Stripping Furniture

I've been busy...

I have (4) of these chairs to strip plus a table base.

I started a rather large project...stripping and re-painting my kitchen chairs and a table base.  I spent approximately 8 hours stripping and sanding (husband did the sanding) one chair!!!  Then a lightbulb went off in my brain...I have a heat gun, why didn't I think of that before I spent 8 hours slaving with liquid stripper??  So, I will try it out on chair number 2 to see how it works.  I will still will have to use stripper to remove the final finish but hopefully it won't take me as long.

One down, three to go.  Sigh, I will keep you posted on the finished product! (I painted this one in bright white semi-gloss paint and it turned out great.  I'll post photos later.  :-)

Follow up:  After using the heat gun and spending just about the same amount of time, I decided to forgo using it and just use the stripper.  I am on chair number 4 now.  I have officially stripped, husband sanded and I've painted 3 of the 4 chairs.  Tomorrow is another day of stripping!  :-(  I don't mind the painting as husband has been using a spray primer from Sherwin Williams first and it covers wonderfully so that I only have to give it two coats of semi-gloss. The second coat just gives it a more finished look.  I'll keep you posted.  After this chair I still have the table base to strip, sand and paint.  I'll post pics when I've finished.

I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely fall weather.  It has finally gotten into the mid 60's and it looks like we might see low to high 40's at night and 70's during the day later in the week.  Take care!

Some Inspiration For You

I took to the internet looking for some inspiration and found it on Inspiration Lane You can Visit Here.  I enjoy viewing the different images and it gives me some great ideas. The music is soothing and pleasing to the ears and you can add the images to your tumblr account.  What do you think?

Yummy!

I love the texture of this lamp base and the distressed shutter in the background

Absolutely gorgeous!

A simple eye pleasing accessory.

This describes my life at the present time.

One of my favorite furry friends...So sweet

Words of Wisdom

I could not resist this...I added this to my collection
(Image via West Elm)

Along with two of these, turquoise and an emerald bottles.

Add caption

(Image via West Elm)

Granddaughter and the Pledge of Allegiance

This is my granddaughter, Gemma who is 3 years old. She was impressing all of us with her recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.  I was amazed that she could recite The Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety...the fact that some of the words didn't quite jive didn't seem to matter to her!  LOL

Happy Birthday!

Today, I am celebrating my birthday and wanted to send out wishes for everyone who is celebrating a birthday this month.  October is my favorite month because it has the most beautiful blue skies of any month...at least I think so.  I will celebrate by taking a walk along the Pier,

(Photo Mine)

Having a decadent dessert of some kind???  Any ideas?

I have 62 of these to blow out!  LOL  I don't think I can do it!

And ending the day with a nice relaxing cup of coffee.

(Photo Mine)

It's a beautiful day, a bit humid and warm but beautiful.  I couldn't ask for more!

Sigh....

Beach Houses

Every morning and evening when husband and I go for our walks we pass this Beautiful Beach Home on St. Andrews Bay.  It overlooks the Bay and has a pier off to the side (which you can barely see in this photo) that displays a spectacular view.  (Oh to look out to this view every morning and evening!)

Beach House on St. Andrews Bay

I thought it would be fun to decorate the inside of this house so I decided to select some photos that I thought would be really pretty for the inside.

Very pretty and "blue"

Love the coral table and stripped throw.  It adds a nice "pop" of color and oh what a view!

I have to admit these shades of blue speak to me but I think the addition of some other complementary colors would break up all the blue.

Pretty banquette 

 I like the simplicity of this bedroom

Great look for a guest room

 A private hideaway...A great room for young adults....writing in their journals and peering out the window.

So, what do you think?  Which room is your favorite.

A visitor??

You never know who might come for a visit.  LOL

Fab Items from West Elm

I'm a fan of West Elm and on recently visiting their website found some really cool items.  I love the cool colors in the first image especially the turquoise bottle and the navy blue and white mix of pillows, poufs.  I think poufs are a really nice addition to any room not only for tired feet but also as an extra seat too. The bird pillow and navy cotton velvet pillow with the metal hand hammered nail heads are my favorites and I have to admit I purchased them.  You can visit their website to view "what's new" here:  West Elm

Pretty shades of blues, greens, and clear bottles

Midnight blue cotton velvet pillow with decorative metal grommets  ( ordered this one)

Love the design and colors in this pouf

Mineral colored wallpaper...such texture

Sweet colorful birds...I ordered this one too!

Denim Pouf

Adorable rocking birds

Another indigo and white designed pillow

Shell Island

Last Wednesday, we decided to take a tour of Shell Island. Shell Island is a very natural environment, which means there are no concession stands where you can buy food or drinks, no restroom facilities, and no picnic tables, trash receptacles or shaded pavilions.

The western portion of Shell Island is part of St. Andrews State Park, and the two are divided by the St. Andrews Shipping Channel (known to locals as "the pass"). The eastern portion of Shell Island is property of Tyndall Air Force Base.

If you want to get technical, Shell Island is not an island at all, but is now and historically has been a peninsula. However, the efforts of man and shifting sands have changed the designation back and forth over time. It became an island when a shipping channel was developed to establish a more direct shipping lane between Port Panama City and the Gulf of Mexico. The majority of the bay's outflow of water also soon followed this route, and the original eastern outlet gradually filled with sand and turned the island back into a peninsula. However Shell Island may be an island again soon if what's known as the "East Pass" or "Old Pass" is opened up again by dredging a channel.

In its history, Shell Island has seen Native American settlement, the arrival of Spanish explorers, and even pirates! More modern efforts at development have usually been quickly undone by hurricanes, including a zoo that was once located in what is now state park owned land.  You can read more information on Shell Island here (Shell Island).

I took a few photos of the area from the tour boat.  It was a beautiful sunny day with the seagulls lining all around the outside of the boat waiting to be fed as the boat took off with "cheetos corn curls" that the first mate handed to us to feed to them.  One seagull snapped one right out of my hand.  Unfortunately, husband left the movie option on and some of the photos turned into movies which for some reason we cannot download onto my blog so these are the images I took after we found out the landscape photos were movies and I changed the setting.  All are from the boat.  I hope you enjoy them.