Chickadee Home Nest: March 2013

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Spring, Are You There???

After Valentine’s Day I was ready to move to blue and white. Last week’s post was of the old/new china cabinet, filled with blue and white and very few contrasting touches (HERE). It’s not spring here in central Ohio—in fact, we’re expecting up to SIX INCHES of snow tonight! So to add splashes of yellows, or oranges, or purple would wreak havoc with my senses!

It took me several days and a few hours of bliss on Pinterest and in blogland to figure out what to do with the dining room table. No bare tables around here!! It had to be CALM…preferably blue and white…interesting (not just one thing on it)…. Besides spending happy hours admiring others’ creativity on Pinterest or blogs, those visits help me to remember things I have that I could use. Do you do that? Do you forget you have something until you see something similar out there? That’s a great plus for me!

So, following my home-shopping list I’d made from my virtual trips I settled on a vintage linen runner and a vintage silver tray as the foundation ~

I love how decorating develops and evolves! I remembered this blue and white tureen that usually sits in the secretary, and the blue and white embroidered bun cozy that I had just put in a “to sell” stack…I think I’ll keep it! It’s more versatile than I’d thought. Rather than set the tureen directly on the cozy, I layered the look with a cobalt blue dish and added a sprig of dried blue hydrangea. It was coming together!

Peaceful.

If you’ve been visiting Chickadee Home Nest for any time at all you know of my weakness for vintage linens. This piece is actually an oval doily that I added for softness and romance. And did you notice the rope/nautical detail on the tureen handles? I love that juxtaposition on it—soft, dainty blue and white, with light orange “rope”! I bought it at a garage sale years and years ago, with a chip on the edge of the lid, but that’s okay with me—it’s vintage! Of course it’s going to show some evidence of having been used!

I have the full tea service of this blue and white Bombay Company pattern, but I always forget about it. The sugar bowl, because of the silver trim on the lid, seemed just right, and rather than pair it with its matching creamer, I used this darling, long-handled silver “server” for the cream. Dried hydrangeas the color of the pears on the china cabinet continue to coordinate the look between the china cabinet and the table.

Do you know what this “server” is/what it would’ve been used for? I’m nuts about it, but have never seen one before. I keep thinking drawn butter, and that it probably had its own heating stand. What do you think it is?

Notice how worn the finish on the handle is…this sweet thing was actually used in a home! I thought about “fixing” it for about 15 seconds.

Blue and white candlesticks, to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the vignette beyond the silver tray, coupled with…

…tea bag holders from Bombay.

This precious hydrangea bloom just happened to fall and grace my vignette. It’s still there!

And then, before my post was up (I’ve had a few problems with Google 2-step verification and Live Writer not liking each other)…spring began its annual tease – a warm, sunny day and Whole Foods’ fabulous Friday sale of 30 tulips for $10!!!

Tell me, who could resist that?! I’ve never had 30 tulips around the house at one time!

Tulips and a sunny day in early March gives us hope that SPRING will come.

Hope SPRINGs Eternal.

(My Lenox Eternal coffee server.)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them! And if you like what you see a lot, maybe you’d like to +1 this post or pin it on Pinterest too! Thank you!

I invite you to follow me. If you’ll let me know that you’re following, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

I’m joining these fun parties this week:

Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Tuesdays at http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Wednesdays at Let’s Dish: http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/

Wednesdays at Wow Us: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Thursdays at Tabletop Thursday: http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Thursdays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Thursdays at No Minimalist Here: http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

Be Inspired Friday at http://www.Commonground-do.com/

Fridays at Feathered Nest: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Monday, March 4, 2013

Blue and White in the Old/New China Cabinet

I was ready to be done with the Valentine’s red in the china cabinet and go to the more serene and perennial favorite, BLUE AND WHITE. I’ve also been ready—for a long, long, long time—to make a major change in our china cabinet. I mean for YEARS. So after having gone to the Pine Tree Barn for our Valentine dinner, and once again seeing a cabinet/hutch there that I love (see below), I decided that the time had come to take the plunge and give the china cabinet an ALLOVER MAKEOVER.

I’ve been in love with this piece since I saw it last Christmas season. I love that it’s open, and I love the blue, distressed interior. It seems like everything displayed in it just pops—even the reds and greens of Christmas.

Lo and behold, when we went to the Pine Tree Barn, the cabinet was still there. The next day I said (in my sweetest voice), “Sweetheart, could you take a look at the china cabinet to see if we could remove the doors (and the stationary center panel)?” And before I knew it, I had a new piece of furniture! Really! Take a look for yourself and see the incredible difference! Why, oh why, didn’t I do this years ago like I’ve wanted to?!

So we went from this:

Beautiful, arched doors and stationary center panel, with lovely “domed” glass,

To this:

No doors, no arches, no domed glass. Ahhhh….so much more open and “approachable.” I had never been able to “make peace” with the stand-offish feeling of the glass, as if to warn, “LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH; NOT TO BE USED! ONLY FOR DISPLAY.”

What do you think? A new piece of furniture? More approachable?

And to the BLUE AND WHITE ~

Like I said, I’m not ready for Easter…I need space/time between holidays. I guess I could never work in retail. The jumping into holidays weeks and months before the calendar says they’re here, and jumping from one holiday to the next would wreak havoc with my psyche! I need a calendar, and I need breaks.

So I was anxious to bring out my BLUE AND WHITE Spode “The Blue Room Collection,” mixed with Bianca Leaf by American Pelier—a fabulous Home Goods find.

A very vintage mustard pot holds my “vintage” hydrangeas from last summer that I love to have out on display. A bird’s nest brings a hint of spring without stripping my gears as the gray days of Ohio linger and the snow continues to fly.

Hydrangea blooms take the place of soon-to-come robin’s-egg blue eggs.

My beloved Nicodemus chubby robin, and others birdies, are harbingers of {wonderful} things to come—in a few months.

The Bombay Company candleholder (left) once again makes an appearance, along with mini cups (larger than a traditional demitasse), which are a new auction find.

This precious little teapot was a gift from my precious friend Cookie, and the bunny is another Nicodemus piece. The hydrangeas are real, dried from my SIL’s father’s garden.

DSCN7008 And this bunny…well, I guess we’re inching toward spring and Easter—putting a toe out there, in a subdued way, shall we say? He’s of no particular pedigree—he’s completely unmarked, but I’d fallen in love with him at a local store, Harick’s, and after a particularly fruitful shopping spree there with our friends from out of town, the owner offered him to me for a steal. I just couldn’t wait any longer to bring him out!

Pears, the color of the hydrangeas, also bring a touch of spring, in the Simplydesignz dish from our son and DIL.

So I need your help. Now that I’m head over heels with my “new” china cabinet, I’m thinking about painting the inside. But I’m soooo scared!!! What do you think? Yes??? No???

If yes, what color? White? Cream? Very light teal (my favorite color, but may be too limiting)? Blue like Pine Tree Barn’s??

I can’t wait to hear from you and get help from all of you super-talented decorators out there! :)

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Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I love them and read every single one of them! And if you like what you see a lot, maybe you’d like to +1 this post or pin it on Pinterest too! Thank you! I invite you to follow me. If you’ll let me know that you’re following, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

Here’s where I’m going to party this week: