Entree!

Our collection of dog paintings is now living in the entry way. We have a small landing where the front door opens into our split level. It's paneled in painted white wood, which I quite enjoy. But it was lacking interest. And since I have decided my decorating philosophy is "more is more", why not cover both walls with our highly curated collection of ultra highbrow dog paintings. (Read that last bit with mucho sarcasm.)

Now, to wallpaper the top half of this space in Elinor by Graham and Brown:

Later, Skaters

Heading to the mountains this weekend. Gotta remember the shades.

And to keep our heads above water, too.

I can't believe 4th of July is right around the corner!

Happy First Day of Summer, 2010!

image: Chow

Is not a mango margarita the perfect summer drink? I've been enjoying me one (or eight) since the insane 95+ heat has set in here in NC.

I do mine blended - not on the rocks. No salt, please.

Runner Rug

I'm thinking of adding a runner to our entry stairs and these cotton ones from Dash & Albert might work.



There are also some jute runners from Company Store that may be an option, too. Jute would likely wear better in a heavy-traffic area.

And the (late) after

Whew! the week flew by and although I've had my trunk finished for a few days, I haven't brought it upstairs yet.


I'm not sure where it shall live quite yet - but for now the corner of the living room will do.

A before ...

Despite the intense heat today, I had to tackle *some* kind of DIY.

My MIL left me this trunk last weekend. They came down to help us with a yardsale and get rid of their own stuff. Instead, I think we just swapped stuff; they left with stuff of ours and we took some of theirs!

It's a great size for a side table and in decent shape, save for the damage to the finish. A couple of cans of spray paint later, hopefully I'll have it looking shipshape!

I'm using this, BTW:
So far, so good. it's Rust-Oleum Hammered Bronze paint. I'm not seeing the "hammered" finish yet, but it's not totally dry. We shall see.

Charleston Pt 2

A few more snaps from our trip to Charleston. Our first night in town, we had an early dinner at Fleet Landing. Mom's tilapia looked pretty:

The decor in the restaurant was charming - the wall was decorated with old school life preservers.


Over on Sullivan's Island, we hit up Poe's Tavern, where the bathroom was wallpapered in pages torn from Poe's books.

Back in the historic district, we hit up some more sights: towering oaks, sleeping kitties, old cemeteries and sassy signs:

Refresh

Republic of Tea's Pink Lemonade Green Tea is a loverly summertime refreshment! It was being sampled at A Southern Season yesterday and I got suckered in. I think it's probably the pink can - I can't turn down anything pink!

Charleston, pt 1

My mom and I took a mini break away to Charleston, SC over Memorial Day weekend. I had no idea it was such a charming city! The houses in the historic district are just too wonderful. We took a few tours of homes and it was so amazing to see restored homes from the late 1700's and get a peek in to life in that time.

I didn't take too many photos, too busy just soaking it in, but here are a few of my favorite things:

Love the color of this front door.

Secret gardens everywhere


Vintage (french) house number?


Love the walkway, fern and fence


Huge, huge hydrangeas everywhere