Friday, July 30, 2010

From My Office

This is the valance that I made from vintage feedsack fabric that hangs in my home office windows. Above the window is a collection of colored vintage flower pots.


My little office is in the rear of the house by our back door to our sunroom, our main entry. Last year I repainted it a light seafoam blue, made valances from vintage feedsack fabric, and reupholstered my roller desk chair with vintage barkclothe. Although not a large room, I have set it up to house my large filing cabinet, a computer desk, a worktable , and some open shelves. I used a primitive screened milk safe with old white paint to house my office supplies. The bottom drawer is our "junk" drawer that holds everything from glue to low-voltage light bulbs, a must-have for every home.


Reupolstering the desk chair was not a difficult as I thought. After adding some more foam and cotton batting for a fluffier seat cushion, I cut my barkclothe pieces larger than needed, stapled and tacked them to the bottom, then replaced the bottom web covering. The arms were not as easy because they had no backing to remove, so I simply tacked them real smooth on the underside and remounted them. They are mounted with only 2 screws, so not big problem putting them back on. The back of the chair was a little trickier. I had to remove the entire back piece that had hidden nails holding it on. I was not able to remount it the same way, so I used some little decorative brass tacks, and it worked just fine. I love it, and it is much more comfortable than the original chair.
My daughter was getting rid of some vintage storage shelves she had in her garage. These shelves were already painted white, so I cleaned them up and they fit perfectly under my window that faces the old smokehouse. It is a handy place for my cameras, current ebay items, and wireless network components. The corner worked for file storage drawers, and a little primitive shaker chair adds and extra chair for a friend or guest. On top of the shelf unit, I placed another little vintage shelf for my African violets. It has two little storage drawers that are just the size for CD's.
On the wall that faces the sunroom, I have a little gateleg table that works well for a little work space or project table. Sometimes I use it for my laptop. It was handy while setting up my website http://www.countrycharisma.com; I was working back and forth on two computers .
The sunroom window is just above the gateleg table. I have a nice view of the sunroom and on out to the pool. Often my dogs will lay by the sunroom windows just to keep and eye on me.
The back window to the driveway and garage, also views the old smokehouse. It was my husband's vet pharmacy for years. We added the room with the french doors for an extra vet office, which has now become the man-cave since he retired. Although this is a tiny room, I hope you enjoyed the tour of one of my most visited workspaces.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Remember when?

I found this little clothing catalog in my antique shed the other day. It is dated 1954 to 1955 Winter catalog, and features this blue coat on the cover for $13.95. I remember my mother having a similar coat in her favorite color red, which she made herself as she was quite an accomplished seamstress. I also recall her making party dresses like the ones below. It was so fashionable to dress up for a Saturday night party, even when it was just an evening out with friends. Casual dress was reserved for picnics and cookouts at friend's homes when the entire family was invited (kids get to come). Dress up events were few an far between. With six children, my parents did not have many evenings out without us along. We had some great picnics though!


My mother made most of my clothes, and my sister's too. I had one "store-bought" dress similar to this little plaid frock. The first time I wore it was to church, and halfway through the service I realized it was on backwardsI I thought it buttoned up the front! The only reason I figured it out was because another girl had on a similar dress near me, and hers buttoned up the back! Somehow that one got past my mother who was one for detail, but she got a good laugh out of it when we got home. Mom made us little coats like the blue one on the right. She was always making some new seasonal coat! How I wish I had a few of those cute things she made today.