never go wrong with black walls and a romantic chandelier...oh and the vintage black/white tile and crown molding doesn't hurt either...love!

If you want to keep everything neutral, make the room pop with a graphic rug:

I love the way the aqua bedroom walls lead into the lemon yellow of the bathroom. Also, I love the idea of painting our bathroom door black--this might only work when the bathroom doesn't lead directly to a hallway...hmmm I wonder if Ryan would let me paint all of our doors black? :)
If all else fails, choose a graphic curtain--this will make any space special.

If you want to hang wallpaper anywhere, your bathroom is the best place to do it. I absolutely love bathrooms with bold wallpapers--the bolder the better. You don't have to worry about the space feeling too crowded. Bathrooms are meant to be cozy.

TIP: If you don't have a ton to spend, or need something less permanent, find your favorite wallpaper and then order a couple samples. You can frame these samples and hang in your bathroom for that great pattern you love!

Maybe you paint the ceiling black?

Or hang a white distressed mirror above the claw-foot tub and a glass chandelier over the vanity

Multiple sinks? Hang multiple lighting fixtures!

Love all-white bathrooms...

If you have an older tub, why not glaze the bottom half with a fabulous color like this Nantucket Red! I also love the DIY project of wallpapering your linen doors with a complimenting pattern.
Gwyneth's Bathroom...need I say more?

If you are like me and originally had a light wood vanity, don't be afraid to paint/stain it. I painted mine black and added vintage crystal knobs! (This is not my vanity below--but I love the rich stain!)

Who says you can't hang regular shelves in bathrooms? Yes you will have to dust them, but if you have a huge wall without windows and need something interesting, I think this is an awesome idea! Love love love the vintage tile!!!
Couldn't resist...how fun is this? This would be perfect for the outdoor grizzly man stuck on the 26th floor of a high-rise...

Look out for Part 2: Maxine's Bathroom Inspiration Board, including where to find some great bathroom storage and design pieces later this week.

Ikea Kitchen Cabinets--I've got my eye on you!

Happy Monday Everyone!

I had a completely fabulous and much needed Thanksgiving break! I spent time with both my family and Ryan's family, and ate so much food!!!

But I am very excited to get back to my blog :) This week look out for a mega post on bathrooms (something I promised last week) as well as nursery inspiration boards (not for me :)

But until then...let me share some amazing photos of Ikea Kitchens.

I had my family over my house on Wednesday for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner. It was so much fun to have everyone in our house cooking, laughing, reading, etc. But I did realize that Ryan and I still live very "college-ey" sometimes. For instance, we don't have things that you just expect in grown up houses...like mixing bowls...and ice, instead we have 1 million wine glasses :) So my goal for December is to start organizing my kitchen.  Storing 500,000 of my wine glasses back in the attic, and introducing my cabinets to essentials such as measuring cups.

In my quest for grown-up existence, I can't help but notice that eventually I will need new cabinets! Although my kitchen has increased in attractiveness ten-fold since we moved in (think poop-brown laminate cabinets with brass hardware and a gold & wood ceiling fan) we always knew painting white paint over laminate cabinets was a quick not-forever fix. Not only are the cabinets chipping, but the hinges are old and need to be re-screwed more often than I would like. Of course none of this is visible to the occasional guest, but it keeps me up at night!

So one of my many New Year's Resolutions is to save up for new kitchen cabinets. Of course, I will want an all-white kitchen similar to what I have now...and I am seriously digging the real-wood sprayed white cabinets from Ikea. I've seen many designers use these and with the 25-year warranty it is a win-win!







The Christmas Cottage

Hello everyone!
   I hope you all had a great weekend. We got some fresh new snow over the weekend along with some sunshine so it was beautiful on Sunday.
  Last week we were working in the cottage putting insulation in and then pine wall boards over the walls. we didn't do the ceiling yet but that is next years project. Anyway,when we finished slapping a wash of paint on I decided to decorate the cottage for Christmas again. other years we were on a Christmas house tour and the cottage was part of the tour but this year I decorated it just for me and of course you too!


I love this toile quilt and shams.
I know many of you have seen our little garden cottage before and know that most everything in it was either free or a thrift or yardsale find.


a closer look at the quilt- it has windmills on it.
a tea tray for you.
I love the candle light reflected in the mirrors.
My thrift shop tree and Dollar Store decorations or thrift store.
mirror reflections
.
This was the look a few weeks ago.

 I hope you enjoyed the little transformation in our Christmas Cottage.
/I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphis Monday again today.

If you would like to see the  romantic Christmas Cottage at night by candlelight you can visit my Christmas blog here.http://christmaspastpresentcom.blogspot.com/

Thank you for visiting me,

Carolyn

Kitchen Red & White Touches

Hello everyone,
     I have been adding some Christmas touches in our kitchen lately where the theme is red and white.
My red and white toile Father Christmas is a welcome addition every Christmas.
Christmas Blessings

My wooden angel hanging on the corner cupboard.
A new thrifty find.
I changed the china in here to plain white.

 I know many of you have seen my red and white transferware collection before.
I moved this cupboard in from the porch a few weeks ago when I did a porch makeover. It holds my teacup collection. the old cupboard happily went to my oldest daughter's kitchen.


While you are here I hope you can join me for a cup of tea and a muffin!
                               &
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Thank you for visiting me today,

Carolyn
 

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