Abby's Way

Poppy Seed Blue

If you have been here before, then you are aware of my thrifty side.

I would much rather reuse then replace.

I look at all the lovely furniture out there,

readily available, but I just can't do it.

I just can't replace until I have squeezed every

last bit of life out of it.

This little cabinet is a perfect example.

We bought two of these cabinets, one just a little deeper to

hold an old school style TV, way back in 1993.

They were raw wood and needed assembly.

I was all about pink at the time,
so I white washed them a slight pinkish/white.

Sorry, no picture.

Then, a few years later I got into the country shaker look

and thought that a terracotta wood tone would be nice...

so the wash was sanded out and terracotta stained and sealed.
Again, no picture.

THEN, about 10 years ago they were painted a linen cream,
and I changed out the knobs for rose

coloured crystal knobs. They worked very well up until recently

(see picture above).

I think I just needed some more colour.

And I picked out a navy blue. I liked the navy
cabinet, but it changed the wall colour too much.
Pretty, but just a little too bright blue.

I went back to the paint chips,

and found what I needed,

POPPY SEED.

I LOVE the results!

It has a greener base to it. And its working nicely

with the wall colour.

I'm sure you can see why my family thought I lost my mind...

the colours are so very close.

But that's ok! I'm so happy I repainted it.

Some new knobs were added and it

has a new lease on life.

So there you have it,

It's only paint, and if it doesn't make you happy,

get out that roller and brush and have some fun!

Abby

....now what should I do
with my baking cupboard.......

Witch's Cottage 2016

I love setting up our home for Halloween.

Actually I love playing in our house!

Here's a tour of what going on....

oh and I've painted our shelving in the living room...twice.

More about that later!

Our Dining Room

Mirrored Pumpkin-Pier 1.

Love it!!

Living room

This is the painted cabinet...it's been painted since this

picture was taken. I didn't like this blue with the walls..

you'll understand when I show you

the difference tomorrow.

The Front Room

Hope you have a Happy Halloween!

Macrame Hangers

Hello!

Happy Fall!

We have raced right through summer, and I didn't even post!

I seem to do that...take summers off.

I don't know why I do it, I always love

going back through my posts and checking out

the changes that we've made through our house.

Inside and Outside.

Speaking of which, yesterday marked our 6 year anniversary!

Oh my goodness!

I think I need to do another before and after post of

all the changes we have made to our home...

SIX YEARS!

This time it's been so long, that when I opened my blog today

I realized that my blog roll is gone!!!! and that top bar of links

is missing too...not sure what that is about, but I will be

linking my favorites back up gradually....it takes me a little time.

Anyways, today is a quick tour or the

ever so slight, fall decorations I put through the main

living space.

Next post I will show our Witch's Cottage.

When I was in Winners I found these fun napkins, I was hoping for

a table cloth or throw pillow covers, but these will do!

I layer them over a larger tablecloth to add to their impact,

and who doesn't like some good layering!

The navy and brass are perfect with the dark wood table.

In the kitchen we were finding that we were closing the blinds to give our

neighbors below us a little more privacy. In turn, shutting

the sunshine out too!

So, I've come up with a solution for the time being...

a low placed cafe curtain.
It seems like we are still looking down on them in
this picture, but I was standing on the island trying to get a
nice picture of the window, I don't usually do that ;)
But, I never seem to close the blinds
anymore. Lots of light can shine in now.
There was a succulent that sat in the sun on
that window sill, but I couldn't see it anymore so
I 'You Tubed' a how to video
and made a few little mini macrame hangers.
So easy and slightly addictive :)

I hung a little hook with an anchor in the ceiling so it wouldn't crash down
on anyone, I always hate messing with ceiling gyproc,
it's not as easy to repair.

This succulent wasn't getting enough light so
it was stretched right out, reaching.
I cut off the top half and shoved it into
the soil...we'll see if it survives.

And I made another hanger for the dining room.
(addictive)

Macrame hangers can be made from jute,
yarn, or strips of fabric of any kind.
Keep in mind the strips need to be about 1.5 times the length
of your finished product. My windows are longer and I
wanted them to hang a little lower
so I used a LOT of jute.

Happy Crafting!

Slipcovered Patio Set

With our youngest graduating in a week(!!!)

we have been getting the house all shiny and ready

for our families to come and enjoy our celebration.

A very exciting event in our lives!

Today when I was cleaning the patio and washing the slip covers

I realized how Uhhhgg- lee

the cushions underneath were.

What a difference the covers have made to our patio....

compared to the before picture below...

I made these cushion covers from painters drop cloth

as well as the pillow covers.

I stencilled the pattern on top with fabric paint.

Not expensive, and exactly the look I am going for.

I purchased this planter last year at Winners\Home Sense,

I had no idea what I was going to plant in it, but I knew

it would work well with this refreshed patio.

This is my first year growing succulents....

I LOVE THEM!

I am really hoping that they will overwinter for me.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the transformation.

Xeriscaping Our Front Garden

I have been plotting and planning for the last two years. Our

front yard was about 75% grass. In this city, there is a NO pesticide

NO herbicide by-law. The past few summers have also had some serious

watering restrictions. I felt really crappy about trying to keep a green

lawn knowing it was such a waste of a valuable resource. So we

just gave up on our grass in the front. Weedy, yellow grass, it looked very

neglected. I'm sure our neighbours loved that!
I've been studying the gardens around us and

what is doing well in our extreme weather conditions.
We wanted low maintenance, xeriscaped buffet for the birds and

bugs. In time we would like it to look slightly overgrown, and a little

bit wild, creating a warm welcoming entrance to our home.

Just for the heck of it...

here are some old pictures of the front yard.

This was a ton of work! Extremely labour intensive, but worth every sore

muscle and every broken nail ;).
We started the project in March.

The weather was amazing, and the plants I wanted were

in stock at the local nurseries.

We removed the grass with a rented sod cutter. As soon as the sod was lifted

out and the blank slate was exposed, I knew we made the right choice.

The ground underneath was terrible. Rocks and clay. No wonder the grass

couldn't handle the heat!

We moved some boulders around to open up the top portion of the garden

and created some random tiers to help with the slope.

Living in a higher elevation, I knew I wanted it to work with our surroundings.

Working towards a natural mountain trail look,

boulders were the obvious choice.

Deep, wide holes were dug, adding a lot of wood chips and compost to each hole,

creating an organically rich enviroment for my new babies to thrive in.

I am hoping over time it will all fill in and fade out the path edges.

We planted variegated dogwood, fragrant sumac, potentilla, ninebark, mugo pine,

junipers, and one more Austrian pine. I am on the look out for some variegated irises

or woodland bulbs to plant along the path edges.

Once everything was planted and thoroughly soaked, the drip line was installed.

This will be a wonderful water saver. Water being delivered right
to the roots. No evaporation or waste on the road or drive way.
Then, thick landscape fabric was laid
below the rocks and the gravel pathway,

reducing the amount of weeding.

However, I left the area under the wood

chips free of the landscape fabric so I can enrich that soil annually,

and possibly add some more plantings if I

get the urge. ..ha....if I get the urge :)?!?

We were able to re-use the solar lights along the path. I nestled
them in amongst the rocks and wood chips. The copper
works beautifully with everything.