One of my favorite rooms in our colonial farmhouse style home is the downstairs guest bedroom.

I call it "Aunt Janie's" room because this is the room she always stayed in when she would come to visit.  Funny, her daughter is how the decor choices for this room came together.  Many years ago, my cousin gave me two pictures she no longer wanted, so I brought them home and everything from the paint colors to the drapes all came together from the colors and patterns in those two pictures.

Wall Cupboard, Ironstone and Nature

There is a lot of wood here in the mountain cabin.  The walls are original heart pine, old worn wood floors, there are wood beams on the living area ceilings and many of the bedrooms and hallways have wood ceilings.  Someone once asked if I was going to paint the wood . . . umm No!  I love it and it's actually one of the things that drew me to this cabin more than any other.  I didn't want our place in the mountains to look like it could belong in the city or at the beach or in France...but to look and feel like a mountain cabin.

When planning the kitchen, knotty river birch was chosen for the cabinetry and purchased at a local saw mill.  The goal was texture and character, but I wanted to break things up a bit since there is already so much wood in the cabin.  How to do this?  I wasn't quite sure, but one day while antiquing with a friend I saw this wall cupboard and thought it would add just the right touch.   

Colonial Farmhouse Guest Room Reveal

It's been fun pulling the guest room together and it's finally finished!

I wanted this room to feel warm and cozy with colonial farmhouse touches.  I also wanted to furnish it by shopping the house; spending as little as possible by using what I already have and hoping it comes together well.

I didn't paint the room or purchase curtains.  The walls were already a pale yellow with red drapes hanging, so that was my starting point; bright walls and curtains in my favorite color...red!

Ironstone Find and Hydrangea

It's always fun spending the day with a good friend,

strolling through antique shops,

and enjoying lunch at a quaint small town diner.

Such was the day when I came across my newest find, this ironstone soup tureen with ladle.

Ironstone ~ It Never Hurts to Ask!

One of my favorite places to look for antiques is a little shop just down the road.

For a good while now I've had my eye on the one and only ironstone piece in the shop, a soup tureen.

A Valentine Tree for My Sweetheart

While out a couple of weeks ago

I found some homespun Valentine ornaments.

They were super cute

and

the sayings were perfect

so

I gathered up a few and brought them home.

I knew right away what I wanted to do with them,

so I gathered a few things needed to pull it together.

Decorating the Fireplace Mantel & Hearth

The fireplace is even more of a focal point this time of year
as we light the fire for added warmth on these cold days of winter.

I've been wanting to do something different on the fireplace in the great room
and found it easier to begin with a clean slate,
so I cleared everything off.

Ironstone - Get It While You Can

Have you ever found yourself in this situation?

Your strolling through a shop,

the type that has those one of a kind treasures that are so fun to find.

You stumble upon an amazing piece,

just what you've been searching for,

and it's calling YOUR name.

So you move in a little closer,

remembering other pieces you've found that were similar
but too damaged
or
the price too high
but this one is looking good so far.
As you peer in even closer your heart begins to race a little
and
you begin thinking that this one may be the perfect piece.

You reach out,
touch it,

picking it up to look it over real good.

I mean real, real good; the top, sides, bottom, every which way you can!

You are so excited,

it's practically perfect,

the price is amazing!

AND
THEN
that old saying begins going round and round in your head,

"You better get it while you can, better get it while you can!"

You know right then with the condition so good and the amazing price,
that you should grab it up,

head straight way to the register,

and take that treasure home with you!

BUT...

you start to doubt,

begin to hem and haw,

ask yourself over and over, "should I, or shouldn't I?"

AND THEN...

you put it down,

walk away,

you look back,
several times you look back,

but keep walking away,

AND THEN...
you can't shake the decision as you drive home,

once home you can't get it out of your head,

you've been looking for pieces like this for your collection,
and this piece isn't damaged like the others,
and the price is right!

SO THEN...

you head back to the shop,

rush up to the front door like your pants are on fire,

locate the isle,

find the booth,

look on the shelf

and

it's

GONE!

Have you ever been there?

Me too!

And I vowed that from that point on I would trust my gut
and never let that happen again!

BUT...

right

before

Christmas

I

found this ironstone beauty,
no chips or cracks,
perfect condition,
the price was AMAZING,
and I walked away.

Farmhouse Touches in the Great Room

 It was a whirlwind as we moved back in the house,
and with little thought we quickly placed things here and there.
We were just happy to be back home and in the nick of time to do a little decorating for Christmas.

With all the decorations packed away,
I am eager to do some fluffing and have started in the great room.




Itching to use these old farmhouse shutters, I pulled them down from the barn shed out back.  They still had the tag on them from years ago when they were priced for sale in my shop.