This is the living room. Of course those lovely burlap pillows were a gift to my older son but I did find time to display them first. The Peace pillow is a gift from my dear friend Nikki Frank Hamilton. You can visit her at the Make Lemonade Shop to check out her selection or you can custom order your pillows like I did.
The
one to the left is a drawing made by my son and I’ve added a fabric mat to it for a more refined look . The next two were printables that I downloaded from my friend Katrin’s blog, KreativK. She has the cutest printables. And these two in blue were perfect for my son’s wall. And the last one on the top right is also by Katrin; it is a winter village. The rest of the frames hold more of his drawings. They were dollar store frames.But the important thing here is that because they display things that we love they are worth much more than just a dollar. I always encourage my kids to make art and then I get to display it. And it warms my heart to see Katrin’s work on my wall as well.
The problem was that after we moved to Greece, my dad stored it in the basement and had placed things on it. I tried to sand it but instead of sanding all I did was to move the melted paint from one area to another. It was really a hopeless case. I think that in the future this one will need a good strip job. But for the time being I embraced my farmhouse inner self and just went with it. As you can see it is full of chips and nicks. There were a few there, but I added some more with the use of the sander.
I have come to love and appreciate many different styles and there is beauty in the reveal of the raw wood underneath a lifetime of paint. This piece is just like me. A certain age with flaws and wrinkles but there is still much underneath that is of importance. Every wrinkle, scratch, nick and cut has been hard earned!
I no longer see it as unfinished, but instead, as a work in progress! Just like me! 😉
This little fish bowl has been in this house for as long as I can remember. The color of the glass reminds me of the Greek sea.
I have a huge collection of cards. I’d get them in the mail and before I knew it, I had amassed hundreds of them. Well how many cards am I going to send out in this day of e-mail? None! Instead, I chose to display them in one of those collage picture frames that hold 12 photos. Depending on my mood and season I can just change them out. You had originally seen this frame in between my bookcase makeover.
Now you all must tell me, that “stool”… is it really a stool or is it something else?
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Somewhere along the line I missed this post. I’m just now seeing it. I enjoyed seeing a bit of your collections. So what are my favorites? Well, lessee, I love the chest…you know the one you wouldn’t have been caught dead with? Ha! I love it, and all that sanding you did just made it look better. I don’t know about the stool…it looks like a stool. Had a chuckle over your mom’s matching outfits. My mom was the same way…pearls & gloves…course that was the style back then. Whereas she used to say to me…”why don’t you go in the bathroom and style your hair? Mama, I don’t WANT to go style my hair!” Gee whiz, I would rather go climb trees or something. So what does this have to do with your post? Nothing! I’m off on another tangent, but I liked your post & the blue fish ashtray.
Mary your unique style is all over the place and I really love it! My favorite part is the use of cards and printables that gives a very artistic touch!
Katerina my style is having an identity crisis right about now. I seem to love almost everything. The trick is to get all this stuff to live harmoniously in one house.
I enjoyed a glimpse into your world. Love the blue fish — such a beautiful deep blue — just like the sea! And your use of the cards — wonderful. I keep favorite cards, too. Love the idea of framing them and putting them on the wall. Happy Monday!
Who is to say what we should put on our walls or in our frames. I only put things that I love and that touch me. I’m so glad you like the card idea!
Good afternoon Mary, I love how you have framed the beautiful postcards, they make a lovely display.
The bright blue dish is stunning, the blue is so vibrant.
It has been so lovely to glimpse inside your lovely world.
Best Wishes
Daphne
Daphne, this post has made me realize that I don’t have a style. It’s just a collection of things I love really. That blue is amazing!
I collect cobalt blue glass and that blue fish bowl is beautiful.
Thanks for sharing your home life with all of us.
It was a different type of post for me but also lots of fun. It made me look at my house from a different light.
Mary I really enjoyed the glimpse into your world of odds and ends. It’s funny how we use to think if a piece of furniture gets nicked up it’s time to get another. Now that’s what we want, lol. Love your dresser, and that pretty blue dish. Your photo galleries look great, it’s nice that you were able to use your sons drawing, and Katrin’ s beautiful printable. Very pretty!!!
It’s all about feeling comfortable in your home. I am slowly transforming it and giving it a bit of light.
Hi Mary, you were busy while you were over in New York. What caught my eye is the picture at the bottom of the living room photo, it looks like people on a bus looking out of the windows. How nice that you have items from your place of birth, I like sentimentality like that…. My Mum is also a well turned out lady, I couldn’t match a pair of socks if my life depended on it!
xx
The picture on the bottom is actually the television set that is on. I snapped the photo while it was on. It may be an anime series my son was watching. Ahh those mom’s are classy ladies Debbie. I’m happiest in my pajamas!!
So many charming pieces, Mary. I especially love the little stool turned shelf! Thank you for sharing @Vintage Charm!
It is lovely to get a glimpse into your home Mary 🙂 it is lovely
What a beautiful home! You’re make overs are wonderful, love them all! Love the card idea in a frame (that frame), I also collect cards and never knew what to do with them ;0).
I loved that frame too Cheryl and think it can stand on it’s own but those cards were just too cute to keep hidden.
How lovely to see a little more of the behind the scenes, thanks for sharing Mary. I love how you display precious things that have been handed down or kept for years.
Although we do tend to end up with lots of clutter some things are worth preserving Julie!
Mary your sweet stool is just gorgeous! And all of your precious goodies that you have popped on top! Your card collection has been displayed so beautifully as well! Such a lovely way to keep them.
Thank you so much for sharing a glimpse of your beautiful world with us over at Waste Not Wednesday 🙂
Sam sometimes it is the small humble things that deserve to be displayed.
I would call it a small bench or a step, rather than a stool which, at least to me, is round.
I love that you describe the dresser as a treasure under it’s paint & compare it to yourself – all women get better with age, this is known. Not well known to the younger set, but then we were once youthful fools too.
My instinct with a painted piece is always to strip it to the bare wood & just let that shine. I hated the move to painting every stick of wood… hiding all the grain & character.
I’ve found you & come to visit through the AIM link party; I hope you’ll find time to stop on by the 4Shoes one day & let me know you’ve been.
🙂
I tried my hardest to get that paint off of my dresser but it wouldn’t budge. I think next time I go to New York I might try one of those strippers and see if I can remove the top at least.
I love all of your beautiful decorations, Mary. Especially those pillows! You can definitely see all the charm and character each of your pieces adds to the home. It is truly beautiful and unique!
The pillows have moved but each one was chosen with love and thoughfulness. Thank you Celeste.
Your life experiences seem to pour out in almost every post Mary, and this one is no different. Brilliant. It takes a special talent to make ordinary things come to life as they are shared through your eyes and heart. Thanks for sharing another wonderful post. The stool is interesting and very low. . your use as a decor piece seems to be much more practical! Take care Mary.
Thank you Laurie. You have given me the highest compliment. I want my blog to be a place where you can come over and put your feet up, feel at home and get to know me thru my adventures and stories.
Such treasures and displayed with love. I have few things from my family handed down. I really love the idea that you encourage your children to make art so you can frame it. I recently ran across several watercolors by my daughter and want very much to mat them and frame them…she is now a mom, so I held on to them for a very long time.
I beleive the best are it the one that touches your heart Debbie. And there is nothing closer to the heart than family. I know that when your daughter sees her watercolors she will be so grateful that you remembered them and took the time to frame them.
You are a sweet person Mary, I can understand this and I can see it in your place too. Cozy and sweet full of warmth and love. Love every little detail especially the blue plate.
Hugs and kisses my friend 🙂
Christina, doesn’t that blue plate remind you of Greece and the greek sea? Thank you for your kind words.
I have absolutely no idea what that cute bench thingy is Mary but I so enjoyed reading this. Your NY home looks like it’s a true reflection of you or how I imagine you to be. All the love and caring for others is evident in every picture and vignette you’ve created. Katrin’s beautiful printables intermingled with your son’s art work, a cherished dish from your mom combined with hand painted cups from your birth place, throw pillows made with love by a friend and a chippy dresser. They each tell such a beautiful story about you. You’re an amazing woman in so many ways
Michelle I like to think that it is surrounded by love and by things that are made by the people I care for.
Love the story behind the stuff Mary. Its what make our houses homes. The vintage maps of New York and Greece are especially wonderful. Your living it so it doesn’t seem that glamourous but to be flying between New York and Greece is pretty amazing. Both of those locations are on my bucket list, I won’t ever be able to afford Greece, but New York most certainly is.
I chuckled when you talked about the stool and needing one to get in the cupboards lol. I am five 7 and by far the shortest in my house so its a new idea for me.
So glad you were able to see you boys and be a Mom and nest with them. Its lovely to read.
Enjoy your week. Leanna
Leanna it may be glamorous to you but for me it’s a pain by now. all that back and forth. If only it was fewer hours but the pond is very big. Haha!
As for that stool, I’m only 5 foot 3 inches so it would have to be a lot bigger to help me reach the top cabinets.
Oh that stool is perfection and so perfect for decorating vignettes like yours here Mary! The dresser is so nice, with all it´s scratches and imperfections! I have to say that I also didn´t see the beauty in imperfection before blogging…shame. I would have lot´s more stuff to repurpose if I had! The cups and milk server are so special, and they look great on the stool! I also love your card collection, Thank you for letting us peek into your home!!
Thank you Katrin for always joining me in my adventures where ever they might be. I really need to do something with that stool or whatever it is.
Thank you for showing us a “glimpse” of your world, dear Mary. Those odds and ends are full of memories and lovable. I really like those cups – wouldn’t mind finding them in my china cabinet… I’m sure you had a lovely time in New York!
Have a great day,
Marjan
I had the best time even if I didn’t finish everything I set out to do. But when are you really finished?
The stool is quite the find, I can see it as stool for a preschooler, as elevated shelf, as prop shelf on a porch with pots on it, you name it!
Thanks. For now it stays there and when I get back I’ll find another spot for it.
You spoke to me when you said there was a time you would not have liked a dresser like that. I was like that and it was my ex husband and ex fiancee who opened my eyes to the beauty of used items with a coat of paint. I am grateful they did. I love the dresser and all of the other items.
Thanks Debra, we are learning to appreciate so many things we would not have given a second look at years ago. I think that is the true beauty of this journey of ours through our blogs.
Mary, I really enjoyed this peek at your treasures. I always tell people that the best decorating comes from adding pieces you love to your space. You have certainly done that. I have no idea about the stool, but I love what you have done with it!
Thanks Kim. And all this just in my son’s home. I haven’t even gone to the basement yet! 😉
I never thought about the analogy between an old piece of furniture and me Mary, but now I will never look at one in quite the same way again. Lol
I think that’s a stool too…a bit too low to be a bench, unless someone is super short!
XXX
Leave it to me Doreen to come up with something like that.
And that might be a bench if you were an elf! 😉
You may have returned to Greece but you really left your imprint in New York, which I have no doubt your son’s and Dad cherish. Enjoyed reading this post, Mary!
Thanks Marie, I carry all sorts of baggage wherever I go. I even managed to bring some paint home to Greece with me.
I’m not sure about the stool, but it’s an interesting piece. I love the dresser. There’s just something about old wood peeking out from beneath the paint. It’s really beautiful.
I agree Tuula. That dresser is definitely older than me and deserves some respect. So I’ll not torture it with the sander and just put lovely things on it.
Mary,
I love your old chippy dresser! It’s perfectly imperfect, you know? Thanks for sharing your heart each week ~ needing a pick up today. <3
Eat an olive for me over across the Pond,
Barb 🙂
That’s exactly how I see it Barbara. Perfectly imperfect and that suits me just fine. I hope you are feeling better.
Hmmm…you’ve stumped me as it relates to that stool! Could it be a little shelf sort of thing to sit on a counter? What ever it is, it is surely charming as you are using it.
It was really lovely to see ‘where you live’…this blogging thing is funny…we really get to know each other without actually meeting each other and seeing each other in their environment…as such, it’s always neat to get a sneak peak.
I hope you are enjoying a lovely spring day in Greece, it is just blissful here in North Carolina.
Hugs, Lynn
Lynn this is not even where I live, this is where I visit. Haha! But a piece of me belongs here. We’ve had this home since I was a teen and while we moved to Greece my dad kept it and now the kids are back with him…well at least one of them is. It’s funny how life goes around in circles.
Enjoy the weather because I hear in NY they are having a snowstorm again.
Mary,
I can’t help you out with the stool issue but I love your collection of bird cards that you have framed! They’re beautiful! I also love your Blue fish plate (how unique!) and your mothers cream pitcher (beautiful!). I think the dresser is a beautiful piece, whether you re do it or not! I find your life very interesting ! Thanks for the “glimps” !
Jeannee
Thanks Jeannee. I don’t know if it’s interesting or not. I only know I get to watch lots of movies on the flights back and forth. Haha. And yes I have become very fond of that ole dresser!
Mary, you were super busy when going to New York and it looks like you got a lot accomplished. I like the vignette you made with the stool and cups. I wonder if the stool could be used as a bed tray of sorts? Anyway I like how you styled it. The furniture looks great and all your wall displays are beautiful!!
That is a great idea Keri, a bed tray. Unfortunately it’s too small for that. I would have loved that thought!
I love your home and I LOVE that dresser.
By the way, in the room where the television was, I saw your screen and thought that was a print on your wall.
The coolest print ever.
If only Kari! I just have a cool son who loves watching Animes and makes me watch them with him. Haha!
Nice post! Love vintage items too. The fish bowl is a beautiful blue indeed.
Marissa that fishbowl has been in my family for as long as I can remember. Doesn’t it remind you of the blue sea?