Be The Designer

This lovely home belongs to my client and friend Tristan. I've been lucky enough to work with her for a few years. We met when her home was being built and I've had the great pleasure of laughing with her and designing for her. I've showed you a part of her beautiful home already when I designed this wall that her talented husband built.This week she asked me to help solve a few design dilemmas she has with her kitchen. She's feeling that her kitchen needs a little pizzazz and that there's a little too much bright white.
Here's a hint of the colors she'd like to use. Her main concerns are the pantry door and her white table and chairs. I gave her my ideas and, since she knows that I write a blog, we thought it might be fun for my creative readers to give her some suggestions too. So. . . here's your chance to

be the designer! What suggestions do you have for Tristan's kitchen?****Don't forget to enter the Ramsign giveaway****

RAMSIGN Giveaway

***The giveaway is closed***

Perhaps you may have already seen a RAMSIGN giveaway on other blogs in blogland.
I've entered to win one because I thought they were so beautiful. I haven't been lucky enough to win, but RAMSIGN is offering one of you the opportunity to win a sign here at Joys of Home.RAMSIGN is a small Danish company that specializes in manufacturing and selling classic enamel signs based upon original designs and techniques. They offer real old fashioned, hand stenciled signs, featuring original design, thick and glossy enamel, and a 30-year warranty. All you need to do to win is go to their site and pick your favorite style, then come back here and leave a comment. For an additional entry, link this giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook page. The winner will receive one house number sign (not name signs or address plaques) in their choice of numbers from 1 digit and up to 5 digits, and in one of the five different styles. RAMSIGN ships worldwide so everyone can participate in the giveaway.

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!

The giveaway will be open until Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 at Midnight MT.
The winner will be announced Wednesday, July 20th.

Living Room Vignettes

These are the vignettes in my living room

in the middle of the summer months.

Brass birds and oil paintings collected from thrift stores.

That's a real, live orchid that I've managed to keep living

and blooming for several months now.

I just purchased this orchid hoping to be able to keep it blooming too.

I love that it has twice the blooms.

The ceramic shell came from a Goodwill in Virginia,

the lotus flower from a thrift store in my hometown.

I love the reflective and airy look of the silver and glass

on the glass end table I found on clearance last summer.

I don't love having to clean kitty prints and dust off every week.

A little summer scene using a vintage lithograph of birds

and faux dollar store ferns.

HouseHold Words Winner

Congratulations to Simply Sarah!!!

The random generator picked comment #2 as the winner and that comment belonged to her.
Simply Sara said...I love the mailbox decal, so cute!!!! Would look so nice!!!

Sarah you'll be hearing from Mandie at HouseHold Words soon.

A Take Home With A Story

Last week I posted about our day at Lucketts.
Today I'll show you what we took home.
You already saw the beautiful mirror that my daughter purchased. It's new green paint looks fabulous in her living room.
She also got a few old bullseyes. We hung the set above her kitchen window to give it a little architectural interest.What did I take home?

I fell in love with these
two good-sized pieces of vintage architecture.
An old corbel and what I think is the base or the top to a column. The nice thing was that they both fit inside my carry-on bag.

The not-so-nice thing was that when my bag went through the x-ray machine I heard the TSA agent call for a "bag check."
Then another TSA agent picked up my bag and tested it for explosive matter.
She asked if she would be hurt by anything when she opened my bag.
I explained that it was just filled with a couple of old architectural pieces.
When she opened it she told me she had to call her supervisor.
The supervisor came over to examine my bag.
After I told the two about the wonderful store where I purchased the pieces they decided that I appeared to be a reasonably sane woman and I likely wouldn't be using the blocks of wood to knock anyone over the head in order to hi-jack the plane.

Don't you just love it when the items in your home can lead to
a great story?!?!Don't forget to enter the HouseHold Words Giveaway

Household Words Giveaway

Mandie Lancaster from HouseHold Words contacted me

and asked if I would be interested in hosting
a giveaway for my readers.
I was excited to see all of the fun vinyl decals they had.They offer inspirational sayings like this one.There are decals that are look like modern wallpaper.A beautiful monogram is always a good choice.How cute would this be for a nursery?A dry erase calendar could come in handy.Or how about this big chalkboard calendar to keep the family organized?I would have to say that my favorite decals were
the fun, over-sized spoon and fork.Mandie is offering a chance for one lucky reader to
win the fork and spoon decals.All you need to do is visit the HouseHold Words site
or the HouseHold Words Etsy Shop,
take a look around and decide which decal is your favorite.
Then come back here and leave a comment.
For an extra chance to win visit the HouseHold Words Facebook page
and Like them, then come back and add another comment.
The giveaway will be open
until Saturday, July 9th at midnight MT.
The winner will be announced Monday, July 11th.

Happy Independence Day

GOD BLESS AMERICA!