Thoughts on making a house a home

I can't sleep and I was thinking about actually makes a house a home. I was thinking how much my husband Bob and I love our home and how it's so perfect for our lifestyle. Bob just finished building a picket fence around our corner lot. Took the whole summer. It's not just any picket fence, I was specific about it being scalloped and each picket arched and, of course, it had to be made of wood. No vinyl in our yard, thank you very much! The perfect thing about building it yourself is that it has its imperfections, which just adds to its charm. So Bob dug the post holes, framed out the fence and cut each and every picket and put them up and I painted it. We have these planted cut-outs in the lawn so the fence curves behind and around these cut-outs which made building the fence even more time-consuming and complicated but added way more curb appeal. Some evenings after work we worked 'til dark trying to finish. All summer long the neighbors have been watching the fence slowly work its way around the corner - they've had suggestions, comments and questions and even offered to assist Bob. People we don't even know have stopped their car and shared their thoughts. It's been quite an interesting project. So I happily present the finished product on my blog and consider it one way to make a house a home: add a white picket fence and build it yourself.

Another way to make a house a home is to surround yourself with things that have sentimental value.

My grandmother painted this seascape of Carmel, California in the early 1970s and I gave it to my mom to keep for 15 years. I didn't appreciate her art when I was young, we grew up around it and it didn't mean much to me. Now I cherish the pieces I have.
Here's another.

I love to use the antique ceiling tins from the c1880 from courthouse buildings and hotels and frame them around original oil paintings, they're great and I've done that with a few of my Grandma's paintings.
Another way to make a house into a home is to have books around, they add coziness to a room, especially time-worn leather bounds. Family photographs in tasteful gallery on a wall or lots of them clustered on a table add a touch that shows history.

Add cozy cushy down-filled pillows to a sofa or couch, chair or bed. Paint a room, don't be afraid of color, it will be welcoming. Also, don't scrimp on lighting, invest in lamps, they warm a room. On a chilly night, burn a fire in the fireplace. Burn candles or light lanterns, make your home your haven. Spend time in it, enjoy it, be appreciative for it, I know I am.

Garden Sale at my house

We all had so much fun at our Summer Garden Sale held at my home Saturday, August 16th. There were deals of the century and people snatched them up. All of our vendors, about seven friends of mine who have great things and are extremely talented, participated and provided something for everyone.
It was unexpectedly warm but our every loyal customers came out for the garden sale. It was too fun. I went shopping there myself, couldn't pass up a couple of the deals.

The charm of painted antique furniture

They don't get any better than this late 1800s typical American wash stand that someone painted a pale pink and covered the rest of it with wallpaper years and years ago. It shows its yearsmakes it ever so appealing.


Who can resist a child's chippy painted dresser? Not me! I love to find pieces like this. Was it a salesman's sample? Maybe, because of the detail. Anyway, the original paint has chipped away a bit but that's what makes it all the more enchanting.



I love painted dressers and chests like this old one from the teens or 20s. The original paint looks like it's been polished and dusted hundreds of times over the last 80 years. The romantic handpainted detail in the center is irresistable.





There is something about painted furniture, early pieces with original paint on them or antique pieces that are beautifully painted, not wanna be's but the real thing with a fresh coat of paint that is so appealing. Artists and furniture makers have been painting furniture for three thousand years, it is nothing new. In the 1500s the Venetian artists were in full swing painting furniture. The Dutch caught on the the 17th Century. By the mid-18th Century, France dominated hand painted furniture in Europe and set the pace for the rest of the world. American pieces, like this example of mustard paint on the bench below, are very desirable by collectors.

Another example of a painted chest with a romantic floral painting in the center of the drawers.