Living Room Vignette Changes

(I want to thank Sunny Simple Life for featuring this post!)
Hi, everyone!  I hope you're enjoying this glorious weather like I am!  In my last post, I told you that I've been 'itching' to lighten up my living room a little.  This is what the corner of my living room looked like before. 

 It was a little more industrial, and while I still like this look, I was just ready for a change.

I found this little wire plant stand recently and thought it would look cute under the window, so I swapped it out with the table that was there.

I 'stole' the pitcher from the upstairs guest bath (you may remember it from here,) and added a few other little items. (I ended up moving the chippy stool.)

This sits next to a large barn wood 'book case' that my mom found for me. We always joke that she's my personal picker!  I totally changed out the shelves, and this is how it ended up.
(You can see from the above photo that I played around a little bit until I got the look that I desired. I'm sure you can all relate!)

 I left the top mostly the same.  I changed out the little stool to a white one, and the canvas utility bucket holds hydrangeas instead of the metal bucket.  I found the old map for $1.00!  I love the subtle background 'dimension' that it gives.

Once again, I shopped the house to find lighter (cream or white) items to display.  The drawer unit on the bottom used to be in the master bedroom, which I posted about here.

This is a view from farther back in the living room.  I talked about getting that wire basket on a stand at the Country Living Fair here.

 The chippy bin on the floor is storing some of my MANY magazines!  I simply covered them with a couple of grain sacks to keep them hidden-it looks prettier that way!

I just got this little clothes pins bag and thought it would be perfect to hold dried hydrangeas.  Can you see the picture of the woman on it with her clothes pin bag?  It's so 'retro'-I love it!

Here's a close up of the 'new' items now on the shelves-an old suitcase, vintage pharmacy boxes, and baseballs in a basket.

Well, I hope you enjoy this new look as much as I do!  A little more 'farmhouse', a little less 'industrial'.  There's still one more change yet that I'll show you next time.  Until then, have an amazing day!
I'm linking to these wonderful parties:  Katherines Corner
                                                    DIY by Design
                                                    Stuff and Nonsense 
                                                    Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen 
                                                    Rooted in Thyme
                                                    Common Ground
                                                    The Brambleberry Cottage
                                                    The Charm of Home
                                                    French Country Cottage
                                                    Jennifer Rizzo
                                                    The Vintage Farmhouse
                                                    Lavender Garden Cottage
                                                    i should be mopping the floor
                                                    Debbiedoos
                                                    Boogieboard Cottage
                                                    Sunny Simple Life 
                                                    Farmhouse Porch
                                                    Primp
                                                    Knick of Time
                                                    Coastal Charm
                                                    Timewashed
                                                    My 1929 Charmer 

Living Room Shelf

(I want to thank i should be mopping the floor for featuring this post!)
Hi, everyone!  I know that this time of year most people are changing their decor to 'warmer' and even 'darker' colors and textures to reflect the season, but I've been finding myself wanting to go a little 'lighter' in mine.  I love the industrial look, and have incorporated it in most of our rooms, but I decided to change up some things in our living room to a little less industrial, a little more 'farmhouse.'  This shelf in our living room is an example.  Before, it looked like this...

Now don't get me wrong, I still love this vignette, but I'm just ready for a change.  I know that you, my peeps, 'get that'!  A couple of these cameras were my hubby's grandpa's, and the others I just picked up here and there.  I've been collecting flower frogs for years.

This little barn wood shelf, which I love, is hanging over the filing drawer cabinet in our living room, right beside the fireplace.  (Please excuse the obnoxious cord-I forgot to unplug it!)  I cleared everything off, then starting shopping around the house for neutral, lighter things to replace the cameras and frogs.  Here is how it looks now...

I had so much fun 'styling' this, and I'm really pleased with the end result!  Some of my favorite little things are displayed together here.

Little trinkets that I've collected or were made by friends...

A closer look...

Quite a bit different, yes?  It just gives a different 'vibe' than before...

Here's the top of the cabinet now...

 
So what do you think? 

I've made some other changes in the living room that I'll be showing you soon.  Until then, have a fantastic day!
I'm linking to these wonderful parties:   Katherines Corner
                                                         The Ironstone Nest
                                                         DIY by Design
                                                         Primp
                                                         Common Ground
                                                         The Brambleberry Cottage 
                                                         Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen
                                                         The Shabby Creek Cottage
                                                         2805 
                                                         Jennifer Rizzo 
                                                         Sunny Simple Life
                                                         Boogieboard Cottage
                                                         i should be mopping the floor
                                                         Western Warmth
                                                         Coastal Charm
                                                         Debbiedoos
                                                         Knick of Time
                                                         Farmhouse Porch 
                                                         The Ironstone Nest
                                                         Timewashed
                                                         Primp
                                                         The Vintage Farmhouse

Chicago Goodies

(Thank you to Jennifer Rizzo for featuring this post!)
Hi, everyone!  I told you that I'd share some of my finds from the FUN trip to Chicago that my hubby and I took a couple of weeks ago, so here goes!  I've always wanted one of these olive buckets, but the ones I've come across have been so pricey.  When I saw a pile of them at the Randolph Flea Market, and they were actually priced less than what I'd ever seen them for, I had to grab some up!  (The lady said she brought them back from Greece.) I had 3 of them shipped to Ohio (them buggers are heavy!) for the shop, and of course I had to keep one.
I love the stamp on this one that I kept...

For now I've filled it with some lavender, and have placed it on the dining room buffet next to a whiskey barrel top that I just got here in Ohio.  This is just a temporary spot for the bucket-not sure yet where it's going to end up.

Just for kicks, here's the whiskey barrel top.  I've been looking for one of these (at a reasonable price) for awhile, too.  It makes such a fun serving/display 'tray', don't you think?

I love the print on it...

On to more Chicago finds...my hubby and I were in a quaint suburb perusing some shops, when this open garage in an alley caught our eye.  It was stuffed with junk, and my hubby asked a little old man sitting there if we could go through it and he obliged.  Keith (hubs) came across this old RR sign and asked the man the price...2 bucks!  (I just love that he 'gets' good junk! :) After we pulled our jaws up from the floor, we snatched it up.  We both thought it was very cool (plus easy to pack for the flight home!)  There was a lot of other fun stuff there (and everything we asked about was so cheap!) but everything else was too big to pack.

For now this is hanging in the upstairs hallway.

I spotted this at the Randolph Market and was drawn to the shape and architectural quality.  I think it's a fireplace grate, maybe?  Not sure.  Keith lugged this on the subway, then through the whole airport for me, God love him!  This thing is like 3 1/2 feet tall!  I think we got some strange looks-ha!

I thought it would be a fun magnetic memo board...

Or a great way to store/display my tons of earrings (I love my bling-this is just a small sampling!)...

Many of you know that I have collection of bowling pins...many different sizes, shapes, and colors...I love them!  These 3 larger ones were found at the Randolph Market, also...

I already had the tiny ones (so cute!) and I recently got this red wagon 'thing' at a flea market here, so I grouped the pins all together on the wagon in my office.  This vignette has the whimsy that I love!

So that's most of my Chicago fun finds...can't wait to go back next year!
Have a wonderful day!
I'm linking to these wonderful parties:
                                           i should be mopping the floors 
                                           Sunny Simple Life
                                           Debbiedoos
                                           Boogieboard Cottage 
                                           Jennifer Rizzo
                                           Coastal Charm
                                           Knick of Time
                                           Farmhouse Porch 

Chicago Trip

Hi, everyone!  My hubby and I just got back from a 5 day get-away to Chicago.  Because it's only about an hour flight for us and we love the city so much, we try to get there at least once a year.  For those of you that live near Chicago, I'm jealous!!  I could easily live there!  We just stopped here for a random pic...the courtyard behind us was gorgeous!

We did TONS of walking, and came across so many cute shops.  I was impressed with many of the storefronts we saw.  This is a little shop called Posh, right downtown.  Such a fun farmhouse vignette!

This was a Ralph Lauren store on Michigan Ave...the display of children's clothes and fall accents were adorable! (Kind of hard to see, but note the vintage trophy cups and ribbons-love!)

This is the coolest clothing and accessories store called All Saints. Their store windows were filled with vintage sewing machines...

 And check out the hundreds more inside!  What a statement!

One of our favorite things to do is to try new restaurants, and of course Chicago has tons of good eats!  Here we are in one of Rick Bayless's famous restaurants.  We heard that you need reservations months in advance, but when we showed up they managed to squeeze us into the 'chef's table.' (Sorry about the hazy photo.) I must say the margaritas were outstanding! :)

Here are some shots of the area close to our hotel.  We had beautiful views and gorgeous fall weather!

But my MOST favorite thing to do each time we visit Chicago is to attend the Randolph Flea Market!  It's not a huge flea, but it's always filled with so many fun and unusual vintage goodies!

 You can't really get the full effect from this picture, but this booth had tons of great stuff, some of which I purchased!  (We just noticed that the way my hubby took this pic, it almost looks like my head is on top of the mannequin's body-ha!  :)

I wish I would've gotten some better pics of the market, but I was in full shopping mode! 
There were SO many things that I would've loved to buy, but since we flew and I didn't want to pay high shipping prices, I just brought a few select things home.  Next time I'll share them with you!  Until then, have a fantastic day!
I'm linking to these wonderful parties:
                                                 My 1929 Charmer

                                                 i should be mopping the floor
                                                 Debbiedoos 
                                                 Alderberry Hill
                                                 Boogieboard Cottage
                                                 Knick of Time
                                                 Coastal Charm
                                                 Jennifer Rizzo
                                                 The Ivy Cottage Blog
                                                 Katherine's Corner

Favorite Things Hop Co-Host

Good morning, everyone!  I'm so excited to be co-hosting this week's fantastic blog hop at Katherines Corner!  When I started blogging about 5 months ago, Katherine was one of the first blog hops that I found and I've linked up almost every week since.  Katherine has been so friendly and helpful!  Her blog is full of great photos, recipes, book suggestions, and much more!  I encourage you to check out her series that she's recently started where every Tuesday she shares personal stories about herself and her experiences-so interesting!!  I've learned that she has suffered through personal heartbreak and tragedy, but still has the best attitude!  You'll be inspired!  And she also posts pics of her sweet little puppy, Izzy...cutest dog ever (and that's something, coming from a cat lover!)  So please, check her out, and also join in the fun and link up!  I look forward to meeting many of her dear readers/followers, as well.  I'll leave you with one of my favorite things-one of our fur babies, 'Bobbi', taking an afternoon siesta!

Let's get started!

About the Thursdays Favorite Things Hop, this hop is where you can link your favorite post or write a post about your favorite things and share with old and new followers!
 Here are the rules, yes there are rules. But just a few:
  You must be a follower of Katherines Corner preferably through Email, it's on her right sidebar ( or she has facebook, google plus and twitter too) If you’re a new follower, please let her know how you follow. She always follows back
    Please follow my blog too!
    No adult content blogs.
    Blogs only please.
    Visit and Follow as many other blogs in the list as you can. Please leave comments when you visit, let them know that we sent you. Nobody expects you to visit all of them ( although that would be awesome) Just click and go. Remember to leave a comment :-)

 Now hop on and share your favorites. If you’d like to post this blog hop on your page please just grab the linky code. Or if you would like to be a co-host please contact Katherine

*participants who link up will be sent weekly reminders of this wonderful hop*

Please grab the hop button to share with others, you can copy and paste the image with a link to KatherinesCorner.com OR grab the code from Katherines Corner it's on her right sidebar.
 It’s always nice to have the hop button on your post. But it IS NOT mandatory, although a link back to Katherines blog is always appreciated.