Sunday Favorites -- Am I Blue? Not Anymore!

Happy Father's Day to the dads and grand-dads! I hope you all have good grills, comfy recliners, and the appreciation of your womenfolk and young'uns. :-)


Many thanks to Chari at Happy To Design for hosting Sunday Favorites -- a weekly re-run of an old post. Click here for more second-time-around tales.


I love this meme; it appeals to the lazy in me, and to the part that wants to keep telling the same stories about That Old House over and over and over again.

So -- without further ado, a post originally published on February 15th of this year. . . about how our powder room went from singing the blues, to seeing red!

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I love flowers in clay pots.
I love brick walls.
I love blue skies.

But, sadly, I didn't love them painted on these walls. This was our powder room, when we bought That Old House nearly a year ago:

This little half bath is at the end of our "butler's pantry," (the rather grand name we give to the passageway between our kitchen and dining room, which we hope to restore someday). There is a walk-in pantry on the other side of that pocket door.

I felt guilty, wanting to repaint this room, because clearly
a lot of time and effort went into creating it.

But, I got over it:

Goodbye to the blues!

We painted the powder room to match the dining room,
Tucson Red, #1300, from Benjamin Moore,
with the beadboard wainscoting and woodwork in Moore's Atrium White
for some relief from the intense red in such a small space.

A crystal sconce that matches the dining room fixture replaced an undersized brass-plated one.
The vanity and sink are serviceable and in good condition,
so while I'm not crazy about them, they will stay for now.

We replaced a worn faucet with a simple, classic polished nickel one. I love polished nickel; it has the look of old silver to me. My Dad thinks I am nuts.
He is a very practical fellow, and told me, "Nickel tarnishes!"

Yes, Dad... that's the whole point! :-)

There is a window over the sink, so I needed a mirror on the opposite wall, and was looking for an old fashioned sort like my grandmothers had in their homes. It needed to be fairly large, and (of course) cheap.

I found it at Home Depot, of all places:

It was only about $30. It's beveled, and there is an
etched-glass floral border around it -- just like I remember.

You never know where that just-right article may come from, do you? I'd spent months looking for the right mirror (sometimes finding the right mirrors for other rooms but not this one!) and there it was, waiting for me, just 6 miles away at the big box store!

Still to be done: curtains!
I'm thinking a nice chintz, or maybe a red & white toile; what do you think?

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Curtains did get done -- in black and white toile!

I hope you enjoyed the transformation of the powder room.

Happy Sunday! -- Cass

A Craigslist Adventure, and Turtle Love

I haven't "blogged" since Tuesday! Yikes.



A quick catch-up. . . my daughter Anne finally made it home from Guam, after being delayed more than 32 hours at the airport in Tokyo. She slept 14 hours straight when she finally plopped into bed.

She brought home an adorable little retro-looking souvenir for me:

She also brought home a fine quality item from the K-Mart on Guam, a turtle-shaped oven mitt:

Now pay attention, folks, as Anne models the oven mitt:

And asks... "What is odd about this turtle?"

Hmmm... look at it from this angle:

Oh there is just so much I could say . . . but I won't.
This is a family blog.

And I can always count on my family to ferret out the true gems when they go shopping.

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And speaking of shopping and ferreting out . . . Craigslist beckoned this week, and after some delays due to rain, rain and more rain, Anne and I hit the road on Friday and bounced from one side of northern New Jersey, near the Hudson River, clear across to the other side, where we could see Pennsylvania across the Delaware.

I got a sweet little Limoges plate, $10,which I think will wind up in the pink bedroom:

From the same seller, I got 6 little silverplated seafood forks,
$1 each, in an early 20th century Aesthetic style:

And . . . two little Empire style chairs, $20 each, in good sturdy shape.
Here is one of them, artistically placed in front of my dishwasher:

A 40 minute drive away, this, for $30:

It's a nice slanted lift-top desk, in great shape:

But our trip to the western border of NJ turned out to be fruitless; the items we were interested in turned out not to be what we really wanted. Always better, then, to say No Thank You!

But -- stay tuned. Anne is planning to decoratively paint the chairs and the desk, so we'll have some very pretty "afters" to show you soon!

See you tomorrow, for "Sunday Favorites!" -- Cass

A Peek At My Three Favorite Platters

I love dishes, and I love to serve food to friends and family.

I especially love to serve food on pretty dishes!

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Welcome to my Three Or More Tuesday post, for the blog party hosted by Tam at The Gypsy's Corner.
Click here for more!

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When my in-laws still lived in Massachusetts, there was a small antiques shop in their village, and I was the lucky recipient of many of the treasures my mother-in-law spotted there. Probably my favorite is this platter:

I use it all the time, for just about everything. (Well, not for soup.)

I think it is ironstone, as it is very heavy. What I love is that it is very deep.
You can put the pasta and the sauce on this.

I love the soft pink and lavender flowers, and the worn touches of gilt:

You can see the depth in this shot; this big platter is at bottom right:

It is marked underneath with a shield, with "Weimar"
diagonally across it, and "Germany" beneath.

I always assumed that meant it was made during the Weimar Republic years, 1919 to 1933, but I did a little quick research this morning, and there was a porcelain company of that name, using that stamped shield. So -- I have no idea how old this platter is after all!

If you ever find a big, pretty platter with a deep, deep well -- buy it!
Your tablecloth will thank you, because nothing will slop over the sides when people are helping themselves (not a problem if you have a butler, but we've let ours go -- the economy, you know).
Plus it is just the perfect showcase for your food.

My other two platters are twins, almost. Same platters, different sizes.
And I love them because they are just so durned purty.

Plus I got them both for $5.00, when I bought some matching
dinner plates on Ebay. They are Limoges:

I have about 15 dinner plates, and perhaps 6 luncheon plates in the same pattern, and 6 bouillon cups, all bought piecemeal on Ebay, for cheap. But what I use the most are these two hardworking beauties.

They don't match the big ol' German gal, but they look great working right alongside her.

I love the delicate flowers --

and the gilded touches --

They are perfect sizes for so many things -- asparagus, couscous, roasted root veggies, and of course -- cookies for tea! These three platters get more use than any other serving pieces, even though they do require hand washing. It's well worth it.

And that's my Three Or More! I think next week I'll rummage through
my Grandma's china cabinet and find some neat things.

Do you see the chair to the right, below? It is wicker and metal, with great patina. Anne brought 3 of them home from college; these I like having around!
We found them at the side of the road last fall.

Someone commented on my post yesterday, that I was keeping it real by showing my upstairs hallway completely filled with my daughter Anne's home-from-college stuff.

I liked that comment; That Old House and its insides and its outsides are very real, creaks and cracks and all. Plus, I had to laugh when I looked again at yesterday's post -- talk about real --

I should have noticed the lovely coating of dust on the newel post
in that last hallway picture, before I published it for all to see!

Oh well.
I blame Annie; surely plopping all that stuff down in the hallway raised a big ol' cloud of dust.

Speaking of Anne, she was supposed to get home yesterday afternoon from her singing gig on Guam, but her flight from Tokyo was canceled because of a volcano (yikes!). She had a 30-hour "layover" and hopefully is on her way home by now. I'll pick her up late tonight at Kennedy Airport.

A "real" picture, taken to test my camera batteries: my morning coffee, a plate stand from Dollar Tree lying on its side on our dining room table, and the three platters waiting for their closeups by Mrs. DeMille.
There's probably some dust there somewhere, if you look closely enough!

Real life is like that . . . there's always some dust, somewhere.

Thanks, Tam, for hosting one of my favorite blog parties! -- Cass

The Good, The Bad, and the Sloppy. And the Scary!

Happy Monday!

Double post today, with a mosaic for Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House, and also a metamorphosis for Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. (Thank you, ladies, for providing us with inspiration and connection!)

Click here for other Mosaics, and here for other transformations!

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First, my metamorphosis, which I call Before, During, After, and Aftermath!

We begin with the "before" -- the front end of our upstairs hallway --
wallpaper and all -- as it was when we bought That Old House:

And, the "during," as the painters stripped wallpaper, repaired old plaster, and painted:

Now, the "after" -- clean walls and woodwork, serene and tidy!

Now ... the "Aftermath!" Look if you dare. What has happened?

Those of you with college age children can guess:


Our daughter Anne graduated, and brought all her stuff home. Oy vey.

(She gets a brief dispensation; she's been out of the country, first in London
and then in Guam, since shortly after graduating. She comes home today.)

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One thing she hasn't yet brought home is her senior art project -- and that's the subject of my Mosaic today.

Anne chose to depict "Ragnarok" in fabric and other media. She sewed, painted, knitted, molded, used feathers, fur --- and who knows what else to create this enormous figure.

"Ragnarok" is part of Scandinavian mythology (fitting, as my family is Norwegian), and it loosely translates as meaning "the twilight of the gods." (Anyone hear Wagnerian music in the background?)

Anne's figure is nearly 13 feet tall, and was hung from the ceiling of the gallery at her college. It is an abstract depiction of a Viking warrior god's armor -- now empty, and in tatters, ruined. . . the gods have lost their powers.

It is power, defeated.




Quite honestly, I found it terrifying. And when Anne gets home she will go back to her school, take down this installation, and bring it home.

Where do you think we should hang it at That Old House?
Anne says she can dismantle it and put it in the attic. I'm sure our ghosts will love that! -- Cass

Sunday Favorites -- A Guest Room and A Trainwreck

It's time again for Sunday Favorites, where we re-issue a "certified, pre-owned" blog post, courtesy of Chari at Happy To Design! Click here to find more vintage stories!


My only problem with Sunday Favorites is that I'm running out of old posts that I like enough to re-run! This one is from March 20th. . . and I've edited it a bit for length, and taken off the Chili Recipe that was originally there.

So here we go, into Mr. Peabody's Way Back Machine!

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It is Friday, and it is the first day of Spring! Mother Nature sprinkled our world with a light dusting of snow early this morning; she is such a card, that Mother Nature.

Today I am "Hooked On" curtains and guest rooms, and also sharing my "Foodie Friday" Trainwreck.

My Trainwreck could qualify for a Wordless Wednesday post.
I am among friends, so I invite you to take a look:

Now that is a train wreck!
Click and enlarge that picture at your peril. You have been warned.

It's one end of our kitchen, in the early cleanup phase after Saturday's House Blessing party.
As my mother-in-law (just visible walking near the fridge) would say ... "Oy!"
As my sister Peggy would say, "You couldn't fit a booger on that counter!"

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Since I am Hooked On Curtains this Friday -- I am going to just detour a bit from my guest room and steer you into the butler's pantry.
It is one of the most "BEFORE" spots in That Old House. . . witness this:


See what I mean? Ick.

But with no time or budget to do an overhaul before Saturday's gathering,
I resorted to the creative use of a hastily sewn curtain on a tension rod. . .

It became our coffee station, with urns of regular and de-caf, and guests could help themselves. Hmm... just noticed the coffee drip on the tablecloth. Charming.

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Speaking of guests, my Florida-dwelling in-laws stayed in the Yellow Bedroom for this long weekend,
and I did indeed get curtains hung in that room in time for their Friday arrival.

But -- I am not happy with them. (The curtains, not the in-laws!)

Take a look:

Notice the poofy-ness. Don't they look stiff? The drapes don't drape! It's the lining.
I wanted a heavy curtain that would block out light in this room, so I ordered "black out lining." Big mistake. Big, big mistake.

This lining fabric is cotton, but it's solidly bonded to a rubbery material
that is stiff, wrinkles and even makes noise.
Although that may be my imagination. But, it even looks stiff on the bolt:

You can't press this lining with a hot iron ("I'm melting, I'm melting!"),
so there is a network of wrinkles like a road map all over the curtains.

I should have used normal cotton lining and interlined with flannel, but I am a thrifty soul, and I had already paid for this bolt of rubbery and somewhat creepy stuff, and by gum... I was going to use it!

And now I'm going to remove it, and replace it with real lining.
Ah well, everyone needs a hobby.

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But meanwhile ... if you have time, take a tour of the Yellow Bedroom, our official guestroom.
It's where you would stay if you knocked on our door and needed a refuge.

Come in. . .

This is a small room, so we maximize guest storage (does that seem as if we are storing our guests?).

Near the door, there's a vintage bombe chest, one of my Craigslist cheaper-than-cheap buys.
The top and middle drawers are empty for guests to use.
The bottom drawer holds extra sets of linens for the bed.

The lamp is a pineapple, a symbol of hospitality. I like to buy old lamps and my Dad rewires them, but this one is new, bought at JC Penney
at their huge after-Christmas sale; I think it cost 34 dollars, shade and all.


A little peachy-pink tole basket ($9 at Home Goods) holds practical plastic glasses, bottled water,
and wrapped chocolate covered mints and hard candies when guests are in residence.

We have an old hotel luggage rack, bought for a few bucks when the Carlton House closed in Pittsburgh in the early '80s. It's near the window, holding back the *&%$#* curtains!


On built-in shelves, we keep books, a plastic carry basket for bath items, and two sets of towels.
Plenty more towels are stored on the shelves underneath, behind the doors.

I use yellow towels for guests in this room; they always know which are theirs.
Guests in the Pink Bedroom get ... yeah, you guessed it.
A pair of Teddy Bears perches on the shelves;
you never know when you might need a Teddy.

In the closet, kept empty, there are wooden and padded hangers (no wire!), and extra pillows.
(Now how often do you see the inside of a closet? It's the only one of mine you will ever see!)


On an old quilt rack ($5 at a yard sale): extra blankets and a sweet little quilt.


For bare toes, a small rug, hooked by a gentleman who was my father's best friend.
His wife was French, and the little rug has "Bonne nuit" and "Bon jour" worked into it.


And on one of the bedside tables, a little lamp I recently bought on Ebay.
($24 with free shipping.) Can you see what it is? Look closely. . . .


It is a miniature replica of an old wicker suitcase!
There's a small brass handle at the top.
I just get such a kick out of a suitcase lamp in a guest room.


Simple things amuse me. Just ask my husband. He amuses me no end.


The low-post cherry and poplar bed is one we bought 30 years ago at The Whale's Tail antiques shop in Mars, Pennsylvania.
I love it, but there is the creakiness factor.
180-year old beds have a tendency to audibly protest when used. Can't say I blame them.


The nightstands are from my in-laws' block-front Newport-style mahogany bedroom furniture,
handmade in Boston in the 1940s. Most of this set is in our master bedroom,
but these little guys just fit in so well in this small room that they migrated to the guest room.



The needlepoint chair I wrote about in another post, here; another Craigslist bargain!


Well, this is long enough!
Tomorrow: More curtains! Remember the powder room?
Those black and cream toile curtains were just what it needed.
You ladies who suggested it were absolutely right.

The Powder Room curtains post is up!
What's Black & White & Red all over? Click here.

Then there's the dining room, the parlor, the master bedroom, the Pink Bedroom. . . .

And maybe, just maybe, the retro-fitted guest room curtains. I hope to get them re-sewn,
and re-hung, today. Yeah, we'll see how that works out.
(Note from June '09 ... they still are not re-sewn! My bad.)

And remember... as it says in the pillow on the bed in the Yellow Bedroom:


Anyone interested in a partial bolt of rubbery insulated blackout lining?
I know where you can get it, CHEAP! Very cheap.

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I hope you enjoyed the tour of our guest room, and the horror show of our post-party Trainwreck kitchen and butler's pantry. Enjoy your Sunday; I hope you have sunshine!
-- Cass