Fresh Flowers

As you may know, I am moving. After five years of working on my
yard at 312 Baldwin Drive, I have to say goodbye to my big yard.
The new yard id much smaller and more flower beds and less grass.
So I have been saving seeds and cutting flowers to bring into the store.

 I also ordered $100 worth of bulbs from Breck's that will arrive in the Fall for planting.
I will take pictures of the old yard before I move!

Staging a Condo at Campus View Condos in Harrisonburg for JMU

The past two weeks I have been shopping for a JMU condo at Campus View Condos in Harrisonburg.
Because my store is a little to old ladyish, I did most of my shopping at TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning
and Pier 1. I also bought the book by Domino Magazine to help me think like a '20 something
and to add a lot of color to the project. Here are the pictures of my groupings in my living room
before the installation

Now here are the pictures of the job I did today. One great room, a girls room, a boys room
and four bathrooms with to offices.

The furniture was provided by Martins Home Furnishings. I was very pleased with the out
come. I go back Monday to find out what my clients think, Matchbox People + Property.

Time To Move On To New Digs

As of August 1st, if all goes right, I will be signing a new lease for
a great house one block from my store. I have been renting the house
I am in now for exactly 5 years and got halfway through painting the
walls, wallpapering, having custom drapes made, etc.

The living room that I painted, the walls were peach, the drapes I had adjusted to fit
the windows. The hall way I never got to wallpaper. The dining room I painted last
summer and pulled up the nasty carpet. And the kitchen I painted and had custom
window treatments made for.

 The den I painted a couple of summers ago, sorry for the boxes and cleaning products,
I am packing and cleaning as I go. I wanted to take pictures for my memory files so they
are not photoshopped, not that I know how to do that. The den i s dark, I wanted warm
jewel tones, will go lighter next time. The bathroom I papered to hide the ugly tile and the
that had great views of my garden. I will take outside pictures before I move.
 Here are pictures of the new house. This house is on Beverley Street in the Gospel Hill
District of Staunton. The house is an old Victorian on a hill and has three stories. I took
a few pictures on my first walk through.

This house has a great front yard, very little grass with a lot of front yard gardens.

This house is less rent, comes with beautiful features and is a grand dame of a house. It
needs a little painting on the inside and a decorators touch. The house will be on the market
while we live in it, but it is rarely shown and has been on the market for 5 years. My daughter
Ellie and I used to drive by it when we first moved here and would say, I want to live there.
I will post more pictures soon. This story is to be continued and a few more pics......

Outdoor Furniture and Outdoor Fabrics

Years ago when I was in my twenties, I bought this wrought iron table with four
matching chairs for my courtyard garden at my home in the fan district in Richmond.
When I moved to the country I bought the teak table I have now and gave the set
to my sister to use. She now has a pretty white outdoor table set that I found for her
last year and she brought me my old set  to sell here at the store. The chairs acme first
and the table came a couple of months later. Of course the chairs sold right away, so when
the table came it sat all alone upstairs and didn't sell. At the end of last year, while walking Elfie
in my neighborhood I came across the wrought iron chairs with broken seat, three not four.
I took Elfie home, got my car keys and flew up the street and packed the chairs in my car.
What a find and free no less.

The chairs were white,so I had my intern spray paint them a shiny black with Krylon's

Acrylic Latex Enamel Indoor/Outdoor Gloss  Paint and painted the table in the same style.

The chairs had a nice edge all the way around each seat, so I figured that I could have a piece 

of plywood cut to fit the shape of the seat and put to a piece of foam on top of each seat and

cover them with an indoor/outdoor fabric and screw the seat to the broken mess to hold it in

place!

 I love the Waverly quilted fabric I choose, I love blue and white and blacks together.

The whole set sold on Wednesday and I did almost  everything myself to save money.

The chairs ivy pattern is a little different from the tables pattern, but once they are all

painted the same color and texture, they work. Later on I will show you the big pair of

wrought iron arm chairs I plan to paint next. This time I will try to remember to do before

and after photos.