Revisiting the living room

I've shown this room a couple of times since my mom gave me some of her furniture, after she moved, but since then, there's been a few minor changes.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the paint color in there, but depending on what time of day or what angle I take a photo, it's always changing. The picture above shows it being darker than in real life, but pretty close.

If you remember this room before, you'll notice a chair missing. I felt it was too crowded, so... poof!... into another room it went.

See what I mean about the color? 

So weird!

I found this table at a local antique store recently.

This is the part I fell in love with:

Bubba still loves his perch :)

Great grandma's lamp and some pictures of Alex, Annie and my nephews when they were small.

The mantel decor has been changed up a bit, but I'm not sure I'm loving it.

That plant doesn't seem happy with it either ;)

Looking towards the dining room, you'll see the biggest change.

I was reading something about Bunny Williams and she recommended having something in your living room that will make you use it. 

I'm not a tv in the living room kinda gal (it's in the den), so my desk was moved in here and the library piece was moved into the library.

Makes sense, huh? ;)

On top of that, she has a desk in her living room, so if it's good enough for her, it's certainly good enough for me!

The chair belonged to my friend's mother in law and she gifted me with it.

Hi Sharon! :)

I think the desk suits the space better.

Although, I'm thinking of selling that file cabinet. 

I really love it, but it just feels like too much to me and I don't have anywhere else to put it.

I know it doesn't look like I use this desk at all, but I do.

Trick photography ;)

Happy belated Autumn, everyone!

xo

rue

Autumn greetings

It's finally here!

I know some of us (cough, cough, Kim ,cough) aren't as excited about Autumn as others, but I for one am thrilled. It was a hot summer this year.... actually, who am I kidding? Every summer is hot to me and anything over 80 degrees makes me want to sit inside a refrigerator.

Anywho, on my last post I had a lot a requests for finished project pictures. I'm going to be honest here kids... None of them are finished lol

I have 400 things going on in my heads at once and sometimes in the middle of one project I'll jump to another and another and so on. It all gets done eventually, but in my time, not in normal people time.

That means the bathroom, the porch, the potting shed and the back yard are all still in limbo. So, by the way, is the dollhouse that some of you thought was a real home. Nope, just another 'smaller' home project ;)

Speaking of...

Here's the one we're currently working on...

Meet Julia.

She's named after Julia Child and she's a monitor top fridge.

She was brought home last week and we've been frantically fixing her up to go into the kitchen.

More about that later.

And by later, I mean soon, because this is one project we'll be working on until she's finished.

I want that baby in the house, yesterday! ;)

By the way, are you wondering why I'm showing these pictures of my living room?

Well, I'm finally getting around to showing you what it looks like now, a year after my mom gave me  some of her furniture after her move.

The lighting hasn't been the best with the rainstorms we've been having, but it was clean for company (i.e. no dog hair) and the curtains aren't drawn anymore to keep the dreaded summer heat out, so I grabbed my camera and.... snap, snap, snap ;)

I'll see what I can do about taking some better ones soon.

As it is, I have what seems like a billion pictures to go through, so I have been thinking about you. I've just been too busy to post them.

I also have about 6 months worth of stuff I've missed in your lives, so expect a visit from me on your blogs soon.

Hey, at least it's only been about 6 weeks since my last post ;)

Happy Autumn, my sweet friends!

xo
rue

My Etsy shop

I haven't really talked about my Etsy shop, because I don't want you to think you have to buy anything.

 But since I added some items today, I thought you might want to take a look.

If you see something you like, great!

If not, that's okay too!

Anyway, things are still busy around here, so I've been a little neglectful.

I'm sorry about that.

I'll be around more as soon as I can though :)

The first picture?

Part of why I'm busy ;)

xo,

rue

My Irish bookcase

Recently (or not so recently), I was inspired by the sweet (and patient) members of Havenly, a wonderful online interior design company, to write about a beloved decor piece and how I highlight it to fit into my home decor.

Well, as most of you can guess, it was a very hard decision.

I'm a sentimental fool and it would be easier to pick a favorite of just about anything else.

Walking around my home for days, I tried to think of a piece that I've had to style differently in order to make it work and I finally decided that my 1800s Irish pine hutch would fit the bill.

"Why did you move my toy basket, mom?!"

Sidenote: 

I thought it was English all these years until I went to take a picture of the receipt that I've kept all this time and nope, it's Irish!

Until recently, it was used as a dining room china cabinet, since my mom purchased it for me about 25 years ago, for my second home.

It was found at a place in Santa Barbara called the Pine Trader, where it was sitting there sadly without any glass in the top doors. 

I fell in love.

They told me it was originally a library bookcase, but I wanted it for my dining room at the time, so I had them put dividers in the two drawers for my silver. 

For the missing glass in the top doors, I also asked them to mimic the diamond design that was carved in the corners.

I found pictures of it in a few different homes, but it's been in a total of 7 and traveled with me from California, to Virginia, then Ohio, and now it's with me in Arizona.

Sadly, all I have is a glimpse of it, to the far right, in the first house it resided in, circa 1991:

This is me decorating it for Christmas, two houses after that:

Both of those were taken pre- blogging.

Also, can you believe I had white walls?

In two different homes, no less!

But I digress....

Here it is in the my last home:

Today, in this home, it is used as originally intended...

A book case.

A very messy bookcase that has become a catchall, which reminds me that I need to reorganize it.

With a bit of china underneath...

and silver in the drawers ;)

Also messy.

Tsk... tsk...

Anywho...

How do I fit it in to my home decor?

Simply by only loving the things I have and making it work.

I suppose I could have put it in my office with all the other bookshelves, but I wanted it to be the first thing you see when you walk in my front door.

It deserves that kind of honor after traveling here from Ireland and back and forth across the United States, don't you think?

Toy basket replaced, Bubba.

It's seen a lot over the years and I'm sure it could tell quite a few of my secrets.

Thank goodness, the old girl can't talk.

Well, at least about me ;)

xo

rue

PS 

I was not compensated for this post.

Thoughts and a Thank you

As most of you know, aside from a few sporadic posts, I pretty much took a break from blogging, a little over a year ago.

In the last few months since I've been back, I've noticed a few things that I'd like to touch on and before some of you get pissy...

 please hear me out.

So, here they are...

1. A lot of you have decided to use Instagram and have pretty much left your blogs abandoned.

Now, I don't use IG, but from what I've heard, I kind of understand the pull.

Upload a quick photo.

Maybe, write a sentence or two.

And voila!

Done.

But, what about the story?

How can you convey everything you want to say or make people feel a certain way, in only a few words?

What about those weirdos, like me, that don't use it?

Not that it's all about me ;)

I get it though.

It's quick and easy.

But...

I miss reading your thoughts and stories.

And you in general.

2. Vlogging has apparently become a new way to blog.

In fact, one of my favorite blogs that has been around for years and years, decided to go the way of vlogging.

That blog (which shall remain nameless) was an old-fashioned respite from the world.

Now...

it's not.

She says it's easier.

I understand that, because her posts were really extensive and took hours to write.

I know this, because my posts are rarely as long as hers and they take an average of 2-4 hours.

Anyone that has written a post like that, knows what I'm talking about.

It's a lot of work and there's a lot of thought put into it.

And if she's anything like my crazy OCD self, there's at least another hour or two of proof reading the thing over and over, before clicking the publish button and then worrying for hours afterwards if it's good enough.

That could just be me though ;)

I will say that adding a video of you to your blog can be fun, because your readers get to see you in motion and/or they can hear your voice.

Not that I'm going to do it anytime soon.

But to turn the whole thing into a vlog?

Meh.

She wasn't one to leave comments on other blogs or comment back to her readers very often, and although I usually don't bother with bloggers like that, she took charming photos and there was something special about the way she wrote.

It felt like you were on a vacation from your life.

Obviously, it's her choice and she probably doesn't give a hoot about my thoughts, but...

I miss it.

3. Some of you have made your blogs private.

This I can understand, because blogging can be time consuming and sometimes rough.

Not every blogger has the time or inclination to keep it going when tragedy strikes or life gets crazy and not every commenter is nice.

I've seen major breakdowns and I've seen some incredibly nasty comments.

I also know that it can take over your life, it can be very time consuming, and discouraging when you don't get what you want out of it.

Whatever that might be.

So, I get it.

But, I hope you change your mind, because...

I miss you. 

4. And lastly, quite a few of you have gone on a blogging break.

Again, I understand.

For all the above reasons and so much more.

I've done it twice.

But, I hope you come back eventually, like I did, because...

I miss you, too.

So, with all that said...

Please understand that I know it's your blog and you can do whatever you want with it.

I'm not mad at you, or judging you, or your reasons.

Although it looks like Bubba and Mini are....

I'm just saying that I'm not a fan of all these changes.

After blogging off and on for almost a decade, you'd think I'd get used to it, because I know change is inevitable.

Bloggers come and go, and if you're lucky, sometimes they say goodbye, before disappearing into the void.

Like everyday life.

Basically...

I just really miss visiting my friends that have left for one reason or another and selfishly or not, I want you to come back.

Please :)

Well, maybe you won't, but it was worth a try, right? 

;)

Anyway, speaking of friends...

I know this is way overdue, but I owe you a big thank you.

During the time that I was gone, I received a lot of emails and comments, involving thoughts, prayers and well wishes.

It took a very long time, but I think I've read most of them now.

Some of you even contacted my dear friend, Brenda, a few times to make sure I was still alive.

And being the sweetheart she is, she picked up the phone and let me know that I was missed.

It actually took a few calls, but eventually I came back.

So... 

thank you.

To all my friends.

The ones that have blogs and the ones that don't have blogs.

All of you touched my heart in one form or another.

 You really, truly did.

And...

I missed you too.

love

rue