Showing posts with label lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lifestyle. Show all posts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Have a Seat

I'm noticing a definite trend in my house. I'm attracted to chairs! This is a framed print I've had for a while. There's something about it I love--the graceful lines of the chair, the background of old printed script, its simple black frame . It's one of those little accent pieces I move around from place to place whenever I'm rearranging.







This is the first piece of furniture my husband and I bought when we were first married. We found it at a craft show and bought it from a couple who restored chairs and were well known in our area for their chair caning craftsmanship.











I love this chair, even though I don't have "the perfect" place for it in my house. It gets moved around from spot to spot depending upon the season. Despite my constant efforts to downsize, I cannot part with it. I've even recaned it a couple of times myself.








This wicker chair actually belongs to my sister, Nanniepannie, but it sits on the front porch of Buttermilk Cottage, so I enjoy "having" it too. It was our grandmother's and Nancy actually has a picture of our grandmother holding her as a child and sitting in this chair. Priceless...
A few years ago this chair was in pitiful condition. The back and seat were broken and the chair had been banished to the garden shed. However, I have a good friend, Katherine, who is a gifted basket weaver and she generously repaired it for us.









Before moving into this house I did some serious downsizing. My former husband and I actually split all the furniture from the house we shared and I had enough to completely fill my space here. Except for in the kitchen, where the only "new" furniture I bought were two chairs to sit at my kitchen table.




I found these two chairs at an area antique shop and knew they had a home with me! Until I started blogging, this was where I spent every morning with my coffee and crossword puzzle. Now that time seems to be spent at my computer...





Another example of my chair fetish is this framed print. I first saw it several years ago, prior to "this lifetime," but it's a fairly large piece and I had no place for it. So, I "visited" it regularly in the store. I loved the colors and the organic feel of it.
Fast forward through a divorce and the purchase of another home. I went back to the store and bought it for "my new house" thinking it would be perfect in my dining room when I moved. Another fast forward through an addition of an office and bathroom and a total redo of the kitchen, plus painting and other cosmetic changes. Financial panic set in and I decided there was no way I should be buying art when I had all these other expenses. So, sadly the picture went back to the store.



Then, I moved into Buttermilk Cottage, the dust settled and I still had that picture in my head. So, back to the store (this was probably a year after I previously returned it) to get it. But, it wasn't hanging in the art/wall hanging section of the store. I walked around, dejectedly, telling myself what an idiot I was, when there it was, hanging in the floral department!!! It didn't end up in the dining room as I had planned, but found it's home in the living room where I take pleasure in seeing it everyday.




Here's one final little chair print which I found at Michael's. It hangs in my dining room. It attracted me because I love the color blue, the wood floor and snippet of rug remind me of my real dining room, the play of sunlight and shadow and quite simply, I'm attracted to chairs.

Let's sit awhile.


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Welcome to Buttermilk Cottage




Welcome to Buttermilk Cottage, which isn't really a cottage, but an almost 100 year old, craftsman style bungalow. But since I'm not living in a museum, I'm not letting the house's style dictate my decorating inspirations. I'm drawn to rooms that look as though they've evolved over years, rather that decorated in one bold sweep. My things have been accumulated over a life time. In the past few years I've done some serious downsizing with my principle being, "only keep the things that you truly love."

Buttermilk Cottage is also more than my decorating aesthetics for my home though. Years ago I owned a yarn shop with partners and started a wholesale tote bag business. We were having trouble finding a bag we liked to sell in the shop for knitters, so I started making some and selling them in the shop. Eventually they were picked up by yarn sales reps and I've been selling them to shops for several years under the name of Buttermilk Cottage. In the past year I've found I also need an outlet for some of my other handmade items, so my shop at Etsy was started. Besides sewing tote bags and knitting accessories, I also knit. You'll find many of my handmade items at http://buttermilkcottage.etsy.com/

With this journal I hope to keep some record of my musings of what makes my everyday life special to me. Maybe you'll come along for a visit now and then to Buttermilk Cottage. You won't find anything earth shattering here, just everyday thoughts about decorating, sewing and knitting, cooking and gardening. I do have to tell you I'm not really a gardener, but my sister Nancy shares Buttermilk Cottage with me and she's created a cottage garden to die for, which I'll be sharing here. So come on over, the front porch swing is empty, I've just made some chai iced tea and we'll spend a hour visiting...



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