Finally more of our master bedroom!!! The last little details have been coming together very slowly because we have been so busy with other things. Also, we waited so long to have it I want it to be just right. I have to admit we love waking up these beautiful ceilings, they were definitely worth the work. I was also waiting for the perfect pieces to complete the room, like this chair and little cupboard. I bought the cupboard at the last Springfield, Ohio Antique Extravaganza and it was buried all the way in the back of our trailer so I had to wait until it was unloaded to get to it. I knew I wanted a chair for our bedroom but really didn't want to spend a lot of money on one when lo and behold one of our family friends gave us a bunch of furniture she didn't want anymore. Among all of the furniture were a bunch of slipcovered chairs. A great place to sit and put your shoes on in the morning or take your shoes off after a long day this chair is just perfect beautiful slipcover and all. Another new thing to the room is this beautiful hand woven rug from Natural Area Rugs. Their Paloma Jute Rug adds just the right amount of color and texture to the room and we absolutely love it. There are so many rug choices out there and I didn't want one that took up too much of the room or was too busy and as I unrolled this one I could tell it was going to be just perfect. I haven't changed up the bedding yet, that is a record for me you guys! I am just loving this combination so much that I don't feel the need to change it yet! For more details on the bedding read Our Master Bedroom Part One. Maybe in the hot summer months I will change the shams or something. We even still have our electric blanket on the bed, in the middle of May, that is definitely a record for us! In other news ~ If you follow me on Instagram you know that the shop we had been working on to make our brick and mortar location fell through. I am devastated and am struggling to understand the meaning of it all. We are having trouble finding anything else that fits our needs, is in our budget and is within 45 minutes of our house. We may have found something this week but it is honestly the shop that I have dreamed about my whole life and it is going to be quite complicated to get it all to fall into place. I am dying to share some the details about it but I am so afraid right now, we will know more by the end of the week. I am praying it works out but I am also trying to be realistic because it will be such a disappointment if it doesn't and I am already feeling very depressed. In the meantime I am trying to focus on the Springfield, Ohio Extravaganza which is next week. We absolutely love doing the Springfield Show and I look forward to seeing all of you that faithfully come year after year! I hope you enjoyed Part Two of our master bedroom! All sources listed below! Bed Frame ~ Wayfair.com Mattress ~ IKEA Lamps~ Hobby Lobby Rug ~ Natural Area Rugs Trunk and Small Cupboard ~ Springfield Ohio Antique Extravaganza Quilt on Bed ~ Springfield Ohio Antique Extravaganza Wall and Ceilings ~ Glidden's Swan White Beams and Floors ~ Stained Minwax's Dark Walnut

I am so excited to be joining some wonderfully talented bloggers for a new blog hop called FARMHOUSE FRIDAYS! This month's theme is "What Does Farmhouse Style Mean To Me". To me farmhouse style is simple, rustic, calming, and cozy. I love old things and am drawn to the look of the past, specifically rural America in the middle to late 1800's. I try to accomplish this look in our farmhouse by using primitive items and furnishings, warm wood tones, along with simple fabrics and patterns, all set against a neutral background. To me farmhouse style is.... ~Lots of beadboard painted a crisp white that allows reflection of natural light. ~Antique crocks and other miscellaneous homesteading items. I love collecting but I also love keeping things corralled so I keep everyday items like rolling pins and wooden spoons on display in something old like crocks and pitchers, not only do they look pretty but they are easy to grab when needed. Antique baskets and old rustic boxes, two of my favorite things to collect, make a great place for linens. ~ Hooks of all kinds old and new. Hooks are a staple in every room of our farmhouse and I love to display everyday use items, pretty linens, and seasonal decorations on them. ~Old harwood floors, ours may be crooked and scratched but there is nothing else like them to give you the farmhouse feel. ~Quilts, quilts and more quilts, the kind that you can actually curl up with. ~Old dishes, baskets, cutting boards, jars and tins. ~Old tables and cupboards....rustic handmade ones being my favorite. Our farmhouse, like most, is short on closet space so we need lots of furniture such as trunks and cupboards that can act as storage space. I absolutely love old cupboards and try to squeeze one just about everywhere I can. ~Signs, may they be old or reproduction they instantly give a room character. ~Slipcovers on the furniture, not only do they hide that pattern that you were sure you would love forever but they are washable and are easy to change when you tire of them. ~And last but not least....my favorite to collect and decorate our farmhouse with....white ironstone, it clearly needs no explanation. Thank you so much for visiting our very first FARMHOUSE FRIDAY and I hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to visit the other fantastic blogs below! FADED CHARM HOUSE OF HAWTHORNES STONEGABLE THE EVERYDAY HOME TOWN AND COUNTRY LIVING

I know I say it every year but when it gets to be the end of winter I always end up wanting to scrub everything from top to bottom and change things around while I am doing it. I also always feel the need to get rid of stuff. I guess I get the spring cleaning bug but just a little too soon? I guess it is good though because come spring I don't have the time to be inside cleaning! Anyways, I got the idea that I wanted to change up what I had in this cupboard and as I was cleaning I decided I should take some pictures of all of the blue and white with the pretty sunshine coming in (you would never know it was -10 degrees outside from the pictures). Below you can see my slowly growing collection of blue and white quilts. I have a major itch to get out and do some antique hunting as I always do come this time of year. I have some things I am on the hunt for and I love finding unique items for my shop as well. What things are you guys on the hunt for this coming flea market season? Here is a peek at my new cupboard....I will tell you all about in my next post! I hope you are all staying nice and warm despite the frigid temperatures ....we are hopefully getting our new furnace put in tomorrow...hurrah! *Hanging Cupboard Color - Whispering Wheat by Glidden

Wow you guys time has been flying by...more so than ever!!! I guess because we have been spending every minute working to get the shop ready. I wanted to share some of what we have been working on at the shop but first I thought I would share some of our booth from the Springfield Extravaganza this year. As always we had such a wonderful time and it was great to see so many of you and catch up with our Springfield friends. This was the first show we have ever done there that it didn't rain one time!!! It was so weird to walk back into our booth every morning and have everything be dry! I am sure it will never happen again so we really tried to enjoy it! It was unbearably hot though, so hot that I could hardly summon the energy to walk around and shop. I did walk around a bit on Saturday though and found some wonderful goodies. It is even more fun to go out look for goodies at flea markets and antique shows now that I have shop to bring everything back to! This gorgeous white cupboard filled with farmhouse goods made for one my favorite displays yet. As soon as we got back from Ohio it was straight back to work getting the shop ready for the big grand opening October 13th!!! Here is a peek at some of what we have been working on! The front is coming together just like I envisioned. This historic building sat vacant for so long that I think a lot of locals had forgotten the beauty it held so I wanted to add bright vibrant colors to the porch to catch people's eye again as they quickly drove past. I also want the community to know that it is a store once more and feel a warm welcome as they come in. Inside you will find the calm creamy whites that I never tire of as I find they make the perfect backdrop for all of the seasons while making things cozy and cohesive at the same time. I chose to leave the floors as is...100 plus years of scratches and all. I love thinking of the things that people would have bought that made those scratches or the store owner that moved heavy barrels here or there. I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that the shop is large enough for me to create fun set ups like this kids bedroom I made in the one corner. I have to admit it has been hard for me to sleep lately with all of the ideas I have swirling in my head...and trying to remember where I put this or that that I know would be just perfect here or there in the shop doesn't help! The railroad use to run through this tiny town (which is just houses now as everything else has been demolished) and this was the place to stop and get any of the essentials/general goods needed. This week we are working on recreating the shelving that would have originally lined the walls and held those goods. Luckily enough we found the original drawers upstairs in the building and were able to bring them back downstairs. Recreating the store shelving is probably the project that I am most excited about here at the shop. I have dreamed of having a shop in a general store for so long but I honestly thought we would just have to find a generic looking shop and then make it look like a general store. Never would I have imagined that we would actually find a general store and I feel beyond blessed and fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to restore it. So walking in now seeing these grand shelves that I get to fill with all of the goods I search high and low for is a really big moment in my life. I am still waiting for someone to come knock on the window and say we aren't aloud to operate or something! A little peek at the counter...more pictures of it soon.....I absolutely love the way it turned out. Pretty soon it is going to be lined with big glass jars filled with candy...Millie can't wait to help me with that part! My drive to the shop seems to just get prettier and prettier as the leaves have started to change color. The road I take there is lined with one Amish farm after another and I am continuously inspired by the gentle and utilitarian beauty of their homes and farms. I am so excited that we are having our grand opening in the fall...it just seems like the perfect timing. Also on the to do list this week is getting our shop name and our hours on the window, putting many pieces of big furniture in place and getting the goods on the shelves!!! There is a lot more that I would love to have done before we open but there is just no way we will be able to get to it all! That's okay...I am just beyond grateful to call this little peace of heaven ours! I know many of you are planning on coming for the big day and I absolutely can't wait to hear what you guys think about this amazing building and all that we have done to it!!! GRAND OPENING Saturday October 13th 11 AM to 5 PM 5750 West Center Road Linesville, PA 16424

This weeks farmhouse comes from Farmhouse 5540. It’s a cozy farmhouse in Pennsylvania that is bright and beautiful. This is just a sneak peek so go check out Megan’s blog where she is renovating, decorating and creating in an 1867 Pennsylvania farmhouse. She is very detailed oriented with her decorating, even giving you the paint

I have had this recipe for over twenty years. I think it came out of an old Southern Living magazine /cookbook. I made a copy of a page that contains four recipes but there is no identification anywhere on the page. I plan to make all four recipes so I’ll add them and I add

Welcome! This weeks inspiration is IRONSTONE PITCHERS! Yes I know I just did IRONSTONE as the last "Weekly Inspiration" and I had actually just about finished a post on a whole other topic... HOWEVER

I know you guys love old things just as much as I do so this post is dedicated to vintage kitchen items....oh how I love things like old ha...

Since the Easter Bunny is on his way I thought it would be fitting to make this Farmhouse Inspiration post all about egg baskets and holders. Whether they are truly old or reproduction they are one of my favorite things to collect! Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are leaving inspired!!

Renovating, decorating and creating in an 1867 Pennsylvania farmhouse.

I know everyone else is showing Christmas décor on their blogs by now but I just had to share our front porch with you guys!! We have had the warmest November and we have taken full advantage of it by putting all of our efforts into our front porch. We normally have snow fall by now but we have been having 60 to 70 degree days. But anyways....here is our front porch!!! We have lived in our farmhouse over 7 years now and for 7 years the front of it has driven me nuts! The vinyl siding was dirty and beyond helping, the steps were rotting and black with mold and the railing came off every time you touched it, there was black smoke on everything from the pellet stove pipe, chipping paint on the floor and railings!! There were just always other things that were more important to address so this always got put on the back burner. It took us all summer and most of the fall to finish this renovation but I can finally say I am not embarrassed by my front porch anymore and I can't even begin to tell you happy that makes me! Before We started by taking down the aluminum ceiling in the hopes that there would be an awesome beadboard ceiling or something underneath. No such luck...it was plaster and lath and about million kinds of nests from various creatures. Next was taking off the vinyl siding, underneath it was a cement fiber board siding, and then underneath it was the original clapboard. I was soooooo happy to see that original clapboard under there, we had a feeling it was there but you just never know. Other than being dirty the clapboard was in great condition, I guess there was a positive to all of those layers of ugly siding over it all these years. We gave the clapboard a good sanding and a good scrub and then primed and painted it Glidden's White on White. Putting in new windows is really what made the difference, that was when we really started to see it all come together. A BIG THANK YOU if bought any of my pillows that I make and sell on Etsy or bought anything from me at the Springfield Extravaganza because that is how I pay for any windows that we ever buy. It made me sad to take out the original windows, when we first bought the house I vowed never to do that and I feel bad that we did. But many of them had broken panes and were painted shut or did not work all anymore, and all of the framing around them was rotted. Plus I like consistency and want all of our windows to be the same...eventually anyways. We do save every single one though because I plan to use them in some other way eventually (hopefully my future shop or something). The windows are made by Andersen, we special order them through the Home Depot. The day we took these steps off was one of the best days of my life, they were not original to the house and they weren't well built and they were black with rot. They also didn't seem to fit the space right so we wanted wider ones that seemed more fitting and appropriate to the time period our house was built. We also sanded the porch floor really well (we used the belt sander we had rented to sand the dining room floors and it took almost no time) and then I primed it with this Rustoleum Restore Deck Start Wood Primer. This primer is knew to me. I had picked it up on a whim awhile back because it was on clearance for $10.00 and I knew I would eventually need it. It has a very different consistency than most primers, it almost looks like glue and goes on clear. Originally I was going to paint the porch after I primed it but I could see that as the primer was drying it was giving the wood the most beautiful color. The porch floor is old but is not original to the house so it didn't have that old wood look to it but the primer made it look that way! I was so excited and it meant I didn't have to hurry and get the floor painted before winter! I wanted a light that looked like an old oil lamp and the only place I could find one was on ebay. It came from China without any instructions and with different colored wires than Americans use to tell hot and neutral but Neal figured it out much to his dismay:) I just love the way it looks, especially at night from the road. Neal bought me this adorable little table at the Springfield Extravaganza. He gets antsy sitting in the booth and likes to go out looking for goodies for us. Fine by me...how cute is this table?? I love when I see him walking back with something. It was rotted on the bottoms of the legs and sat crooked so he sawed them off and then I painted the whole thing Glidden's Antique White. I painted the two $2 thrift store chairs the same and made a little sitting area for us. I hung a little $12 shelf I bought at Hobby Lobby, I love Hobby Lobby, they have such good stuff that you just can't find anywhere else. A wicker couch that I bought at a thrift store years ago and flea market furniture make for a little sitting area on the other end of the porch. I made all of the pillows on the sofa and the cushion I bought at TJMaxx. And how pretty is this blue stripe from farmhousewares.com ?! I wanted a rug for this area but I wanted it to be machine washable being outside and all and it also needed to be the right size for this space. Then I spotted this one online and I knew it was perfect!! The brick path was one of the first things we did when we moved in. It had been a poured cement walkway that was all broken up with weeds coming through. We rented a jack hammer and removed it and I am sure our neighbors thought it was a weird thing to be focusing on with all of the other terrible eye sores but it was one of those things that just had to go immediately. And I knew the brick path would to lead to a pretty entrance someday:) I hope you enjoyed seeing our front porch FINALLY!! Thank you guys for always waiting so patiently!! I know that I sure am enjoying it!! It has been so fun decorating it for Halloween and fall and I just can't wait to decorate it for Christmas!!! Special thanks to my husband for working so hard on all of this...he always does but he really has been a work machine on this one. ***House exterior is painted Glidden's White on White ***Door is painted Better Homes and Garden's Porch Gray which has been discontinued but I am working on finding a color match (or getting my own paint line, wink wink) for people because I get so many questions about it.

I was cleaning my son's room and thought why not show it on my blog? You know how I feel about color but my son loves red and blue so I painted the walls "Sisal" by Martha Stewart to create a calm back drop for all of the vibrant colors. Most items in his room are from the flea market, thrift store or were hand made. Like this old library cart that I found at the thrift store for $10. I just painted it blue to match everything else. It is perfect for holding his many books. The red can is a flea market find that I put his blocks in. You know how I feel about cute storage. Neal made this long book holder when our son was a baby to go along side his crib. Once we moved the crib out and the bed in it still seemed to work. I have been on the search for a great head board...last week at the flea market I saw a cute metal head board for $10....but I had to no way to get it home:( I found a large piece of wood in that "Discounted Wood Remnants" bin at the Home Depot for $2. I painted it with chalk board paint and then had my sister paint "Eli's Workshop" on it for above his workbench. I found the Ikea duvet cover on Ebay and the little quilt I found on Etsy. And I just found this adorable Country Living pillow yesterday at Gabriels. I don't know if you have a Gabriels where you live but they have the best deals. The framed picture is a page from a calender that my sister framed for her kids years back and then passed on to me. Old jars keep Eli's small toys organized but still visible. And we just found this adorable barn for $2 at a yard sale last week...I am teaching my son early how to spot a good deal:) There is more I want to show of his room but it started to cloud up as I was taking these pictures, so stay tuned. Thanks for visiting and I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Due to lack of time I wasn't able to visit any Chicago antique shops while we were there, but Neal was sweet enough to left me walk around the MauMee Antique Mall in Ohio on our way home. Most items there are overpriced but if you scour enough there are deals to be found. Like this beautiful antique quilt I found that was only $18! And this ironstone pitcher that was affordable due to the chip in it, plus it was 10% off due to a dealer sale. Other than lots of chamber pots there really wasn't any other ironstone for sale there, much to my dismay. But that disappointment quickly dissipated because the next day I found this ironstone platter at the Goodwill near my parents house for $2! Some of my favorite things to collect are old shaving mirrors and I just recently found the one pictured for $1 at a yard sale. The frame is that perfect gray color that I love so much. And see the mantle in the mirror reflection? That is for the sitting room part of our kitchen...not much progress there...we have been so busy with weddings and visitors galore and trips it has been put on the back burner. But the warm weather won't last much longer so we will have to really put the hammer to the nail once things slow down. Hope you are enjoying these last couple weeks of summer!

Renovating, decorating and creating in an 1867 Pennsylvania farmhouse.

It's hard to believe we are reaching Summer's end already, as usual it flew by, however I am looking forward to some cooler temperatures and being a tad less busy (hopefully). I know it has been a long time since I posted anything so I thought I would share some pictures of the house that I have taken over the last couple of weeks. I've been wanting to share this beautiful antique laundry basket that I bought (for $8) at the last Springfield, Ohio Antique Extravaganza. Being a seller I hardly get any time to shop but this beauty was in the row right next to ours and I spotted it on my way back from the restrooms. I love antique laundry baskets and have one in just about every room but this one might be my new favorite. The coverlet on the bed is a custom made linen duvet that my moms friend (I have gotten some pretty amazing stuff from her) was getting rid of...in the hot summer months I just take the down comforter out of it. Right now I just have it layered over a quilt. I will show it in more detail when I do a full post dedicated to this room. Some of the antique linens on the bed are new also. I had my eyes on this antique bolster cover on Etsy for ages and then my very sweet and thoughtful in-laws sent me an Etsy gift card and I knew just what I should purchase with it! In the summer it makes the perfect light weight linen to lay across the end of the bed, it makes the bed look pretty but doesn't add weight. The "B" monogram pillow is from 1871Farmhouse on Etsy...I had been looking forever for a little pillow with a B on it so I had to snatch this up the second I saw it on Etsy. The hooks are another Springfield find and are the perfect place for some of my antique dresses and such. And speaking of Springfield the next Antique Extravaganza is September 16, 17, and 18th so it's time to get my new trailer all loaded up! I was finally able to purchase my very own cargo trailer and I couldn't be more excited! I have soooo much good stuff so I hope that some of you are coming!