Dining Rooms- Swedish, French and Farmhouse Styles

Who doesn't love a well dressed table in a beautiful dining room?  With comfortable chairs, large windows with the warmth from the sun radiating in during those cold winter months, and a beautiful garden to look out upon in the spring and summer. For me personally, I like more casual dining but for those of you who like a more formal look,  I have selected some beautiful dining room settings for you to drool over.

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Even though this is a bit dark, I love the grey.

Image by Swedish Interior Design

Image by House to House Co. UK

Image by House Beautiful

Image via Google

Beautiful!

Image via Google

This is gorgeous!  I love the floors and the brick walls.

Image via Google

I love the tapestry and the blue and white fabric on the chairs.  What is your style?  Do you like formal or informal dining?

All In The Family: "Edith's Problem"

It's Friday, time to kick back, relax and have a good laugh.  I decided to leave this week with a little humor.

I'm sure all of you remember All In The Family, the 1960's comedy.  If you haven't and are looking for a good laugh this might be what your are looking for.  In this episode, Edith's personality takes on a drastic change some of us might relate too.  Sound familiar?  Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded word that no one likes to talk about... M-E-N-O-P-A-U-S-E.  If any of you have ever experienced the flushing,(Why is my face so red?), the up and down emotional roller coaster, the headaches, bloating, and hot flashes then this should lighten your spirit.

So, pull up a chair with your favorite beverage and have a good laugh OR not depending on your situation and take a peek at what "Women Of A Certain Age" have to look forward to.

Sigh, It is "All In The Family"!

Upholstery 101

Having recovered several chair cushions over the years and after feeling reasonably confident, I decided to recover the chair seat of my computer chair with the help of my husband.  (He always helps me when I strike a grand plan LOL)  In the past, I have used fabric that doesn't have a match...Either a solid or stripe. This time I decided to try a pattern, a toile fabric of linen/cotton made for upholstering which presented some problems for me, a novice upholster.

Because it was a toile pattern I had to make sure that the scene was centered in the middle of the seat which in and of itself didn't present any problems.  But in trying to make sure that the pattern was perfectly centered (I'm a perfectionist) I neglected to make sure the pattern was turned so the scene could be seen from the front of the chair instead of from behind.  Needless to say, once recovered and I had a chance to look at it, I asked my husband if the pattern should be turned so as to see the scene when looking directly in front of the chair instead of from behind?  Being a man he said he thought you could do it either way.  But I knew something was amiss and decided to contact my dear friend Fifi of the blogs Fifi Flowers(HERE) and Reading Is Fashionable(HERE) by sending her a picture of my chair and asking her what she thought.  She sent a message asking me if there was any reason why I reversed the pattern?  HA HA HA  Not wanting to offend me she said it looked nice. In any event, I had to do it twice.  So, a job that should have taken about an hour or so turned into a two hour project.  LOL LOL Live and learn and you can bet your bottom dollar I won't make this mistake again.  Take a peek at the results.

This is what the chair looked like:

Chair Before I Recovered.

After I Removed the Seat

It took us one hour to remove all of the staples from the seat of this chair.

Laying Out The Fabric

This is a two person job. One person needs to staple while the other pulls the fabric very, very taut.

Stapling the New Fabric Onto The Chair Seat

Stapled and trimmed.

Backing Added

Finished Chair Seat Recovered.

Voila!  And remember ladies to turn your fabric so that the pattern can be viewed when looking at the chair from the front and not the reverse.

Winners of the Giveaway

Well, today's the day!  After putting all the names in a hat, husband picked two winners.  The winner of the French gift tags is Maureen of Eclecticrevisited and the winner of the hand stenciled burlap bag filled with scented lavender is Genie of Paris and Beyond.

Okay ladies, if you will e-mail me your address and select which of the patterned paper shown in the post that you want your gift wrapped in I will get these in the mail to you.  E-mail me at kenkrisfranklin@gmail.com.

A big thank you to everyone who entered.  I wish I could give all of you something! Stay tuned because in a few weeks I will opening my new ETSY store and will be having another giveaway.

Simple Pleasures

Sometimes.....

I find that a simple arrangement....

A candle with a few embellishments...

A jar of buttons tied with hemp twine and a label from a french menu...

And a side table dressed up with a bit of  Belgium lace suits me just fine.

Sometimes...Less is more.

For all of you who haven't entered my giveaway on Tuesday you can do that (HERE).

Bella's Birthday

Its Party Time.

Justin Bieber Balloons

Boy, the years fly by! Yesterday Isabella turned 6 years old. This is how she looked at 4 months...

Isabella at 4 months

This is Isabella now minus one of her front teeth.

This is Bella now ( I call her Bella).  Never one to be shy in front of the camera, she wanted everyone at Chili's (her favorite restaurant) to know she turned 6.  She is a girly girl.  Yep, at age six she has already mastered how to apply makeup and does a fairly decent job of it.   She is all about earrings, jewelry of any kind, nail polish, and of course lip gloss.  I might add that she can put the gloss on so thick that she can barely open her mouth...more is better with her.

This year's birthday theme was guess?  Justin Bieber.  She is in love with him...yes I said love.

Bet you can't guess what's inside the bag and in that long tube?  You guessed it, a life size poster of Justin Bieber to hang in her room, a T-shirt, a CD, straws, and a stuffed bear all with Justin Bieber's name on them.  She couldn't have been happier!  Life is good!  Just give me ANYTHING with Justin Bieber's name on it and I'll be happy.

Bella with her Brother, Joshua

Yep, you don't mess with the Birthday girl and get away with it.  Notice the Justin Bieber plates and of course napkins to match.  It didn't take much to make her happy.  She told me, "I'm six today" and was very proud of it. If I could, I would freeze her at age six but I know I can't do that and deny her the pleasures of going through what all pre-teens, teenagers, and young adults go through before they become a grown-up.

My Girl.

So, for the time being I will hold her while I can, sit back and watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.  Happy Birthday Bella, Love Mamaw.

E-MagDECO

I am always searching for interesting things to read about French styles in different locations and came across this e-magazine. I subscribe to this magazine and haven't been disappointed. (See banner on side of my blog)  The writer of this magazine is Laetitia Rissetto, who's blog, The Heart of Provence I also frequent.  I thought you might be interested in having the link to check it out for yourself (HERE) There is a wealth of information and gorgeous photos in this online magazine with links to various shops, restaurants, artisans designers, houses, guest houses, shopping, and a creative pages.

Image from E-magDECO

Image from E-magDECO

Image From E-magDECO

Image from E-magDECO

Image From E-MagDECO

These are some of the pictures from Laetitia's recent article on "Justin de Provence," a guest house in the heart of the Rhone Valley on the outskirts of the city of Orange.  You must read the entire article and view all of the pictures...They are just beautiful.

This magazine has many beautiful photos, and creative ideas for making items.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

If you haven't already left a comment and added your name as a follower for entries to my giveaway, you can do it (HERE)