Looking Forward To Spring.

Hello everyone.  I hope you had a great weekend.


We are starting to see signs of Spring in Virginia.  My rose bushes have
little leaves and some of the bulbs are just breaking ground. There are more
warm days now and things seem to be coming alive again.













One of our favorite things to do in warm weather is
dine outdoors...










and enjoy the extension we added to the deck last year.







Winter decorating is replaced with seashells...






and greenery


and


With warmer weather comes trips to the beach.



(Photos are of our home last Spring.  Beach picture taken from our room in Destin, Fl.) 


Thank goodness all of this is just around the corner.


What is your favorite thing about Spring?


XO,
Sherry


I am joining the parties at:
Savvy Southern Style 
French Country Cottage 
My Romantic Home 
Southern In My Heart 
The House In The Roses

How Did This Happen??

Two and a half years ago Hubby and I moved to Virginia and put our Florida home on a weekly rental program. This meant the beach home needed to be fully furnished, including dishes, flatware, small appliances ect.  We moved with only four pieces of furniture, my beloved transferware and a few boxes of home accessories.

Now we own two homes full of furniture and accessories and an antique booth filled to the brim.  As  I look around our Virginia home I  wonder how in the world did I accumulate so much stuff in such a short period of time and why did I buy all this to start with?

Now, don't get me wrong,  I have always loved decorating and changing out accessories.  I have never been a minimalist where our home is concerned but I also never had the accumlation of things I do now. 







I truly believe blogging has contributed to my obsession.


Do I really need six sets of dishes to create a pretty table scape?













Is it necessary to buy every cute thing I see at the thrift store just because it
will make a nice vignette for my blog?


Why do I feel it necessary to justify my purchase by saying
it was only $4.00 or it was such a deal?  











How many demijohns does one person need?





Why do I have wood and supplies cluttering the garage
just waiting for my next project?


As we begin the process of selling our home I am donating things back to the original thrift stores where I purchased them.  Some things have been taken to my booth and everything marked 50% off for a quicker sale.  I have sold several pieces of furniture on Craigslist so far and we plan to have a garage sale once the house is under contract. Other things have been packed away.  Each time I pack something I ask myself do I love this and do I really need it.  If not it goes in one of the other piles.


The funny thing is once I started to de-clutter I began to really like the way our home looked.


Do you buy things at garage sales or thrift stores just because they are a deal and do you ever feel overwhelmed with so much stuff? 


Hugs,
Sherry  


I am joining the parties at:
Savvy Southern Style 
French Country Cottage 
My Romantic Home 
Southern In My Heart 
Shabby Nest

Media Room Tour + Useful Info

Thanks for all the kind comments you left on our guestrooms.   Today I want to give you the tour of our media room/play room/man cave.  This room is actually one of the largest rooms in our home and it serves a couple of  purposes.   It is our media room that houses our ginormous TV and ginormous pond boat. The room is also used by the grand kids as a play room.  The furniture and accessories had to be child friendly and stand up to sword fights (plastic of course), Barbie fashion shows, crayons and cartwheels. 






During a hurricane we lost our sailboat so this x-large pond boat will have to do for now. 
Can you believe the pond boat came from GW for $100?  They actually retail for $2500!  Lots
cheaper than the real thing and no maintenance.





The sectional was another Craigslist find.  I don't know why the ottoman looks like a different color.  In person the color is a dark brown and almost identical to the color of the sectional.





See the space behind the corner of the sectional?  That little space makes the best place to build a fort.  I learned the hard way that lamps with iron bases are the only type that will survive.








No girly stuff here!








Framed print is another GW find....$3.00!





Thanks for touring the man cave!  Take a look below for some interesting info on 
your cell phone. A friend sent me this and I thought it was worth sharing.
.................

Five Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do

For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.)

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.

Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival.

Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST (Emergency)
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.


SECOND (Locked Keys in Car)

Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote key less entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone:

If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

THIRD (Hidden Battery Power)
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

FOURTH (How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone)
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone:
*#06#.

A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.

If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

And Finally....

FIFTH (Free Directory Service for Cells)

Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial:

(800) FREE411 or (800) 373-3411  without incurring any charge at all.  Program this into your cell phone now.


Thanks for visiting and you know I love your comments.
xo,
Sherry


I'll be joining the parties at:
Coastal Charm 
Savvy Southern Style 
A LA Carte 
French Country Cottage 
Southern In My Heart 
Shabby Nest 

Guest Room Tour

Thank you  for all the good wishes on our move.  I know with all of you sending positive thoughts our homes will sell quickly.

Since we decided to put our home on the market I have been staging it for sale.  You all know with a blog named No Minimalist Here that I like stuff...lots of stuff!   We have been removing some pictures and art from the walls and filling in nail holes.  Some of the excess decorations have been packed away and others have been put in my shop for sale.  I've even sold a few small pieces of furniture on Craigslist and we have taken a couple of loads to Goodwill.

After packing all this stuff away I realized I never showed you our two guest rooms.  I can't believe I don't have a single picture of the rooms fully decorated.  Keep in mind the guestrooms are now pretty bare and de-personalized.


First is a room used mostly by our grand kids.






The twin beds, mirror and night stand were all bought through Craigslist. The bedding came from TJ Maxx.






This is such a cute book!


Our other guest room is done in black and white toile with burgundy silk drapes. 






I refinished this chair a very long time ago but recently added the drop cloth seat to it. This was my first attempt at using a transfer image.







The armoire is yet another CL find.  It's made by Habersham and I liked the factory distressed finish so I didn't have to do a thing to it.  It goes perfectly with the headboard we bought at a local furniture store. The lamps and bedside tables are from TJ Maxx. A little paint transformed the tables for this room.
 


Here is a closeup of the carvings.


Thanks for visiting and taking the tour with me. I still have a couple more rooms you haven't seen and I'll be showing those soon.


I am joining the parties at:


Coastal Charm 
Savvy Southern Style 
French Country Cottage 
My Romantic Home 
Shabby Nest 
The House In The Roses


xo,
Sherry

Orlando Trip and Winner

Hi everyone!  We got back from our whirlwind trip to Orlando last night.  It was wonderful to see my family and spend time with them.  I swear my grand kids have grown a foot since December.

Our home in Virginia will be on the market next week and the beach house will be for sale in the next few weeks.  We did have a chance to look at some neighborhoods while in Orlando and we eliminated a few areas and added a couple of new ones.   Please send positive thoughts our way that our homes will sell quickly and we can begin a new life in Florida.



Thank you to everyone that entered my One World One Heart Giveaway.





The winner is.......


Connie @  She Dreams Big! 


Congrats, Connie!!  Email me your mailing address and I'll get the two Shabby Chic books in the mail.


Now I am on my way to organize yet another closet.
xo,
Sherry

Antiquing Finds

Hello friends!  Don't forget to enter my giveaway for two Shabby Chic books.  The giveaway runs through 2/17 so there is still time to enter  here.

I recently posted about our antiquing/shopping trip to Lucketts, Chartreuse and the antique shops located in downtown Frederick, Md.  I love the Paris pillow  I purchased at Chartreuse. Today I want to show you my other finds from this trip.





I fell in love with this inhaler. Though not that old I thought it was so cute and it goes great with my other black and white pieces.





Here's the side view.  The best part is it only cost $3.00!


My next purchase was a new piece that fits in perfectly with my other white and black pieces.  For some reason I am always drawn to anything with a number on it.





 I didn't realize how many things I had with numbers on them until I started looking around our house.
This could be my next post.


You may remember my search for a vintage breadboard and how my sweet friend Mona at Providence Ltd sent me a wonderful one as a gift.





The board in front is the one Mona gave me. The larger one I bought on this trip. The funny thing is I had been looking for over two years and never found a vintage board anywhere local. There were a couple I saw on-line but the cost was more than I wanted to pay. We walked into a shop in Frederick and there were at least twenty different breadboards.  I was in heaven! 





I like the handle on this one.  I also bought another board which I believe is a pizza paddle.  





Picture from Pottery Barn


My purchase is almost identical to the vintage ones that Pottery Barn sold and mine cost $127 less!  These are sold out at PB now but I believe they originally sold for $159 each.  
You'll have to wait to see the paddle in our new home. I am trying to declutter to put the house on the market so I didn't want to add anything new to the walls.


We leave for Orlando in a couple of days.  I am looking so forward to seeing my family and getting a chance to visit neighborhoods and narrow down our search for a home. Wish us luck with selling the homes we own now.


Thank you so much for visiting and all your kind comments.


I am joining the parties at:


My Romantic Home 
A La Carte 
Shabby Nest 
Savvy Southern Style 


xo,
Sherry

Knock Off Decor + Giveaway

Thank you to each and every one of you that left comments about our move to Florida.  I cannot begin to tell you what your kind comments and best wishes mean to me.  I have the best group of blog friends ever!

Some of my favorite projects are the Ballard and Pottery Barn  knock-offs I have made.  I know many of you have been inspired to make copies of things you see in some of the more expensive catalogs. I always love seeing your creations and how you are able to duplicate an expensive item for mere pennies.  I have found a blog you are going to love!!   Knock Off  Decor  features projects that were inspired by Pottery Barn, Ballard, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie and many more.  Beckie of the very popular blog  Infarrantly Creative  is the creator of Knock Off Decor.

My Pottery Barn inspired  lazy susan was just featured on Knock Off Decor.  I hope you will drop by and read about my project here and take a look around at all the great knock-offs.  






Thank you Beckie for the feature.


If you haven't entered the giveaway for two Rachel Ashwell books there is still time.  You can enter here.





I'll be joining the parties at:
Making The World Cuter 
Be Colorful 
Todays Creative Blog 
Skip To My Lou 


Thanks for visiting.
xo,
Sherry

Au Revoir..Changes

No, I am not shutting down my blog.  Don't be silly.. I love you guys!  Things are about to change around our house though...lots of changes!





Hubby and I have decided to put our Richmond home on the market and move to Orlando.  This move will get us closer to my dad and our grown children and their families.

As some of you know our son and his family recently moved to Orlando. What you may not know is that I was born and raised near there and my dad lives just thirty minutes away. Dad is eighty five years old and right now he is in fairly good health but I do worry about him living by himself.


We will also be putting our beach home on the market. I think it is time to let go and move on.  We have held off selling in the hopes that the Florida real estate market would turn around.  That hasn't happened and the cost of maintaining a house on the beach just keeps going up.

With the move I will be closing my antique business.  I have decided not to open another shop nor rent space in a mall.  No more lugging furniture or heavy items for me.  You know I love junkin and thrifting too much to give that up so I am looking into the possibility of opening an on-line shop or one with Etsy.   

We leave in a few days for Orlando and we will be narrowing down neighborhoods and areas.  I hope you will join me through my blog as we move and decorate a new home.  I envision a lighter and brighter decorating style so you will see lots of changes.


Hugs,
Sherry