Living Room Change~

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd show you bit's of my living room again. I painted a couple of walls and left the large wall behind the sofa white. I'll probably end up painting it a different shade of white next month. 

I changed some things around and I still need to buy curtain rods and hang up some sheers, but you can get an idea of what it will look like when I'm done. I also need a big rug for in front of the sofa.

I re-arranged the living room, this was actually how I had it when we first moved in and hubby liked it better this way, so back it went.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but I painted the wall with all of the windows a light gray called "Sterling" by Laura Ashley. I had wanted to do it "Pearl Gray" from Martha Stewart, but it was no longer available.

I have some wonderful vintage chairs coming to go around the table in front of the fireplace. So they will add a pop of color to that space.

I also decided to keep my yellow dresser because it holds a lot of sentimental value, and I really can't paint it because it has beautiful hand painted flowers on the drawers and it would just ruin the piece. 

The cabinet with the basket on top is my t.v. cabinet that I just painted. It was a bit too dark for my home in it's original finish, so I painted the inside a a combination of "Sterling" by Laura Ashley and Wedding Veil" by Benjamin Moore. The outside is painted "Bashful Blue" by Ben Moore.

 I got the wonderful monogrammed  grain sack pillow from the flea market a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry for the million photos.

On another note, hubby and I are completely hooked on the BBC show "Downton Abbey". I went last Friday to purchase the 1st season and had to run back Sunday night for the 2nd season. Now that I'm done watching both seasons I have no idea what I'm going to do. I just read that the 3rd season won't be out in the U.S until next year at this time. Really, that long? 

Anyone else hooked like me? :)

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Sincerely,

Melinda

Antique French Books~

Hi All, I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your lovely comments about my living room, you always know how to make a girl feel good! :)

I just received some beautiful antique French books from France and thought I'd show you all.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!~

Sincerely,

~Melinda

FlEa MArket FindS~

Hi all, hope your enjoying this lovely week. It has been so beautiful the past couple of days here with temperatures in the upper 70's, sorry don't be jealous. :)

I painted my living room and it looks really good. I ended up having to choose a different color then the one I had wanted but I like the choice I made. I also just painted my vintage cabinet that I keep my t.v. on, so I'll show you that soon as well.

I went to the flea market on Sunday with my oldest son and we had so much fun, not to mention we got some fabulous things that I had been wishing for, for a lot less money which is always a plus!!

Did I tell you that I finally broke down and bought the "Adele" CD? I usually don't buy CD's because I just purchase songs on iTunes, but I LOVE Adele's CD!! The 3 songs that I listen to over and over again are "Set Fire To The Rain", "He Won't Go", and "LoveSong". Remember that song by the "Cure" in the 80's? Her version rocks!!

Anyway, here's some photos I took of a few vignettes in the living room. I still have to find some sheers for the windows and once that's done, I'll show you a full photo.

See the yummy vintage French canning jar to the left with the antique label? Flea market find from this awesome French vendor. He had amazing stuff!!~

See the large vintage French pickling jar on the table to the right? Flea market find from the wonderful "Uber Chic" guys. Love them!!~ I have been wanting one of those forever~

I also got that gorgeous red stripped vintage German table cloth under the napkins, from "Uber Chic" as well.

French document: Flea market~

This is a cabinet in my dining room.

My awesome antique scale I got for Christmas from one of my favorite Etsy shops, "Curate and Love". Ivy, the owner is so super sweet and finds the BEST stuff!~

Love all of the rusty spots~

One of my fav types of flowers from Trader Joes, Stock.

Part of my living room~

Aren't those purple Sweet peas gorgeous? 

I went a little flower crazy this week!!

You know that:

"Bread feeds the body indeed,
but the flowers also feed the soul".

 Love that quote. Sorry, but I can't remember who said it.

Hope you enjoyed.

I'll be back soon with a few other flea market finds.

Have a beautiful day!!

Sincerely,

Melinda

I need some advice!!~

Happy Saturday my friends!

First off, I want to say thank you for your friendship, I can't tell you how excited I get to check my blog everyday to read all of your new wonderfully sweet comments, it really does make me so happy!!

I have a question for you, I need a little advice regarding my business. 

I've had my jewelry design business for about 3 years now on Etsy, and then about a year ago, I opened a second shop to sell my vintage pillows that I design and some other vintage pieces. I really dislike having the businesses separated, it is twice the amount of work and kind of a pain to keep track of both. I've wanted to merge the 2 shops for a while now, but i didn't want my jewelry designs to be overshadowed by the vintage items. I love designing jewelry and I'm really proud of how I've been doing and I always wanted that to be my main business. So a couple of days ago, I started merging my shops on Etsy and I have already lost a few admirers.

I'm at a loss of what to do. I would also like to have my own website designed for my business, but I'm not sure how much traffic I will get. As much as I love Etsy and what it has done for me, I would really love to just be on my own and be able to design my shop the way I want to. I feel like I'm very limited on Etsy.

Well, I would just really love some advice. It would be greatly appreciated!!

I feel like if I have a on-line shop and blog designed for my business, I will feel a bit more professional, which is what I really want.

Thanks everyone for your help and have a great Sunday!!~

Sincerely,

Melinda

Living Room~ Before

Hello all, hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!~

I wanted to show you what my living room looks like. Now, before I show you all, just remember that these are the before photos~~!!

I'm planning on painting the living room next week, so that should make a huge difference!

In my last place I painted my walls "Newsprint" by Martha Stewart. I loved the color, but it was just a tad too light for my living room. I think I might do Newsprint in my bedroom this time. 

I'm going to use "Pearl Gray" in my living room, also a Martha Stewart color. I got the inspiration for both of these colors from Maria's blog, I love how they look in her beautiful home.

The vintage yellow vanity I'm thinking of selling. It was one of my first antique pieces that my husband and I bought together, but it just doesn't seem to go anywhere in my home any longer. 

What do you think? Keep or sell?

Here's another photo of it holding my vintage baskets.

As you can see I have tons of windows all through my house which I completely love. But they need something on them like maybe some sheers.

The vintage settee will probably find a new place as well. I don't know if I'll just move it somewhere else or sell it at my space in Country Roads. 

There is another side to my living room, but that's where my t.v. cabinet is and I hate the way it looks. So I might have to find a different storage solution for my t.v.

Here's a photo of Maria's living room painted in the Pearl Gray color~

Gorgeous right!!? Now if only my living room could look like this, it would be perfect!!~  :)

Well, that's it for today.

Also just to let you know, I just joined Linky Follower's, so if you'd like to follow me through Linky, I would love to have you! {It's under my Google Follower List}

Have a great night all.

Sincerely,

Melinda

An Imperfect Table~

Hi all, just wanted to do a quick post and show you the table I changed up a bit. It didn't turn out perfect by any means, but I really like how it turned out.

I was inspired by a photo that I saw on Tracey's blog "French Larkspur", but of course, who isn't inspired by her lovely home?!!

She had a small table placed in front of her vintage mantle with chairs and I just loved how it looked.

I had a small table , but the top wasn't very big, so I removed the reclaimed barn wood from my coffee table and put it on top of the smaller table. I had to place the top a little off center because the 2 end pieces of wood were separate pieces and I wouldn't have been able to nail it to the table properly.

It took a while to remove the wood from the the coffee table and a lot of not so nice words, but it was worth it in the end, I got the look that I was looking for.

I replaced the old wood knob with a vintage milk glass knob.

My vintage French cake plate ~ Love it!

I hung my petite chandelier over the table. This is one of my favorites.

I have some very special chairs coming soon to go around the table, I can't wait to get them. 

This will be the perfect spot for my oldest son to do his homework and to have his snacks.

Now, I just have to make a new top for my coffee table, the projects never end, do they?

But that's okay, I love having projects around the house to do, it makes me happy!~

Hope you all have a beautiful day, it's already hot here in So Cal and I'm off to watch my son's square dance performance.

Sincerely,

~Melinda

Joining the lovely Debra and Courtney for "Vintage Inspiration Friday" at Common Ground, and "Feathered Nest Friday" at French Country Cottage~
Stop by to see the wonderful inspiration!~~

Also joining Aimee @:

My Bedroom~

Hi all, hope your having a great week!~

I finally got my bedroom fixed up enough to photograph it. The photos didn't turn out that great, so I was a little disappointed. My birthday in coming up in a few months and I asked hubby for a new camera and lenses. Hopefully if I get it, I'll take a photography class at the local college so I can learn a few skills to help me better my photos.

The curtains I made from creamy linen with petite pale green stripes. You can't see the stripes unless your super close to the curtains.

{all photos by Alabaster Rose Designs}

I'll be back with more photos in the next couple of days.

Have a great day.

Sincerely,

~Melinda

Vintage Grain Sack Pillow & A Favorite Room~

Hi All, hope you had a lovely week and are gearing up for a great weekend.

I've been a bit ill this past week, but felt a bit better today, so I took some photos of my son's room.

I had this vintage grain sack for a couple of years and decide it would look cute as a pillow for my son's room.

I hope my boy's room isn't starting to look too girly, cause I really like it!~ In fact, I think I like it better than mine.

The lamp shade is a floral print, so I just covered it with strips of burlap I sewed elastic strips onto.

I know your all probably tired of seeing these flowers, but I just love them in this vintage coal bucket.

Here's a better shot of the lamp shade I made.

I love their new room because it is super big and they have tons more room now to play. This is just my older son's half of the room. My little one's side was a mess, so that will be for another day.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

And I just wanted to say thank you all  for your continued visit's and support with my blog. Even though I don't respond all of the time to your comments, they do mean the world to me, so thank you!!

Sincerely,

~Melinda

~Tonight I'm Linking up with Jennifer Rizzo for her "Refresh Your Room" Linky Party~ And Kathleen at Faded Charm for "White Wednesday" ~Stop by and join in!~