My Favorite Room

     I know a lot of bloggers share their favorite rooms in their homes.  I thought I would share my favorite room with you today. 

My favorite room in our home is our formal living room. I'm an old school gal, and I love our formal living room.  I love it for many reasons.  It has family pieces of furniture as well as new pieces.  It is always calm and quiet in this space.  It is ALWAYS clean.  But one of the other reasons that I love this room is that it turned out EXACTLY the way I had envisioned it in my mind.  You see, I had the room decorated in my mind BEFORE we broke ground for the house.  I had almost all the furniture for this room before we even began to build our home (family pieces).  And then, YES, I actually bought the sofa and two chairs to go there BEFORE we broke ground.  This may sound crazy to you, but it just worked out perfectly for us. 

I love to come in here and talk on the phone. 

The room is always waiting to greet company and make

 guests feel welcome to our home. 

I'm glad you're here for the tour!

Let's start the tour with the sofa table. 

I received this pair of matching cloisonne' jars for Christmas many years ago.



To the right of the sofa table is this chest.  It is new and I love it in this space. I bought the chest after we moved in.  I had admired the round mirror at a friend's home and when she prepared for a move and wanted to sell it, I was happy to make the purchase.  I selected the Blue Willow plates at an antique store.  They weren't very busy that day and the dealer had a good number of different sized pieces, so I just made arrangements on the floor using different sized plates.  These are the ones that I thought would look best in this spot with the mirror (they looked good on the floor, too).

Here is one of the two chairs that I purchased before we started building our home.

I love this picture above the fireplace.  The curved top of the frame makes this picture.  I've seen the same print in a square frame and it just didn't look quite so nice. 

An antique fireplace screen and tools that belonged to my great aunt finds their home in this room. 



The second of the two chairs along with one of two tables that I have in my home that belonged to my grandmother. 

This is the remaining vase from a pair that sat on the mantel of my aunt's home.  One day, a squirrel came down the chimney and ran around in the room and it caused the ruin of several family pieces before exiting.  The mate to this vase was lost that day (along with several other items).  I usually like squirrels......

Moving along to the next wall, you'll find this marble top table (a family piece) along with a portrait of my daughter when she was four.

Here's another view of the table.  It has ornately carved legs.

I love this hand-painted pitcher.  It was in the same room with the squirrel, but escaped injury!

I couldn't resist this little antique chair that I bought years ago.  I wish it could tell me the story of its life.  It is English, I believe, and the stories are bound to be interesting.

And now the sofa (bought prior to building) and the coffee table (I refinished the coffee table-from my great aunt's home).

The view from the sofa.

The pillow I needle pointed goes perfectly here, I think.

Here's a view of the room. 

 We don't have any window treatments except for the plantation shutters that were painted white to match the trim in the room.  I thought I would make drapes, but decided I liked the windows the way they are with just the shutters.

Thank you for taking a tour of my favorite room!
I love all the neutrals that I see in Blogland and I do appreciate them, but this room was decorated (BB) before blogs. I wonder what it would look like if I was building and decorating our home today?  I don't think I could paint my family pieces with ASCP, so
I'm glad I love this room!

Joing the party with:

Savvy Southern Style WOW

 

Tuesdays Treasures

 

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson



Mercury Glass Winter Table

   I love mercury glass!  Do you?  I started collecting mercury glass several years go and I use it to decorate my formal dining room table in the winter.  After weeks of Christmas decorations, I wanted to continue in the spirit of sparkle and decided to do it with silver mercury glass. My dining room doesn't receive much natural light so I don't always get very nice pictures of my table in the winter.  This year, though, I think I have done better--would you like to see?

 I used mostly my finials and my mercury glass trees with

 a few candle holders and my mercury glass birds.

I had been putting my decorations on just my white tablecloth.  It was an impressive display because I had a lot of pieces, but it didn't photograph very well  and I was tired of the look.  At some point this year, I decided I would add some greenery to my winter table.  I looked at the artificial greenery I had used on my mantel and thought when I took it down, I might use it on the table.  Then, I had an even better idea.....I would cut up our Christmas tree!  Our tree was super-fresh this year and was not dropping needles, so I thought, why not?? 

***Now, I have to say here, that for several years, my husband has been cutting up our Christmas tree (while it was still in the stand) when it was time to take it down.  Yup.  He takes the pruners and lops off a few of the larger and longer branches and escorts them outside.....so much better to do a few branches at a time than trying to wrestle a whole tree out the door!!! 

So this year, I snipped off the branches that I needed and when I needed more, I just went back to the tree.  I was very happy with the way things were turning out.  The tree still smelled so nice, too!

I had also decided that my white dishes looked pretty plain on my white table cloth.  I thought I would check out the area sales for silver chargers, but I didn't see any on sale.  Michael's had one for 1.99.  I needed six and I was feeling a little cheap, too, so I'm glad I didn't find what I thought I needed,  because I decided to use silver trays for chargers instead.  Why not!  IT WAS PERFECT!  Yeah!  Something I already had on hand--saving money and not having another set of chargers to store.

I have a number of silver trays.

This one is engaved and is from when

my aunt retired from teaching grade school for 34 years.

This one is engraved on the back with my wedding date

 and our names.  It also has the dates and names of my great aunt

and uncle who married in 1925 and then a cousin who married in 1976. 

I added  green glasses and green napkins with

silver snowflake napkin rings that I already had.

 

 Here's a picture from last year with the candles lit for an evening meal. 

 There's really no comparison to me.  I love the new look so much better!

  I used fewer pieces of mercury glass, but have a look that is new and fresh.

  I know I'll be cutting up the tree again next year!

WELCOME WINTER!

Joining the Party:


Between Naps on the Porch




Coastal Charm



  My Romantic Home


Table Top Tuesday with A Stroll Thru Life

WOW Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Party 100


Showcase Party



Time Travel Thursday

Christmas Favorites

     I often decorate things in my home the same way every Christmas.  Do you?  I like the tradition of using some of the same decorations each year.  I do make some changes to a few things each year, so I thought I would share a few of those updates.

I found these sweet little choir boys in my mom's attic a couple of years ago.  I put them out on our kitchen counter with a few vintage ornaments and a doily crocheted by my husband's grandmother.

I love the olive basket that I got this summer in Franklin, Tennessee and it looked so nice under our tree.  You can read about our trip here:      Franklin, Tennessee   and  here:  Vintage olive basket

I found some metal letter tags earlier in December and I hung them on a piece of twine that I tied to the basket. 

I tucked in a green pillow, some greenery with berries and added a bow from some ribbon I got this year at Michael's.  Love it!

My last change that I'll show is the one on the mantel.  I had been waiting all year to see how it was going to turn out.  It was perfect!

Since I don't take down my large oil painting, I like for anything I put on my mantel to look nice with the painting.  My SIL painted the angels for me.  Isn't she super talented?!  Aren't the angels pretty? I tried to vary the height of the angels and then I added the star made from the folding carpenter's ruler.
You can visit her website here: Jane Ann's Art

I loved the changes I made this year and yes, I enjoyed the traditional decorations that I use each Christmas. 

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Joining the Party:



 Be Inspired Friday at Common Ground

White Christmas Coffee Table

     I've never had a white Christmas. 
                                     I think it would be very pretty.

Here's my coffee table this year.  My White Christmas coffee table--my gift of snow to my family.  I was very pleased with the way it turned out.  It was exactly the way I had imagined it in my mind. Sometimes things turn out that way, and well, sometimes they don't.

When I saw the icy sticks covered with snow at Michael's in the floral department awhile back, I really liked them and began to think about how I could use them in my home.  I guess the next day, I found this picture of my great-aunt's home. It was a wonderfully snowy day when the picture was made. It didn't have the year noted, but her home was built in the 1930's. 

I purchased this faux tarnished trophy on line this summer and by the time I received it,

 I felt silly about the purchase and when it arrived, I put it in the closet.

  BUT, as I began to think about the snowy sticks and the picture of

my aunt's house, it wasn't very long before the vintage-style trophy came to mind. 

I purchased several branches of greenery and the snowy sticks at my Michael's

and made the arrangement.  I put some styrofoam in the base of the container--

that helped keep the greenery in place.



I use this white column piece a lot.  It came from the house in the picture.

  I use it often and it was perfect for my plan.  I added a bow,

 a shiny ball and a shape cut from an old dictionary page and that was done.

Next, I added my little white chippy bird and then remembered

 the books of piano music a friend gave me.  I was thrilled

 that there were Christmas songs in the books,

so I tore out one of my favorite Christmas hymns.

Then I added a piece of antique lace, a mercury glass candle

 holder and a spray of the snow-covered greenery.

The last item I added was this vintage Christmas post card. 

 I only have the one and it was perfect addition for my table.

A Merry White Christmas !



Adult Grilled Cheese

We had a wonderful visit with friends at Seaside and Seagrove, Florida this summer.  Everything is fun and exciting when you go to the beach!  Especially when you share it with friends.

Another thing I love about visiting this area are the Airstream food trucks of Seaside.  I had the opportunity to eat at the Airstream food trucks two times during our visit.  Both times, I got a sandwich at The Melt Down on 30A.  Who wouldn't love a day at the beach, sunning, shopping and then a delicious grilled cheese sandwich?  AND have it served to you in a brown paper bag--just like a kid's sack lunch from years ago.

I knew I wanted to make these delicious sandwiches

 at home, so here is my first sandwich from The Melt Down.

The Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil grilled cheese.

Oh my goodness!  Such fresh and simple favors of summer all in one delicious sandwich!

Here's what you'll need:

2 slices Italian bread (I used Publix's 5 grain Italian)

fresh mozzarella

fresh basil leaves

fresh tomato slices

butter

 

I used a non-stick skillet with a little pat of butter in it.

Then, I placed in the pan one piece of bread topped with a generous slice of fresh

 mozzarella cheese so it could start melting.

I heated the bread and cheese low and slow and got the other

 ingredients ready at the same time. 

I prepped my fresh basil-washed it and patted it dry.

I sliced the tomato.

Here's the menu of delicious sandwiches at The Melt Down.

When the first side of the sandwich was golden brown,

 I put the basil leaves on top of the melting cheese.

  I placed the other slice of bread on top and gave it a little pat of butter, too. 

 I flipped the sandwich so the other side could start to brown. When the other 

 side of the bread was brown, I removed it from the pan and placed it on my plate. 

 I opened the sandwich up and placed the tomato slices

 inside and gave them a dash of salt and pepper.

I then returned to top slice of bread to the sandwich. 

 And, to make sure everything was extra gooey,

 I microwaved the sandwich for 20 seconds.

Here are the results!



Yummy Summer Goodness--

An adult grilled cheese!

Fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato grilled cheese.



The Post Office at Seaside, Florida.

The different Airstream food trucks at Seaside, Florida offer ice cream,

grilled cheese, hot dogs, bar-b-que and delightful raw offerings.

I think I've brought home a

 great souvenir from our summer vacation.

Joining the party:

Rattlebridge Farm: Foodie Friday