Day 524's pretty

Dominomagazine

Looking forward to getting a little rest this weekend, finishing up the Christmas decorations, and hanging out with my favorite girlfriends!

Happy Weekend!

Day 523's antique browsing spot

I had a few minutes to kill last week while waiting to meet a friend for lunch in Homewood, my favorite area of town to shop. Naturally, I headed into one of my favorite antique shops to browse away a little time.

"Shop" doesn't really do this place justice. It's more like a warehouse filled to the brim with ... pretty much everything you can imagine. A lot of the stuff needs to be repurposed or cleaned up, but the hunt is half of the fun, right?


Benches all stacked up and waiting for an new upholstery job.


Mmmmm it was all I could do to make it out of the door without dropping $185 for this set of 12 (12!) knives with mother of pearl handles. I thought it was a little steep until I found this yesterday.


Gilded mirrors and silver tea sets galore.


There are always plenty of beautiful marble lamps (this is only half) -- including several pairs. They range from $120-$170 each. Love them.


Vintage wooden bowling pins -- so fun!


Love this Chinoiserie-esque tole chandelier.


How pretty would this have been on a Thanksgiving table?


The main room is surrounded by smaller rooms. This one is packed with architectural salvage pieces like doors, windows and shutters.


Red transferware of every shape, size and pedigree. There was also blue, purple, and a few green pieces, of which I haven't seen many.


I loved this English chest. It was in an out-of-the-way corner, which is typical of this shop. Furniture is literally stacked on top of other pieces.


There were ten of these French-inspired dining chairs. I don't think they are antiques, but would look fabulous with new fabric, and maybe a little paint.


Hundreds of empty frames and tole trays. If you collect something, odds are you'll find some pieces to add to your collection here.


I've had my eye on this set of nesting tables for more than a year (a third is out of the picture). And, once again, I've always considered the $125 price tag a little more than I would want to spend (especially for something I have no real place for), but here is a similar set for much more!


Beautiful old lanterns that just need a little love (and probably some new wiring).


Gorgeous copper cookware. Just imagine what Eddie Ross could do with these!


Just so you can get a sense of the place, I snapped this photo from the top of the stairs that lead to the second floor. It's definitely a little overwhelming, but it's definitely fun, too.

Tricia's Treasures
2700 19th Place South
Homewood, Alabama 35209

Day 521: holiday decorating inspiration

Have you decorated for Christmas yet? It sure seems like many of you have. We have not. I pulled out a couple of boxes a few days ago to start taking inventory of what we have and what we'll be using.


Our moms have both been collecting ornaments for us for much of our lives, so we have a ton to choose from. I think we actually have more ornaments than my own mother does, and there is no way they'll all make it to one tree. Sheesh.

{ BTW, I have a slight obsession with hanging wreaths over mirrors. Is that weird? }


The ornament editing I can handle, but I'm hung up on the outside of the house. Fresh boxwood wreaths on each window would be ideal, but hello budget buster! Wes would have to return all of my Christmas gifts and give those to me instead (which frankly, is kind of tempting).


But our windows are kind of close together, so one on each might look a little crowded. Besides that, half the people on our street have already beat me to that idea.

Enter, Martha Stewart. This is my inspiration for our front door. I think I'll beef up some fresh garland with the cuttings from our Christmas tree (if we ever get around to buying one!), and I've already got the supplies for the moss wreath. The mums in my pair of urns are past their prime, and a little bit of evergreen would be nice by the door. Now if only we had those gorgeous transom windows ...

Day 520's thanksgiving wrap-up

We're back from a fun (but quick!) two days in Dallas, where we spent Thanksgiving with my dad's family. We ate lots of delicious food, watched some football, caught up with folks we don't see often enough (including my best friend from childhood who now lives in Dallas, hi Kirsti!), and admired my aunt and uncle's spiffy new kitchen, which they finished just before we descended upon their house.

Pictured here is the dining table, which is made of reclaimed wood. A custom banquette is one side, and on the other are upholstered dining chairs.


You can see that we were a little tight (there were 17 of us!), but the table was lovely.


The new dining area is in the first addition made to their 1940's cottage in Highland Park. They opened the back kitchen wall and created a family room on the back of the house.


Where there was once a TV, there is now an enviable butler's pantry.


During the 2008 remodel, they opened the kitchen to the front room to create a living and eating space that extends from the front door to the back door. Where there was a wall diving the kitchen and dining room, you now see the breakfast bar.

This made space for two seating areas in the living room. Here, a leather sofa faces a wall-mounted flat-screen television.


And at the very front of the house, this pretty sofa and chair are perfect for reading or catching up. Love your cow-skin rug, Aunt Cynthia!

Day 514: thanksgiving ideas

Martha Stewart

A little inspiration for your Thanksgiving tabletop ... or for your "one day" files, whatever.

Eddie Ross

Photo by Tria Giovan for Country Living

Better Homes and Gardens

Martha Stewart

Eddie Ross

Photo by Becky Luigart-Stayner for MyHomeIdeas

Martha Stewart

We're headed to Dallas to celebrate with family, but of course will be back in time to (hopefully) cheer our Tigers to a 7th victory in a row against our cross-state rivals.

Happy Thanksgiving, and War Eagle!

Day 510's pretty

Photo by Better Homes and Gardens

It's so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just a week away! Actually, for us it's just day away as we're celebrating with Wes' family this weekend. But before that, we've got a serious project going on at home, so be sure to come back next week to see our progress.

Happy Weekend!

Day 508's big reveal

Photo by Colin Peterson for MyHomeIdeas

I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you about this! My chairs are finally done, and the story is up! The whole project was definitely a learning experience, and I hope you'll click through to read more about it.

After getting them back with the fabric on backward, the upholsterer was able to turn it around without even using any more of the scrap -- I was pretty impressed with that. They didn't charge me anything to redo them, which they would been right in doing since I didn't indicate which side I wanted to be the front. Who knew?!

Photo by Becky Luigart-Stayner for MyHomeIdeas

I am so tickled about they turned out, and almost just as tickled about this photo! So much so, that I'm thinking of commissioning Anne Harwell to do a little something with it. Perhaps as a birthday present in 2009? (I have been so awful about parading my wish lists on this blog! Terrible!)

Interior by Tia Zoldan, Photo by Jeremy Samuelson for Cottage Living

In other news, I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you (at least I hope not) that the shelter category lost a great magazine this week in Cottage Living. I know first hand that those were some of the most talented, innovative people in the industry. Cottage was certainly a personal favorite of mine and I was -- and still am -- honored to have even been in the same building as those folks.

I've debated and debated about even bringing this up, but it seems I have no choice now. It's been a scary, scary few weeks around here -- and I'm sure I'm not the only one -- and at times it has been hard to even bother with these oftentimes-trivial posts. But I've been reminded that I started this blog to have a little fun and to inspire a little bit, and there is no reason I can't continue to do that.

Day 507: more eye candy

This time from the internet's favorite, Erika at Urban Grace Interiors. Holy crap this girl's talented! And she's an Auburn grad, to boot! War Eagle to that.

This headboard is killing me, mostly because I'm convinced I could make one. I'm sure it wouldn't be quite this pretty, but I am pretty handy with a staple gun.


I think you know why I love this porch.


She's been doing subway tile in a herringbone pattern a lot recently and I am 100% sold on the idea. Wes, are you taking notes?


Don't even get me started on this pair of secretaries. Killer.

Check out the rest of this beautiful house here.

Day 506: Vincente Wolf eye candy

Yummy Vincente Wolf eye candy courtesy of Simply Seleta. Love the white floors and gorgeous gray upholstery. Such fun with that pop of orange!

Day 503

This Friday's pretty picture courtesy of my new blogging friend -- and fellow Birminghamian -- Paula at Two Ellie. Can you believe she found this gorgeous chair at HomeGoods?? And check out the chic gray trim she and her husband added to their house.


This is her inspiration for her master bedroom redo, and based on her choices so far, she's right on target. Got to love a girl who scours the flea malls and comes up with stuff as good as this. She frequents the same flea mall where I found my lone white bamboo chair! AND we go to the same church. It is such a small world.

She really sealed the deal on our future virtual friendship when she posted photos from the real estate listing of a certain Cottage Living editor's home after recognizing his kitchen from the magazine (the same kitchen that I have obsessed about ad nauseum). A girl after my own heart, I tell ya. And the rest of his house? Freakin' gorgeous.

Happy Weekend!