Happily Ever After

On the eve of the Royal Wedding 

my own Prince Charming and I popped a bottle of champagne.

We were celebrating 

True Love and Happily Ever After.

We had tied the knot that day in April, four years ago.

The Royal Wedding was a fantasy to watch,

and it reminded us of how we felt at our own wedding.

As my eldest son, Justin, walked me down the aisle,

 seeing my betrothed at the altar was exhilarating.

My prince stood waiting with his only brother, just like Will and Harry.

However this prince was watching the bride come up the aisle.

Our church was small and modest, unlike the Abbey.

Also unlike the Royal Wedding, 

we had a guest list of only 34 people.

This was to be an intimate affair for us,

and somehow I think Kate and Will got the same result.

Kate looked beautiful.

Our tiaras were quite similar, though mine was not Cartier.

I remember feeling beautiful on my wedding day, 

as every bride should, 

and as I watched Kate those memories came to me.

I searched for a dress that would be just right and kept it hidden 

in a closet so it would remain a secret.

Our own wedding theme was

"Happily Ever After"

Our Rehearsal cake topper was none other than

 Cinderella and her Prince Charming.

Our wedding was our own private fairy tale come true.

Candlesticks at the rehearsal dinner 

were tied with Happily Ever After ribbons.

Even our wedding rings have the inscription:

Happily Ever After

I married my Prince Charming on April 28, 2007.

The best day of my life.

Washroom Editing and Fluffing

 After any new decorating project is finished there is always a

number of things that get adjusted, and the washroom is no exception.

Before blogging I had never heard of the term "fluffing".

Fluffing is making things a little bit fresher and better.

 This project involved the tin wallpaper ceiling

 and changing up the finish on the cabinets.

A soft two tone distressed finished with a crown molding 

gave this room the shabby vintage feel I was looking for.

But some things weren't quite right.

This is a detail pic of the cabinet distressing and the knobs.

I painted and distressed these knobs in the Habbersham way!

 The mirror is now hung vertically so Mr. Maison can see himself.

I removed the large towel hanger 

and replaced it with a pretty shelf I found at an antique shop. 

The hand towel now hangs off of a bronze robe hook.

A decorative display for pretty bottles, some old, some new.

That tall green bottle was on a stone wall on 

the New Hampshire home we sold last year. 

It was filled with dirt and moss and is a fond reminder of our former home.

This is how it looked after I finished the wallpapering and cabinets.

Too much going on in that space...

Keeping a wooden box holds the things my family likes to leave

on the counter top. For the photo I have hand soap and a pretend vintage bottle,

but in real life the man soap in a can and the iPhone charger find there way

into this box and it keeps me happy.

 This box came from Hobby Lobby and it corrals countertop items.

A hooked rug of roses in browns and blues

 is perfect for this shabby pretty room.

Toilet pictures are not my favorite, I will say.

Blues and greens and galvanized metal are the common thread.

Decorating a toilet area~it has to be done.

The metal toilet paper holder came home with me from Hobby Lobby too.

The wall behind it needs to be painted, but this was a needed improvement.

The linen fleur-de-lis kitchen valance replaced 

the mosquito net drape I originally hung.

This is the before fluffing.

 I hated the placement of the toilet paper roll holder.

Who put that there??

Right under the window in such an important spot~

I couldn't find anything that would fit 

this shabby vintage washroom until I went to Hobby Lobby!

The other changes were adding the valance and the rug.
Here is a reminder of how far this room has come:

Yes, its the same room!
Ahh the power of paint and wallpaper.

And little adjustments that make it just right.

Early Garden Tour

Today is so nice I just had to get outside and do some yard cleanup.

Gardening is one of my favorite things to do.

Our house is a sideways house~it sits sideways on the lot.

The pink swing hangs by the basement door, 

and our front door is up the granite steps.

I sprayed this old bike I found at the dump. 

Our walkway border has tulips blooming.

And more tulips in a small garden.
The garden house I built sits up high and holds a flower basket.

 I filled it with pansies in a pretty colorway called "antique".

This week the squirrels ate about 40 of my tulip blossoms

 right before they were ready to open.

I really hate squirrels now.

Squirrels may look cute, but they wreak havoc 

with the bird feeders and they destroyed my tulips.

I have never lost my tulips to squirrels before. 

They also dig up the pansies in the planters looking for bulbs I think.

The garden is just coming out of the bleakness of winter.

Pansies are the first touch of life. As soon as I can get them

I add them to my planters.

The big urn holds pansies and english daisies.

The cherry tree is in full blossom along with the forsythia.

I have too many chairs in my garden, so I will be playing around with 

the new vintage garden chairs and finding the right spot for them.

The garden is a little rough around the edges right now.

By mother's day it should look a lot nicer.

Hope the sun is shining where you are!

I'll be back to painting kitchen cabinets tomorrow.

Kitchen cabs get a grey chalk wash

Well the kitchen painting saga continues....

Just as I was about to go to Lowes and buy the ivory Valspar paint

 to cover all the chalk paint I stopped to read

 The Enchanted Home  blog post 

which featured the color GREY.

Could I really be persuaded by this one image?

Yes I was!

Tina had this Habersham kitchen image in her post.

I am a huge fan of Habersham!

They have that oodles of money but distressed look,

and this kitchen is no exception.

There is a combination of a cream color in an upper cabinet

 that looks wonderful with the distressed grey.

My mind started backtracking....
I could imagine the bottoms in grey, the tops in cream.

The next thing I knew I was in the kitchen on the floor.

With my chalk paint and brush in hand!

However, full strength Paris Grey was too dark for my taste

 so I added about 50% water and

mixed up a batch of grey wash.

 Working very quickly I brushed it all over

 the bottom cabs and then wiped it off with a rag.

I think I was liking it, so I just kept going.

After it dried I sanded lightly to Habbersham it up.

The tricky part was making the wash look the same on all of the cabinets.

Lucky for me I am NOT a perfectionist when it comes to distressing.

Now I realize I can't have perfect white uppers with Habbershammy lowers....

The uppers will get a light sanding on the edges of the paneled centers.

I still have another coat to do on most of the uppers

 but this cabinet shown has two coats.

You can see the sanding dust on the knobs.

The light has been lousy with the cloudy weather.

Someone said the cabs look green, but trust me, they are ivory white.

It is the overhead lighting casting this irky tone,

because Mr. Sun is not in Boston today.

The painting continues, and yes I am still using chalk paint.

Like I said, it you are going to distress, use the chalk paint.

If not, don't.

Enchanted Home blog also showed this kitchen from Country Living

 that I have in my idea files as well.

This is a little too dark and rustic for how I want my kitchen to look,

however I like the general look.

An apron sink and marble counters are on my wish list....

I also found inspiration from this kitchen

 at the Shabby French Cottage blog.

Mikey redid this kitchen on a shoestring,

and it is all creams and whites with open shelving and vintage brackets.

I find it so appealing.

Paris Grey wash over Old White on bottom cabinets.

The journey continues.

linking to

Faded Charm White Wednesday

and

Kim's SSS Wow Us Wednesday