I hope ya'll have a great weekend! 

Here is some eye candy compliments of Restoration Hardware.  A bit out of our budget, but it doesn't cost to look right?  Click here for more loveliness.

Fabric Shopping in High Point

When it comes to fabric shopping in High Point, there is something for everybody.  A while back I promised to share some of my favorite fabric stores with you.  I recently made a trip to High Point and wanted to share  two of them.  Many of my followers are in North Carolina, and a lot of you travel here for the High Point Furniture Market, so I thought you might like the inside scoop.  If this isn't your thing, please come back again.

1502 Fabrics

2108 Dunmore Ct.

High Point, NC

(336)434-2153

1502 carries a wide variety of gorgeous fabrics ranging in price from $10-50/yard.  They carry upholstery fabrics as well as fabric for window treatments.  1502 also has an extensive selection of rods, rings, tassels, etc.

 

The room in the back is where you find off price fabrics starting at $6/yard.

That is where I found this wonderful little guy.

Leisure Fabrics

2600 Bedford St.

High Point, NC

(336)861-5506

My other favorite fabric store is Leisure Fabrics.  Let me first say that there is n-o-t-h-i-n-g at all glamorous about this store.  You must dig for gold.  The two gentlemen who work there will help you, but you must be willing to throw some elbows to get what you want.  The reward is that all fabrics are $3-4/yard.  Also, you don't see the latest greatest here, but there certainly are treasures to be found.

 

As you can see, all the fabrics are standing on end and sometimes what you want is in the back of the row.  "Will work for fabric" must become your mantra.  They also carry fringe at $3-4/yard as well as a few tassels.  Another note of importance, they close every day at 12:00 and re-open at 2:00.  Be sure to check the schedule before you go.

If you explore any of these, let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear from you.

Happy shopping!

Cute Roller Shades on the Cheap

kIf one theme is consistent in the decorating world, it is finding less expensive ways to beautify our homes.  Thrift stores have gained popularity and do-it-yourselfers are doing it themselves more than ever.  That is why when I read the March issue of Southern Living I was excited to see great ways to embellish cheap roll up shades.

 

I love this stenciled shade.  Over the years I have done many a stencil project, but I do believe something this small would be a breeze.  I especially love the pop of red on the window below.  There are so many stencils and colors, the sky is the limit.

This monogram by sunny's paint is my favorite.  I love a preppy monogram.  Used in a room with only one window, this would be so charming.  I'm thinking about my son's room and how the tailored look could easily go in a boy's room. Top it off with a pelmet box or keep it simple as seen above.

Focal Wall

 

A while back I asked for your advice on what to do in the entrance to our home.  It was sort of plain, but functional.  Several of you left comments with great suggestions.  Thank you so much for all of your responses!  I think the consensus was that something could definitely be done to bring a little umph to that spot.

I seriously considered using contact paper to make chevron stripes, but was afraid I would pull the plaster down when I decided to update it.   Instead I used happy tape to make a diamond pattern.  I've seen it done several times and thought it would add just the right touch.

The project went a lot quicker than I thought.  First I took some careful measurements and made light marks on the wall.  Then I began applying tape.

 

I think it the touch to the entrance that I was looking for.

Blue and Green Obsession

 If there is a combination of colors that has caught my eye, it is blue with green.  The earth and sky.  The ocean in the tropics.  Picture a sunny summer day when you look up to see the bluest sky at the top of the greenest treeline.  I love that (I miss that).

Perhaps this cold winter has kindled this new color obsession of mine, but truthfully, I have always loved blue with green, green with blue.

traditional landscape design by seattle landscape architect AHBL

 

Ballard Designs

contemporary bathroom design by san francisco interior designer Amoroso Design

home design

I could seriously paint our front door this lovely shade of blue.  That is if MR. wasn't so opposed to the Tarheels.  Whenever he sees "Carolina blue" he goes into a rant about how obnoxious Carolina fans are and how they beat Georgetown in a championship game back when.  And let's not forget when Dean Smith was the coach and they played four corners, which really wasn't basketball, but basketboring.  All of that and I just want a blue door.

Isn't it unfortunate when sports interfere with decor? 

If I painted our front door blue...

I might be reminded of when Micheal Jordan scored for Carolina, then Georgetown got the ball.  Freddy Brown, a Georgetown player, accidentally passed the ball to James Worthy, a Carolina player ~ game over.  

He'll never go for it...LOL. 

Gethsemane Gardens

Meet my two new friends Josephine and Napoleon, hostess and host of Gethsemane Gardens, one of my very favorite nurseries.  Gethsemane Gardens specializes in Hellebores and woodland plants.  They also carry lots of winter bloomers which is such a treat this time of year.

I discovered Gethsemane several years ago when I was shopping for a birthday present for Mom.  Mom is difficult to shop for and when I find out about something she wants, I try to beat her to it.  In this case, it was a white fruited Nandina.  I called every nursery in town and was referred to Gethsemane Gardens.  At the time, my oldest son was only 7 or 8 and really wasn't interested in going shopping at a "flower store".  He soon changed his mind.

 We were greeted by the owner, a hard worker, always in the middle of raking, planting, and tending the nursery.  I asked her about the white fruited Nandina  and she offered to take us out to the green house several acres away ~ via a golf cart.  My sons eyes grew big, wow, a golf cart ride.  The rest is history.

I love a real working nursery.  Not one with big trucks that back in and deliver perfectly pruned and fertilized plants grown in optimal conditions.  No, this is the real deal.  Real people.  Real work.  Every day.  There is something to be said for that, and that is why I return year after year.

 

The nursery is located off of a country road on a plot of land just perfect for a woodland garden.  A walk through the glade is much like an Alice in Wonderland experience, complete with little tea sets and magical creatures.

  

  

  

The hellebores were just beginning to emerge above the foliage.

  

  

Next we entered the greenhouse filled with fragrant Daphne and more Hellebores.

  

  

  

  

  

Oh, did I mention the fresh eggs for sale in the garage?  Honor system, just leave the money in the refrigerator door.

Above is a plate that I painted several years ago.  I saw one like it in Tiffany and Co. and made one for myself at one of those "paint your own" pottery places.  It reminds me of my favorite nursery.  The working one, with chickens and bunnies, and little tea sets tucked into the forest full of Hellebores.

Thank you Josephine and Napoleon. 

I am sharing this with A Southern Daydreamer.

Happy Weekend

Finally a weekend that isn't freezing cold, snowing, or pouring rain. 

As a matter of fact, we might experience a sixty degree day tomorrow.  My yard needs so much work.  The high winds have pulled so many sweet gum balls down and the co-editor doesn't even want to step foot outside because those dreaded balls get stuck in her feet.


So, today I will be:

• raking sweet gum balls
• going for a walk in a Hellebore glade, pretty day for taking pictures ~  YES!
• returning to Raleigh for the final swim event for the weekend

Thanks for hanging out here at Cottage and Vine. I appreciate all of your sweet comments and am happy to be part of such a caring, creative community.

May you all have a safe and fun-filled weekend! 

Photo: Country Living (wishing it was my bed and breakfast room for the weekend)

The Boy Bathroom - My Nemesis

 The boy bathroom needed a lot of TLC and still does.

When I painted the black and white bathroom, I also gave the boy bathroom a fresh coat of white.  That alone was an improvement.  I also wanted to make a sink skirt because the boys said if they could change one thing about the bathroom it would be to get a new sink.   Well a new sink is not going to happen so I made a sink skirt instead using material that I had.

The sink is original to the house and has those funky old chrome legs.

I swear I felt like Shelley Long in the 1980's movie "The Money Pit".

A week after I made the sink skirt, there came a scream from our son upstairs, "Dad, water is shooting out of the toilet!"  My immediate reaction was to ask what tools were needed to shut the water off.  Once we finally got the water turned off, we used the shop vac to get up most of the water and then towels to dry the rest.  As we stood there trying to figure out what went wrong, water continued to drip from the ceiling.  Apparently the geyser sprayed the ceiling when it came out, then the floor.  Thankfully it was clean water.  (By the way, this was one of many recent catastrophes at Cottage and Vine; trying hard to look for the silver lining.)

The sink skirt took a beating so I took it down.  We decided it looked better without it anyway, at least for now.  I couldn't figure out how to work around the legs.  Eventually it will come to me.

The Shower Curtain

 

To make this curtain, I used the old shower curtain from the black and white bathroom which was way too short.  The ticking stripe that you see is from the shower curtain that used to be here. (I used the rest to make the sink skirt that was voted off the island.) I stitched the two together and covered the seam with a row of grosgrain ribbon.  I like the length much better.

Chalkboard

 

Giving new meaning to writing on the bathroom wall, I painted this frame with bright yellow paint and painted a scrap board with chalkboard spray paint.  I thought that all of the boys coming and going would have fun leaving each other messages.  That is as long as the messages aren't "for a good time call" or "Here I sit broken hearted", hee hee.  No seriously, I do think it will be fun.

That's all I have for this bathroom for now.  Eventually I will have more updates to share, but we are taking baby steps at the moment.  HUGS.

Hawaiian Shirt Pillow

This is probably one of the easiest things I have ever done.

Do you have any old shirts hanging around that have "pillow" potential?

I found this shirt in my husband's closet the other day and thought that it might make a cute pillow for the playroom.  All you do is cut the shirt to the size you need and hem the top and bottom leaving enough room to put the pillow through.  Then stitch up the opening.

The beauty is that you can easily unbutton the cover and throw it in the wash.

I would love to see preppy pillows made with oxford weaves in solids and pinstripes.  You can find shirts at the thrift store for a dollar or two.  The possibilities are endless.

Linen Looks With Modge Podge - Side Table

When I began working on the playroom, I promised a reveal.  The room isn't finished yet, but here is another peek at it.  It seems that many projects have popped up along the way.

Just so you know, the "playroom" used to be the master bedroom, and being the wonderful parents that we are (hold your applause until the end please), we surprised the boys, a few years ago, when they arrived home from a visit with their grandparents.  When they returned home, we had moved our room to a downstairs bedroom and the boys then had their own little hangout. 

Just because this is a "guy" zone doesn't mean it has to look like a frat house.  Right?  My goal as a mom, in addition to raising thoughtful caring citizens, friends, leaders, is to make sure that they understand and appreciate good design and decor, ha ha.  Therefore the playroom should look good.  That said, let's talk about the table.

I gave it a good sanding to rough up the finish.  It received a prime coat and two coats of white semi gloss enamel.  After seeing all of the cool projects in blogland, I really wanted to try using modge podge and thought that the playroom would be the perfect place for it.

 It seems that most everyone uses scrapbook paper, so that is what I used.  I chose a paper that had a linen/burlap like pattern.  It took four sheets to cover the top.  I found the center point of the table and worked my way out.  Whatever was hanging over, was trimmed with a razor.

 

I know that it is only a matter of time before the table starts to look worn, so I gave it a little sanding on the edges to give it that worn in look.

 

To seal everything in, I gave the top surface two coats of poly.  Boys, you know, sticky glasses, half eaten snacks, etc.   Yes, my sweet boys are pretty messy at times.

I am sharing this with the CSI Project.