More Cottage Bedroom Details!!!!!

OKAY CAMPERS!!!!!

I was going to show my dining table with the hemp oil application, 

but decided I better do another post on my bedroom,

 as I am very scared of what may happen if I keep telling you I'll do it,

 and then I don't.....

You will call me a liar......

You will think I'm not dependable.....

You will realize that I am retired and only want to do what I want to do when I want to do it....

Soooooooo.....

In order to make you think I'm reliable, dependable, and a woman of my word.....

TODAY I CONTINUE SHOWING MY BEDROOM!!!!!

OH BOY!!!!

ON TO THE LEFT SIDE OF MY BED!!!

Which is on the other side of my bed from the right side.

Depending on if you're looking at the bed from the foot.....

OR LYING IN THE BED ON YOUR BACK!!!!

You better not be lying in the bed.....

IT'S MY BED!!!!

OY!!!!

OK, where was I?????

Oh yeah, showing you pictures.

This is my bedroom.....

This is the left side of my bed.

 Another shot of the left side!!!!!

A closer shot!!!

Lets start with my chair.
It's a bergere, which is a French style closed arm club chair with a partially exposed wooden frame.
This one is a Louis XVI style.

It used to be covered in a green brocade fabric when I lived in Watertown.

This is how it used to look....

But moving to my condo, some things had to be reinvented.

I found this wonderful fabric from Scalamandre.

I had planned on using it on a client's job, but of course, that never happened.

So, the sample was just sitting around in my office,

waiting to be noticed,

whispering.....

"Pick me!! Pick me!! Pick me!!"

It was sorta jumping up and down, waving from the corner.....

I think it looks like white lace, overlaid on blue cotton.

Fabric placement is very important when laying out the pattern for a piece of upholstery.

Notice how I used the different parts of the pattern to create a variety of effects.

I had my buddies at Drape It reupholster this for me, but I spent some time with them, plotting out the fabric placement.

Tufting can do some really neat things to a fabric's pattern,

 creating a new pattern by folding the fabric back onto itself.

OKAY...

enough about the chair.

Oh, wait!!!!!

I've had several people ask about how I got my cushions to be so poofy.

FEATHERS!!!!!

This chair and the two in my study have cushions filled with a mixture of down and feather.

OKAY....

Now enough about the chair.

back to the table on the left, (if you're standing, that is...)

Staying true to my aesthetic, and laziness.....

I have fake flowers on this table TOO.....

housed in ANOTHER tarnished silver plate vase.

Jeesh.... 

I found this German piece of china 30 years ago.

I think it's from the 20's.

But then what do I know?????

BUT I LOVE HIM

 (or her, I never checked, it would be rude.)

Here's the picture of my Dad, I told you about.

He's 97.

This picture was taken last year!!!!!

Here's a picture of my three oldest siblings.

This was taken before I was born.

My mother had time to dress them up in cowboy outfits.

This was before she had five children...

All three of these cowboys are going to be living near me!!!!

In two weeks my younger brother (the little guy in the front) is going to come to the Boston area.

He's going to live here for 9 months!!!!!

He's taking a sabbatical.

The other two desperadoes already live here.

With my parents next door.....

It's

A LOT OF SPEERTS!!!!! 

The only one missing is my sister Ellen.

She ran away to California......

While we're looking at family pics....

HERE I AM AS A BABY!!!!

Once again....

my mouth is open.....

probably looking for my foot.....

Above the night table is one of a pair of hand colored bird prints.

 Here's it's mate, on the right....

It's a great place to hang some of my justly earned awards from my long ago youth.

I was captain of the riding team in college.....

How sad that I've held onto this ribbon for so long, but I like the way it looks hooked on the frame.

To really show my level of maturity!!!!!

I have kept my BEST DANCER award from dancing school from when I was in 

8th grade!!!!!

How could I great rid of something this dorky??????

Above my headboard is a pair of sconce lights.

I like having supplemental lighting over a bed for those of us with weakening old rheumy eyes....

(oy, oy, oy)

Of course I spent money on  the lampshades.....
they have a beautiful smocked detail.
The mirrored backplate detail I've repeated around the room, and will be showing the other items sooooooon.

SOOOOOO......

Another long post from me me me.....

that's it for today.....

Latah, Gatah

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Hey!! What Smells So Good?????

I don't usually write about products that I can't stick on a wall

 or cover over a piece of furniture.

But a big part of the experience of a home is its scent.

Some folks are big into scented candles, 

Some folks aren't.

I was in the undecided camp.

So when I was contacted by

Goose Creek Candle Co

to review one of their scented candles;

 I had to sit my tokes down, and think about how I felt......

WELL!!!!!

I was willing to give it a try.

They were sending me the candle for free, and I was going to get compensated for my opinion!!!!!

SOMEONE WAS GOING TO PAY ME FOR MY OPINION!!!!!!!

I could write the truth and I'd still get paid!!!

Don't they know I'm a wild card???????

You never can tell what's about to come out of my mouth

 (or out of my keyboard.....)

When I informed my father of this situation, he wanted me to request

two candles

for the purpose of comparison.

I felt that would be pushy......

(I know, I know,,,,, can you imagine I was worried about being pushy?????)

So.........

The candle arrived this week to much excitement in the Speert households!!!!!

(For those of you who are new to my blog;

 my parents live in the condo next door to me.....)

I ran next door with my booty and butane lighter,

 and my parents and I fired the darn thing up with much anticipation!!!!!

Then we just sat in the living room looking at the little fire burning.....,

Waiting for the smell.....

Pretty soon a sweet appley flowery sent started wafting into the room!!!

At this point, I grabbed it and took it next door for the experiment to begin in earnest.....

 This is the Victorian style jar that the candle comes in.

It has a nice metal cover that  has a plastic gasket around the inside 
to tightly seal the jar and hold in the scent, 
preserving the life of the candle.

So, you can burn it in short periods, 
add aroma to your home, 
cover the jar,
 and it will last a loooooooong time....

 When you've burned the whole candle,
 you'll be left with a pretty jar you can transform into something great for storage that has a nice tight seal.
I like the fact that there is no big label on the jar,
 so it looks nice on a countertop, no need to hide it.

I was allowed to choose any one of the popular scents.

Being a foodaholic, I chose the one that was supposed to 

smell like apple pie.....

It's in their American Heirloom collection.

It's called: Apple Bourbon Scented Candle.

It's fragrance description is:

Country favorite -  apple pie topped with luscious hot caramel sauce, warmed with a touch of Grandpa's bourbon and topped with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. 

So, I was really excited to have my house smell like I was actually baking something, 'cuz that doesn't really happen here in this house too often.....

So, 

This is my take on how it smells.

It has a sweet fruity flowery smell.

I definitely smell the surgary tones of the caramel sauce. 

Not sure about any bourbon scent.

Flowery apple scent.

maybe a little vanilla overtones.

Overall, a very pleasing aroma.

Not sure it smells like I was baking anything.

but then my friends and family would have just been confused when they came to visit.

It definitely took care of last nights oven poached salmon oder!!!!

There are times, (now that I think about it.....) when my house doesn't smell as fantabulous as I may want.

THIS WOULD REALLY HELP WITH THAT ISSUE!!!!!

So, it could be useful if I lit it after I cook some god awful dish that didn't turn out so great.

Or, on really  hot days, when the garbage can needed to be changed due to the wrapping from the chicken breast from the night before......

Or, I don't know, maybe I'll go crazy, and light it just to make my house smell pretty!!!!!

Sooooooo.....

If you like scented candles and potpourri, 

you will definitely like this stuff!

The container is attractive, 

It smells pretty

It lasts a looooong time.

AND I HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE COUPON CODE YOU CAN USE TO GET A 25% DISCOUNT ON YOUR WHOLE PURCHASE!!!!!

Just go to Goose Creek Candle's website by clicking HERE, and entering this code: 082312,  when you pay for your candles.....

The coupon code is good till September 30th.

If you buy the same candle I have.....

our houses can smell the same!!!!!

Latah, Gatah

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Reupholstering a Tiny Stool for Me Me Me

I am finally finishing up my study.

I got the two fabrics I had ordered for my desk chair and little footstool.

Today, I am just going to show off my leetle stool.

I know, I know.....

I still need to finish showing my bedroom, but this is the decorating version of a cliff hanger......

Is your adrenaline racing?????

When we last left off my study.....

my little stool looked like this.....

So, I hauled it up to my sewing workroom.

It was very heavy!!!!!

 My plan was to strip it down to the frame and rework all the interior stuffing and stuff.

Then I thought....

"Betsy, what are you.....NUTS?????"

So, I decided to just build on what was already there.

The middle of the upholstery was sort of sway back.....

Concave.....

The opposite of my abdomen.....

 So, I cut a piece of batting to fill it in.....

 Then, cut another piece the size of the top of the stool.....

And then used spray adhesive to glue the two pieces of fill together.....

 Then I cut a piece of this wonderful blue ticking 

that is from Michael S Smith's fabric line: Jasper.

 And starting from the middle of each side, stapled it working from the middle out to the corners, pulling it smooth as I went.

 True to form.....

I forgot to take a picture at this point!!!!!

Welllll.....

Anyway.....

To continue.....

So, after I attached the fabric with staples, I trimmed the excess with a razor blade.

Now it should be mentioned, that this it the only use I get out of razor blades.

Doing DIY stuff.

'Cuz I certainly don't waste any of this effort on ME!!!!!

Then I made a tape trim out of the striped fabric, by cutting a long piece and folding it over, and ironing it into a nice sharp fold.

 This is the back of it, I wanted you to see that it doesn't need to be perfect.....

 Then I used a decorative nail head tack, to attach the tape to the bottom edge of the fabric....

 I tucked the fabric in on itself inside the fold, and made a small overlap to end the tape trim.

Here she is in all her redressed glory!!!!!

 And here she is in her home.....

 Here's another view.....

So, 

that's if for today, 

Latah, Gatah

partying at:

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Table Top Settings, Just Playin' Around.....

For those of you looking forward to more pictures of my master bedroom.....

Well.....

I don't feel like talking about that today.....

I went for a loooooooong walk with my bidness partner, Kris, 

and I is tired....

So, I am going to do a short post on different ways to set my table.

I was asked to show how I would set it, and so 

(being the accommodating blogger that I am)

I went a little loopy, and stared trying all different combinations

 of the @#$ I have.

I have been collecting all sorts of plates and glasses over the years.

I never use them.....

They just take up space.....

I like to look at them.....

Sooooooooooooooooo,

 in the interest of putting the best picture first on a blog, so that the blog rolls show it, I will start with the combo I liked the best!!!!!

I actually use the green cabbage leaf plates. 

I got them at Home Goods.....

The pearl handled flatware are from (gulp) Target.

I bought them before I started my boycott.

The hobnail glasses are vintage from my collection.....

acquired through my purveyor of fine antiques.....ebay.... 

I've had the basket chargers for over 30 years, 

I think they're from Pier One....

The plate is antique, I'm too tired to get off my @$$ and go see it's make.....

I love the blue glasses, they go with my chandelier.

But let's start with how wack-a-doodly I was the other night when I was playing with this stuff......

I started with some floral plates, to work with the cabbage roses on two of my dining chairs.....

Then I added a white hobnail goblet from my collection, and one of my new green hobnail glasses I bought online.

 Then, I changed the cabbage plate for a simpler green edged floral one....

(How exciting is this, anyway?????)

 THEN I TOOK THE SMALL PLATE OFF TO SEE THE PLATE UNDERNEATH!!!!!!!

(Calm down, I know, my life is one big adventure....)

 THEN I CHANGED TO THE RED GOBLET!!!!!

(I really need to find other things to do with my time)

 AND THEN.....

AND THEN.....

AND THEN I ADDED ANOTHER PLATE!!!!!

 At this point I went really crazy and paired the green glass with the red goblet......

(I know, I am such a wild and crazy woman.....)

At which point, I stopped @#$ around, and ended with this, my favorite, which is how I started the post.

SO, 

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY....

Don't exercise, or you may end up writing a stupid post like I just did.

Latah, Gatah

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