New Year In Blue

Every year after the holidays, I am excited to put the Christmas away and to create something new for the new year. This year I am in a British mood as I have been reading British editions of Country Home, Country Homes & Interiors, and English Home magazines. I was inspired by a photo in one of these magazines, where a hutch was filled with French linens, white dishes and some touches of silver. So pretty!

Fall In Blue

For Fall, I brough out my earthy toned things. Some of my Brown Wear, My mother-in-law's Brown Betty teapot, and some of my fall dishes etc... I was really pleased with this look, as I wasn't too sure what this color scheme would look like against this bright blue. It actually made them pop, which I love.

Completed

Well, this is it! I am very happy with the way it turned out. I am especially loving how pretty things look inside of it. I change it seasonally, and everything I have put in it looks wonderful :)
For this spring and summer look, I filled it with some of my green and pink depression glass. I added a few other things for color. I found the green glass knobs at Anthropology.

I know this picture is sideways... but, I'm just learning!

Anyway, this picture in one of my magazines became my inspiration for wanting a distressed blue piece. I loved the handles on this dresser so much, but have not found any this pretty yet. I will keep my eye out though. You never know when you might find what you are looking for. :)

First, I made the decision to paint the cabinet blue. I had some sample paint colors that a friend had given to me, so I tried this first, just to see if I liked the idea. This color was pretty, and reminded me of a robin's egg, but in the end I felt it was too light, and kept looking.

Cabinet Redo

This is our diningroom before we painted it yellow. I chose this picture though because it is the only "before" picture I could find of the cabinet in the corner. This piece has a fun history because it was the first thing Jeff and I bought on credit when we were young in our marriage. (in order to establish credit) . It has a matching table and chairs as well, but when we moved, they found a home at our son's house. Anyway, I wasn't loving this two-toned look anymore, but I didn't want to get rid of it either. So, I started thinking about painting it.

It took a little longer than it should have to get this project done... putting the new switchplates on was a breeze, but several of our on/off switches were actually a dark old brown color... so, I got out my tiny paintbrush and painted them :) I used the satin white paint we had used for our trim, which dried quickly and had the perfect shine needed to make it look like white plastic. I think Jeff might be happy tonight when he sees my work. He thought he was going to have to buy all new electrical boxes for these! So fun.