Ruffles and Roses

Ruffles and roses have been slowly making their beautiful way into Heaven's Walk lately.

My heart has been being tugged more and more by the inspiration my eyes linger on over at

Courtney's French country cottage and Tausha's simply romantic home.

I find myself returning to their blogs again and again because I want to feel surrounded by 

creamy white ruffles

soft, faded roses

candles

and

touches of pale purple and aqua.

Romance.

Sweetness.

Femininity.

So, for now...for the summer

(and probably longer...),

ruffles and roses have made a serene, romantic appearance throughout this old farmhouse.

With Tausha's gracious guidance,

I bleached some Simply Shabby Chic linens that were originally an oatmeal color.

 I soaked them in lavender scented bleach for quite a few hours,

and then soaked them in a whitener/brightener for a couple hours

to remove any leftover yellowy tint.

The result was just what I was hoping for.

A beautiful, rich, creamy white cloud of linen ruffles.

 

A Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic ruffled tablecloth in "British Rose"

was draped casually over the end of the chaise.

A vintage looking basket tucked next to the chaise

was filled with faded floral scraps of fabric.

A handful of ranunculus and old roses

in faded, purpley pink were tossed on top. 

 A vintage cut glass vase on the coffee table, given to me by my grandmother, was filled with  purple hydrangeas, stock, and a sprig of lavender.

Heaven's Walk is smiling...

happily dressed in her summery wardrobe of

ruffles and roses.

  [ Blessings ]

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Tattered Grain Sack Hearts

While I've been laying low at home with a nasty cold,
(which my darling hubster passed on to me)

I scraped up enough courage (and strength) to haul out my little sewing machine again.

With knocking knees

and whispered prayers on my lips,

I sat down to create some tattered heart sachets using some grain sack material.

I was motivated by all of the hearts I had been seeing of late in blogland. 

♥

Now...I must tell you that this particular grain sack was not of the best material.

Not like the ones I usually purchase from my favorite Etsy source.

I picked this one up at the antique market last summer for cheap,
which is why I had no qualms about cutting it up.

It was clean and very linen-like, however -

perfect for this project.

I remembered that I also had some leftover drop cloth scraps in the basement 

along with a flour sack towel,

so I used those, too.

I found a heart online, traced in on a manila file folder,

and cut it out.

After tracing it onto the grain sack and cutting it out,

I sewed a button or tag here;

a piece of lace or embroidery thread there;

and added vintage seam binding or grain sack twine to hang them from.

No, the machine was not consistent with nice, untangled sewing lines,

and I found myself almost flinging the thing across the room at one point

because of the clumped snags it was making.
Agh!

But I controlled myself,

re-threaded the bobbin and the needle,
(more than once)

(revisited my self-inflicted sewing assignment)

and attempted it again.

The results were worth my almost patient, prayer-filled effort.

I created a mixed media heart with grain sack material

and some vintage toile,

and I outlined one with red embroidery thread.

I made one using that flour sack towel,

but found that fabric was a little more tricky to maneuver 

with my temperamental machine.

I left the edges rough and tattered.

It made them look well-loved.

 And yes....

the sewing machine survived to see another day...

for now.

Hope that you were blessed with a Valentine's Day 

full of love!

~  ♥  ~

 [ Blessings }

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~ Part 2: The Loo ~

Good morning, my fellow bloggettes!

Before I share my latest project, I wanted you to know how much I deeply appreciated 
all of your sweet comments after my post on how Heaven's Walk got it's name.  Your encouraging statements and wonderfully touching stories about the furbabies who you love and care for melted my soul.
We are blessed that they have left paw prints on our hearts!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The refloofing and refluffing has continued into my loo.

The main floor loo.

The loo that our guests use.

I adore this room 

because of the high ceilings 

and

the glazing technique the previous owners did on them.

I'm in love with the floor to ceiling beadboard

that is painted creamy white.

I'd have my entire house done in beadboard and/or horizontal wall planking

if were up to me.

(But then I'd end up just spending my days walking around 
and sighing

and I wouldn't get a thing accomplished.)

What I've never understood, though, is why the previous owners

(who were 75 years old btw)

hung THIS on the ceiling....

Yes, friends -
that's Lady Godiva....
in all of her stunningly naked glory.

I know - I know -
I know what you're thinking.....

but, I just don't have an answer for you.

Seriously...

But we've kept her up there.
She's quite the conversation piece.

Ok......refocus people!  

Back to soaring ceilings

shimmering glaze work over creamy white paint

a boatload of beadwork

buckets of lavender

vintage brown cheese box

a beloved French tote bag

and fluffy white towels.

Here's the BEFORE ~

and the AFTER.

I bought the bucket for $1 at my friend's antique shop.

I used it for a "pickin' pot" this summer in the veggie garden.

When I was Hobby Lobby the other day, I literally cleaned out their inventory of lavender 

(which was still 50% off).

(Yes....that was me behind the armload of purple, screaming like a little girl 

as I skipped my way out to the car...)

The lavender even found it's way into my favorite French tote

purchased from Tracey at French Larkspur.

 

Vintage bottles were a Hobby Lobby find for a mere $2.

Vintage cheese box was found for a song on Etsy.

Believe it or not, I found this French soap at a local grocery store!

Someday, I would like to put wood floors in this room to tie in with the rest of the original oak flooring in the house. 

(I haven't a clue why they installed carpeting....in a bathroom
...really? )

Anyway, so there you have it.

A simple pre-holiday French farmhouse loo
done for a song and a dance.

"Refloofing: Part 2 - The Loo" is officially completed!

Onward to Part 3...

{ Hugs }

~ laurie

Linking with Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday!

~ Refloofing: Kitchen - Part 1 ~

Bonjour, ma jolies!

If you read my last post, you know that I've been busily

tossing

throwing

moving

fluffing

floofing

and slacking no more.

Well, maybe just not as much....

I very much needed to make some changes in my house.

Small, affordable changes that would make a big, beautiful impact.

I very much wanted to feel like I'm living in a francais du ferme (French farmhouse) close to the sea.

Oui, etre intime!

The very first thing I did was change out out the striped, summery, beachy looking rugs for indoor/outdoor sisal rugs in a warm caramel color. They instantly provided a calm atmosphere to the room. Two new farmhouse lights, one over the kitchen table and one over the sink (that hubby so kindly hung last week after days of nagging by his loving wife) were the next additions.  I purchased them with my CSN gift certificate I won from Jo's (at Secret Garden Cottage) giveaway quite a while ago.  I was in such merchandise overload upon my first visit there, it took me this long to decide how to spend it!
(Thanks again, Jo!  xoxo)

So, following Jo's suggestions from her sweet email as closely as I could  
(see my post from November 12),
I tackled the kitchen first ~

1. Removed the large mirror over the buffet table and placed the vintage gray shutters from the living room on top of the table. (I know - sounds weird and I thought that Jo was off her rocker, but wait til you see...)
2.  Removed most of the bottles of flavored olive oils from the counter keeping only the ones used on a consistent basis.
3. Added white ironstone pitcher filled with our wood cooking utensils next to a cute little vase with herb sprigs in it.
4. Removed wood block knife set from counter (which hubby won't dare whine about - especially after I inform him what bacteria carriers they are!) and placed constantly used ones in a nearby drawer.
5. Removed framed beach-chaise picture which will be replaced with a vintage wire hook rack (that I am actually making!) where some sweet things will hang from twine.
6. Added AWESOME faux lavender discovered at "my second home" (Hobby Lobby) to French body pitcher. (You won't believe how realistic this stuff looks!)
7. Added white ironstone bowl filled with green apples on buffet table next to the vintage scale.
8. Removed valances from windows - which instantly brightened the room and emphasized our tall ceilings.                          

Oh.....you wanted to see photos?
All righty then!

Here are a few BEFORES ~

Okay.....but no wow factor.

And here are the AFTERS ~

(Looking forward to hanging some vintage pages, seasonal decor or something from those shutters...Oh, and the brown pillows will eventually be grain sack pillows with a soft caramel stripe in them - which will just scream French farmhouse!)

(Should I move the shutters together.....?)

(Does this look real or what....?)

(Purchased the cute hanging soap dish at Farmhouse Wares,)

(I still may distress that little buffet table - or replace it with a vintage one.)

Small changes? 
Yes. 
Big impact? 
Yes.

What did I learn from Jo?

1.  Don't be afraid to declutter and put things out of sight that aren't used frequently.
Less is more.
2.  Don't be afraid to just move things around from room to room.  I never would have thought to put those shutters on TOP of that buffet table, but it works.
3.  Use color-unified textures to create a serene feeling in a room.
4.  Look around your house to repurpose things you already have - and use them in a room that you wouldn't normally use or see them in.
(No, that does NOT mean that you put your clawfoot bathtub in the middle of the kitchen....unless you have some very friendly friends who aren't shy...)
5.  Be sure to incorporate nature into your home in some way.  It keeps things real!

As I continue to refluff, be sure to stay tuned for "Refloofing: Bathroom - Part 2".

Have you refloofed a room recently?

I'm joining Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday!

{ Etreinte } { Hugs }

~ laurie

Sea Blue and Lavender

Good morning, friends!

Well, the Allegan Antique Market surrendered some absolutely perfectly imperfect finds for Debbie and I this past weekend.   

Oh, it was good.  Really good. 
So good, that I want to go back in July...

We had such a grand time!  We turned on our 'radar' and shopped and rummaged, searched and sorted, and walked and walked til the big old storm clouds started rolling in and we heard murmurings of a storm watch.  Luckily, we could see the last vendor at the end of the line and made our last minute much-needed purchases before we heard thunder.

I promised I'd share with you all the vintagey, chippy, old, sentimental treasures that somehow found their way to this vintagey, chippy old, sentimental farmhouse.

And the first one is this quaint little sea blue bottle.

There were so many different bottles in so many different shapes and sizes....all lined up in rows here and there, displayed with and without flowers in them - all in that incredible sea glass aqua blue color that I crave in this house in one way or another.  

It so reminds me of the color of the sea...

I knew exactly where this little blue sparkly treasure was going to go....right next to the large blue one I dug up in the woods on our property (which I had to give a really good cleaning to - it was filled with something that I don't even want to try to describe to you....)

Debbie left me a sweet thank-you gift on the guest bed, and nestled inside among a candle, and linen napkins, was some lavender from her garden. This little bottle was the perfect place for that beautifully scented gift.

The way the sun sparkles through that perfect blue in the morning makes me happy.

As I stand at the sink washing up dishes after meals, the scent of the lavender calms and centers me.

A sweet little treasure for a sweet little price.....$3!

Yeah, that's what good antique markets are all about.

[Hugs}!

(Oh, and be sure to visit again! 
I'll be sharing more antique market goodies with you soon!)

~ laurie

Heaven's Walk Welcomes House at the Lake!

Good morning, sweet friends!

I am so very excited today I can't sit still!
Kinda like a kid at Christmas.

Not that I've been sitting still over the past few days, because I've been a busy busy busy

gal preparing for weekend guests here at Heaven's Walk. 

Cleaning, dusting, polishing, painting...whew! 

Hosting overnight guests is always a good reason do get those little chores done that always end up on the back burner, ya know? A little prodding and promises directed hubby's way and miraculously - things start to happen. (*wink)

My friend, my 'sister', Debbie from houseatthelake.blogspot.com,

(you have visited her blog, haven't you? It's sweet and cozy and totally Debbie!)

is driving down from the north with her hubby to visit my southern part of Michigan to kick back with my hubby and me. We've known each other for about 30 years, 

but haven't seen each other in over 10 years.
How could we not be sisters after all that time?

This, dear friends, will be emotional....I guarantee it. The hubs will stand back and roll their eyes and shake their heads and comment how dorky we are while we squeal with delight, hug and kiss and hug some more.
I can hardly wait!

After a tour of our grand, old, much-loved home and gardens, we'll all be imbibing  

(is that a word...?) 

in a couple bottles of Heaven's Walk homemade "Fat Cat-Happy Dog" wine on the deck (or front porch if the promised rain makes an unwelcomed appearance),
but guess guess guess what else we'll be doing.....?

We're headed off very early Sunday morning (rain or shine!) to a local flea/antique market that is only held once a month. Four hundred vendors will be waiting for us! Yeah, four hundred! Talk about eye candy. Soul candy. Vintage treasure candy! Total Retail Therapy! Does it get any better than this???!!

(Cue: more squealing!)

(Yes, I promise I'll share with you all the treasures that I just can't leave behind.  And I'm sure that Debbie will be blogging about her goodies, too!)

We're going to wander and drool and obsess and buy vintage treasures til the cows come home and we can't squeeze any more into my little SUV.

(Ummmm....on second thought....maybe we should take hubby's truck...)

So.....preparations have been made for our beloved overnight guests.

 The guest room has been primped, starched, fluffed and made cozy for them.

And yes, you recognize my 'Sea Isle' rocker from the front porch, don't you?

You'll have to stay tuned for a future post on how she ended up in the guest room!  

 Fresh, sweet lavender and hydrangea is on the nightstand because I know how much Debbie loves them.

Fluffy towels, bath supplies, 'Beach Mist' shampoo and lotion I nabbed from our vacation spot in Florida this past spring, and a pink mesh bag full of seashells all nestled into a wicker basket to make them feel welcome.

Mmmmm....there's just nothing better in life than to climb into a bed smelling of lavender and sheets fresh from the clothesline.

A vintage family Bible passed on to us by hubby's dear mother sits next to beach and lake magazines to curl up with in bed.

 I pray that they both feel welcomed and loved and we have a memorable weekend of fun, fellowship, and laughter....oh, and a lot of treasure-gathering - which I promise will be followed by a lot of blogging by Debbie and me.

 So, hey....if you're ever in the neighborhood,
just remember that there's always a cozy bed with plump pillows, warm duvet,
and fresh lavender waiting for you at Heaven's Walk, friend!

 Hugs to you

~ laurie