New Cupboard

I was going through some of my pictures I had taken recently and thought I would create a little blog post on this gloomy Sunday and share a bit of what I have had going on around here. Starting first with the last of my hydrangeas :) They are such a pretty color this time of year, I'm sad to see them go!

I bought this antique cupboard this Fall that I found on Craigslist, and I have been struggling with what to do with it ever since! It was filthy with so much grime and multiple layers of paint in all colors of the rainbow, that I decided to strip it and repaint it. I was originally going to leave it as it was, but I was also worried about lead paint, even though I did seal it at one point but I still didn't like the look of it after. Here are some before pictures before I stripped it.

 I just love the old latch on the front. There is just no replicating old hardware!

So much paint was barely hanging on by a thread, and after I cleaned it up a lot of the paint whiped right off! That was really the deciding factor in my repainting it. I love the look of chippy white old furniture... but there was sadly no way of saving it on this piece. 

Here are a few "afters" that I have taken recently of the cabinet. I have put a couple coats of paint on it, but I am not liking it such a bright white now, so back out to the garage it will be going this week for a darker shade of white, more so I am thinking a creamy white now. Plus my husband was out to sea while I was refurbishing the cabinet and I need his help to really make this the way I envisioned it :) So I am sharing just a few pictures of it how it is now. More will follow in another blog post!

             The below is what it looks like for now….

            The drawer pulls will be painted over soon as I'm not a fan of their brassy color.

The antique wooden spools in these pictures I just love! I got such a good deal on them and now I wish I would have bought more before they sold out!! If you are looking for this type of thing, you can always find them on Etsy or Ebay. I also have a local shop that is online that I check into here and there called Komedal Road, some things are a bit pricey, but these were sold in sets of 3 for $9.00! 

I have gone back and forth in how I will be using this cabinet. I have (for now) decided that it will be used in my future craft room to hold some of my supplies. As it is pretty good sized and will hold a lot! I cannot wait :)

The guy that I bought the cabinet from also had a bunch of old jars and crocks he was selling, and while I was picking through them he asked me which one I wanted! I didn't want to say "All of them!" so I grabbed this one and asked about an old 3 gallon Red Wing crock he had….. Surprisingly they are now mine for no extra cost! I couldn't believe it! 

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is almost here! The best part is my husband will be home for the holidays this year! I haven't done a lot of decorating so far, as we have started to declutter and box things up we don't use regularly or need out while we are planning to move in the next few months. 

I did come across my ironstone turkey platter though that I found at the Goodwill last summer! So this will be staying out until Thanksgiving! And I compiled most of my small pumpkins from Halloween and put them all in a basket on our front porch :)

I truly wish I could post more often here on my blog, but between the dark and gloomy Washington weather (not easy for picture taking!) and honestly…  I'm just not very inspired in our current home (pretty sure you have heard that before too haha). I am hoping that our next home will be the perfect backdrop to start sharing more of my home and the farmhouse style that I love! 

**I do post more often on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shannon.farmhouse1711/ if you're interested in following along there :)

                                                                        

A Touch of Fall

I've slowly begun to add some simple touches of Fall to our home, and I had taken a few pictures for my Instagram this week that I thought I would share here on my blog as well.

The above pinecone wreath I bought at Jo-Ann's last Fall on clearance for $10 due to it missing one pinecone! I actually left it out front all year long too, because I liked it that much!

I still need to get pumpkins and I will then mix the mini's in through my ironstone pieces. I actually saw a picture come through my Instagram feed of pumpkins at Trader Joe's and they have what looks like heirloom pumpkins! The faded light greens and light orange pinwheel looking pumpkins! They were good sized for $5.99 too! So I am going to check those out, those prices are much better than Lowe's and Home Depot (And sadly the grocery store) where we always end up going ….  Just another reason I need to move out to the country! To grow my own :)

This beautiful old potting bench I always display some of my ironstone pieces on in the dining room, and I am all too often "putzing" around with what's on it! (I always use that word whenever I am moving things around and rearranging, when my husband asks what I am up to haha, he loves that non-descriptive word so much! :)

Last weekend we had to run to Lowe's and I saw they had some of their mum's starting to be put out so I grabbed a few oranges for a change this year. I usually try to buy white or light yellow mums but I couldn't find neither, maybe it's too early…

I have the WORST time with these guys though. I know they aren't meant to last a long time, but within a few weeks mine always get so sickly looking … but here's hoping these won't!

This weekend my husband plans on baking some apple crisp! He is an awesome cook too, lucky me! :)

 I so love this time of year though with the cooler temps and beginning of the holidays. Autumn is by far my favorite season, but honestly being from Minnesota where there are four very distinctive seasons compared to Washington state, where half the leaves don't fall off the tree's in the so-called "winter" and even the grass stays GREEN all winter long! Wintertime here is Washington's rainy season and the temps don't usually drop below the low 30's. Just more reasons why we want to move back East - I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss snow too!

Happy Fall!

Autumn Bedroom

Today I decided it was time to bring out some of my Autumn bed linens, and I thought I would take a few pictures of the bedroom to share.

I usually don't use bright and bold colors in any of my decorating, but these pillow cases added just the right amount of Fall-like colors.

It is a rainy day here today, which I am now thinking maybe I should have waited for a brighter day to take these pictures …


We recently ordered this bed frame, and although it is not a true "antique" it looks close enough for me. Sadly, antique queen sized bed frames are apparently non-existant …. so this works!

The below quilt across the foot of the bed is also a recent buy (with the matching big pillow cover on the bed) and I honestly bought it not for the top side of the quilt, but for the backside, which is a solid plaid design with my favorite creams and whites. Plaid and gingham design I have always been drawn to, whether it's bedding, clothing, linens …. if it's in my color palette, I want it : )

Below is a picture of the top side of the blanket, it's not terrible, just not me :)

The below bench I found last weekend and I am so thrilled with it!! It was a steal too, I got about 75% off what the shop was originally asking for it :)) The bench seat lifts for extra storage too, which I never have enough of so that was just an added perk!

One of my other slowly growing collections is antique baskets, I have then scattered everywhere around the house!

Happy "almost" Friday!

I'm Back!

As I always seem to start my posts saying …"It's been awhile" … well it has once again! :)

I've begun working on this blog of mine again recently (I'm still on the fence if I like my banner or not…) but my plan is to start to post more regularly (as my schedule allows). I have also started an Instagram (link on the right side bar) of which is way less time consuming compared to typing up a blog post, but my plan is to start sharing more of my home and anything else I feel worthy of sharing on both! 

When we were first planning our move out to Washington three years ago, I ran into some antique shops while we were here for a few days and I saw this old potting bench, but I couldn't buy it at the time because we didn't even have a home yet! I was so happy when we did move out here that it was still for sale almost a month later!

Until I can find the perfect antique cabinet to store all of my antique ironstone in (and there's ALOT) this works! I am forever changing what is on it … it just never feels right! And please ignore the ugly carpeting … Just envision dark hard wood, wide planked floors like I do! :)

We live in a rental house right now as we didn't have much time to find a place due to my husband deploying just two days after we moved out here! Soon we hope to find that perfect house of our dreams … I cannot wait!!!

 We are still undecided if we want to stay out here, or go back to Minnesota where we are from and have family there, or really throw caution to the wind and move out East! We have never been out East, not even once, but I am so pulled in that direction due to the fact that is where all the most beautiful old farmhouses are and honestly, I have seen enough through other blogs, that is where the best flea markets/antique shops are too!

The above English silver cutlery I found on Etsy this summer, they still need to be polished, but they will be our new holiday flatware for years to come! I actually think I may be listing some other sets I have in my Etsy shop soon, as I don't have a need for so many …

Last Mother's day I was given the choice of what I wanted to do for the day, and well that was a no-brainer, off to my favorite antique shops we went!

 The shop I found these antique linen napkins at, their credit card machine was down and we sadly didn't have any cash on us (They were only $3 too!) I was so bummed that the only thing I found ... and for so cheap, I wasn't going to be able to buy! Then the sweet lady behind the counter said, "They're yours! It's Mother's day! Enjoy!" I was so surprised but so so happy! Sometime's it's the little things that bring you the most joy I guess :))

It has been an extremely hot, record breaking summer here in Washington - No it doesn't always rain like Washington is stereotyped for :) July was even the hottest ever on record! But I am starting to get Fall inspired with all the Autumn pictures I'm seeing on Pinterest lately that I have started putting just a few things out here and there.

I also just received these putka pods from the Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/cattales

and they are just so adorable for Autumn decor and the price cannot be beat for the quantity you receive!

Until next time!