My Favorite Room

I love my little house.  My favorite room is the sun room.

When I finally found a job after being laid off for 11 of the scariest months of my life in 2009, my first project was downsizing.  I was living in a huge 3500 SF house on 7 acres with a private lake, and was desperate to move.  Sounds crazy, I know - but that house had a lot of sadness and painful memories attached to it.

I learned of a little place in the Slate Belt that was for rent.  It had everything I wanted - most especially lots of closets!  It also had a fireplace, which is something this Florida girl had always wanted.  Of course, it took me 2.5 years to be brave enough to actually light a fire in it, but I used it almost every weekend last winter.

But what sold me on it was the sun room.  It's old-fashioned, with jalousie windows.  There's a terracotta tile floor and it has views of my little front porch and a lake just down the lane.

The porch railings are covered in morning glories now, and they are so charming and fresh to look at in the early mornings.

I love to have breakfast out here on the weekends.  Sometimes, if my weekday mornings aren't too frantic, I'll at least have tea out here.  While I love autumn, it signals the end of lounging barefoot in my robe out there - reading or doing a crossword puzzle.

I'll still use it into the early winter - I can bundle up in a throw and have cocoa while Cody snoozes on his rug.

It's my favorite room.

Vintage Kitchen Table

In my "former life", I owned a small business.  It shared a parking lot/driveway with a Stewart's (regional hamburger/root beer joint).  The place had changed hands, and the new owners were overhauling the kitchen.  They had pulled this out into the parking lot for disposal.  I saw the top and fell for it, so I asked if I could have it...and I could.  Cheap is great - free is better!

I am thinking it dates at least to the 1950s, possibly earlier.  The top is metal, and the frame and legs are wood.  This is the original decal in the center of the table:

The top is an oyster-ish white, and the sides of the top are a neat ombre green.  All the chippiness is natural, which I love.

The bad part is it was covered in God knows how many years of grease and grime.  I've tried everything to remove all of the crud and have never been able to get it all.  Right now, it's wrapped in shop rags saturated with Krud Kutter.  I've read a lot of good things about this stuff on the blogs, and am hoping this will cut through everything so I can repaint the legs and frame a creamy white.

It's also missing a drawer - I hope to replace that at some point.

It's a nifty little table and a perfect fit for my mudroom.

UPDATE!

Krud Kutter worked!  I can now re-paint the frame and legs!

Linking up at:

Mod Mix Monday #67 @ Mod Vintage Life

We'll Always Have Paris (Grey)

Small sneak peak at my bedroom re-do. I had the nice folks at Home Depot duplicate ASCP's "Paris Grey" in Behr's Premium Plus Ultra Eggshell, and it's gorgeous. Here's the niche between the two closets before; it was some sort of icky blue I was never very fond of:

Before

and after two coats of Paris Grey:

After

(painter's tape still on the ceiling/wall meet)

I love it, and it's a perfect match for my new bed linens:

Next - painting my metal bed and choosing draperies.  Until then, I'll leave you with Bogart & Bergman.

Linking up with:

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Party #81 @ DIY by Design

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Flea Market Finds - 9.1.12

Scene of the crime:  Blue Ridge Flea Market - Saylorsburg, PA

hand-painted plate - $2.00

non-vintage ornaments - $1.00

(soon to have an encounter with a can of antique silver spray paint)

heavy oval mirror with metal rose garland frame

(beautifully finished back of brown velvet)

set of 5 German hand-painted bone plates - $5.00

On to painting the bedroom!