A Pop of Orange: Wonder What It Is

Had to say goodbye yesterday…

..to one of my favorite furniture resale stores, Poor Ol’ Bob’s Gettin’ Place in Fairfield, Illinois.  After ten years, they are going out of business.  Bob and his wife Barb have such a flair for selecting pre-owned furniture and decor.   Mostly gathered from estate sales in the St. Louis area, their inventory changed every week and you never knew what “I Can’t Live Without” piece of furniture you would find next.  It definitely kept you on your toes for a good bargain and kept you coming back week after week.

While I was there picking up a piece of furniture I had purchased last year (more on this later), I had to buy one last thing for the road, so to speak.

Do you see it?  It’s that big pop of ORANGE sitting on the table!  Whatever is it?  You can remove the top so it would be good for storage.  What about to house remotes or paint it at Halloween?  🙂  I don’t know but it was unique enough for me to say “I gotta have it.”

Regardless, it is at home at Boyd Street now and will always be a reminder to me of the good shopping days at Poor Ol’ Bob’s Gettin’ Place.

Decorating for the Dogs: Who Me?

While drinking coffee this morning…

..and reading the latest posts on my Boyd Street Bungalow Facebook page,  I happened upon a post by Lamps Plus talking about decorating for the dog days.  That title perked up my attention thinking they were sprucing up for the last days of summer.  But no… actually it is all about making your pets comfortable in your home.  Had to laugh because I share my office with my best buddies, Milo, Buffy and Abby (or they let me use the room.)

This small room off the kitchen can also be used as a spare guest room when needed.  Just take off the protective dog blanket and whoola, you have an extra bed for overnight guests.

Note to self:  Must paint paneling!

Seems Abby got kicked off the bed…

There was never a doubt I would make a special place for the dogs in my house.  Do you have a special place for your pet?

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Kitchen Catch-All: Solution to a Messy Counter

I don’t know if your home is like Boyd Street’s…

but somehow keys, mail, magazines, grocery lists and heaven knows what else always seem to land on the small kitchen island.  No matter how hard I try to organize and clean each day, it still looks like a mess.

But… the other day while shopping in the office section at Walmart, I came upon what I think is a great solution!

It’s made of canvas, has metal grommets and hooks and is made to be hung on the wall or as I did here, on the side of an island or desk.  Not too bad for $14!  There are pockets for magazines, bills, grocery lists, and hooks for keys, etc.

I really think someone “handy” could make their own.  If I had my rathers, the bottom pockets would be deeper to hold a business size envelope vertically and the large compartment could have ties on the side to expand or hold items tightly.  Could have been a brighter color, too 🙂

But for now . . .

the messy counter has been eliminated.  Will let you know how long this lasts!  Do you have special ways to keep your counter tops clean?  Would love to hear about them!

Cheers…

Boyd Street Tomatoes: Nothing better..

Was it just about a month ago …

I was wishing for the taste of a homegrown garden tomato?  Well, now I have tomatoes GALORE and am loving it. This year I only planted those nice big ones.. Big Boys and Better Boys.. where one slice will just about cover a sandwich. Nothing better than the distinctive taste of a ripe tomato, still warm from the sun, with a little salt and mayo on bread. Bacon and lettuce are nice but I like the simplicity of just the tomato.

The only problem is they are all getting ripe at the same time and am wondering what to do with all this homegrown produce.  The weather is too hot to do much canning.  I really need some easy solutions to save these rare treats.

Help me out here.. What is your favorite ways to use an abundance of tomatoes?

Happy Thursday…

Beach Themed Placemats: 12 for under $5.00

Heads up on some closeout placemats at KMart.  After searching forever for some placemats for the new (old) white and wood farm table in my sun room with the green beachy theme, just happened to luck up on these at KMart.  At thirty-nine cents each (originally $7.25 each), you can’t beat this deal and they are washable, too.  Love the natural palette colors of tan, green, white and ocean blue!   You can find them here.

Hope everyone is enjoying their 4th of July!

Sun Room Chandelier: With a Beach Theme

Typical of a 1950’s ranch home, this old house came with a single carport which had been been converted into a room to have additional living space.  Since it is next door to the kitchen, we’ve been using it as a part dining room and part TV room.  It’s the room with many names but currently it is called the “sun room.”  Recently added is a thrift store long wooden table with dark wood top and white legs.   Since the room has little lighting, it really needed a light fixture for over the table.  The room has a beach theme from our many trips to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Thus we picked a Lamps Plus chandelier (on closeout) with a somewhat nautical theme with its wrapped iron roping effect and 6- light chandelier arms.   To complete the look, we purchased silk shantung shades from CSN Stores (5 of them were on clearance!).

Although the fixture was made to hardwire install, we chose to use a swag light kit so it could be plugged into the wall.  Converting this was no easy job since electrical skills we lack.  However, with the help of our friend John, super handyman and jack of all trades, we were able to have it installed in less than an hour.

It will take one more visit from John to get the light working properly since there is still an on-off switch to install on the wire.  We also want to drape the chain to the corner and have it run down the wall to the outlet.  Neither one of us had a ladder!  Another hint for a great looking chandelier is to have a dimmer which we have ordered from Amazon.  It’s just the type you plug in and convert any lamp to a dimming one!

All in all, we are very pleased with the results.  The room is taking shape in bits and pieces and it will be a joy to show the total look as soon as it is finished!

Thanks to John and his daughter for helping me once again “make this old house a new home.”

Homegrown Tomatoes

Our tomatoes are finally coming on for the 2011 garden season here at Boyd Street Bungalow.  Did a happy dance the other day when I finally saw them appearing!  Aren’t they wonderful?  We usually have our first red one to pick and eat by July 4th but we were late in planting this year because of all the bad weather and flooding in this area.  All our six tomato plants are Better Boys or Big Boys which we had the most luck with last year.

That’s okay because we are still looking forward to our first “Mater” Sandwich of the year!  Pass the knife, salt and mayo.. I’m ready!

My Bungalow Redos So Far

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A Room with Many Names

The single car garage in my ranch home had been converted into an extra room many years ago.  I am using it as a dining room/sitting room which I optimistically call my “sun room,”  although right now with only one window and a small window on the exterior door, there is not much “sun.”   The walls have been painted a subdued yellow to brighten things up.  The color picked was a no brainer since two old yellow and green club chairs make their home in front of a corner tv in this room (still looking for the right slipcovers).  The room houses family pictures and momentos from the annual family beach vacations.  Here is our newest acquisition.. a handcrafted white Amish cupboard or sideboard.

Purchased this gem at a nearby shop called “Serendipity.”  Love the clean lines and the beadboard back.

Fun things fill the shelves such as the jar of sand and shells from Gulf Shores and the picture of an Irish Currach, both presents from friends.   The little cupcake on the green vintage luncheon tray is actually a candle.  The white frame sadly still needs a family picture.. ah.. which to choose!

The newest acquisition for this room is a white farmhouse table picked up at a thrift store which will be added later.. as soon as we get some work done around this old house!!