Friday, September 5, 2014

Home Decorating Inspiration


Notice the tile pattern on the porch floor -



A few weeks ago, two friends and I crossed the river to visit a mutual acquaintance.  We had been graciously invited for lunch and to tour her home.  Teresa's family is incredibly talented in the home decorating line - her husband is a contractor; her son, an award-winning architect and she could easily be an interior decorator (and a landscaper, to boot).  They do home renovation projects like I try out new recipes!!




We spent the day being inspired by Teresa's creativity and joy in creating an environment that's beautiful AND inviting.  I came away with an idea for a shelf in our living room.  Teresa had two large brackets painted and welded into an "L" shape on which she placed irregular slices of walnut to serve as two shelves on the barn siding walls of her enclosed porch. 




She's great at finding things that others have discarded and repurposing them into new creations.  Below you'll see the shutters and brackets she used to make a unique decoration that hangs on the side of their garage.  And in one of the bedrooms is a beautiful old mantelpiece that Teresa salvaged from a burn pile and turned into a headboard for a bed.  She definitely has a gift for thinking outside of the box!

Artificial plants are tucked in tiny baskets inside the top of the brackets -



After our inside tour, Teresa provided a simple but colorful and delicious luncheon of orangeade and iced tea, salad, fruit, cheese cubes and homemade whole wheat bread, which we enjoyed on the porch.  After chatting for awhile, we were given the outside tour of their spacious property and finished back in the sunroom with a blueberry cream cheese dessert.  Certainly a lovely way to spend an afternoon . . .

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a nice day you had, Julie! Everything looks lovely.
God bless, Kathy in Illinois

Lori in Texas said...

LOVE the shelves and will be copying those for sure in my new house...
Julie, tell me about the book Though the Kitchen Door I saw on your books-i'm-reading list...

Julie said...

Good to hear from you, Kathy!

Glad you liked the shelf idea, Lori. "Through the Kitchen Door" is a vintage book from the '30s where a couple travels the country in search of fascinating food. It's an interesting survey of the regional specialities of the land. AND DON'T GO TRYING TO BUY IT!! It's already on the pile for your next book package. :) BTW, do you have Gladys' "Still Cove Journal" or "Harvest of Yesterdays"? Made a good dent in the pile you sent me over the weekend at the cabin - the Amish cookbook was especially fun!