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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Met Monday -Family Room Chair

It is Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. You may also want to mosey on over to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for some thrifty treasure finds.
My Met Monday is small in renovation, however it is greatly appreciated by my family.
I have been in need of a new family room chair for some time now and hadn't quite found what I was looking for until a few weeks ago, when I was at the Decor Store with a friend of mine. This warehouse type store is great for decorators, staging, and anyone who loves home decor.
I spotted this chair below and captured it on my camera. I thought it would work really well in my family room with my Rowe sofa that I purchased a couple of years ago and the main ingredient it have to have was comfort. This chair seem to fit the bill and the price was right.

After taking the photo home and discussing with my husband who just trusts my judgement I decided to purchase the chair.After taking the photo home and discussing with my husband who just trusts my judgement I decided to purchase the chair. I did not need the ottoman. This is the chair I was replacing. Now you know why I needed a new chair. This poor thing had seen better days even with the chair cover and pillows.
I also purchased that cute little floral arrangement on the side table for $8.00 at the same store.
Here is the new chair in its new home. Doesn't it look great! The family loves the comfort of it and I love the look of it. It was meant to be.
The chair coordinates with the sofa well and the rest of the family room. I did not have to change anything else. Some times you just have to wait for that perfect piece and it is definitely worth the wait.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit today. Don't forget to check out Between Naps on the Porch for many other exciting makeovers. You may also want to check out Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures hunting. Have a great time exploring and Happy Monday.

Expressively
Sofia

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tablescape Thursday Pottery Barn beach decor

Hello again and welcome to Table scape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to visit Susan and take a look at all the wonderful table decor.

I had recently been to Pottery Barn (again!. Seems like I have been there a lot lately). Well they had a very Beach like table scape done and I thought I would feature that today. Please excuse my picture as I cannot seem to lighten them up.



The used all sea blue salad dishes with brown plates and white chargers. They also have a grass linen as the table runner. There are a vast amount of different size and shape sea shells on the table.
The lanterns have a light blue candle with sea shells. There are other wicker and glass candle holders with the light blue candles. Do you see that white fish, it is also a candle. Again I apologize for the dark picture. The table is simple but very sophisticated. You feel like you are by the sea with the table decor. This table decor is something you can replicate very easily by visiting TJ Maxx, Marshall's and Michael's. At this time of year they have many sea shells, blue dishware, lanterns and blue candles.

Thanks for visiting, come again soon and don't forget Between Naps on the Porch for other great tablescapes! Have a great day!
Expressively
Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday



Hi and how are you doing today. I am a little late today in hooking up for Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at a Southern Daydreamer. I am featuring a client/friends' backyard that has just been redone. It is beautiful and will be the setting for her son's wedding in July.

This is her deck complete with a new outdoor patio set from Costco. The table has inlaid slate of the rusts,browns, and grays. It coordinates beautifully with with flagstone patio adjacent to the deck.
Here is the stairs leading you to the flagstone patio. They also had their dining room window replaced with french doors that open up to the patio. The flagstone steps are gorgeous.
Here they left the redwood trees and this will be the setting the for wedding ceremony. It will be beautiful. I will be helping to transform this to a lovely wedding setting.

This waterfall feature is just fabulous and you can see it everywhere you walk in the yard.

This is the other side of the waterfall with a bench and a pathway that joins this area to the flagstone patio and deck .
I hope you enjoyed this backyard and I know they have been enjoying the yard and water feature every day. Thank you for joining me today and don't forget to stop by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for other glorious outdoor fun.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Tablescape Thursday/Hooked on Houses - David Tutera

Another tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch is upon us. I am also featuring this designer on Hooked on Fridays hosted by Julia at Hooked on Houses.
I am featuring some work by a party planner David Tutera. I have just recently purchased the latest book by this party planner. It is fabulous! He creates such wonderful table arrangements and creates a whole room of ambiance.
This is a summer look that is created with pinks, greens, and white flowers, highlighted by pink and white lighting. The candles are fabulous. He creates different heights to keep your eye moving around the room. I love this idea of floating flowers is a long retangular clear container. You can see all the flowers and various colors and highlighed by lite candles.
Here is another table scape with moss green tablecloth and copper brown charges. Look at the height of this arrangement. The slim candles at the top of the arrangement accompanied by lavendar candles all around the table. It is just gorgeous.
I am just loving this new book call David Tutera, "The Party Planner". It has such great theme parties and table decor. If you have a chance please check out the website at Davidtutera.com you won't be disappointed. Don't forget Between Naps on the Porch and Hooked on Houses for great ideas.

Thank you again for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the eye candy. Have a great day and come again.
Expressively
Sofia

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Blogger's Choice








Thank you to Dixie at French Lique for hosting Wordless Wednesday. Join her for more wordless fun.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Thrifty Treasures and Met Monday

It's Monday again and today I am hooking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday since the item was re purposed.

I happened to be at the local High School's annual Flea Market and browsed around for quite a while, unfortunately without my camera. Some nice items but definitely not needed by me, until I saw this gem. I spotted this wire butler's rack from a distance and admired it. I realized my daughter could use this for her outside patio to hold her plants and add height to the space.. Since the high school students were running the flea market I went over to one of the students and asked the price. He said $10 and I said I'll take it!. You can't go wrong for $10. I took it home and decided it needed just a little sprucing up. I had two can of rustoleum spray paint in an off white color. I took the rack to the backyard and gave it a coat of paint. (Sorry again I didn't have my camera).
Here it is re purposed on my daughter's patio. We brought it over today.
It fits perfectly in this nook on the patio. Now all her plants, lantern and work bucket can be displayed and have their own space, instead of being all cramped on that small table you see to the right She is very happy!Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope you too will find Thrifty Treasures that you can remake and reuse somewhere. Stop by Southern Hospitality for more Thrifty Treasure and Between Naps on the Porch for great transformations.

Expressively
Sofia
P.S. I also went to an estate sale that was happening on my street and found an iron (black and decker) for $2.00. Sorry I didn't get a picture of it but it does work! This item all went to the same daughter.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Table scape Thursday 5/14 Outdoor dining

Thanks to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Table scape Thursday. I decided to bring us outdoors today since it is a gorgeous day for outdoor dining. Have a seat and a glass of wine and enjoy the day.
I used a galvanized metal container I purchased at a consignment shop for $15.00 to hold the wine bottles. (similar ones at Pottery Barn) You can add have ice in this container and it will not leak. The ice bucket is sooo cute, purchased at Kohl's for $7 at 50% off last year. .


I used these cute little containers from the dollar section at Target to hold the napkins and utensils. ( I replicated this from a Pottery Barn display I found I couple of years ago at a fraction of the price). The place mats were from TJ Maxx 6 for $5.00I decided this was a very informal table scape so I am using paper plates with these wicker holder from Cost Plus 6 for $10. These give texture to the table and hold the paper plate better.

e This lantern I found at Ross stores I don't remember the price but not much. I love it. I use it for candles or as you see today for seashells to give the beachy feel to the table.
Those little fish are votive holders and bring color to the table. The plant is a dwarf boxwood $5.00 at Lowe's the other day. It bring a little life and greenery to the table.
Thank you for enjoy our outdoor dining today and thank you to Susan for hosting. Be sure to visit Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting table scapes.
Come back again soon!

Expressively

Sofia

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Outdoor Wednesday 5/13

It is time for another Outdoor Wednesday Hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer .

I am featuring some of my hubby's work on our deck that he renewed by replacing the old deck with the new products out there similar to treks. This product is very nice and looks very similar to cedar wood. It is called Fiberon and will never crack, split, fade, or rot away. You just have to wash it every once in a while to keep it looking new. This photo show the railing that we chose that is a wood and iron look. In case your interested the color is mahogany.
This photo show the railing that we chose that is a wood and iron look. Also my little sitting area right outside the kitchen slider.
Here is another sitting area a step down from the main deck. He also made a pergola a few years back that is above this, shown in the picture below.This picture is from the yard looking back at the house. You can get a better idea of the pergola and the deck and railing. There are no screws that show. It is fasten on the sides, so it give the appearance of outdoor hardwood flooring!
This is also a picture of my mother's day present. A Beautiful hanging basket of flowers.
He just recently finished the steps to the patio. He used the same products but then added a garden area that steps down with Moss rocks to hold the dirt in.

He had to add lattice to the bottom of the deck to keep critters away and have a finished look.
In this area before we had creeping jasmine that would smell beautiful but was very messy. We replaced it with 12 x12 stone and is the same material that our patio is made of. I purchased this hose keeper from Lowe's yesterday for $35.00, not bad I and it looks very neat and clean.

I hope you enjoy are new deck, we sure are!. The product is very nice and really does look like real wood. The treks product did not look as nice as this one. Thanks for stopping by today don't forget to check out A Southern Daydreamer for more great outdoor ideas. Have a wonderful day and stop by again soon!
Expressively Sofia

Monday, May 11, 2009

The 3rd Annual Cottage Charm giveaway. Visit the Lettered Cottage to sign up for this great giveaway.

Expressively

Sofia

Sunday, May 10, 2009

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY


Have a great day with your family and friends.
Love you to all

Saturday, May 9, 2009

It's So Me

IT'S SO ME
Room Service Decorating 101 asked me to join the posts going around that shows your
" true" style in only one picture...This was very very hard for me, as I like and feel that I am a combination of pictures. So this is what I came up with. I would totally enjoy a outdoor room like this. What do you think? Don't you just love it!

Check out Room Service Decorating 101's picture also, dated April 26th. It took me a while to come up with a picture!
Expressively
Sofia

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Tablescape Thursday (Decor Store finds)

It is time for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch. I really love this day but I don't always have a good tablescape to share so this will be short.
I found these dishes and tablescape at the Decor store the other day. The dishes are just beautiful. I especially love the artichoke on the left corner of the table. The 3 tier white iron serving tray is just scrumptious. How about that gorgeous table runner in the deeper tone of green brings out the green dish color well. Sorry for the papers they were doing inventory.
My friend and I finally realized it after I took the picture.
We remedy the inventory sheet for this next shot. We even rearranged the table and added some florals to the green vase. The Calli lilly arrangement is beautiful. Did you notice the lamp. It has a birdhouse base, how cute is that! There was an item in this picture that I bought for a friend of mine. I saw it and immediately thought of her. It is hard to see but it is the green and white toile print in the very bottom right hand corner.

Can't you just see these dishes in a nice porch setting. I hope you enjoyed the very short tablescape post. It was just too pretty not to share. Enjoy your day and enjoy the other tablescape linked to Between Naps on the Porch

Thank you for stopping by.
Expressively Sofia

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Outdoor Wednesday & May Garden Party

I am hooking up with Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for outdoor Wednesday today. Sunday was my oldest daughter's birthday and for her birthday we went to Napa at her request for a picnic lunch and tasting at the new Castello di Amoriosa.

This is V. Sattui winery in Napa. They have a nice picnic area to sit and enjoy sandwiches and your favorite V. Sattui wine. My daughter (the birthday girl) and son are also in the picture.This is the walkway leading up the Castello Di Amorisa.
There is an olive tree towering over the flowers. Sorry the it was very hazy as it had been raining in the morning and then the sun tried to come out so the picture has a little bit of glare.
This is the view from the top of the walkway leading up to the castle. Nice!

Here is the castle itself. Inside the walls of the castle. The story is the owner of V. Sattui winery had the stones brought over from Europe and reconstructed the castle in Napa. I don't know if it is all the stones or just some but it any case it is pretty awesome to see.


Since this is outdoor Wednesday I am just showing the grounds of the castle. I will post the interior on Friday. Here is where the filmed a scene for Bedtime Stories. I thought that was interesting.
There was a path leading up to a pond and a tower which we took and these are the views from up there. all the grapes vines just starting to sprout with grapes.
You can see the castle, the hills and the vineyards from this spot.


I kept taking pictures, I just thought this was a lovely view from this path.

I hope you enjoyed our outing to Napa Valley. We always enjoy going to the valley. Is it always so lush with vineyards and beautiful wineries and good wine also. Enjoy your day. Don't forget to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and Southern Hospitality for many more beautiful Outdoor Wednesday views. Expressively Sofia