BENJAMIN MOORE "IRON MOUNTAIN"

 

Finally, Iron Mountain is in place!

 

I painted the mantle and fireplace and I LOVE it. Gorgeous. It's contemporary, not too serious, unusual and just plain good looking. I couldn't be happier.

Scroll down to the second picture, see the vertical strips on either side of the fireplace? Those will be painted the same color as the walls: Pale Oak.

Here's an image from Decor Pad that shows Pale Oak. I looked all over the internet to show you: but the BM paint chips all look too beige on my screen.  This image shows the color the best...

Painting these strips will tie it all together but also make the detail stand out a little more. 

 

 

 
 
 The clock is an antique family piece that I've had for years.

 

And here it is (was) in all it's White Linen glory: 

 Because the living areas are really one big space (as opposed to my present 100+ year old house with very defined rooms), I wanted to carry the Iron Mountain through to the hall and stairs. The railing was stained a very ordinary dark walnut looking color....so I sanded off the varnish, Kiltzed it, and am in the process of painting several coats of the Iron Mountain.

Color looks lighter here than in reality..hmmm.

 

 

Boring, awful stain:  

Stay tuned for the next installment! 

IS IT REALLY CHRISTMAS TIME?

You're kidding, right? It's almost Christmas? Well, you would never know it by looking at my garden in our new house! For those of you who live down South, or in warmer climates...no big deal. But for those of us who come from anywhere North, this is a real treat!

I have a beautiful camellia bush out front, and it's in full bloom:

Daisies:

Chrysanthemums:

Roses:

And this is my hydrangea, last seen here

I am really loving how it changes through the seasons and seems to look better as the months go by...

Narcissus? Not sure.

On the left here is the newly scrubbed fence, and on the right what is left after three years of neglect.

Again, you can see the cleaned fence over to the left:

I'm linking up today with Susan at A Southern Daydreamer:

Every other blog has lots to say about Christmas decorating. Well, all my ornaments and decorations, and even my wrapping paper and ribbon, are all packed away. Hope you enjoy this bit of springtime in almost-December.

I'VE BEEN ABSENT

 

and this is why: 

 

We're headed down for a week in our new house. We move for good in just three short weeks.  Between organizing, packing, constant telephone calls, setting up new bank accounts, both personal and business, hauling things into the car to go for giveaway, waiting for the junk man to arrive with his truck, taking our 'hazmats' to the county recycle center...well, you get the idea. I won't be doing much blogging for the next few weeks. 

 I'll try to give you some updates on the house: maybe a picture of us up on ladders, painting who-knows-which-room... or Thanksgiving dinner out on our terrace!

COLOR PULSE 2012

This is Benjamin Moore's annual color and design fest...presented to you by Doty Horn. Last year I went into New York, to hear Doty present the seminar at the IFDA offices. You can read about it here.

So, it's been a year? No, not quite. This time I got a jump start by attending the first in their series of webinars!

The theme for 2012 is "Preservation".

This includes:

#1. HERITAGE

tradition; embracing the past; lacework; taxidermy; handweaving; large gage knitting; houndstooth plaids; repurposing of objects; saturated hues; rich earth colors; camel color; bronze shimmer

#2: PROCESS

journey; nature inspires; graphic urban; site activated design; blocks; terrariums; hydroponics; crowd sourcing and labs; green on the rise; charcoal; concept + color; digital + organic

#3. PROTECTION

focus on the female body; padding; quilting; recycled; caging; spikes, nails, broken glass; bandaging; protective outside with feminine undertones; pearlized finishes; gold ascending; black is the new black; dulled pink and fuchsia

#4. ENLIGHTENMENT

"do you believe"; rebirth; future; the egg; orbs, rounds; prisms; mirrored images; light vs. dark; shadow art; luminous; oxidized; glowing

If you want to attend a webinar (they're free) click here.

FRIDAY FLUFF

 

 

No big deal: just a little fun.

Click here, turn on your speakers and go to Anthropologie to see this cute Christmas video.

(you DO need to have Flash..)

 

SO MANY CHOICES!

I'm talking about vacuum cleaners!

Right now, we have three...count 'em, three vacuum cleaners. Not a great idea. We have a huge black Hoover cannister: it weighs a ton, but has a great rug beater; it sounds like the Indy 500 (a result of its last repair), and it is awkward on hardwood floors. Next, we have an Electrolux. It must be 40 years old. I know, they DO last forever, and this one probably will.But it has no rug beater and not much "suck power" (what an awful term!). But it is also lightweight and well...it works. Last, we have a stick type vacuum. Lightweight, easy to get around but not a real workhorse. But, understand, our present house has three distinct levels, so each vacuum had a nice home on one of the levels.

Moving right along. Our new house has probably 50% hardwood/parquet floors. Then the stairs and all upstairs have fairly thick carpets. My office is the one room upstairs that already has a flat berber. We do plan to redo the remaining space with low pile berber, but not for a few years. So...we need a vacuum to do all kinds of floors.

I've been looking! Wow, it is overwhelming. Everyone has something to sell, and each store, each manufacturer, each website, each product review seems to make it even more confusing. I've been asking friends. Well, of course, as you would expect, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Some like bags. Some love the bagless.

We've narrowed it down.....somewhat.

Electrolux. They've come a long way, baby.

Simplicity.

Have you ever heard of them? It's the same family run company that makes Simplicity patterns! From St. Louis. They are assembled in the U.S. with a minimum of foreign made parts. I like that. They are ONLY sold in small, independent sewing and vacuum stores. I like that too.

Dyson

We all know about Dyson. But they're bagless: I just don't think I want that.

Miele

And the winner is.....drum roll.....the Miele Capri:

Why? It weighs less than 9 lbs. while most of the above are about 14 lbs. Big difference. And yes, the Miele name carries some weight here (no pun intended..).

And the color. A light blue machine? I don't think so. Burnt orange? No.....

It does all kinds of flooring, and even comes with a separate brush for parquet floors! I realize that to most of you this is a non-issue. But we have parquet in most of the downstairs, so it will be great.

Added to all these considerations is the fact that I REFUSE to pay the price for some of these vacuums. No way will I pay $500.00. It just simply is NOT worth it. I have better things to spend my money on, thank you...

However, if anyone has a great new suggestion for me, please...let me know!

I'm open to any and all. Thank you!

DINING ROOM GLASSWARE COLLECTIONS

 

As promised: some glasses, all lined up and ready to be packed.

 

 

Gorgeous hand blown glass from Murano:  a wedding present from my brother and sister-in-law when they were living in Italy!

 

 

Some of my favorite glass ever: these were a gift to my parents for their wedding.

 

 

Perfect for that pre-Christmas dinner glass of sherry!

 

 

Some of our favorite wine glasses: and always washed by hand...

That's it for now. Moving on to the attic tomorrow, so who knows what treasures await! 

THE DETAILS OF PACKING UP AND MOVING

 

It was "dining room" day: 

Packing up a house--getting ready to move all your belongings--is a wonderful time to really look over what you have. No, not with the intent to throw out or give away....but just to take a moment and SEE what you have. It was an opportunity I didn't want to miss! Yesterday morning was "do the dining room" time. One sideboard with four drawers, a table with one drawer, and a tall breakfront. Now, the movers will be packing all our kitchen and dishes, so I did leave the china in the breakfront for them..but still, there were linens, antique silver etc. 

The day was bright and sunny, and our dining room has a beautiful bay window facing East (which was one of the top reasons we bought the house in the first place) so the light was perfect for taking some pictures.

The porringer at right, and small spoon, were my husband's when he was a baby...

 

 

ready to be packed up: but the colors all go together so well, even the yellow wall and a corner of our new painting make a perfect tableau! 

 

all antique, family linens

 

 

Herend china; part of our wedding present collection

 

From "Southern Pottery Inc.":  U.S. made, collected at various antique shows.

 

 

Royal Worcester demi-tasse bought by my sister-in-law in England as a wedding present

 

And...one of my own designs, from Deruta!

Today was "basement" day. Nothing...believe me...nothing noteworthy to show you! But it's finished. What to do with all the terra cotta pots? Mine are fairly large. We've emptied them, cleaned them and now what? I'm thinking a piece of newspaper in between the pots, then stack them. They can't go in a box: do the movers wrap them and that's it? Not sure. 

And tomorrow, check back to see some glassware!