lesson learned

Ok so about this lesson.  Over the course of the last few months I've been decluttering and selling and whatnot.  I decided to splurge on the above coffee table.  I adore this little table.  It's from World Market right here.

It's called the Thad and it retails for $299.  The person that helped me with the purchase signed me up for all kinds of discounts upon checkout and it knocked $100 off the price.  Like I just said, I adore this little table. My inspiration came from Sid and Ann Mashburn's home.

Pinterest is a dangerous thing ya know?  But how chic.

So anyway back to my lesson.  I couldn't wait to get it home and unwrap it.  I fell in love the minute I saw it in its place.  I instantly felt younger and hipper!  I found the antique Persian rug at an estate sale and to me it was pretty darn perfect.  There is only one problem and that is comfort.  If this room were a sitting room only it would have been fine but this is where we watch tv and lounge at night and you can't really comfortably put your feet up on an lucite coffee table.  Well you can but it's not comfortable.  L was on board all the way but in the end it was me who wanted to be comfortable over stylish. So on Friday I boxed it back up and returned it.  All mistakes are just chances to learn and what I learned was that it's probably better to leave well enough alone, that comfort is key and Pinterest creates all kinds of discontent in me.

So everything is back to normal - whatever that is.  xo

PS - For a moment I thought about making the blog private and I still might but I will give you warning if I do in case there is a recipe you may want.  I love you guys but the internet is getting to be too much for me some days.  Thank you for putting up with me. xo

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welcome

Welcome to my entryway!  When you step through the front door of my house this is where you stand and this is what you see straight ahead.  I would love a real entryway but I don't hate mine either.  I'm pretty content with this little place.

Anyway, this past weekend we had a baby shower here (still no baby btw) and several people who had only seen pictures of my house remarked at how much larger it appears in photos.  It is 970 sq ft so that is by today's standards pretty small.

If you take a step left this is your view.

The point I'm trying to make is that the kitchen is a major part of what you see upon entering.  Your eye is drawn there bc of the floor I think?  I've taken a bit of flack whenever anyone publishes pictures of the kitchen on social media, their chief complaint is that the kitchen isn't really usable with a chandelier, oil painting and drapes.  But the truth is I cook 3 meals a day in it every single day. This morning I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest for some reason.

So as long as I'm talking about the kitchen I may as well include a shot of the sink area.  Because I've pretty much turned the house upside down and rid it of so much clutter, things have moved around.  Right now I love the ginger jars here.

It's citrus time in Redlands and oranges and grapefruit are falling off the trees. Those are my Vitamin B12 drops up there too bc I know someone will ask. I love you guys and happy weekend.  xo

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62

light

Hello Hello.  What's new?  We've been waiting on pins and needles for the arrival of our first grandson. Everytime my phone rings I think it may be the call.  So that's exciting.  Other than that I've been cleaning and still decluttering.  I can't tell you how amazing it feels to finally get our basement cleaned out.

I sold a bunch of stuff at the Redlands Country Mart Flea Market last weekend.  I didn't think anyone would want my stuff bc it's mostly a v young crowd but I guess it's true about one mans junk...

What I didn't sell, we donated.  I still have a few things left to get rid of but it isn't the overwhelming job that we started with.  Again, the feeling of lightness is so wonderful.

These are just a few shots of the house I took over the last few days.  For some reason everything looks lighter to me.  Maybe I'm just nuts and the feeling I have inside has affected my eyesight, or possibly spring is in the air?

I've been tweaking a little bit in the living room too and when I'm done I'll share that space.  I thought for a minute I might wallpaper but I think I've decided against that.  But who knows what I'll end up doing.  Have a wonderful weekend and see you soon.  x

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74

march!

Well hello out there.  Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been busy. Not only have I decluttered the whole house, I went into the depths of the basement and had a massive declutter there.  Our basement is tiny, only about 12x6 or so, but man can it hold a bunch of junk. We've taken a couple of car loads to Family Services, paints and stains to the proper recycle station and I'll be selling a lot too.  It was so hard to get started but once I did, I couldn't stop.  Actually I'm going to go through it again and see what else I can get rid of.

One of the things I've recognized by going through it all is that I have a a lot of weaknesses.  1. I'm a sucker for a bargain.  Most everything I've been saving was such a steal - like $1 or so.  2. I'm a sucker for a good estate sale.  I have no business going to them but I still do.  I blame M.

We recently went to a cool estate sale of a retired actor that was residing here in Redlands.  I could not pass up a really pretty antique hand carved wooden starburst mirror (weakness #3) for $10.

I was able to make it 6 weeks without shopping but the mirror broke me. I figure I've removed about 400 items from my house and basement so one mirror hardly even registers.  Plus I'll be selling the reproduction mirror that used to hang there b/c that one is super pretty too.  See...

Also, you may notice that I swapped out the black dresser for a cream one I've had for decades.  I think it's a better fit.

So what the heck have you guys been up to?  x

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