Iced Tea Pitchers–Southern Entertaining Essential

April 13, 2016

southern living

On my trip to Round Top Antiques Market, my friend Marsha scored a really great deal on a milk glass pitcher and glasses. It’s the perfect set for serving up sweet tea on her back patio, on a lazy summer evening. Make sure to check out her blog because rumor has it that she’ll be sharing her Round Top finds soon.

Now that iced tea season is here, I’m on the hunt for the perfect pitcher to serve up my favorite iced tea beverages. A quick search of the web and I found a several pitchers I love and even better, the prices!

It’s amazing what beautiful items you can find at H and M Home. This Patterned Glass Carafe is an amazing find for only $24.99 and the emerald green is such a hot trend color right now.

You can never go wrong with classic glass pitchers especially when it has a hobnail detail and gold rim. This Textured Glass Pitcher is another H and M Home find. $17.99

I love the scroll detail at the top of this Pressed Glass Pitcher and could see it being used for all types of summer beverages. At $12.98 this piece is a great buy and would also make a great wedding or shower gift.

You know I love blue and white so it’s not a surprised I was attracted to the Azure Design Pitcher from Overstock. This one has Sangria and iced tea written all over it. $32.99

Maybe my favorite of them all is this Meyer Lemon Pitcher from Williams Sonoma Home. I love the lemon image and the vintage enamel ware styling. $45.99

And for those of you that love margaritas as much as you do iced tea, this Tequila Sunrise Pitcher is for you. The color combo makes it easy to mix with any table setting decor. $43.99

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Since we’re on the subject of iced tea, here are a couple of my favorite summertime iced tea recipes you might want serve up in your pitcher.

Since I grew up on the west coast, I didn’t acquire a taste of iced tea until I moved to the South but I must say, summers wouldn’t be the same without it.

Design Guide: 10 Ways To Add Color To Your Decor

April 12, 2016

As someone who loves color and loves to decorate with it, I sometimes find it hard to relate to someone who expresses a color phobia to me. I was recently working with a client where color in their book equated to having different shades of brown within a room. Yes, different shades of brown is a color combination and bright colors aren’t for everyone but I do believe that color can work magic within a room if approached correctly.

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The Magic of Magnolia Market

April 11, 2016

Like many of you, I too have become a big fan of the HGTV design show Fixer Upper and Chip and Joanna Gaines. There is just something magical in the way they can transform a worn down house into a charming, personality filled home and make it look as easy as a summer afternoon in the south.

Since the odds of being on Fixer Upper or hanging out with Chip and Joanna are pretty slim, the next best thing for getting a little Magnolia magic is to visit their retail store in Waco, TX. I was thrilled when I got the chance to do just that at the beginning of the month.

Magnolia Market and the silos is a magical place. You can feel it the minute you enter the downtown area of Waco and begin to see the traffic building as the silos loom in the near distance.

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Design Lessons From The Pages Of Magazines (via Pinterest)

April 8, 2016

Ever since Pinterest came on the social scene, I know many of you, myself included have all spent countless hours looking at design photos, saving the images that serve as inspiration for our current or future homes or that can be used as a source of inspiration in our jobs as designers, decor enthusiast and design bloggers.

I often use images found on Pinterest to share an idea with a client, highlight an accessorizing concept or to help me pull together a color plan. Whether you like Pinterest or not, analyzing room photos is a great way for anyone to up their design game and learn what makes a well-design space just that, well-designed!

Today I’m going to share a few rooms from some of my favorite design publications and point out the design details that came together to make these spaces what they are. Consider this a mini design lesson using visual aids.

If you want more insight into how Pinterest is changing the world of interior design and how we decorate our homes, check out this article.

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Thanks for stopping by today and thank you to everyone who left wonderful comments on my Swap It Like It’s Hot Post earlier this week. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all of the blogger projects, please do. There’s lots of great inspiration to be found.

Happy Weekend!

image source: 1) My Domaine 2) House Beautiful 3) House Beautiful 4) Country Living 5) Domaine Home

Product + Inspiration: Apothecary Jars

April 7, 2016

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Apothecary Jars got their claim to fame back in the day on the shelves of doctor’s offices and in drugstores where they held medicines and health products. They were looked as a purely a fictional item that held precious contents that people needed to live and survive.

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Fast forward to today where Apothecary Jars have become a popular decorative accessory and can be found as a decorative statement in just about every room in the home. Not only has the use of Apothecary Jars changed over the years, so has the look and style.

Decorative jars today are bigger and more decorative and are designed so they you can easily get items in and out of them and that make they great for decorating in different ways.

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Round Top Antiques Market–An Inside Look

April 6, 2016

I’m back today with at look at my trip to the Round Top Antiques Market in Round Top, Texas. If you’ve never been to Round Top before, this post should give you an inside look at the market through the eyes of an avid antique and vintage shopper.

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Attending Round Top has been on my bucket list for some time now. I’ve heard so many great things about the market and was excited to check it out for myself.

Here’s what I thought of the market, what I saw and a few things I purchased.

The Round Top Antique Market spans over about a 15 to 20 mile stretch of road. There are buildings and tents all along the route selling antiques and vintage goods and even some vendors off the main road selling odds and ends. Unless you attend the show for a number of days, there is no way to stop at every shopping spot. If you are only attending the market for a day or two, you’ll definitely want to plan ahead and determine which spots you want to shop.

La Bahia Antiques Show is one of places we stopped and shopped. This area is made up of permanent buildings and tented vendors and you’ll find all types of vintage decor and housewares here. I spotted lots of great items and although many were in my opinion were over-priced, most of the dealers were willing to negotiate.

This outdoor vendor had an amazing selection silver-plate items but most were very over-priced and when you asked for his best price he seemed offended. Needless to say he didn’t get our business.

One of the best blue and white tabletop dealers is located at La Bahia and his selection of items was impressive. His prices were a bit stiff but he was willing to negotiate which gave him two thumbs up in my book.

After La Bahia we stopped at a barn along the road where ‘Poor Richard’ was selling goods. He had a mx of items including large furniture pieces and miscellaneous tabletop and decor items. And Richard was a nice as can be so shopping with him was a pleasure.

This oversized brass urn was $25 dollars but was a bit worn for my liking so I passed.

I did buy these beautiful ironstone bowls for practically nothing! A definite score!

Poor Richard was also selling these amazing tree stumps…so gorgeous!

There was a lady near Poor Richards selling items for $1.00 and my shopping mates scored big with her. They had picked over the table by the time I made it over there 🙁

Our next stop was the Big Red Barn. This is one of several sites at Round Top that charge a fee to get in ($10 at the Red Barn). If you are shopping for high-end antiques this is definitely a place you want to check out.

Check out this antique ribbon holder. So many beautiful details including some of the most beautiful brass pulls I’ve ever seen.

This scale was amazing and I think it was around $2700.

I had a vintage paper roll rack on my shopping list but every one I came across was several hundred dollars. This one was amazing because it held three different size paper rolls.

There was lots of ironstone (check out the prices)

After the Red Barn we traveled up the road and stopped a several different places.

Lots of beautiful Staffordshire Dog statutes…

Beautiful blue and white antiques…

Isn’t this the most beautiful chamber pot you’ve ever seen. I really, really wanted to this piece but couldn’t pull the trigger on the price.

Old doors with lots of charm and character…

I spotted several dealers that also show at Scott Antique Market here in Atlanta and was happy to see that they didn’t increase their prices on some of their tried and true items.

The one place that we didn’t stop at but I will be sure to check out the next time I’m there is the Warrenton area. This area was loaded with tented vendors and the selection of items appeared to be good as we drove through.

All in all, Round Top Antiques Market is a great show and has something to offer everyone. Here are a few tips I have for shopping the market:

TIPS FOR SHOPPING ROUND TOP ANTIQUES MARKET

Create a shopping list so that you stay focused on the items you are looking for. Doing a little research before hand will also help you think about what you’re willing to pay for an item and it will help you when negotiating with dealers.
Take a camera or make sure your phone is fully charged so you can take pictures as you shop. You can always turn around and go back to a location you saw an item at and picture of the piece and location will help.
Take cash. I did see some vendor accepting credit cards and checks but cash is king and you’ll get a better deal if you are negotiating with cash.
Carry a tote bag or rolling cart. Many of the shopping areas are large and you’ll want to be comfortable carrying your purchases as you shop.
Take it with you or have it shipped. There are several shipping business located throughout the show so if you see something that won’t fit on the plane or in the trunk, consider having it shipped.
Dress in layers. Our shopping day started out nice, then it rained a bit and then it got super windy and cold.
Visit the free shopping areas and by-pass the paid spots like the Big Red Barn and Marburger. I promise you won’t miss anything and you’ll find everything you can image in the free tents and buildings.
Negotiate. Most dealers are prepared to negotiate on the price and many of them will offer you a fair deal. Several times I looked items up on Etsy and Ebay in front of the dealer and they offered better pricing because they saw I was up to speed on the prices.
Plan to spend a little time in downtown Round Top which as some cute shops, restaurants and outdoor vendors that set up during the show.
Like most antique markets these days, you’ll see lots of vintage and antique reproductions of if you’re not sure what you’re looking at, ask the dealers to tell you a bit about the history of an item. And, keep in mind that in most cases when you see a true antique, you’re not going to see multiples of the same item. Multiples of an item often signals a reproduction especially with furniture, lighting and some tabletop pieces.

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So, I know you’ve been waiting to see what other goodies I bought so here’s a look at a few of my favorite purchases…

A beautiful brass tray

blue and white ironstone plates

a larger ironstone mold

Bucket List: Round Top Antiques Market √

On Monday I’ll be sharing the rest of our road trip including our visit to Magnolia Market in Waco.

Swap It Like It’s Hot–Blue and White

April 5, 2016

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It’s an exciting day around these parts because I get to share two fun projects I worked on for Swap It Like It’s Hot.

If you’re not familiar with Swap It Like It’s Hot, let me tell you a little about it.

Charlotte from Ciburbanity had this brilliant idea a few years ago to get a group of bloggers to trade thrift store finds with each other and then transform the (in many cases not so pretty) treasures into something beautiful. It’s kind of like Cinderella’s transformation when she put on the glass slipper except in our case it involved our DIY skills. Each participating blogger was to spend between around $10 on whatever thrift store item(s) they wanted so our shopping skills were put to the test.

Before we jump into the makeovers, let me share what my swap partner, Christy from Our Southern Home sent me. I received an ice bucket with a wood grain vinyl cover and a top that was showing its wear plus two picture frames with images that were definitely not my style.

After looking at the items for a few days, I came up with a game plan on how I wanted to transform these pieces and give them a new life.