restoring the roost

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style
since 2010

decorating the roost

The Guest Room

· decorating the roost

I’m excited to show you our guest room today. It has been a challenge to decorate this room. We’ve been in this house for over  three years now and I’m just now getting this room put together.

Before it was a hodgepodge of stuff, with no color palette or feel defining the room. This room to me is difficult due to the projection in the middle of one wall where a fireplace used to be, and a recess along that same wall. It’s one lonely window also makes it odd in my mind. One of the first changes that I made was to paint the room from a pastel yellow to more of a neutral cream color. In hindsight I wish now I had painted it stark white for a crisper look.

Next I decided I wanted to spray paint our white iron bed red for a bold look against the white bedding. I draped my husband BJ’s great-grandmother’s quilt overtop. The room morphed into sort of a farmhouse-y look.

I seem to act very impulsively when it comes to decorating…..does anyone else have this problem?
Over time this room seemed to morph into the “chicken” room. I had chicken paintings, prints, signs, and other memorabilia, chicken figurines……oh dear. This was NOT the look I was going for to give guests a relaxing, inviting room in which to stay. I decided I needed to get rid of our large, solid wood drafting table (a nice piece, but not functional for us anymore) and most of the chicken clutter. I moved a bookshelf with all of my antique books into this room instead.

 I painted the yard-sale dresser from its crusty (not pretty) white to a color with more pop. This subtle gray-blue worked well and is not unlike the color on the wooden filing cabinet used on the far side of the bed. I topped the dresser this with an antique ammunition box that has a wonderful patina; a vintage sewing kit completes the trio.

The next new piece introduced to the room was my cherry side table detailed in this post. It makes a wonderful bedside table and gives some rich color against the light walls. It may not stay in this room, but for now it works. I placed a jug for water and a glass on a tray along with some fresh lavender sprigs for guests staying the night.

This is the guest room shortly after we moved in:

Here is the room now:

A bamboo roman shade dresses up the lone window a bit. Then it was time to embellish the walls: an antique tobacco basket defines the bed, along with some prints, a breadboard made from an old bourbon barrel, and a mirror.

We also have a luggage rack tucked away for when guests come that we can pull out for their use. I like this one with its metal frame and thick burlap panels (a recent Christmas gift).

Now for the part of the room that doesn’t quite fit and for me is too cluttered. I didn’t want to show you this part, but that wouldn’t really be fair now, would it?

Currently this room has to do double-duty and also function as a space for BJ’s music-related items including his keyboard, guitars, music books, and other items. I wish it could function as solely a room for guests and their relaxation, but that is just not possible at this time. So, one wall and cubby is devoted to musical pursuits. BJ has been patiently waiting for his “man room” all to himself……maybe someday soon, honey 🙂 

The cool thing is that he was able to easily build shelving in this nook to accommodate his books, musical supplies, art, and other random items that were taking up precious closet space elsewhere. It may not match the rest of the room, but at least the space is being used. This shelving cost us about $12 to build, having the paint and tools on hand already. I hope to post a tutorial soon on building this shelving–as it was so easy to do!

So there you are! Our guest room.

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Guest Room Sneak Peek

· decorating the roost

I have been working on the guest room now for quite some time and today I thought I’d show you a little peek:

I hope to share the details with you very soon!  Additionally, I am excited to be featured today at Eclectically Vintage. Please visit Kelly’s blog and check it out!

As always, I really enjoy getting to meet and know my followers- your comments always brighten my day.  Thank you so much for reading and for your friendships!

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (around the Roost)

· decorating the roost, Holidays

Can you believe we have less than a month until Christmas???
the kitchen table looking into the den/family room

I don’t know about you, but I still have quite a bit to do to prepare- it always seems to sneak up on me and before I know it we are traveling home for the Holidays. We pulled boxes of our Christmas decorations out from the attic the Monday after Thanksgiving. This past week I have been decorating the house with our collection of Christmas decor as well as fresh greenery and pine cones found outside. Decorating always gets me really into the “Christmas Spirit.” I love to decorate with Christmas music playing in the background, a good cup of hot cocoa to sip on while working, and a warm fire going.

my giant pine cones from the Sandhills region of NC longleaf pines

I like to keep it pretty simple and use lots of fresh greenery, and therefore it’s no surprise when last year I went with a “Plain and Simple” theme using mostly natural materials. To see last year’s Christmas decor, click here. This year I am using some of the same decorations from our collection, but in different ways, and of course fresh greenery, as shown in last year’s post on exterior Christmas decor.  My husband and I also decided to get rid of (or keep in the attic) some of our older decorations we used when first married that we either just don’t use or don’t want to fuss with getting them out. It makes it so much easier without all the knickknacks, nutcrackers and such.

Here are some little bits of Christmas around the Roost so far:

my dining room table is ready for the Holidays
Usually these vintage glass bottles sit in my bathroom window sill, but I brought them out with the julep cups to hold fresh greenery and pine cones. I like the simple look of it.
I like the calming colors of white, silver, green and brown for Holiday decorating
My kitchen table got dressed up with this vintage poinsettia tablecloth (I have a matching apron too!) and I filled our bread bowl with pine cones and a hand-blown glass ornament my husband made
Santa mugs on my jadeite cake stand on our open shelving in the kitchen
Little gingerbread men peek out the kitchen windows
This is my tin angle collection made from traditional tinsmiths at Old Salem.
They are holding Moravian Christmas candles. If you have not ever been to visit Old Salem at
Christmastime, it is a wonderful experience and one of my favorite destinations during the Holidays.

I try to remember that above all else this season, this is a time for celebrating the birth of Christ and the life that he gives us. Reflection upon this great gift is key and I have to remember to focus upon Him through all the shopping, stress, and entertaining. Last year I made a simple advent wreath with candles and greenery, and this year I had every intention of making a full Advent calendar, but just have not quite had the time to tackle that project. Maybe next year!

How has your “tree trimming” and Christmas decorating gone this year? I do wish it would snow…..it would make everything inside and out that much more beautiful!

With Peace and Joy,

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Thanksgiving Table 2012

· antiques and collectibles, decorating the roost

It’s almost here, folks! Can you believe Thanksgiving is just days away?

Here at the Roost, we don’t have a large family Thanksgiving dinner because we always travel to Kentucky to spend the Holidays with our families (which are quite large!). However, that doesn’t keep me from setting a pretty table and inviting a few friends over for a ‘pre-Thanksgiving’ or an in between Holiday meal.

I love decorating the table for Thanksgiving–it is such an important, symbolic meal where we can gather and reflect on all that we are grateful for. If you missed my Thanksgiving table from last year, you can see it here.

This year, I used the same brown transferware, but layered it on top of our good china. I placed napkins with the world “thankful” embroidered on them on top of the plates, and then spray-painted the mini pumpkins we grew in our garden silver for some sparkle and a little take-home favor.

In the center of the table I placed a breadboard that was made from the side of an old Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel, and topped it with an heirloom white pumpkin, an artichoke and another silver mini pumpkin. Since I was sort of on a silver theme with the pumpkins, I pulled our our silver julep cups and placed artichokes in them. I was just playing around with the candlesticks and the artichokes–and realized they actually could work as a candle holder. Pull apart the center leaves, burrow the candlestick down in the artichoke, and you’re done! So simple.

And remember that chocolate brown and cream traditional overshot coverlet I bought from the Appalachian Craft Guild shop while in Asheville? Well, I used that as a festive tablecloth, and added a burlap table runner down the center.

An few ears of Indian corn hang from my china cabinet for a festive fall touch. I think I’m going to add another maybe on the window and one hanging from the fireplace.

The best part of all was that I didn’t have to buy anything additional that won’t get used up or isn’t functional in some way. I literally had everything I used for the decor already here in my house except for the tall candles, silver spray paint, and the artichokes (which will get eaten one night this week).

I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving this week. Despite the hard year my husband and I have had, I am extremely grateful for SO many things. I’m especially thankful for complete healing of my broken leg (tibia fracture) without needing surgery, due to a car accident that occurred almost exactly one year ago. Those were long, dark days full of anxiety, trauma, and thoughts of whether I would ever walk normally again…..but I am happy to report that with patience and persistence I have resumed all my normal (even high impact) physical activities 🙂 God IS faithful!

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The Kitchen

· decorating the roost

Remember back when I showed you my new open shelving and pot rack, I also promised to show photos of our kitchen here at the Roost? Well, here it is!

There is SO much I would like to do to do in this kitchen to mold it to our taste (if only we weren’t renting!). For starters, I’d love to rip out all the upper cabinetry, rip out the wooden valence (or whatever it is) over the sink, install a few open shelves in the space, and paint the bottom cabinets white. I’d also love to replace the appliances and the countertops (the wood planks are just not working- and are hard to keep clean!). Eventually I’d also like to paint the walls white for a cohesive, clean look.

Things I love about this kitchen are that it is a large, open space- very roomy, wood floors, vintage cast-iron sink with sides for drying dishes, and nice double-hung windows that let in lots of light. It is conveniently located right off the dining room as well as the den.

new open shelving and potrack

Here are some of the kitchen details:

a vintage tray holds all of our vinegars, cooking wines, and seasonings frequently used in cooking
An antique breadbowl holds fruits on the drop leaf table

So, in short, my kitchen could be a lot worse and I should be thankful. We used to have an island in the middle of the space, but about a year or so ago I sold the island and replaced it with this antique drop-leaf farm table we had. It’s perfect for prepping, for use as a buffet for large informal gatherings, or for brunch for two. I feel like it opens up the space a lot more than the island did.

Another update we managed to make was changing out the ceiling fans for these awesome industrial-inspired light fixtures. They go well with the egg-cage pendant and light hanging in front of the open shelving.

vintage industrial light fixtures replaced ceiling fans
peeking from the dining room into the kitchen

I am hoping wherever we move to next I’ll be able to start the kitchen design from scratch. I have seen so many wonderful kitchens that I adore either on the web, blogs or magazines, and it always leaves me with a feeling of kitchen envy. Do you have a favorite type of kitchen? I seem to love open, bright kitchens with simple open shelving and vintage details.

So there you go! Our humble kitchen is not so bad after all……even with mismatched appliances and unpainted stock cabinetry 🙂

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