Warming Up At The Quill

"'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Home."

J. Howard Payne - Home, Sweet Home

At my last Flea Market Find post I was collecting items for decorating my dinning nook for Autumn. This is the nook (7 1/2 feet wide by 8 feet long) in its Spring/Summer look. Here you can see why it is called a nook. Handy hubby and I laid the pine flooring, which we traded out for some of his labor, and sealed it leaving it natural. For the lower half of the walls we used the grooved back side of the flooring for a cladding effect, painting it out. For Spring and Summer I chose to keep the table quite plain and simple without a lot of linens and such,unless we were entertaining. I just used some simple white washed candle holders that I made from old spindles, wooden candle cups, and small square pieces of wood for bases. In addition to these are a flea market pitcher filled with fresh flowers which rests upon a white doily edged in pink.

I dressed the flea market ladder back chairs in simple pale green cotton slipcovers. Hubby and I were driving home from my grandmothers late one afternoon and spied all eight of these former saggy bottomed beauties hanging in a row from the porch eve of a local flea market. Hubby did a quick turn around and we haggled them down to ten dollars each as it was the end of the day. We replaced the saggy woven bottoms with wood and then I upholstered them in muslin. I chose such nondescript fabric as a base upholstery over the foam and batting knowing that I would be changing out the top layer of fabric often. Handy hubby designed and built the beautiful table to seat eight. I only keep six chairs out to keep a roomy feel if one can feel roomy in a nook that is. I bring in the other two from storage when needed. The window has been dressed in a pair of pale green sheers found at a flea market. I used an old tension rod which I hung on two vintage metal flower hooks. The center of the white rod was draped with layers of vintage floral print hankies.
The built-in was a former pass through. When we remodeled the living room I had handy hubby close it off. I then had him build in the shelves, routing them with a plate groove. I filled the shelves with family pieces and floral themed flea market finds for a that light and airy feel. The shutters on each side were given to me by a friend when she and her husband were doing renovation.
They were already green and a bit chipped. I hand painted the diamond centers with roses and added some gold metallic details. I attached old door knobs, given to me by the same friend, to rest a vintage wooden snack tray on and hung a small framed print on the bottom of each shutter. A vintage key hangs by a satin ribbon on one knob on each shutter. They are hinged and swing open to reveal shelving where I store extra glassware.

For the back wall I used two pediments from the above mentioned renovation. ( Don't I have great friends to give me such goodies?) They too were peeling and time worn. I simply cleaned them up and glued down some of the really loose areas of paint and hand painted both pieces, the bottom piece with a favorite Scripture. (Click on any of the small images to enlarge to see details) The candle holders are also flea market finds that I purchased for $2.00 each, lightly spraying them with a cream colored paint to tone down the original black finish.

I put together the framed piece from a $2.00 flea market frame that I gilded and painted a bit.

I used the back side of an old print that was worn and yellowed with age to mount a piece of vintage sheet music entitled, Bless This House. I hand painted roses and vines on the piece and shaded the edges a bit for an older look. I used rubber stamps and gold metallic ink to stamp around the sheet music. I used some white vintage lace and wide velvet ribbon to make a mat. I had a piece of glass cut to fit the frame. All totaled this project cost me about $5.00, the glass being about half the cost.

Lastly, I added a vintage chandelier. I scored this little beauty and another one, which hangs in my kitchen, for $10.00 each.

I left the original paint on the flowers and leaves. I did tape them off and resprayed the white areas to freshen them up a bit. Hubby rewired them for safety and then installed them. I had them both in storage for quite some time waiting for both areas to be remodeled so I could use them, it was worth the wait!

I have been to the fabric store as mentioned in the previous post and found a few more flea market goodies for my Autumnal decor. At the fabric store I got three pieces of fabric on clearance, a green polished chintz for making into a table cloth ($1.99 yard), a pale peachy pumpkin nubby silk($1.99 for the entire piece) for making into napkins, and a salmon colored nubby silk($2.00 yard), and beaded trim repairing the bottom of the vintage drapes. I love these choices with the vintage drapes! I still need one more fabric for covering the chair cushions.In general I do not use silk flower arrangements but I am making an exception this time. I found this one and liked the height, colors, materials, and the vase filled with bits of potpourri and dried mini Indian corn. This, for me, was a bit pricey ($9.95) find wise for something I was unsure about but I thought it worked well with the drapes and decided to get anyway, knowing I couldn't buy all the bits to put it together for that price.
I found a gold velvet table runner with beaded tassels for $3.00, eight salad size gold leafed chargers for .50 cents each, and two green organza bags with four green glass beaded napkin rings in each for $3.95 per bag.









Now that I have all my base pieces I am ready to begin the transformation, tune in for the Autumn/Winter warm up at the Quill.

Warmly Yours,

Miss Sandy