Decorating for Spring

Technically it's spring, but the weather around here isn't cooperating.  Yoo hoo, Mother Nature -- have you looked at the calendar lately?

 

Anyway, weather aside, usually around this time of year I'd be having fun decorating my mantel for spring and Easter. I'd have a little vignette in the foyer to greet you when you came in the door.  And I may even have an Easter egg tree somewhere in the house.

 

So what do I have this year?

 

Nuttin. 

 

The real estate agent says no "clutter." I can have some flowers, but not too many.  Now personally if I was looking at houses, (hey wait a minute -- I am!) I wouldn't mind seeing a cheerful spring display when I walked in the front door. But I want to get this baby sold, so I'm listening to the agent.  If the weather cooperates so we can get some outdoor projects done, we'll be going on the market around mid April.

 

Last week was filled with clearing counters, meeting the carpet estimator, getting garage doors fixed, and having to reschedule the window washer for the second time because of the cold. Nothing fun like decorating.

 

So I've had to get my spring decorating fix by perusing Pinterest.  For now I'll just have to look at pretty pictures.  Sigh.  Here are some that caught my eye. Hope you enjoy them! 

 

 

 

 

Dear Lillie The Blog

 

 

 It all started with paint






Shelterness







Shelterness






Adventures in Decorating





My Style Décor

 

 

How about you? Have you done any spring decorating?



All photos from Pinterest and sourced where available.

 

A Tough Week & Checking In at Mr. P's

Last week was a tough one, and I'm sorry I didn't do a post.  First of all, we had to put Louie, one of our beloved cats, to sleep. We called Louie "the lump of love" because of his temperament and heft.  Long story short, he had two types of lymphoma and after fighting it for almost a year, it was his time to go. We will miss him dearly.

On top of that, we had the real estate agent over to begin the process of selling our house.  The good news is the house is worth more than we thought it was.  The bad news is even though I've been busting my behind clearing things out and making numerous trips to Goodwill, I still have more work to do.   Plus, apparently houses are selling quickly in our neighborhood, so we need to get going on finding a new one to live in.  We've narrowed our search to a cute little town about an hour from where we live now.

It's been awhile, so today I thought I'd take you over to Mr. P's Emporium and show you how things are looking there these days.

 

Out front is a painted washstand and a couple of end tables, and we have a lot of drawings, vintage prints and paintings in stock right now.

 

 

 

 

There are smalls like platters and serving pieces.

 

 

 

Milk glass ...

 

 

And these old seltzer bottles.

 



 



 

 

 

A vintage console/buffet with grain sacks, an old pudding mold and ironstone platters.

 

 

 

A small table -- perfect for a small little breakfast nook or sun porch.

 

The buffet I showed you here.

 

 

And a great Old White buffet with Provence details.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

We also have hand made sachets, candles and soap!

 

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Mr. P's.  It's always changing as things get bought and new pieces move in, so if you're in the area please come and visit!  We're located at 9720 Liberia Avenue in Manassas, VA in The Homestore.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Dream Kitchens

All I've been doing lately is decluttering and cleaning, in anticipation of the real estate agent coming to look at the house.  She'll probably have me declutter some more (I like to think of it as collections and decor, not clutter!), but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

With the forecast of some warmer weather on the horizon, I'm hoping I can start painting outside or in the garage.  I have a desk waiting for me (along with a stack of other projects) in the garage. We'll see.

 

In the meantime we've been looking at houses online in the area we want to move to.  Since we're downsizing, I haven't been too enthusiastic about any of the kitchens I'm seeing in our price point.  I'll have a budget to update, but it won't be huge, so DIY within my limited capabilities will be involved.  I can do things like paint cabinets and change out hardware.  And I'm really good at directing! 

 

That got me thinking as to what my ideal kitchen is.  For me it's cottage or farmhouse style.

 

A farmhouse sink would be a must.

 

 

 

Some kind of architectural interest like these planked walls or bead board would be nice.

 

 

 

 

 

And while I love all-white kitchens ...

 

 

 

 

These made me swoon as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some others that caught my eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love the reclaimed wood, corbel and planked ceiling in this one.

 

 

 

 

What does your dream kitchen look like? 

 

 

All photos from BHG

A Difficult Decision

Normally at this time of the year I'd start getting ready for the Lucketts Spring Market. With a heavy heart, I've had to make the very hard decision not to do it this year.  I love doing Lucketts, and it's been quite profitable for me.  Even last year when we had a downpour and everything almost got soaked!

 

 

I put off making the decision for as long as I could, even reserving the space, but I just don't see how I can do it this year along with trying to sell the house.

The last couple of years the weeks before the Market my house has looked like this:

 

 

 

Furniture piled up in the living room, the dining room, and in the basement. 

Fast forward to this year, and I just spent weeks getting the basement cleared out so it doesn't look like a hoarder lives down there. Not to mention once the house goes on the market it needs to be "show ready" all the time.

Somehow I just don't see rooms filled with piled-up furniture as being show ready!

So I had to bite the bullet and pass on this year's Market.

But my friend Connie from Hartwood Roses will be taking over my space with her painted furniture. Connie shared the space with me the year before last, and she is one talented lady! 

And since I can't stay away, I'll be there helping her out. 

It won't be quite the same, but at least I'll get my Lucketts "hit."  And I'll be back next year with my stuff!

I know those of you in the area won't want to miss it, so mark your calendars for this year's Market: Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18.  Please plan on stopping by to say "hi!"