The 5th OY VEY!! Q&A!! Tuesday

Welcome to the 5th question part of OY VEY!! Q&A!! Tuesday.

This is how it works.....

On the first Tuesday of the month

You ask some design questions,

and I answer them for FREE!!!!

Just remember-----

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

(Just sayin')

So ask your question at the end of this blog post.

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Now let me go back and finish up showing you my Florida guest room. 

WE HAVE ONE MORE WALL TO DO!!!

To the right of the bed, I found this tray table that I felt had an interesting look.

Unfortunately, it's a little uneven, so things don't sit up straight on it.

I have a weakness for vintage style phones.

This one is a cordless one!!!!

I'm sure it works great, but the phone plug is behind the headboard,

and the bed is so heavy,

that I am too lazy to move it to get to the outlet in the wall.

I figure if my guests need to talk to other folks when they're visiting me,

THAT'S THEIR PROBLEM!!!!!

I keep a basket full of paperbacks, so my company can entertain themselves, and LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

The green vase has birds on its side, continuing my avian theme. 

USA is stamped on it's bottom, so it is very likely made by McCoy.

THOSE ARE REAL FAKE FLOWERS!!!

The bird is another piece of Italian majolica....

I know NOTHIN' about this bird!!!

When Larry and June were visiting me last month.....

Larry informed me that the clock in the guest room was correct twice a day.

I need a new battery.....

Seems like such a waste to buy one for a room used twice a year.....

I am a gracious and caring hostess!!

The redo of the guest bath was last years project.

These are shots of the before.....

When I first viewed the house.

Can you tell that I didn't really take a picture of this room?????

I had to crop these views from other photos.......

Please bear with me, I know this is not so great!!!!!

ANYWHO......

I had the vanity replaced with one from Restoration Hardware, and the toilet replaced with one from Kohler that is a comfort height.

For those of you in the older category....

comfort height is a nice term for higher toilet seats, so those of us with aging knees and hips have an easier time hoisting ourselves off the loo.

I lucked out by finding two baskets at Home Goods in the PERFECT 

size shape and color for the lower shelf.

The wallpaper is made by Nobilis, and bought through interior designers.

It looks like weathered drift wood.

I LURV IT!!!!

When I showed my friends the sample, before it was put up on the walls, they thought it would end up looking like cheap 1950's plywood.

HA!!!

They are SOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous!!!

I bought the mirror from Home Goods too.

It had a dark ebony stained frame.

I spray painted it with white primer.....

Then I went to the beach and got some sand.....

strained the sand (to get rid of anything yucky)

sprayed the frame with adhesive spray.....

covered the frame with beach sand....,

went to the beach and collected driftwood and seashells.....

went to the seashell store to buy more seashells.....

hot glued the driftwood and seashells on top of the sand-covered frame.....

hung the mirror on the wall.....

it looked like crap!!!!!!!

So,

I took it down, brought back out to my workshop

(my garage)

pulled all the shells and wood off the frame.....

sanded all the glued sand off the frame.....

AND IT ENDED UP WITH A GREAT BEAT UP FINISH!!!!!

Then I tooled around the internet some more, and got sucked into the Ballard Design website.

They have these great pendent lights that can be installed using an existing recessed light fixture.

June helped me get this up, and it was just like the old days, 

with her trying to help me,

and me being bitchy.

Now the light looks VERRRRY styish....

and of course with the lampshade and diffuser on the bottom, 

there is LESS LIGHT, so it's 

MUCH LESS PRACTICAL!!!!!

But it looks good, and that's all I care about.

No one coming to my house for two days needs to do that kind of close up, 

lots of light needed bathroom procedure!!!!

Ya know what I mean?????

Okay Dokay

this ends my story of my guest room.....

On to the questions!!!

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This is a question and answer party!!!!!

Only questions, please you guys. 

If it isn't a question, I'm taking the @#$ link down.

 link up to the "party" by linking a particular post's url, add your question to the end of your post with a link back to my blog. My button is on my sidebar. 

It looks just like a button!!

For those of you who don't have a blog, you can email pictures with questions.

email me at:  betsyspeert@gmail.com.

If you just have a question, with no pictures, leave it in the comment area, below.

IN ORDER TO GET AN ANSWER, YOU GUYS BETTER BE A FOLLOWER!!!!!

It's easy, just click on the blue box at the right; over the pictures of my members.

I would also love it if you became a subscriber.

I will then post your pictures with my suggestions and answers on the following Tuesday.

I may not be able to answer all the questions.

If there are a lot of them, I will choose the ones most likely to interest the other folks in the class.

So link up below!!!!!

Click  "Click here to enter"

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More of My Florida Guest Room!!!

I added shutters to the sliding doors, just like I did in my master bedroom.

Here's what they looked like before the shutters.....

Bare feeling, not cozy. I had been thinking about changing the doors to look like French doors, but in Florida, to be practical because of warping...

you need to use fiberglass, and I don't like the way the grills are held in the fiberglass doors.

So, I didn't know what to do, until I saw what my neighbors did, 

sooooo....

I did it toooooo!!!!!

I find the transformation amazing.

Even after all these years of decorating,

I still get a rush when something so simple makes such a 

dramatic difference!!!!!

Here's a full view....

('cuz I really love how this turned out!!!)

It opens right onto my postage stamp pool!!!!

Looking straight across to my bedroom, with its own set of

 new plantation shutters!!!

Quite a change from when I first saw this house!!!

The view out the door has certainly improved!!!

OK, on to the next wall,

THIS ONE IS DONE!!!

At the foot of the bed is an armoire that has the acanthus leaf turnings of the West Indies style I was going for.....

I had it hauled down from Massachusetts along with the monster I put in my living room.

IT GAVE ME ANOTHER SURFACE FOR MORE

STUFF!!!!!

So, of course.....

I had to cram some more birds and vases in the room...

I had an opportunity to collect another color!!!!

Yippee!!!

YELLOW!!!!!

I thinks its pretty.

Just a bunch more McCoy and Abingdon pottery with Royal Copley birds

I swear, when I'm sleeping, the damn things are multiplying.

But who wouldn't want some of these!!?????

OK

I'll come clean.....

The reason I showed you so many pictures of the collection on top of this armoire....

IS BECAUSE, IT TOOK ME TIME TO TAKE THEM,

(I had to get up on a ladder)

 SO I'LL BE DAMNED IF YOU GUYS DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT THEM!!!

I lucked out, and found a pair of split reed small barrel chairs to flank the armoire.

You know how I love split reed.

I WAS ABLE TO GET THREE PIECES IN ONE ROOM!!!!!

The starfish is made out of plaster, I think I got it from Pottery Barn.

I wish I could find another one, 'cuz when I had some work done in the powder room that backs up to this wall, the vibration of the hammering caused one to fall off its nail and break, now I only have one.

WELL I NEED TWO.

The prints are more birds by John Gould, the same guy who painted the birds over the bed.....


NOW...
Before I go.....
Here's a picture of one of the birds on the side of my armoire....

This guy is different.....
He was made by Roselane in Pasadena Ca.
Probably from the 40's.
THIS IS MY PROBLEM!!!!
I now have two of these off white birds, one on either side of the armoire.
I also have two in green on the chest of drawers that I will show you tomorrow......
OK, now that makes 4 by this company......
WHEN HAVE I EVER STOPPED AT 4 OF SOMETHING?????
I'm running out of space, and I feel a compulsion to add more @#$ birds!!!!


HELP!
I'M COLLECTING AND I
CAN'T STOP!!!!!


Later, Gator

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Short Term Guest Room

Let's continue the tour of my Florida guest room....

I put a king size bed in the room, so the couples that visit me would get a good nights sleep and not be grumpy in the morning.

I DON'T WANT NO GRUMPY GUESTS!!!!

I would have preferred using a pair of twins, since I think they make a prettier guest room,

BUT!!

Being the gracious hostess that I am.....

I put my guest's comfort before my decorating urges.

King size beds are a pain in the @$$ to make!!!

The sheets are the size of a football field.

JUST ANOTHER REASON TO BE HAPPY THAT I'M NOT MARRIED!!!!

As you can see in the photo below.....

I have a few more ceramic birds in this room...

Some go this way...

Some go that way....

And some just hang out in the middle

In the morning I check to see if there are any droppings on the pictures under the shelf.....

So far, so good.

Most of the birds are more than likely made by Royal Copley;

 a company whose motto was:

"Gift shop merchandise at chain store prices"

They sold figurines at 5 &10 cent stores in the 40's and 50's.

The pieces were hand-painted using air brushing. 

According to the Seabring Ohio Historical Society webpage...

“Birds were among the most popular figures, it is estimated that about 500 dozen birds were made each day. They sold at chain stores starting at 25 cents retail, having arrived at the store for around 15 cents each. Currently, the more embellished and large items are selling for $50-150!”

All I can say is that now I own 

ALL OF THEM IN AMERICA!!!!

To continue the bird them, I found John Gould prints of parrots and macaws. 

I found them on ebay of course!!!

when the smaller parrot prints arrived from the Australian seller...

they were TOO white. 

Looked brand new...

Probably were only a couple of years old....

Didn't work.....

SOOOOO.....

I did what any self respecting DIY decorator would do!!!!!

I made a tea bath and dipped them in it!!!!

Then scrubbed the tea bags around on top of the paper a little more.

It came out uneven, but good enough for me....

After all, I wasn't selling these suckers....

Things don't need to be perfect in my house.

ESPECIALLY IF I'M THE ONE MAKING IT!!!

According to Wikipedia:

John Gould (14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist and bird artist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates that he produced with the assistance of his wife, Elizabeth Gould and several other artists including Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Matthew Hart. He has been considered the father of bird study in Australia and the Gould League in Australia is named after him. 

Not to let you know how clueless I am, but before I went on ebay looking for parrot prints, I had never heard of him. 

WHO KNEW???!!!

You may recognize this chair form Chloe's visit!!

It's more of my lovely split reed. 
I just LOVE this stuff.

At the time I posted this, I hadn't realized that there was a framed photo of her on the table behind the chair!!!

Think I'm just a little obsessed with this dog???


The vase is a piece of McCoy

the bird is from Italy

and the plate is a piece of my Wannopee pottery collection.
I have these plates on the walls of this room and hung 
in my Massachusetts family room.
THEY IS ADDICTING....
so if you buy one, be ready to buy more.
These plates are called lettuce-leaf ware, although a cabbage leaf was used to make the mold. 
They started making them in America in 1901, and were based on Italian majolica.
They come in lots of sizes, so if you decide to collect some to make a wall display, you can create something wonderful by using different sizes.

I found the pair of lamps at a local antique show/flea market.
I love these guys, they are truly funky.
I used shades from Pottery Barn to top them off.
I really lucked out by finding green shades that worked with this room.

The whole lamp is make out of grass or pine needles
 (I don't know what it is) 
and dried leaves.

I still have to recover this little bamboo style footstool I found.
I'll probably do it in the floral fabric I used throughout the room.

I tried to use fabrics with tropical flowers in their design for this house.
This creamy yellow pattern is full of magnolias.

I used it in the draperies and the three chair cushions.....

It's spring here in Southern Florida, 
and the magnolias are blooming.
Their perfume fills the air and the blossoms are gorgeous.
So, if you are stuck up north.....
EAT YOUR HEART OUT.....
but if you come to visit......
MAKE SURE IT'S A SHORT ONE!!!


Later, Gator

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