"Hope is Not a Dream But a Way of Making Dreams Become Reality" - Suenens

When I was a child my mother gave me a "hope chest"...  we're talking kindergarten age ~ probably 5 years old... she spent every birthday and Christmas adding items to that hope chest.  When you're 7 years old you look at these items and say "ooh nice" and think "where's the book/doll/bicycle" - the items you'll use THEN.  As I got in to my late teens I added things I purchased while traveling... china, crystal etc...  In my early 20's I started calling it the "hopeless chest"... as I was the last of my friends to get married...  Yet I remember pulling out the items when I purchased my first home... and I still use many of these items 25 years later...  they were and are thoughtful little blessings given to me throughout my life...  my mother has my chest in her home today... it's been painted and covered with a cushion and she uses it as a window seat in her spare bedroom - which is yet another historical use of these beautiful chests.

Cedar chests have long been used for storing special items for brides to be.  The cedar repels bugs and mold... with the added benefit of making linens smell fabulous.  Many women use these chests long after their "hopes" became reality... and store blankets and other linens in these year round.  The chest I currently own keeps my larger pieces of fine china (turkey plates, et al) safe year round.  They are practical as well as beautiful...  thus you can imagine why my heart strings pulled when I saw this poor baby abused and needing love.  I sent this picture to my husband and said as I always do... "I found a new project for you..." 

"Heather the garage is filled with a lot of old projects for me..."

"But this one should be quick and easy and she's got so much potential..."

Famous last words from me... those are the projects I image that one day his head will explode and he'll be found running down the highway mumbling "she said it would be easy" over and over again...

He tried to save the veneer because I asked... and then we finally agreed to bring life back into the top and paint the bottom.  The perfectionist in him probably fell to sleep nightly dreaming of smothering me with a pillow...  because he kept finding one more little thing that he wanted to tweak...  in the end it was all worth it.  she's beautiful again... for storage for your home... or for a young girl in your life that needs to start her trousseau... 

As with everything we are blogging about... this beauty will be in our booth at the Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta March 1st.  Come check her out.

Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun - Einstein

In the 80s Rachel Ashwell became a well known designer by showing us how to love our old chippy things.  She let us know it was ok to not have everything in your house all matchy matchy like the stores wished we would do.  She embraced the concept of using everything you own everyday.  No longer were we to keep our fine china in our cabinet for the holidays only.  These items we bought over our lifetimes showed who we are as a person.  Vignettes of those items around our house made our houses feel like home versus a showcase.  I don't believe in catering to trends.  I only buy something if it makes my heart skip a beat.

I absolutely loved the Shabby Chic concept and still do.  We have totally opposite styles as she's pinks and whites and all light.  I'm Victorian lovely ornate dark carved wood.  That said, I immediately got rid of the boring everyday dishes and pulled out my transfer ware.  We have one of two sets that we eat off of nightly, along with a set of plain ironstone that doesn't put me in a panic when my kids walk around with it in their hands.  Everything is used in our home.  Everything rotates through the seasons.  You wander through our house and you see our passions.  Our history.  Our story. 

Figure out how to use things that you had stored in unique ways.  My husband loves cute frogs.  We have them in the house and garden.  I've embraced that whimsy of his because it makes us both grin.  My 60s froggy planter that was in the closet became a coffee scoop holder next to our coffee pot.  He fits perfectly next to a vintage hand painted plate.  Our kitchen can never be said to look sterile lol. 

There was a wee bit of time that my mother and I collected transfer ware chamber pots.  Yes, I can always say I have a pot to piss in...  My favorite is displayed year round.  I have it by our front door and every time my family comes home from ANY beach, we toss the shells we lovingly picked and brought home into the chamber pot.  This pot is full of so many happy memories for the kids and I...

From now til December I'll have fresh cut flowers in my home every time I'm home for a few days.  As a flight attendant that's not every week but I try.  Walking into the home and seeing the flowers brings instant cheer to my heart.  I used to keep them in a vase (there's nothing wrong with that but I needed more color where it was placed) and then I found this beautiful 60s jug.  I could save it and actually use it as a water pitcher for family events but I just can't bring myself to put it away...  So a flower frog was put in the bottom and now it graces my foyer table with an understated elegance.

So lets talk about todays treasures that I picked up for our booth... This little lot has tons of potential.  Every time I see crystal creamers I smile and think of my mom and step dad.  They set their table daily like they are in a five star restaurant.  Linens, candles, crystal.  There is nothing shabby to their chic but they too embrace the idea that Rachel started years ago.   Can you see sitting down with coffee for you and your spouse and serving the milk in something this pretty?  As for the hand painted egg...  I have had one for years in my office that holds my pens.  Its a touch of feminine that I can't deny.  You could use the porcelain candlesticks on a table or... on a birthday cake... how fancy would that be?  Smalls in antique stores are a bit of every dealers whimsy... an inside look to the little things that person loves to cherish.  Come check out these whimsies in the last photo, along with the others I've collected over the years... I think you'll love them as much as I do.  They'll be at Queen for our debut on March 1st.

That Moment You Breathe New Life Into an Old Piece

Have I mentioned lately how great Bill is with his hands?  I've got the husband that all junking loving souls dream of.  I figured this out early on in our relationship.  I'd say I had a vision for something in my home and it would be done a couple of hours later.  I don't know about y'all but I've been in plenty of relationships where someone would say they "could do it" and six years later I was still waiting.  Thank you Lord for giving me a man that takes my vision, runs with it immediately and knocks it out of the ball park. 

I had a two car garage that I could get both cars into once.  Then we started As The Crows Fly.  Bill would get the garage half empty and then go off to work for a couple of weeks imploring me not to fill it while he's gone.  I'd give him that "I wouldn't dream of it darling" look that all wives perfect...  Then of course I'd go junking over the weeks he was gone and quietly fill the garage with pieces that I just can't imagine society losing forever.  I'd pick him up from the airport and drive him home.  He'd open the garage door to get into the house, see the wall of furniture, look at me with a stern "what the heck did you do look", (my eyes responding with a who me?) sigh, close the door and head to the front of the house... where really... civilized people use the front door right?  Yeah that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Bill lamented sometime last year that I don't leave him love notes anymore... so I pointed out that I do... look at each of the pieces of furniture in the garage "Honey, I'd love you to do this..."  Thank God he loves me because he puts up with my crazy...  but he secretly loves playing in the garage... he plays music, pours a drink and gets crafty... AND my obsessions allow him to have his... TOOLS.

So we were really busy over the holidays and I didn't really have a chance to continue my hoarding in the garage... somehow Bill has gotten to pieces I shoved in there last year and is currently making them fabulous!!!  While I was working on the patio set, he was painstakingly taking apart this old vanity, gluing, doweling and fixing all her joints.  We agreed we wanted to keep some of her wood stained but other parts of her needed to be painted.  I heard him scream in the garage a few times in frustration so I'd go and give him a kiss and say "I believe in you baby I know you can do this!!!"  He would give me the evil eye but continue on with his project.

Today he finished that project - a creamy painted and stained beauty that would look lovely in anyone's bedroom.  We kept her with all of her original hardware... but we kept the bill of sale for two Herndon cows we found in her from 1960.  Those little scraps of history make us giggle.  But I digress... this beauty too will be available at the Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta on March 1st!  Stay tuned... he's already got another project up on the bench.  I'm soo excited!!!

It's True... Beautiful Things Have Dents and Scratches Too...

My husband will tell you that I can not pass up a cute vintage patio set or chairs... I'm an avid gardener and I'm always putting something in our back yard when he's not looking.   Right now we have two patio sets, a glider, two wood benches, a peacock chair and 3 rockers... all have been lovingly restored or given a wee polish and a clear coat to enhance their lovely chippy selves...  When I brought this one home in November he drew his foot in the grass.  "Heather... there is no more room on either our front or back patio... none."


I knew he was right but when I saw it at an estate sale... way in the back yard with ivy growing up around it to the table top... I had to rescue it.  I was halfway to it knee deep in ivy when I had the good graces to wonder if there were any snakes out there... we DO live in Georgia after all...  I started making tons of noise, clapped my hands, stamped loudly... and prayed...   I got to the first chair, pulled it out with a few vines and saw it was in great condition and did a little scream of joy...  grabbed the other and gave it a yank and it too was in fabulous chippy condition.  I hiked through the overgrowth making noise on the way back to safety with my chairs... and went back for the table... trying not to think of any other creepy crawlies I was walking next to.  I'm a pansy when it comes to bugs and snakes... but I was determined to get my prize...  the table came out with a little more effort and it too was great... I oohed at the rosettes on the legs and marched my brave big girl self with the set to the front of the house... and sat down on it with a satisfied grin.  Victory was mine!!!

While my ever suffering husband is quite supportive of my vintage finds, I knew he had a point and I agreed to bring her back to life in the late Winter for us to sell in our booth in the early Spring.  Today was such a glorious Spring like day in Atlanta that I decided to tackle my project.  Sanded down the chippy spots and put a coat of primer on the set.  With projects like this you get almost immediate gratification... She looked lovely in her grey primer.  I was tempted to paint her a robins egg blue but decided she'd appeal more to the masses if I went white.  Whoever buys her may have a different color for her in mind... but maybe not... because I had an itch to add a bit of whimsy to her... you'll see in a moment...

I remembered half way through painting her white why I don't tend to buy wicker to refurbish... It's hard to cover all the detail...  The iron latticework on this piece was making me go blind with the minutia of verifying I'd gotten it all complete.  I kept itching to get to the wee bit of whimsy but that falls under the final touches.  I'm not a patient girl.  She's back to her vintage glory now though I'll think you will agree. 

All you need to make her complete, is a splash of color with a small pillow or seat cushion (unless you like iron patterns on your legs when you're wearing shorts), a bottle of wine, two glasses and a friend to toast to patios in the Spring!  Got to love the weather in the south.

You'll find this lovely set at the Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta the first day of March... Here's to our upcoming Spring!