Mirror, Mirror......

.......on the walls. Several of you that know me too well said that I would change things up after the painting was done. Yes, a few things did move around and here are a couple of those changes.

The large round mirror that was here for many years has been replaced with this mirror

that was over the fireplace. I love this new look.

The large round mirror moved to here and replaced a painting I had on the wall.

The vignette on the foyer chest changed up some too.

Replaced the pineapple lamp with this homemade one. This is a pottery jug that I bought

at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago at half price and we turned it into a lamp.  I think is has more
of the country French look.

More old books and still have my favorite bull.

To see the before of this chest go here.

The mirror looks better on this larger wall.

I love the reflection of my hutch in the mirror.

I am joining Metamorphosis Monday at Susan's BNOTP and Tabletop Tuesday at
Marty's A Stroll Thru Life. Be sure and join the fun at these parties.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their three day weekend.

Y'all come back now,

KIM

Resting??........

...........I don't think so at least not yet. Just wanted to share with you what Mr. Savvy and I accomplished yesterday. Our pond has been looking rather bad and I knew I could not take care of it all by myself. The grass had really gotten very tall around the pond and usually I just take the weedeater to it and cut it down. Then all the grass ends up in the pond which then needs to be scooped out or it just sits there and looks awful. Well, at my age, first using the weedeater all the way around this pond bout kills my back and arms. Then to scoop out the clippings with a pool net is not easy at all. Add ninety degree temps and humidity and it is an exhausting job! Well, finally Mr. Savvy took our push weedeater thing and cut all the overgrown mess down around the pond and then he started digging out all the leaves that had fallen in from the fall and the clippings out of the pond till his back was killing him. See we are not getting any younger here folks. I let him rest a while while I scooped out a bunch and this is what it looks like now. Oh, and this junk in the pond does not smell good at all.

This is what it looks like from the sunroom.

See all those piles of rotted leaves. Now we are letting them dry out some and then we have to 

load all that stuff into the wheelbarrow and dump it in the woods.

Yes, we have to pick up all this stinky stuff.

We are going to dig this up. I don't like the way it looks.

I don't want to leave you with just photos of muck. Here are the water lilies. They were being taken over by the muck, too.

There is a bloom hiding under the leaves.

The leaves are covered in the grass clippings from us cutting the tall grass around the pond.

Some days I can have as many as thirty blooms.

Well, I just wanted to show you what we are doing this holiday weekend. I hope you are doing something fun or maybe you are like us and have things that need to be done. At least we will be able to mark this off the honey do list.

You don't have to leave a comment. I just wanted to share my project with you.

Have a good one!

KIM

I should be back with a prettier post tonight.

And The Winner Is.........

It is May 29th and the 4th annual cottage charm giveaway has come to an end.

I really do appreciate the great response to my little giveaway.

I told miss Bailey that she had to pick the winner

but all she wants to do is play with her ball or is it her stick?

Yep, I think she likes the stick better. Now Bailey the people are waiting patiently. You need to pick a winner. They don't like waiting.

Bailey do not ignore me

oh, and surely don't give me any attitude!

That's better now she is running for joy because the WINNER IS Ahrisha from Joyously Living Life.

Congratulations Ahrisha you were #78 randomly chosen by random.org. 

Please email me at kimnichols45@hotmail.com and leave me your mailing address.

I am going to say it again I hope everyone enjoys this holiday weekend. Looks like it may rain here

any minute which puts a damper on my yard plans. Guess I better get to it.

Y'all come back now,

KIM

Look What I Found

My goodness is it Friday already?! This week flew by and last weekend is a blur since all I have done is paint. Well, yesterday was a day just for me so I went to the flea market and found a few new treasures.

I love this little crystal footed bowl. Look at those flowers cut into the glass.

Love the open pattern on top.

I got two of these copper look initialed tags to use.

Took some jute and tied the tag onto this jar.

This vintage doorknob for six dollars. They have been twelve or more every time I have come across one.

I love the patina and workmanship of these old knobs.

Last but not least this is my favorite find. This is a huge piece that was standing up behind several other

things in the booth. I leaned over to see what it was and looked at the price and thought I could use it. 

It is just and old pallet that has been turned into a piece of art. I love the whimsy of this piece and at only 

$22. it was coming home with me. I have the perfect place for it and will show you that in a future post.

Bailey had to get in the photo, too.

I am linking to Debbiedoos  for Garage Salen  party.

and to Southern Hospitality  for Thrifty Treasures.
Coastal Charm  for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

I sure hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

You guys are the best. I would have never thought my blog would have interested many people and here

I am at over 500 followers already. Thank you so much!

Y'all come back now,

KIM

Reveal of a Change

I am so glad the painting is done until the next project is started. Not this weekend. Our fireplace wall has always bugged Mr. Savvy and now he has finally fixed or covered up the problem. When the chimney wall was framed there must have been a warped board used and it made the wall at the top of the chimney bough. So we were painting a fake line at the top to make it fool the eye and look straight. No one noticed the problem, but we have always known it was there.

When I said something about painting, Mr. Savvy said he was going to tear out the wall and fix it. I said oh no that is not what I wanted started. That would have been a major job and a huge mess. I had a hard enough time with the mess made just while we were painting. Well, all of a sudden a light went off in his head and he knew how to fix the problem.

This is an old picture and it does not show the top, but I wanted you to see a before so you could see how this wall has changed. None of the room looks like this now. I still have the slipcovers on.

He realized he could trim out the top of the wall and cover up the problem.

Not a good photo, but it was cloudy when he started this.

He put crown molding at the top and a smaller piece of trim at the bottom.

This is the best shot of the true paint color. 

The trim runs down both sides, too. Then he painted it all white and presto the problem is hidden.

He also repainted the wall the same as the rest of the room. Moved the mirror I had there before

to a new location and put this picture here. The room is so much brighter with that dark wall gone.

I will show you where the mirror moved to in a future post.

Bought these huge heavy candlesticks on sale for twelve dollars.

I just love the patina of these.

I am loving my new wall color. The pink beige is gone.

Photo really doesn't do it justice. Little darker in person.

Here is a little sneak peek at something I bought at the flea market today.

I am so proud of the trim work Mr. Savvy can do. He is self taught and does such a good job. He is

a perfectionist at whatever he does. He cannot stand some of the trim work done in new construction.

I am linking to Show and Tell at My Romantic Home
Home is Where My Story Begins  for Home and Family Friday

 The DIY Showoff  Monday Parade

Chic on a Shoestring  for Flaunt it Friday
Tools are for Women too for Modern Craftswoman Monday
The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday

I hope anyone going out of town this weekend has safe travels and comes home safely.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Y'all come back now,

KIM

Edit: June 2, I am joining a contest called the CSI project. The button that takes you there is at the top of my sidebar. Please check it out.

Shutters of a Different Color

A couple of folks guessed what my little sneak peek was of my latest project. It is shutters, but not my outside shutters. No, I don't think I would paint them red. These are the shutters that were made into a screen in my sunroom. We bought these four single old dirty dusty shutters at a huge supply warehouse several years ago. We got the four of them for twenty dollars. My husband hinged them together and I originally painted them a yucky beige with some crackling and glazing. I was going to use them in a different spot, but they ended up in the sunroom. The color was getting on my last nerve so I thought I would brighten things up a bit and paint them red.

This is the before shot....boring

The after is much better. I primed with a gray primer found in the oops pile at Home Depot. Followed by four coats of the red paint. I will never use Martha Stewart paint again. It would not have taken four coats on top of primer if I had gotten a quality paint. Well, I had never used it before and thought I would give it a try. We learn by trial and error.

New bird from Hobby Lobby half price. Copied my sister, she had one.

Found this urn on sale at a local decor store and thought it would look nice in this

corner across from my bold yellow cabinet in the opposite corner. Filled it with some hydrangeas.

Close up of the detail of the crackled finish.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments. I really do appreciate them. I am trying to do better about visiting your blogs, too. Finished the trim painting today. One job just leads to another.

Linking to the following parties:

Transformation Thursday

Alphabet Thursday  for the letter S

Get Your Craft On
Hooking Up With/HOH

Please check out these parties and get some inspiration to start a project. Such great ideas found on blogs.

Y'all come back now,

KIM

Don't miss out on my GIVEAWAY HERE 
Just a few days left.

Red, White, and Yellow.......and a little green

First thing I want to do is thank everyone for all the wonderful comments on my kitchen post. I have been so busy painting this house and cleaning up and your kind words just cheered me up in the midst of all this work. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though. Yesterday I painted the upstairs hallway and cut the grass, too. I still need to paint the trim upstairs, but just had to take a painting break today. I still have my other regular chores to tend to. If I don't get the laundry done we want have any undies on! We don't want that.

Here are some photos of some flowers around the yard.

Potted begonias on the deck.

Red geranium peeking out from these yellow flowers in a pot.

Daylillies in the front yard

 They are loaded with buds and flowers this year.

I didn't even know my gardenias were blooming until I cut the grass yesterday.

Can you smell them?

I need to cut some and bring them in so we can enjoy the fragrance  inside.

This is a huge hosta out by the pond.

It is getting ready to bloom.

The hanging basket outside is doing very well

Petunias on front porch

New hummingbird feeder I bought at Ace Hardware while waiting on my paint.
Hangs outside my sunroom.

Mama bird is still here. There are five eggs.

This is how big my smaller hostas have gotten under the big tree. I hate all the little maple trees trying to come up from all those little maple helicopters that fell. I need to pull them up or spray soon.

Joining Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

and White Wednesday at Faded Charm.

I know many have said they can't wait for the paint project reveal. There really is not a huge difference especially in photos. I have made a few decorative changes and will share those sporadically.

Here is a peek at something else I worked on right before and during painting the walls.

Don't forget my giveaway. It ends soon! You can enter here!


Y'all come back now,

KIM