Nautical Themes and Lots of Stuff

Let's see........

When we left our story, we had gotten this far .......


I was helping Helene, my friend and neighbor decorate her front sitting room.
You can read the beginning of the story here.....

I got the room to this point and felt that the wall above the sofa was too

 2 dimensional, flat, boring, NOT ENOUGH STUFF!!!!!!!!!
I KNOW!!!!!
We needed some shelves to hold stuff!!!!

So, I did what I ALWAYS do, and poked around the internet.

Ballard Design had some pretty wall bracket shelves, in two sizes.

First I had Helene order two of the large ones, and when they came in, I felt.....
WAIT!!!!!
2 AREN'T ENOUGH!!!!!
So I had her order 4 of the medium ones tooooooo.........
But before I get into this,
 let me go over what we had previously hung on the wall, 
'cuz I haven't discussed that yet, and you know I have to share 
EVERYTHING!!!!!

 We got the two bottom pictures from our neighbor Nika.
The stuff in our homes seems to ebb and flow from one house to the next.
(ebb and flow....get it???? Nautical them!!!!)

Then we went to Home Goods, and found the three dry mounted prints of shells.

Then we went to a gift shop that sells just a bunch of @#$ to the tourists, and bought these small shadow boxed, framed shells...

THEN.....
I worked a little outside the box, and forced asked Helene to buy these snack trays, that we wired up to hang on the wall.

Now, there were only 2 ways to hang these fish. Facing to the right, or facing to the left. 
I wired the big @#$, and told Helene that my fish would face to the left. 
SOOOOOO......
hers should face to the right. 
She had a 50% chance to get this right, girls and boys.....
OK, you know where this is going, 
suffice it to say, she had to redo it.
She's a lawyer.....
'nuff said.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay Doke.....
back to the wall brackets...
Now we needed to figure out what the @#$ to put on the shelves.
OY VEY!!!!


Had to be something nautical, 'cuz that was the theme of this room, and you guys know how I like my themes.......


So we went where tshatshkes grow, 
HOME GOODS!!!!
AND WE FOUND NOTHIN', NOTHIN', NOTHIN'!!
Oy Vey, now we were forced to go
(cover your ears)
SHOP AT A REGULAR RETAIL STORE!!!!!


THAT'S RIGHT, REGULAR RETAIL....
AAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
So we went back to the gift shop, just like a bunch of stinkin' tourists.
We found a pair of model sail boats in red and green. 
I plan on giving them a light dry wash of white paint, to soften the color.
BUT, I don't know when I'll get around to that, and I couldn't wait to show the room to you guys, so they're in their original colors in the photos.

I was very happy with the way this was turning out.
NOW WE HAD TO FIND SOME SHELLS!!!!
Oh Boy!!!
Back to a tourist shop!!!!!
This time a shell place that also sold T shirts.

Helene and one of her little girls just HAD to pose with the pirate....

We only shop in the classiest of places!!!!


There were lots of shells from which to choose.....

And a very happy proprietor to sell them to us.....

So then we hurried back to Helene's to get these babies up on the walls.....

I hung the lower brackets first.....
stood back......
 and congratulated myself on my brilliant ability as a designer...

Lovely, Lovely, Lovely.....


Then got on a ladder and hung the other two.....

Now, in case you're wondering why the photos seem to show two different greens....
THAT'S BECAUSE I TOOK THE FIRST SET OF PICTURES WITH THE CAMERA IN THE WRONG WHITE BALANCE SETTING!!!!!
This blogging business works all the sides (2) of my brain.


OK, now lets talk about tables.....
Helene found this end table at a yard sale....

I don't like it.
She does.
I don't like it.
I wanted the table next to the sofa to be taller.
This one is too short.
I don't like it.
So she moved it between the two chairs on the other side of the room.
At least now it's not so noticeable.....


Sooooooo.....
Helene, Lisette and I went to Home Goods, so that Betsy could find a 
GOODER table.
I found one that I felt had a beachy vibe, and forced, suggested that Helene buy the damn thing and bring it home.
I didn't go in with the two of them to see how it looked right away, and Lisette informed me later that it looked HORRIBLE.
HA!!!!!
No, No, No......
I couldn't fathom that I was THAT  far off.....
Sooooo.
I goes over dare, and checks it out.
THEY BE WRONG!!!
They had it turned the wrong way.
So I turned it 90 degrees, and set a straw picnic basket by its side, and then they 
LOVED
it!

Helene and Lisette are wild for monograms, so I suggested that she goose up this chair with a little personalization.....

We had chosen this fabric.....

And while I was gone over the summer, she  PAID  someone to make the cushions!!!!!

So now, my old wicker chair has a new home and new clothes....

That's not a baby on the floor in the back.

No children were hurt during the production of this story......

We will continue this saga probably next year, when we get off our @$$'s and hang draperies in this room.

Until then.....

Later, Gator

How to optimize your feed burner email subscribers!!!

Hi, 

I've had several, (no, that's a lie, I've only had two), people ask me how I  just have a snippet of a new post sent in an email to subscribers. Not the whole post. 

This is the latest letter I received:

Hello Betsy,

I am hoping you will help me with something, but first I would like to say how much I enjoy your blog!  So informative and with so much of your witty humor, it is really fun!   That’s it, fun and informative!  Great combination. J

I am following through GFC and also through RSS email feed (don’t want to miss your posts) and have noticed when I receive your RSS email feeds you are able to have it give just a “snippet” and then the reader has to actually go to your blog by click on the link provided in the email to read the post.  SMART girlie and I thought I may have know how you were able to do it, so I:

1-      Created a post

2-      Cut all but the top paragraph & 1^st picture

3-      Added a “to see the rest of the tour follow the link”

4-      Posted it (thinking RSS feed would capture the first post for the email notification)

5-      Then went back in and pasted back the rest of the post

Well, I was wrong.  My thinking that the RSS feed would pick up “only” the “first” posting was wrong.  I subscribe to myself through RSS feed so I can see how things come through for my subscribers and when it came through the whole post was there!  So, I was hoping you would share some “how to do it” with me!? J

Thanks so much Betsy…

Blessings,

Cindy

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.blogspot.com/

Soooooooooooooo....

I reverse engineered how my Niece Miriam did this for me. (She's a computer whiz kid!!)

When you sign into your account, go to your blog....

You'll see little tool icons alongside your different gadgets.

Click on the one by the subscribe by email gadget.

That will take you to your feedburner opening page. 

It will say: 

Configure Follow By Email

Click on "View Stats and Learn More"


That will bring you to a page that says at the top...
My Feeds
Under that is a list of your feeds. 
I have a lot of them.
(alright, I have one)
Click on the name of your blog.


That will bring you to a page with the name of your blog at the top. 
Under your name is a line of menu items.....
Analyze, Optimize, Publicize, Monetize, Troubleshootize.


Click on Optimize.
It will bring you to a page of services.
All the way at the bottom on the left side, you'll see
"Summary Burner"


Click on that word, and you will see a check mark next to it. 


AND THAT'S IT!!!!!!
Now your emails to your subscribers should only be summaries, so your readers will need to go to your blog to read the whole post.
This will drive up your ad revenue.......
If folks don't go to your blog, how will you generate ad moolah?????


I hope that works for you.


HEY!!!!!
I answered a question on Tuesday!!!!!!


Now on to some decorating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the biggest problems I had decorating my Florida cottage, was the long expanses of unbroken walls. 

How to arrange pictures and not have it look too

 over-thought.

I'm going to break this down for you wall by wall, as I know this is a major issue for lots of folks.

First.......

Start accumulating lots of stuff!!!!

The floral oil painting in the picture above, was one of the first pieces I bought for my new Florida home.

It's one of the more expensive items in my house, so of course, to set it off, I surrounded it with ebay purchases.

This wall is unified by color.

First I hung the painting.......

In my deluded little mind, I thought that was all I would hang on that wall. HaHaHaHaHa.

That's my friend Greg in the pink shirt. Pretend he's not in the picture.

I've blogged about his collections. 

He's a designer too 

(and has been my mentor for ages.)

(that's 'cuz he's older than I am.)

ANYWAY, back to the story.....

The single painting on the wall is very sad and lonely.

It needed siblings, soooooo....

I went to my trusty adoption agency, ebay, 

and bought it some brothers and sisters.

I particularly like the canvas to the left. It's just a painted scrap of canvas that came rolled up from the seller.

Soooooo.....

I did what any sane collector would do.....

I unrolled it and stuck it to the wall with push pins!!!!!

Then I dove back onto the web, and found these great little bird prints. The color red of the parrot just pops out the red from the flowers.

Before I added the birds, the floral painting didn't seem as vibrant.

So.....

I'm tooling around ebay some more, and I come across this pair of paintings of palms. They were mounted on black boards. Sooooooo.....

I painted the boards a distressed blue.

And of course, what gallery wall is complete without a couple of paint by numbers?????

I tend to do themes in groupings. I find it's more fun when I'm hunting for specific subject matter. In these pictures I was going for a tropical theme. As you can see, blue was the uniting color.

The flowers don't fall into the tropical category, but I bought that painting first, before I had a plan.

 (or a clue!!)

When I do a large arrangement on a wall, I think of all the pieces creating one large shape. Then I lay out the items on the floor, shoving them into the dimension I want them to fill on the wall.
Then I measure the spacing, and hang them up as I had laid them out.


This works like a charm. 
Trust Me!!!!!
(Remember, you get what you pay for, 
and this advice was free!!!!!)
Betsy

My readers can't follow!!!!!!!

Oy Vey!!!!!

The folks who read my blog probably run with scissors,

  and...

ride a bike without a helmet

and...

cross in the middle of the block.....

BECAUSE

they can't  follow instructions!!!!!!!!

I am going to put off choosing the winner of my fabulous

give away, because the only one who entered the contest properly is Amy Chalmers, and I can't really pick her as a winner (and Amy isn't too happy about this) because everyone would think that I was playing favorites.

Sooooooooooooooo............I am extending the time to enter until next Thursday, when I will announce the lucky guy. 

For those of you just tuning in......

this is a give away for some great digital scrapbooking software, called My Memories. 

Check out my blog post to see some of the great things you can do with it.

NOW.....

YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO WIN!!!!!!

Everyone who entered (other than Amy) hadn't signed up as one of my beloved and cherished followers.

This is non-negotiable.....

I am a meany.....

I want more followers and I am going to get me some 

one way or another!!!!!

Lets go over the rules again, if you haven't entered and still want to;

Go visit the digital scrap booking  site: www.MyMemories.com. and 

choose your favorite

 digital paper pack or layout, then comment down below telling me which

 ones you liked.

I will tell who the lucky winner is on Thursday.

Just remember, if you don't win, you can still get a discount by clicking 

on the coupon on 

my sidebar at the right, and enter this code for the 

discount...STMMMS1372

It's best to copy and paste the code for accuracy, at

least that's what My Memories suggests.

Now.....

If you already left a comment on last weeks blog post, 

you just need to become a follower of this blog, no


 grudges held,

no hard feelings, no sore egos, no injured pride, really...everything is JUST fine.

Whew!!!!!

Now, lets get to some decoratin'!!!




Once again, Blogger is messing up the line spacing in 


the middle of one of my posts.
AARRGGGGG!!!!!

Today I am going to finish up the story about the Cape

Cod decorator show

house from 1998. 

There was a little bathroom off the bedroom that I 

wasn't really thrilled to do. 

June and I considered just closing the door to the space  

and ignoring it, but the powers that be (were?)

wanted it decorated too, so we girded our respective 

loans....

(meaning, June let me figure it out)

and tackled the nasty space.

Since this was a showhouse, practicality wasn't a high priority. 

As a matter of fact......

It had no priority at all.

Soooooooooooooo

This is what we ended up with.....

Boston Globe Design Magazine

We took the toilet out!!!!! (plugging up the hole, so no lovely smell of sewer gas should add it's distinctive flavor to the rooms ambiance.)

(Don't worry after the showhouse we had it  re-installed).....

Where was I....

Oh, yeah,....

We took the toilet out to make room for some good decoratin' stuff!!!!

Like a pretty chair!

Because everyone  knows...

Betsy's rule on showhouse decorating:

Chairs photograph better than toilets!!!!!

This is the before shot.....

I posted the finished picture first, so that's what would show up in other blogs, but I really should have posted the before first. 

Because everyone knows....

The before comes before the after!!

the lovely before shot.  PUT DOWN THE TOILET SEAT!

The pictures were hung from vintage looking glass knobs.

( OMG...I've been trying to think of something interesting to hang over my guest bath shower/tub..... This is a senior head slap moment.....I'm going to do this picture treatment!!!! YAY!!!! Seeeee....If I hadn't been writing this blog, I wouldn't have been going over these old pictures, and I NEVER would have remembered doing this!!!!!)

It's a really nice way to frame a print or water color. Use a stiff white board  for a backing, cut it to the finished size you want and paint it the color you want the matt to be. Have a piece of plexie cut the same size. Drill small holes at the four corners. Sandwich the artwork between the two and attach the whole shebang together with the little plastic flowers mirror guys use to attach mirrors to a wall.

like these.....

Then hang the piece with either grosgrain ribbon or a small chain from knobs like these....

Jeesh.....

I'm sharing some really choice stuff with you guys.

Then.....

we had to figure out what to do with the sad little worn out sink...

Sooooooooooo

We did what any seasoned decorator would do....

WE COVERED IT UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!

Boston Globe Design Magazine

So that's today's story. 

I didn't get many questions this week, so I will combine last weeks overflow with this weeks new ones for next weeks OY YEY!!! Q&A!!! TUESDAY.

Don't forget to enter the @#$ contest!!!

Betsy

My cottage living room

Before I start today's post, I have a leetle request. As a new blogger, I would like to goose up my followers list, so if you read my blog, could you please add your name to the list? I would really appreciate it, and it would make me feel VERY  popular!!!!!!!
Thanks!!!

Today I will go back down memory lane and show you guys my
Watertown living room. Being the hound I was for getting my stuff in magazines, it was in local and national publications, so the pictures I have are from two different periods of time, which shows how the room evolved.
 Never dawning on me that I should learn how to take a good picture, (this was before digital cameras), I just worked on my rooms till I felt someone would take pity on me and send a big galoot of a camera man over and take some shots.

This shot was in the Boston Globe in 1993. Believe it or not, I was still collecting art to add to the wall over the sofa. Ya see, the wall wasn't COMPLETELY covered yet. Don't worry!!!!! I found more pictures to hang up which will be reveled in the next shot.
The walls were a camel color I had chosen when the room was first decorated in 1979. I chose it to match the sofa I had then. It didn't go with anything in the room, but for some reason it still worked. I guess it's picking up some of the brown tones in the different fabrics.

Then I decided it would be FABULOUS to have slip covers made for a summer look, to be removed in the winter. This is how my Mom did it, when I grew up, and how HER mom did it. It enables a room to have two distinctive feels for hot and cold weather, and it doubles the life of the fabrics. There actually was a time in history when people didn't redecorate just for the hell of it.

This picture is from House Beautiful, shot by Eric Roth                                        
I pasted the two parts of the picture together to make a full shot of my living room. It was a full page spread, so it was stapled down the middle. Just like a Playboy centerfold!!

I had EVERYTHING covered in cool looking materials. (cool, as in temperature, though they were very cool, as in, swell, nifty, dandy, devine. I checked the thesauras.) The chairs are covered in a Cowtan and Tout fabric that is one of my favorites. They are in my current living room, as is the coffee table/bench and rug.

I had new lampshades made with wonderful glass beads on the trim.

Here's a blow up of the shot, sorry it's so blurry, but it's the best I could do......

This is what happens when you just have old magazines to refer back to. How did we ever get along without this digital @#$&????

O.K. so................ here's the picture before I added it to the other one. This way it's bigger.......

I was so excited the day I found that painting of a dog that's over the mantle. It looked just like my mutt, (who I still miss to this day, and it's been 20 years since she died). She didn't have so much brown on her. Hey, I have a picture of us!!!!!!

Oy, I was so much younger than!!!!!

Those were the days that I bothered to put on make up. And a bra. What a waste of time.

Now I get up and just start blogging.

Anyway.....

Back to the picture. The mirror over the mantle was another find that a client didn't want, SO I GOT IT FOR MEEEEEEE.......

Here's the other part of the picture.......

You can see how I reused some of these paintings in my current family room.

It's hard to see, but the walls have been wallpapered in an Osborne and Little paisley wallpaper in shades of cream and brown. It was very subtle, but added an extra degree of visual warmth to the space.

The needle point pillows of a pug, front and back view, were one of those needlepoint kits I got that is supposed to be made into a pillow the shape of a dog. HOWEVER.....I thought I would be very clever, and needle point the whole square and create a background for the dogs. This way I got two pillows out of one kit!!!!!

Oh boy!!!! Here's another blurry picture of the back of the pug.

Ya see, he's sitting looking at the ocean, with the hills at his back!!!!

I really need to find something else to occupy my mind.

Here's a shot looking in from the hall. God, I loved this room (and this house, I still miss it.) The lampshade is an old wooden lampshade frame I found with rotting fabric, so I replaced the fabric and added the criss crossing ribbons, and then stuck some old Victorian postcards that June lent me under the ribbons. I never gave the cards back to June. She finally accepted that I was a thief. I think she wrote them off on her 1995 income tax return as a lose due to theft.

O.K. I think that's everything I have on my old living room. Next up!!!! The dining room.

Betsy