by Wendy Scheel | May 7, 2016 | Home Tour, Sidenote Saturday
Two years ago when we bought our home, one of the reasons we fell in love with it is because it was finished. We didn’t need to do anything, it was move in ready.
If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you realize from that statement that the joke was on us. Or more on me since Wade hasn’t really been fully on board about the couple of changes I have made.
I prefer to call them tweaks. Technically, I haven’t torn down any walls or ceilings. There have been no demo days. And before you say it, ripping carpet off of stairs doesn’t count.
Okay, have I justified all of my tweaks?
Let’s move on. 🙂
Another thing we loved about our home was the property. Yes, we live on a lake and it is amazing and wonderful. We pinch ourselves everyday that we are fortunate to live here.
But we were so happy to find a home that didn’t have a lot of landscaping. You see, we are not big garden people. That is not to say that we don’t love to look at others flower beds and vegetable gardens.
Low maintenance is our thing.
Low maintenance is defined as trimming and mowing the lawn in less than an hour and turning the sprinklers on.
A couple of months ago we visited the Home and Garden Show to talk with different companies about creating an outdoor living space.
We haven’t settled on a design or company but we have made a little bit of progress.
This is the back of that house that faces the lake.
This is a drawing by one of the companies we met at the Home and Garden Show.
The living space on the left is where the hot tub is now. In front of the outdoor couch is where the fireplace would be built. To the right of the living space is where the hot tub would be re-located.
In the upper left hand corner of the drawing is a view of a potential fireplace. In living color we are leaning towards something like these.
Over the hot tub would be a pergola. Maybe something along these lines.
Now lets chat again about landscaping. I took a picture of the side of the house yesterday.
There are no plants here because we have not planted any. The opposite side of the house is similar with a few hostas evenly spaced.
The amount of landscaping in the drawing we do not consider low maintenance. It is very pretty, but something we will need to think about.
Thinking, creating and planning this outdoor space will be so fun!
I’ll keep you posted.
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | May 4, 2016 | Home Tour
Sometimes I forget about the details. I see only the big picture, knowing the details will fall in place.
Backwards? Probably.
Let me give you a recent example.
On Monday’s post, I shared with you this new tall pine cupboard that I purchased.
I talked about how I had found it at an estate sale that I almost didn’t go to, how it was packed with dishes and how I was going to make it into my little store within a store.
Then I started to really look at the piece and I realized why my sub-conscious wouldn’t let me stop thinking about it.
The details.
For starters, there isn’t one square corner on this piece. This is the lower right corner. It isn’t flush, it isn’t square, it isn’t perfect.
On top of all of that, the cupboard is made out of several different types of wood. Pine, Oak, Birch and odds and ends here and there.
There are random nail holes that use to hold something else and there are random holes that use to…. I don’t really know what their purpose would have been.
And if only the hardware could speak. The story would be 10 voices speaking at once telling where they came from and what they were in a previous life before they became part of this cupboard.
I could write an entire post about that big knob latch. 🙂
Moving down to the hinges near the bottom of the cupboard, it looks like they are attached to what I believe was an actual kitchen cupboard door now held in place by a beautiful vintage latch.
So now you are asking yourself, I wonder what it looks like behind that door?
Feast your eyes on this.
I mean really, how cute is that little hidden storage area.
When I was styling this area, I choose this child size sherpa lined blanket, a bright red pillow and a warm and cozy neck roll. Feeling as though these 3 items might be tucked away and only used when a child was in our home, I added a wooden toy to the mix.
I hesitated using the word vintage when describing the toy.
You see that wood duck pull string toy was mine when I was little. The plastic beaks may or may not have been pulled out by me. 🙂
And now instead of quacking, the entire family looks as though they are surprised to see you every time you open the cupboard.
Have a surprisingly good day,
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | May 2, 2016 | Home Tour, New Products
This will come as a shock to no one that has been reading this blog for any period of time…..we went to an estate sale this weekend.
I know. Shocking, right?
I subscribe to EstateSales.net. It isn’t a Minnesota thing. It is a national listing of estate sales. Of course I narrow the search to only include listings in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro. You can set your search for the area that you live in. There are also national sales listed and oh how I wish I could go to some of those sales.
We started the day with the intentions of only going to this one particular sale. The house looked amazing and they had a couple of things that caught my eye. On top of that, Nikki our neighbor came with us and I wanted to take her to a sale that looked like it had a lot of great items.
The house was beautiful, but the sale itself was disappointing. Everything was way overpriced.
Fortunately there was one more listing in the area that I had not considered going to see. The sale had a lot of dolls and bears and dishes for sale. But, the sale was only nine miles away from our first stop. Since we had already driven 45 miles, what was another nine measly miles.
It was day two of the sale which typically means discounts off the original prices.
And at this sale, I found this.
It was packed with dishes. Tons of dishes and the old glass doors were wide open. Open so everyone could see all of the dishes. I don’t think anyone knew the tall pine cupboard was for sale.
I couldn’t believe my luck. And it was 20% off day!
But that’s where my luck ran out.
We didn’t have a way to get it home.
So we went back home empty handed. Empty handed except for the squeaky cheese we bought at a creamy. But that is a story for another day. 🙂
I couldn’t stop thinking about that cupboard.
I imagined it at the top of my stairs. Big and strong and displaying all of my pretty for sale things.
I imagined moving things around as they sold and creating new ways to showcase them. The ideas were endless.
So that next morning I convinced Wade that we NEEDED to journey south one more time.
My good fortune had returned. The cupboard was still available, but it was no longer 20% off, it was 40% off!
Happy danced all over that estate!
My own little store within a store.
Happy Dance Monday to you!
Wendy
P.S. the jars you see with the scissors from above? They make a great Mothers Day gift. The jar holds twine for your Mom’s garden or ribbon for gift wrapping. Or if you send fresh flowers for Mothers Day, the jar has a grid to help display a bouquet. And for extra bonus points: the cute scissors come with the jar. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Apr 29, 2016 | Home Tour, New Products
Have you ever wanted to redecorate a room in your house but didn’t want to spend a lot of money? I did just that this week. The bedroom was decorated under $100 by shopping my house and the Old Lake George shop.
The starting point for the room was the bed. I have had a down comforter, bedskirt and shams sitting at the dry cleaners after purchasing them from an estate sale. The 3 items were only $60, for a king size set.
I picked up the comforter set this week and as I was lying in bed that night redecorating the room, please tell me that that is how you fall asleep also, 🙂 , I remembered that I had the perfect curtain fabric.
Last winter when I visited my parents in Texas, one of my Mom’s quilter friends was in the process of downsizing her fabrics.
She had yards upon yards of two particular fabrics that she had intended to make a quilt from, but she changed her mind. My Mom acquired the fabric and used a little bit of it to back a quilt she was making but there was still a lot of fabric left.
I mean, a lot of leftover fabric.
Here are those fabrics all together on top of the comforter and some added sparkle for affect.
Everything is very neutral and goldish. They are tricky to photograph but you’ll get the picture.
No, literally I will show you pictures in a sec.
First lets look at the previous curtains.
Total side story: When I was sewing the curtains, I called my Dad about something. The conversation got around to him asking me what I was doing that day. I shared with him that I was making new curtains.
New curtains? Didn’t you just make curtains? was his response.
Yes Wade, Dad I did. But…never mind. 🙂
Where was I going with this? Oh, right.
After completing and hanging the NEW CURTAINS, (eye roll), I moved the pillows that I showed you yesterday on the loveseat to the bed. I thought they looked even better on the bed.
From the last time I shared these pictures, so many of you were interested in the pillows.
Here is the way to order them for your home.
Metallic silver floral, Striped button pillow, Floral pillow, Buffalo check neck pillow
And now some before and after photos:
The curtains…..
And one more close up….
Simple easy changes.
Wendy
PS if you are interested in the Orb Chandelier Swag lights, you can find them here.
by Wendy Scheel | Apr 27, 2016 | Home Tour
Rearranging the furniture in our home has always been a point of contention in our marriage. Maybe contention is too strong of a word. This conversation might describe it better.
Wade comes home from work and walks into the family room.
Wade: Hmmmm…we needed to move the furniture around?
Me: We did.
The End
Fifteen years ago the conversation would’ve sounded like this.
Wade: You moved the furniture around again?
Me: I did.
Wade: I don’t like when the furniture is moved around and I don’t like when things are at an angle.
Me: (*&#$(*)#&%()#*&Q@&!!!! (and then I would change it back)
And I would boil about it for days.
Since then we have obviously both grown and developed some give and take in the furniture moving department of our lives.
And, I’ve learned a trick when putting new things or changes in the house.
But first let’s take a look at the new arrangement compared to the previous arrangement.
To me, the biggest difference is that the Christmas tree decorations have been removed. 🙂 And now the chair is at an angle and the second love seat is now on the right of the room on the staircase wall. You can see the rolled arm of it in this picture.
So now that this huge change has settled down, it’s time to introduce one more little tweak.
New pillows.
Staying in the neutral world with a little bit of pop, I put together these fabrics.
Some metallic, some floral, some textured tweed, a buffalo check and some stripes. Four of the five fabric I already had in the shop.
Making a couple of different sizes and shapes, the pillows filled the space nicely without being too much.
Oh, and the little trick I mentioned when presenting change to Wade?
I do this.
He will completely skip the pillows and only see his favorite cookies and snacks. He will fill his tummy, fall in to a happy treat coma and forget all about another change.
🙂 ,
Wendy
P.S. I have received so many wonderful comments about this post and meeting Max. If anyone is interested in purchasing one or more of his beautiful pieces, please let me know. (oldlakegeorge@gmail.com)
The wonderful people from the swap meet helped me locate Max. I hope to go to his workshop within the next couple of weeks. The prices that you see in the photo are the prices he is charging. I can take care of the transaction and will only add shipping and handling to the cost. That will be an additional $7.50 when shipped within the US.
by Wendy Scheel | Jan 22, 2016 | Home Tour
It’s that time of year again.
The time between all of the holiday celebrations and travel and busyness and….Spring.
All of the holiday decorations have been returned to their boxes and stored away for another year. There are blank spots where festive décor hung. The mantel is blank and the furniture needs to be shifted around to replace the spot where the Christmas tree stood.
Honestly, it’s a little lotta depressing.
From someone who suffers from depression, this is a tough time of year.
Besides taking medication I have taught myself some other tricks to battle my blues.
One of those tricks is to visit my parents in Texas. Not only does the simple fact of visiting my parents help but getting a couple of days of sunshine and temperatures above zero skyrockets the Vitamin D levels.
Another way I fight my depression is to redecorate parts of the house and add a new décor item here and there.
This is the time of year when we are constantly wrapped in throw blankets. In fact I am currently sitting under an electric throw blanket which I have set on high to ward off the bone chilling temperatures.
Those blankets can’t find a nice place to land accept all over the floor. Drives me crazy.
So the other day when I was sewing, it struck me that one of these two ladders would be a perfect place for those blankets.
I hauled the ladder down those 17 stairs, shifted the lamp and chair over, grabbed the blankets off of the floor and settled them onto their new home.
Better.
Now lets chat about that big brown leather elephant in the room.
That’s the one.
We use to have the matching loveseat and couch, but they were too big for this room. There were replaced by two love seats that now frame the room.
My husband is a long and lean 6’4″. I get that he needs a big chair. But my styles are clashing.
Raise your hand if you think that this chair featured in Karianne’s, (ThistlewoodFarms) home wouldn’t look perfect in that spot.
Plus the chair reclines so he can still relax and watch TV from that very spot.
I will tell him that all of my friends have raised their hands in agreement with me that he NEEDS a new recliner. 🙂
I am going to go to Drake this weekend to spend some girl time with Sam. We have a list of things to accomplish, most of which are visiting some shops she thinks I will love. Spending time with her always lifts the spirits too!
Stop by tomorrow if you get a chance.
Have a great weekend,
Wendy
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