Happy Easter Everyone!

I wish everyone a joyous Easter! That's me on the right. Isn't this homemade Easter tree cute?

Here I am again with my Easter basket.

This is what Easter is really about...

Love, Nancy

eBay Friday

I have decided that I will try to post an eBay treasure list every Friday. I am not going to include links because it is too much trouble and I don't have tiiiiiiiiiime on Friday's to do much on the computer. Just do an eBay search to find these items or something similar.



1. Vintage Toleware flower sculpture - this could go in a modern space or a traditional space.





2. Another vintage Toleware flower sculpture - but this one has a different vibe. I still feel like this one could go either way.

3. I want this set of antique Toleware spice canisters. These would go in my kitchen perfectly.

4. Vintage Toleware sconces - you could put these in a bedroom or dressing area and hang gobs of chunky necklaces on them.

5. Tray tables like this (toleware) one are handy and can go anywhere.

6. Y'all know I love Japanese jewelry boxes. The colors are so vibrant. Some of them, like this one, have little figures that move to the music.

This jewelry box is pretty. I have a few that are this pagoda style. The little geisha turns when the music is playing.

7. Vintage lady head vases look great when grouped together. They are so "Mad Men". A group of them would be pretty as a Mother's Day table centerpiece.

8. This pin-up calendar is a deal. Someone needs to buy this, have each girl framed separately, and cover a black painted wall with them. Wouldn't they be great in a bachelor pad or a powder room?

9. I bought one of these shell encrusted picture frames. They are gorgeous and well made.

10. I still love the Enid Collins box bags. This one is beautiful. "Pavan" is the design. These bags were made famous in the 1960's by LadyBird Johnson. They are still sought after. Why couldn't you use them as part of the decorating scheme?

11. And finally - vintage and antique altar crosses.

That is it for today's eBay report. Happy bidding!

Before and After - Spare Room

We have a weird spare room off of our master bedroom that has served several different purposes in the past. It began as an office, but it was too secluded from the rest of the house. Then it became a nursery for my daughter. Later, it was a spare bedroom, but it doesn't have a closet or a bathroom so it didn't really work well as a bedroom. Lately, it has been a messy catch-all space for random furniture and accessories. Hmmmmm...what to do....

Before

The armoire served us well 15 years ago when televisions were big and bulky and had to be hidden away.

Before

The guitars had to stay and be easily accessible. I really did not want to get rid of anything.

Before
At one time I thought about making the room into a large closet, but the sunlight from the windows would ruin my clothes. Plus, there is a door that leads to the lanai from this room.

After

Voila! I hung one of the guitars on the wall using an instrument hanger from the local music store. I stacked books from an over flowing bookcase in another part of the house on the floor. I LOVE this idea. It is easy, it costs nothing, and it can be done in any room.

I tried to group the books by subject. These are mostly travel books mixed with a few decorating books.

I hung the brown, Pottery Barn, drapery panels on both ends of the window wall. This made the windows less dominating, plus it hides ugly hurricane shutter levers. This guitar is played the most, so I left it on its stand.

Instead of hiding these boxes away, I stacked them neatly as part of the decorating scheme. Under the table, I stacked some old magazines that I cannot part with just yet. I am thinking of painting this little table another color. I haven't decided yet.

We bought this birds-eye maple, antique desk years ago for a song.

This antique tray originally had a painted glass insert that was sooooo pretty. My mom gave it to me for Christmas, but it arrived broken! So I removed the broken glass and had a piece of plexi-glass cut to fit inside. I also had a piece of black picture matting cut to fit the bottom. Now it serves as a display tray for photos and postcards.

I moved the ottoman against the wall. The lid lifts for storage. This is a great place for coats and sweaters that are rarely used.

I hung ledges on this wall to unify all of the random pictures and objects.

Now for my favorite part!

I converted the old tv armoire to use as purse storage! This freed up valuable closet space for me and made the purses more accessible. I hung cork boards on the doors for photos, notes, etc.

I stacked flat purses in the large plastic drawer and small evening bags in the lower portion of the armoire.

I arranged my small Enid Collins bag collection so that it can be enjoyed anytime instead of hidden inside my closet. I used to have a large collection of the Collins bags, but sold them on eBay. I kept the ones that were in the family and a few that were just special to me.

Small cup hooks were used to hang the vintage Lucite purses. Now I can enjoy my purse collection every day.


This was such a fun project. The only things I bought were the drapery panels, drapery rods, the guitar wall hanger, and the picture ledges. Everything else was re-used, re-arranged, or re-purposed. More organized, more enjoyable, and much more useful!

House Tour #2 - Part 2

I know there are so many critical things to think about right now with the bailout and the bleak times ahead, but I need to do something mindless that will allow me to escape the news for a little while. So here goes...

Part 2 of House Tour #2 will feature the foyer, powder room, office/library, and the living room.

Upon entering the front doors, there is a large window that looks out onto the side yard area.

This isn't a great shot. I have since moved the lacrosse sticks to the garage. I tried having a rug here but there are a couple of steps leading down to the foyer and we kept sliding on the rug (despite the "non-slip" rug pad). The mirror is shell encrusted.

There is a triangular shaped powder room just off the foyer. Triangles and angles are everywhere in this house.

I renovated all of the bathrooms a few years ago. I was soooooo thankful to be rid of the old stuff. The shell encrusted obelisks are from Currey and Company.
The living room is large so I divided it into two spaces - the tv area and the fireplace area. I caught the Yellowfin tuna just off of Walker's Cay, Bahamas. It was 120 pounds! The mount is fiberglass - we ate the real thing.

This is still one of the best days of my life...gooood times!

Anyhoo...the turtle is also fiberglass. We faux painted the mantle to make it look like a finer piece of wood instead of just a boxed in mantle. The fireplace, by the way, is also triangular. One side backs up to the dining area and the other side backs up to an open walkway. Cooool...

This prehistoric bone was found in a quarry in Florida. It is from a whale-type creature. The two items on either side are Mastodon teeth.

Opposite the fireplace is the piano that no one plays. I can remember a few songs that I learned in 5th grade (Theme from Love Story, Colour My World, and Why Me, Lord?) and sometimes I'll sit down and crank those out but that's it. I am sure that some day I will take an interest again, but until then, I am in pursuit of other things.
We bought this Murano glass bird in Venice. I still love it.

I collect antique altar crosses. I hunt for them everywhere.

The office/library is opposite the dining room. This is where I spend my blogging time, my bill paying time, my internet surfing time, and my homework reviewing time. "Time, time, time, look what's become of me...."

I hate wires so I designed the desk system to hide everything behind panels. Having two computer spaces has been nice.

The B & W photos are of my husband when he was a kid.

Aaaaahhhh.....I feel much better now. Ciao!