The Little Cottage Shed - When One Room is All You Need

As I sit in my little upholstered chair in my living room, thinking about how much I enjoy living in this house that I shared with my sweet, late husband and my daughter for the last 18 years, I am also thinking about how overwhelming it is to take care of now that I am on my own.  With a finished basement and two additional floors, an acre of landscaped grounds and a pool and pond, I sometimes wonder if I will ever be able to keep up with all that is required.  It's not that it's a palatial estate -- just that it's a lot of house for this 49 year old soul.  But I love it here.  I have around 60 roses, over 300 bearded iris, and the house works great for me with my antique and ebay business.  And of course, I am blessed to have a home...a place that brings me such joy and reminds me of how fortunate I am in so many ways.

Downsizing continues to be a strong possibility in the future, but not any time soon.  In the meantime, I was thinking to myself, "how much room does one woman with two dogs and an old cat really need?"  I think I could easily live in one of these enchanting places.  Enjoy

Who needs a house when you have a pool house like this?  I love how close this  place is to the pool itself

You know me and my love of Britain - I'm guessing this thatched roof beauty is somewhere there. 

 My guess is Hansel and Gretel can't be far behind...and the Seven Dwarfs for that matter.

 

Victorian perfection - I especially like the steps and the fence

Based on the surroundings, I would guess this is out west - straight out of "Little House on the Prairie"

Gothic grandeur - this is possibly my favorite

More thatched roof love

Solitude amongst the mountains and a lake - how wonderful

What a setting

I love the old wood, the windows that look like they could use a good scraping

My love of robin's egg blue is in full force here

A mini chateau in your backyard

A storybook cottage if there ever was one...love the gingerbread work at the roof line

Now that's a tree house - my second favorite here

Modern, yet cozy and warm -- what a view - looks like the islands

All we need here is Jeremiah Johnson to complete the picture...then I truly would be in heaven

Another tree house - how fantastic - looks like it was built in a day from the scrap yard

Just prop me up in that robin's egg blue chair next to this little beauty and I will stay forever

Not exactly a cottage or a shed, but wow...I want to peer out my kitchen window at this every day

Love among the ruins - how romantic...I could even overlook the probability of mice

Perhaps that is a note tacked to the window from Mr. Darcy himself, letting me know that he will return soon

Winter beauty - I do love cold weather

White wander -- what a picture of spring perfection

I love the Cape Cod look of this - and the flowers...and the windows

Hope you had as much fun looking at these little gems as I did finding them.  Photo and design credits are unknown so please forgive.

A Great New Blog Discovery - The Paper Mulberry

To say that I follow a lot of blogs is a serious understatement.  I view no less than 30-50 per week and as many as 300 a month.  That's why I can't seem to accomplish much some days! But blogs are such a wonderful source of inspiration, information and friendship -- they truly make life much more interesting.  There are so many talented people blogging these days, but I must say that my most recent discovery is a real find.  "The Paper Mulberry" is a real standout and I encourage all of you who love Europe, in particular France and England, to take a looksee at this wonderful blog.  The photographs are wonderful.  I am completely hooked.  Here is just a sample of what you will find.

Robin's Egg Blue - How I Love You

Shed from home in Wiltshire England - What a wonderful door

What color represents spring time more than robin's egg blue? It just a happy color that represents a re-awakening...of nature, in particular, crisp mornings, warm days, birds singing and grass turning green.  It is such a romantic color.  How can you not be happy when in its presence?  It has certainly experienced a rise in popularity in home decor, popular both inside and out...in paint, furnishings, accessories and outside by our pools, in our gardens and in our outdoor rooms.  I have featured some of my favorite photographs gathered from various blogs, websites and magazines.  I don't have references on some so please forgive if I didn't credit you properly and feel free to comment if you know the source.  Some of the photos feature a little bit of a variation on the color robin's egg -- love is indeed blue.  Enjoy

Kitchen courtesy of www.macys.com

What a wonderful oven

Morning Star Refrigerator - what memories this would bring to a kitchen

 I love this fan!

Now that's a wonderful laundry room - I might enjoy doing laundry in here

Photo courtesy of Sally Jean

Serenity defined - that's what robin's egg blue is all about

Lovely dining room - the Chippendale chairs are fab!

Hollywood Glamour in Robin's Egg Blue as only Billy Haines can do

A greener shade of Robin's Egg - so lovely

Shades of Robin's Egg on the sofa and in the paintings - I love the "happenstance" look of this room -
 designed but not "decorated"

Robin's egg in a wonderful vintage upholstered sofa

A robin's egg sky in Wiltshire England - this house still reigns as one of my all time favorites and can be found
 on one of my previous blogs - drool worthy

And last but never least, my daughter's god sister, McKenna Smith Echols, in her  beautiful bed featuring her beautiful bedding in robin's egg blue, pink and white - she is beautiful

Lavender...from My Garden to My Dear Friend to Elizabeth Taylor

For as long as I can remember, my best friend, Sharon has adored lavender.  When we were growing up in College Park, Georgia, her room was always a shade of lavender or purple, as we often referred to it. Looking back, I know now that it was lavender...lovely lavender.  She now lives in Destin, Florida and was  in town this evening and we had a wonderful dinner together.  We were joined by her sister Marlissa, her mother Muriel and her niece Erin, along with Erin's boyfriend Josh, who was the only man at a table full of estrogen.  I always have a wonderful time with this part of my extended family, as I have known them since I was 9 years old.  I noticed this evening as I entered Muriel's home, the same home that she has lived in since Sharon and I were little girls who became fast friends in the 4th grade, that she has decorated her kitchen in lavender.  And I am in love with the sofa and chair in her family room, as they are upholstered in a fantastic vintage-style floral in lavender, green and white.  Too die for!  Even her kitchen counters are a variation on this most beautiful color, and she manages to pull it off beautifully.

As much as I love grays, whites, pinks and blues, I do believe that lavender is equal among these most magnificent shades.  I have an extremely pale version of lavender on the walls in my home, as the main color throughout...it is so pale that it can pass for a blush.  I do love it...even my late husband liked it, but he was known to be in touch with his girly side, and thank goodness he was, because I am definitely a girl when it comes to interior design.  Anyway, speaking of lavender...I have so enjoyed my Iris garden this spring.  It is a sea of lavender right now...the same Iris that my great-grandmother handed down to my grandmother, who handed them down to me.  I treasure them every spring, but it seems that this year, the Iris have been a real standout, as I can't remember them ever being quite so beautiful.  There must be hundreds of them, standing proudly above the roses that accompany them.  I have featured some photos of them in this post, although the pictures from my phone camera do not do them justice.  I will try to post better shots at another time so check back for more.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this tribute to this most dashing of colors.  I especially hope that Sharon enjoys it as much as she enjoys the color lavender.

I am obsessed with this wall covering and how can you go wrong with this upholstered bed?

The ceiling, floors and wall color are such a romantic combination - I'm in love with this room

The drapes are so wonderful in this dining room, paired with the soft white and gray tones of the chairs

Grayish lavender beauty

Bold lavender - this especially reminds me of Sharon

Courtesy of House Beautiful Magazine

This room from Southern Accents Magazine is the perfect pairing of various patterns in the same shade of lavender

The Chateau-de-Villandry Lavender Garden

Lavender Garden at The Valencay Chateau

Lavender in Wisteria Perfection

Lilac Blossom

A Lavender Rose -- I had one for several years in my own garden but it proved to be a very delicate rose - I've heard that there are much hardier versions out now in this shade so I may give it another try

Ranunculus - The Most Romantic of Flowers

How  beautiful is this?

I couldn't possibly do a post about the color lavender without mentioning Elizabeth Taylor and her incredible eyes...those eyes with their double rows of eyelashes on both the tops and bottoms.  When she was a child actress, directors and cinematographers often complained that she was wearing too much eye makeup, only to learn that she had on none at all.  Her eyes were often referred to as violet, purple or lavender...I would simply call them perfect.

 

The most beautiful woman in the world with the most beautiful lavender eyes

An Iris from my own garden

My Iris Garden - Please forgive my lousy camera phone photograph - this doesn't do them justice