A Room Of My Own Inspired By Where Women Create

Sometimes I think of Monday mornings as a “do over”  I get to start a new week and maybe get some of the things done  I intended to get done last week, or the week before that or the week before that!  My project is to make a creative space for me, a room of my own, inspired by Where Women Create, a place  where when I have to stop my creative work I can just shut the door on the mess.   When I return to it I can pick up right where I left off.

If you’ve known me for awhile you may remember when I had my sewing studio in our beautiful sunroom.   It is tidy in this photo, but the problem was that I couldn’t close the door on the mess.  I’m not a neat freak or anything like that, but I hated being able to see the mess ALL THE TIME!   It was visible from the kitchen, and the TV room and was immediately inside the back door so every time I came  home there was my messy creative space staring me in the face.  Also if you always have to clean up  before you are finished your project and then get all the supplies out again when you are ready to continue, it really stifles creativity.

 So, here is my project: our old guest room, which I plan to turn into a room of my own inspired by Where Women Create. It has been a guest room with a less than comfortable bed in it. It gets used maybe twice a year, and the rest of the year I use it for sewing.

 The bed took up most of the room and was always in the way. My sewing machine was kind of crowded in one corner. We removed the bed but now it’s a catchall for all my projects and doesn’t function well at all.

Every woman needs a room of her own where she can shut the door to the outside world, a quiet place to think, to rest, to dream, to create.

That is my goal: to turn this guest bedroom into a room where I can do that.

 I have this ugly grey chair that I use when I am sewing.  The first thing I will do is cover it in something pretty.

I have this white feather Christmas tree which I’d like to use all year round instead of just Christmas, so I thought it might be fun to use it in here.

My husband put up a shelf for me which is above the window so I have a place to put pretty non functional things that I like to look at but don’t want to have them take up valuable work space.

I’ve always admired many of the workspaces I see in the magazine Where Women Create.  My space might never be magazine worthy but I am going to make it a room of my own  Where (this) Woman (can) Create.  Hopefully by telling you I am doing this it might get me more motivated and keep me accountable to get it done and soon I will be able to show you a finished creative space.

                                                                            Rhondi xo

Annie Sloan Paint

Hello dear friends. I think of you as my friends even though I don't know most of you!

One of the things I love to do is find new shops that have interesting old and new items.  Recently I was on my way to an appointment and I saw  a little shop called Cottage Treasures.  There was no time to shop just then so I told myself I'd  come back when I had the chance, which was yesterday.  It is a charming  little store  on Independence Blvd on the outskirts of Charlotte.  If you go there introduce yourself to Susie, the owner and tell her I sent you!  I wish I'd thought to  take some pictures of it.   Anyhow I found this cute table.  The wood was in pretty bad condition but I loved the shape of it and with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint it doesn't really matter the condition because it covers everything.

 The color I used is Louis Blue and here is the finished table.  I haven't decided if I am going to distress it or just leave it as it is and wax the top. In the meantime, I am using it in the living room.  This wing chair needed a small table beside it and this is just the perfect size. And there is a place to store books which I like.

 When I get a paintbrush in my hand, watch  out.  Nothing is safe. Not sure where this came from but it was sitting in the basement just waiting  to be painted.

It just needed some dusting off and a coat of Louis Blue and it was ready to be used somewhere.  As is my usual routine, I carried it around the house looking for a suitable place to put it and decided to lean it against the wall in the corner of our living room  (for now at least).  I had these 3 white plates which were not being used so I hung them on it and I think they look nice against the blue background.  If I finally get around to making some curtains I will need to move it.   We've been in this house for 8 years without curtains, so it may stay there for a long time :)

In the middle of the night we heard a crash and I thought for sure one of these plates had fallen, but in the morning they were all still here.  Turns out one of my plates on the wall in the kitchen fell down.  Fortunately I had  2 of them so I still have one.

So that was my little weekend outing and project. I found another neat shop but I'll share that with you another day.  Did you do anything fun this weekend?

With rose colored glasses,

Rhondi

Happiness is

Happiness is planning and working on a sewing project, especially a quilt.  As soon as I start to plan a sewing project, especially a quilt something inside me says, "Ah...this is what I was meant to do!"  It's like my brain waves operate  on a different  frequency or something.  I just feel so content.

My project right now is this quilt for our youngest grandchild, Pierce. His first birthday is next month, so I am a little late with it because it was supposed to be his baby quilt.  Anyway, his mom said she would like some thing in blue, so this is what I'm working on.

My sewing room has a bed smack dab in the middle but it comes in handy for laying our projects.  This is just a simple nine patch, nothing very complicated, a beginner could do it. But I love the contrast of the light and dark blues.

In my last post I said I'd have a cup of tea waiting the next time you come, but I don't even have the kettle on yet.  I promise if you drop by I'll stop what I am doing and make us a pot of tea.  It's very cold here in Charlotte today so a pot of tea will hit the spot.

Happiness for me is making quilts.  I'd love it if you'd leave a comment filling in the blank:  Happiness is _________

Looking at life through rose colored glasses,

Rhondi

Dining Room Changes

One of my favorite things to do is to putter around my house.  Recently the “puttering” turned into refinishing the  dining room table top.  Years ago, I painted it white and over the years it has had several  hand painted borders.  It had gotten very worn looking so it was time for a change. I decided to strip the paint off the top and let the wood  be seen.

Here is the project part way through.  It’s a very big table when both leaves are in! I used a paint stripper and scrapped all the paint off until I got down to the bare wood.

 Then I used  a Minwax walnut  stain, let it dry completely then used Minwax Wipe On Ploy to finish it off… and  voila!  Here is the finished table top.

 I also spray painted the chairs white and got this fabric (blue and white of course) on sale at Hancock Fabrics and I recovered the seats.If you’ve never recovered a dining room chair, let me know and I’ll tell you how.  It’s easy shmeasy

 I also put a string of white Christmas lights inside the china cabinet.  Oops, just noticed the photo shows the white drawers which I’ve never got around to painting. To make it really sparkle, I took out all the china except 2 white tureens and I put all my cut glass and silver things  to catch the light.  This doesn’t show it too well.  I’ll try to remember to take a picture of  it at night and show you.

 And here is my dining room with a fresher look. The picture isn’t very good but I wasn’t patient enough to wait for the light to change.

I am happy with how it turned out.  The contrast of the wood top with the white legs is good.

Next project is to make some drapes, just have to find the right fabric at the right price.

With rose colored glasses,

Rhondi

**Finally figured out what was wrong and comments are working again!  Thanks for your patience.

An Angel Followed Me Home

On Saturday I was at The Depot at Gibson Mill. If you live anywhere near Charlotte NC it is a must- three huge warehouse areas filled with vendors.  I was just wandering around looking at everything, trying not to get lost, which I always do when I go, when suddenly this charming plaster angel flew into my arms and convinced me to take her  home.  Is this an angel or a cherub? She was very persuasive, and very inexpensive.

I wonder if you are like me?  I seldom buy something to put in a certain place in my home, except for beds and dining room suites.  So whenever I bring something new into our home I  "audition" it in various spots.

The first place I perched my angel was on the mantle in the TV room

 Then I tried her on my bedside table.

The mantle in our living room.

On top of the china cabinet in the dining room.

And finally back to the TV room on a side table.  I love the way the sunlight shines on it, so for today that's where  it will stay.     By the end of the day it may be somewhere else.

Do you buy something with a spot in mind that you want it to go?  Or are you like me, no idea where to put it but just have to bring it home?

With rose colored glasses,

Rhondi

Uncluttered Part 2

Good morning.  Very simple post today.  I told you yesterday I planned to unclutter the closets in my sunroom. Telling you made me accountable and I got it done!   Threw out a couple of bags of junk and have 2 bags to take to the thrift shop.

 Now everything I need to access is in plain view, nothing hidden in behind. Maybe not too interesting to you, but to me it’s a big deal. We never use this  TV so it’s the next thing to go.

Maybe this will encourage you to do organize and unclutter today.  Wish I had time to invite you in for tea, but I’ve got a busy day ahead. Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your day.

Looking through Rose Colored Glasses,

Rhondi xo

Unclutter Life Inside and Outside

I am on a mission to unclutter life, inside and outside.  To organize,simplify  unclutter and get rid of stuff.  It’s that time of year when many of us feel the need to to that.  All the magazines have artickle about getting organized.  All the stores have storage bins ready for us to buy.

I think you can tell the state of mind of a person by how messy their house is.  The opposite is true also that  the mess or order in our houses affects the state of our minds.

For example here is what my sewing room/guest room looked like yesterday morning.

 I had just thrown stuff in there over the Christmas holidays.  There is even an armchair on its side which got moved to make room for the tree.  Rather than clean it up I just closed the door, but every time I had to go in there I thought, “I should clean this up” . This room looks like what my mind was like during the holidays, disorganized, cluttered, too many things going on.

Yesterday I decided it was time to tackle the room.  As with most projects like this , once I started it really didn’t take very long!  Order restored.  I don’t need to shut the door to hide the mess.  I don’t even like the room.  The decor is dated and I have my mom’s watercolors on the wall which are beautiful but don’t go with anything, but that’s not the point.  Now when I walk into the room I feel calm.

 Sometimes the mess/turmoil inside  is obvious, but other times no one knows but us.  We hide it well. A perfect example of this are the closets in our sunroom.  On the outside everything looks under control.

 On the inside…well that ‘s a different story.

These rooms are how we are sometimes.  Both rooms a were in a state of disarray. The first one was visible.  The second one was hidden. If I never cleaned up that closet, no one would know except me.  With my sewing room all it took was deciding to do it and it didn’t take long at all.   With the second one, I’ve shown you a picture   I made myself accountable, which hopefully will give me the motivation to clean it up.

So which one are you today?  A bit of a mess which only needs some attention to get you back on track? Or looking good on the outside but a mess on the inside?  If you are the second one, do like I have just done.  Share it with someone else and ask them to make you accountable.  If I don’t show you a picture of this closet cleaned up, please get after me 

You probably have a friend who would be glad that you asked them to help you with this.  If you don’t have a friend like that, I would be honored to help you be accountable.

Let’s do this, unclutter your life inside and out.  You can do it!!

Looking at the world through Rose Colored Glasses,

Rhondi xo