Welcome To My Home!

I am so thrilled and honored that Kelly from Eclectically Vintage has chosen to feature my home and blog today!  She has tremendous style and talent-just wait until you see how creatively she mixes vintage pieces into her decor! (She finds the coolest stuff, too!)  Please visit her at her fantastic blog and say 'hello.'  Thank you, Kelly!
                                                     

I've Been Nominated!

I was so excited today to find out that Angela from Number Fifty Three has nominated me for the Liebster Award!  Thank you, Angela-I'm honored!  Please go visit her wonderful, inspiring blog!  In addition, I just found out that I was also nominated by Kathryn at Kat's Kalamities-double exciting :)   Please also go visit her fun blog!  Thanks, Kat!
The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.
Angela sources the definition in her post:   Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.
 As part of the nomination, Angela asked me to share five random facts about myself.  So here they are:

 1. My degree is in Fashion Merchandising, but my main passion is decorating! (My mom and I have a small home decor shop-so much fun!)

 2. I LOVE cats...always have since I was little. My hubby and I have 2.

3. I don't have children.  My sister has 4, and I enjoy them and my friends' kids.

4. My hubby and I have quite a love story-I'll have to share it some time.  We've been married 13 1/2 years (but have known each other for 26!)

5. I am only 5' tall!  (Good things come in small packages, and all that...!)


 There are so many wonderful bloggers to choose from!  Angela passed on a great list of rules from twelve-o-eight. So, if I have nominated you please complete the following 5 steps:

1. Post about your win on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award and  follow their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award button to your blog (you can right-click on the Liebster label from my page, save it to your computer, then save to your blog).
4. Present The Liebster Award to 5 blogs that have fewer than 200 followers that you think deserve to be recognized.
5. Let them know by leaving them a comment on their blog.

Here are the 5 blogs that I nominated (in no order):

Sew a Fine Seam

Ethereal Plus What I Love

Burlap and Buttons

City Farmhouse

Georgie Emerson Vintage 

 Thank you so much for stopping by-I really appreciate all of my followers!  Please stop by these fantastic blogs that I nominated and 'meet' these talented women.
                                  

Office Space

A few weeks ago, my hubby noticed a guy in the street taking pictures of our house.  He promptly went out to see what was going on, and the man told him he used to live in our house.  It turns out that he grew up in this house until he was 25, from the 1940's into the 1960's!  He lives in Chicago now, but was back visiting Ohio, and wanted to stop by and see his old stomping ground, and simply take a few pictures of the outside. We invited him in, and he was nearly overcome with tears.  It was so interesting to hear all of his stories, and the changes that have been made to the house and yard, etc.  I asked him to please email us pictures when he returned home.  I'll get back to that in a minute...
This is our 'office', right off the front hall/entryway.
In here, I decided to go with more of an industrial vibe. The walls were painted red when we moved in, and we left them, so they just seemed to lean toward a more industrial look.

The red walls definitely aren't for the faint of heart (although they're not as bright as they seem in these photos!)   I've liked them, but it's time for a change, so we're thinking of painting them a gray. It should mesh well with all of the galvanized metal I've collected!

So...here is 1 of the pics he emailed us...our office in 1957!  He said they called it the 'library' and used it as their family room, which is so funny, since this room is so tiny!  He said the much bigger living room was used only for 'formal' occasions-so here are 2 parents, 2 kids, a dog, and all that furniture crammed into this little room!  I LOVE that we now have this momento-it's so special, and I'm grateful that he shared it with us!

I'll show the other side of the office next time...have a wonderful day!
I'm linking to these wonderful blogs:   The Tablescaper
                                                       you are talking too much
                                                       Debbiedoo's 
                                                       my 1929 charmer
                                                       Alderberry Hill
                                                       i should be mopping the floor
                                                       Boogieboard Cottage 
                                                       Get Outta My Head Please
                                                       The Dedicated House
                                                       Between Naps on the Porch
                                                       The Farmhouse Porch 
                                                       Knick of Time
                                                       A Stroll Thru Life
                                                       Coastal Charm 
                                                       Kathe with an E
                                                       My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
                                                       413 Sparrow Lane 
                                                       The Ironstone Nest
                                                       Savvy Southern Style
                                                       Primp 
                                                       Ivy and Elephants 
                                                       My Girlish Whims 
                                                       Restore Interiors 
                                                       A Delightsome Life
                                                       Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen 
                                                       The Brambleberry Cottage
                                                       No Minimalist Here
                                                       Beyond the Picket Fence
                                                       The Vintage Farmhouse 
                                                       aka design 
                                                       Coloradolady 
                                                       The Shabby Creek Cottage
                                                       Common Ground 
                                                       Homespun Happenings
                                                       My Romantic Home 
                                                       The Charm of Home 
                                                       French Country Cottage
                                                       At the Picket Fence 
                                                       Rooted in Thyme
                                                       Stuff & Nonsense
                                                       Imparting Grace

Happy Dad's Day

I am honored to be featured at the wonderful blog my 1929 charmer! Thank you, Cathy :)
I was also featured at The Farmhouse Porch, a fantastic blog by Linsey-thank you!
I know I'm very blessed to have a wonderful father!  My dad is an unbelievably active, young-looking 76 year old (his birthday was just yesterday!)  People are literally stunned when they learn his age.  He can build/make just about anything, so a couple of times when I've made a request, he has sweetly obliged.

I wanted a cabinet to fit a specific space in our old house, and he (with my mom's help) whipped this up in a day. 

It's made with a chippy door/window, and old wood that he salvaged from a dilapidated barn. Now it perfectly houses my ironstone collection in our dining room.

Lately I'd been loving all the fun pallet shelves in blog land, so of course I asked him to make me one. (I know many of you are talented enough to tackle that yourselves, but yours truly sticks to the decoratin' and leaves the buildin' to the 'pros' :)

It now proudly resides in my sunroom, where it displays my canvas thrift-store paintings.

When I became obsessed with antlers, he gave me a few that he had collected on his many hikes through the woods. 

I added them to a couple I already had, then displayed them in an old wood drying rack-I love the rustic, natural element they bring!

I guess I'm showing you all of this to say "Thanks, Dad!"  Thanks for always loving me unconditionally, for always supporting me in my sometimes crazy endeavors, and for being a great example of a true man of God! (And, of course, for building me fun things :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful Father's Day!
I'm linking to these wonderful parties:    Debbiedoo's
                                                          The Tablescaper
                                                          Alderberry Hill 
                                                          You're talking too much 
                                                          i should be mopping the floor 
                                                          Boogieboard Cottage 
                                                          A Ruffled Nest 
                                                          Ivy and Elephants 
                                                          Between Naps on the Porch
                                                          Naptime Review 
                                                          Coastal Charm
                                                          Kathe With An E
                                                          Knick of Time
                                                          Farmhouse Porch
                                                          my 1929 charmer 
                                                          A Stroll Thru Life
                                                          My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
                                                          My Girlish Whims 
                                                          Savvy Southern Style 
                                                          Restore Interiors
                                                          Free Pretty Things for You 
                                                          A Delightsome Life
                                                          Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen 
                                                          The Vintage Farmhouse 
                                                          Coloradolady
                                                          Mod Vintage Life
                                                          The Brambleberry Cottage
                                                          From My Front Porch to Yours 
                                                          Common Ground
                                                          The Charm of Home
\                                                         French Country Cottage
                                                          The Thrifty Groove
                                                          Rooted in Thyme
                                                          Imparting Grace
                                                          Aka Design 
                                                          Katherines Corner
                                                          Homespun Happenings
                                                          The Shabby Nest