Autumn...Sweet Autumn!

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It's Tablescape Thursday!

Hello my friends...so happy to see you today!

It's Thursday and we all know what that means...time for tablescaping! Tablescape Thursday is hosted by our very own Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch! Thank you, Susan...for being such a gracious hostess and for giving us the opportunity to share our tablescapes!!!

Please go over and see Susan today and while you're there you will find a list of all the "Tablescape Thursday" participants!
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"It's Fall Ya'll"

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I'm also joining in with the "It's Fall Ya'll" fall party today....hosted by Ms. Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality!

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Ohhh...there's just nothin' better than a great party to celebrate the Fall Season! I guarantee that you won't want to miss this...won't you please go over and visit Rhoda and while you're there you can check out all of the other fall party participants!

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Thank you, Rhoda for hosting this fun filled Fall party for us!!!
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"Autumn...Sweet Autumn"

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Ahhh....Sweet Autumn!!! I guess by now that you've pretty well figured out that I love Autumn!!! It's my favorite season of the year! I just love everything about Autumn...the cooler days...the warm, vibrant colors...the titillating textures...Ahhhh!!!

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I'm so excited about getting to do my very first tablescape of the Autumn season! I few weeks ago...I found the prettiest Autumn dishes at TJ Maxx! It was love at first sight! Hehe!

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Without further ado...my Autumn tablescape called "Autumn...Sweet Autumn"
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My French Country Dining Room

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This is our French Country dining room! It's dressed in it's Fall finery and ready to greet the season! For more of my dining room Autumn decorating...just click HERE.

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As you can see...my little French Country dining room is decorated in shades of dark reds, olive greens, and golds! This color scheme is very conducive for Autumn decor...I love it!!!
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An Autumn Table's Centerpiece

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The Table Centerpiece

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An Autumn Apothecary Jar...

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This is a wire apothecary jar that I purchased from JC Penneys last summer. It's a nice sized piece measuring about 21 in. tall. I gave it a new Autumn look for Marty's September Cloche Party! I filled the apothecary jar with ceramic pumpkins and gourds that I purchased from the Dollar Tree...and a few other autumn pretties! To see how I put this together...you can go HERE.

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I added a couple of Autumn floral picks around the base of the apothecary jar...I just love the look of autumn leaves, berries, and acorns!

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Roseville Pottery Candleholders...

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I then added two Roseville pottery candleholders with beige tapers to each side of the apothecary jar. These beautiful Roseville pottery candleholders are a recent treasure find. They were in an old box in my in-laws storage...covered in dirt! I couldn't even tell what color they were when honey brought them home...hehe! They are Roseville's "Clematis" pattern in autumn brown...ca 1944. You can imagine my surprise while I was giving them a good washing! Hehe!
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An "artsy" photo! This was done using Photobucket's photo effects. I just love this look!!!

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The Table Linens

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I liken the table linens to the beautiful backdrop of a scene in a play. They set the stage...the production of all that is to come! In this case, the table linens set the stage for the beautiful dishware and the food that will be served!!!

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Autumn Layering For Warmth...

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Since this is an Autumn tablescape, I chose to use a layered effect...something that we often do with our autumn decor...layering for warmth! First layer: I used an antique gold colored tablecloth that I made several years ago. I love the color and the beautiful embroidered tone-on-tone stitching of this fabric! Second layer: an olive green, leaf shaped placemat. Third layer: a woven charger plate! I found the pretty autumn colored plaid dinner napkins recently at TJ Maxx...they are the exact same colors of the new dinnerware! The coppery colored autumn leaf napkin rings were found at Walmart.
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The Place Setting

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And here are my new Autumn dishes! Ohhh...how I love them!!! They have all of my favorite things...autumn reds, greens, oranges, and yellows...and...BIRDS!!! It just doesn't get any better!!!

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The Salad/Dessert Plate...

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Love the coordinating salad/dessert plate with the sweet birds!

I only paid $2.99 ea. for these!
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Do you know what kind of birds these might be? I thought they might be chickadees?
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I don't see a name of the pattern but they are manufactured by Royal Stafford of Burslem, England.
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The Dinner Plate...

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Ohhh...so beautiful and sooo perfect for an Autumn table! If you look closely to the pattern of the dinner plate...you can see a type of weaving effect! I thought the woven charger plates would be the perfect backdrop to showcase this pretty dinnerware!

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These are large plates measuring 11" in diameter. They were only $3.99 ea.!
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The Cup and Plate
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Although this cup and plate are a different pattern, they were showcased with the Royal Stafford dinnerware...they coordinate beautifully with them...don't you think? I just love this little cup and salad/dessert plate...the basket weave border, fruit, and birds are embossed or raised above the dish!

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The cups and plates were only $1.99 ea. I found four cups...and now for the bad news...I could only find two of the plates! I've been back to TJ Maxx a couple of times...but no luck! I would at least like to have a couple more plates
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Amber colored stemware that I've had for awhile. I think I found them at Walmart during an "After Christmas" sale...if I recall correctly...I gave a dollar for these!

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Are you ready for a warm, friendly autumn dinner?

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Ahhh...

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Autumn...Sweet Autumn!!!

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Well my friends...I'm so happy that you came by for a visit today! I hope that you enjoyed this "Autumn...Sweet Autumn" tablescape! Please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here...I'd love to visit with you!!!

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Oh yes, and before I forget...I finally finished my third and last project for the "Three Projects in Three Weeks" challenge! Yeeeehawwww!!!

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This challenge was issued by dear, sweet Barb over at Treasures From The Heart!

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Thank you, Barb...this was so much fun!!! I know that I'm a couple of days late at getting this out...I do apologize but I DID FINISH!!! Hehe!

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Love ya'll,

Chari

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PS...I did something a little differently this post! Could you tell? Hehe! I usually use the flash setting on my camera when taking photos...this time I took the photos without using the flash! I really was surprised at the difference...a more natural look! However, I also found out that the lighting better be good to do this! So what do ya'll think?

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An Autumn Dining Room at Happy To Design!

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* It's Metamorphosis Monday!
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Hello my friends...I hope that you're having a marvelous Monday!
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It's time for Metamorphosis Monday hosted by our very own Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch! Thank you, Susan for hosting this fun filled Monday event!!! Please go pay Susan a visit today and see what she has for us and while you're there you can visit all of the other Met Monday participants!
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I am also joining in with Mosaic Monday today...I have a couple of photo mosaics that I would love to share with you! Mosaic Monday is hosted by Mary over at Little Red House! Thank you, Mary for hosting this marvelous Monday mosaic party!!! (Whew...say that fast 3 times! Hehe!)

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Autumn is Officially Here!*

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Last week for Metamorphosis Monday I posted my living room's new autumn decor. If you would like to see that just click HERE. This week I would like to share with you a few of the seasonal changes that I've made in my dining room!

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I love my dining room!!! It's a bit eclectic but follows the lines of French Country design. We have a very "open" floor plan in the living area of our home...the living room, dining room, and kitchen are basically all open to one another. I have decorated these rooms in shades of olive green, deep red, and gold...very deep, rich colors...which are very conducive to warming up my home for the autumn season! I love autumn and I love my home in all of its autumn finery!!!

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So without further ado...here is my French Country dining room!

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*Happy To Design

Autumn 2009

Autumn mosaic of my french country dining room...Autumn 2009
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I created this photo mosaic using the photo of my dining room (pictured below). First of all, I took the photo and used Photobucket's photo effect called "Sketch"...this made the photo look like a pencil sketch. Then I took the sketched photo and added the photo effect "Tint" to get the different autumn colored tints...then I used Picasa to make the mosaic. I have been playing with photo graphics alot lately and having so much fun! Hehe!
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An Autumn Dining Room
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My husband built this home in 1998 B.C. (B.C. standing for "before Chari"...hehe!) The original part of this house was built in 1927...honey added on to the front, the back and also added on a second story. It's a beautiful home...my honey is quite talented!!!

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The dining room is in the original part of the house and still has the old original wood flooring. I painted them a charcoal gray color...over time they have taken on an old distressed looking patina! Or in other words...they could use a fresh coat of paint! Hehe!
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Two of the walls in this room are olive green...two are a deep red color! I really do love these deep, rich colors...it's just me! I decided to use white furniture in this room since the wall color was already dark. I really do like the contrast of the white furniture against the red and olive green! The dining room table was a treasure find at an antique market...it also has a distressed finish! I love the old column looking legs on the table!!! The buffet was an old brown colored dresser that I refinished. I love the "frenchy" style of this piece!!!
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Autumn and the Dining Room Buffet
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Ooops...I'm just now thinking that I should have added a photo of this buffet "before" the autumn decor!

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An Autumn Vignette

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The runner on the buffet is perfect for autumn decor! It's the most beautiful shade of olive green and is emboridered with a floral pattern in dark reds and gold. Can you see the long fringe on the ends of the runner? Soooo pretty!!!

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The two buffet lamps come from Vanna over at Delusions of Grandeur. I just adore these lamps with their pretty crystal prisms!!! I think the lamps are a beautiful addition to the buffet!
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New Floral Arrangement

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I created a new autumn floral arrangement for the buffet...adding long stems of autumn leaves, wispy brown grass, and a few dark red flowers and cattails to a large gold colored pitcher that sits on a matching plate!
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Autumn and Antoinette...

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Hehe...okay, so I named my french girl bust "Antoinette"! Antoinette is sitting atop a couple of old books...an autumn garland of berries graces the bust...and a couple of little brown embossed birds and pumpkins make for an autumny vignette! I just love these little brown birds...they have little acorns embossed on the sides...found them on sale at Michaels for just $1.99!

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A couple of fun photo effects! I used Photobuckets "Color Sketch" on the photo above.
 On the photo below I used an effect called "fresco"! Pretty...don't you think?

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You can see the pretty buffet runner a little better in this photo.

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"Artsy" photo of the florals!
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This is the left side of the buffet. Using three silver candleholders with off white tapers...my silver teapot with patina, and a couple more pumpkins! Hehe...don't you just love the word patina? It covers a multitude of sins or...uh, I mean tarnish!!!
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Autumn Table Centerpiece

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Just keeping my table centerpiece simple since there is so much going on at the buffet! This is an old distressed looking french table tray...filled with autumn pears! To each side of the tray are my newest treasure finds...Roseville candleholders! My honey found these in a box of old things over at his Dad's house...they were so dirty you couldn't even make out the color of them! I didn't even know they were Roseville pottery till after I got them washed up! He found two candleholders and a small jardinare.

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This is Roseville's "Clematis" pattern in autumn brown...ca 1944. I am thrilled to have these pretty pieces and they are so perfect for autumn!!!
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My Window Bench

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This is a bench that my honey made in wood shop when he was in high school. I found it outside behind his shop when I first came here...of course, I saved it and brought it in the house! I painted it the same color of olive green that is in the insets of the buffet and then added a black glaze over the top. Oh yes, and I added a little french scroll piece to the front of the bench...just a little added interest!

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Pillows...Pillows...Lots of Pillows!

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Ohhh my goodness...this is probably "overkill" but I just love pillows and lots of them! The gold ambussen pillow was made in Germany...a souvineer from our honeymoon trip to Europe. I made the two red floral pillows to each side of the gold pillow. I found the pretty bolster pillows awhile back...fell in love with the color, fabric, and pattern!!! Honestly, I just threw the bolster pillows on the bench when I was doing my autumn decor in the living room...and here they still sit! I kind of like them here...no one really wanted to sit down here anyway! wink!
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Autumn Ambiance

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Here in Colorado...along with Autumn comes the cool, crisp weather! It won't be long and we'll have to build a fire in the old wood stove! In fact, our heat has already been running this week! Right now the wood bin is empty but it won't be for long. There's nothing like a warm fire on a cool autumn day or night...autumn ambiance! Hehe!

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Just a couple of "artsy" photos!
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I took this photo looking into the buffet mirror...this is the reflection you see in the mirror of my autumn dining room!

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*Autumn 2009 at Happy To Design

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This is a photo mosaic that I created using a few of the photos that you seen above...using Photobucket's "color sketch" effect! It really does show all the beautiful, deep rich, autumn colors of my little french country dining room!

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Well my friends...I hope that you enjoyed the tour around my dining room today! I'm so happy that you came by...please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here...I would love to visit with you!!!

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*I'm hooking up again this week with the DIY Show Off: Fall Festival! This is a fabulous Fall party with so many great ideas! Just click on the button above...it's magic...it'll take you right on over to the DIY Show Off!

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Rednesday is hosted by Sue over at It's a Very Cherry World...won't you go and visit with her...there is all kinds of fabulous RED to see! Thanks Sue for hosting this fun filled "RED" party...ahhh, RED...my favorite color!!!

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Happy Autumn!!!

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Love ya'll,

Chari

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Welcome to the 23rd "Sunday Favorites"

"Sunday Favorites" is a Sunday meme designed to give bloggers a chance to share a favorite post from the past!!! For more information on how to republish a past post just click on the "Sunday Favorites" info photo in the sidebar of my blog.

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Hello my friends!

Welcome to the 23rd run of "Sunday Favorites"!!!

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I hope that you're having a fabulous weekend! It's a warm and sunny day today...yeah! Believe it or not...this past week has been down right cold at my place...cold enough for the heater to kick on! Autumn has arrived in Colorful Colorado!!! I really do enjoy the cooler days...but I'm hoping for a few more days where I can just open up the doors and windows and soak in the fresh air!!! This is a time of transition...metamorphosis...so to speak! When the long, warm summer days give way to the cooler days of Autumn. Speaking of transitions and metamorphosis...today's Sunday Favorites' post is about a few of those changes that have come about at my place! Hope you enjoy this favorite "blast from the past" post today!!!*

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Well my friends...Thank you so much for coming by today! Have a super Sunday!!!

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Thank you so much for your participation!!! I am going to really enjoy going through your "Sunday Favorites" posts!!!

Love ya'll,

Chari

Sunday Favorites

My favorite post: April 6, 2009

It's Metamorphosis Monday!

Hello my friends...welcome to "Metamorphosis Monday"! Susan over at Between Naps On The Porch hosts this fun-filled Monday event. Many of you bloggers are familiar with Met Monday, but for those of you who are not...Metamorphosis Monday is all about change! Change...evolution...metamorphosis...of our homes! Met Monday gives us a chance to show our home projects and improvements! For all of us who love our homes, it seems that we are forever changing something, redecorating, etc. I don't know about you but my home is always a "work in progress"!!! I do believe that blogging has encouraged this entire process...hehe!!! It's simply wonderful!!! So many times, I have been inspired by your homes, ideas, and decorating projects...I think my home is "better" for it! Thank you, my friends...for sharing your beautiful homes and all of your wonderful ideas!!! I also want to thank Susan for hosting Met Monday! Why don't you head on over to Susan's place for some inspiration and while you're there you can visit the list of Met Monday participants!!! Just click HERE to get to Susan's!

Today I would like to show you this last summer's project. If I may, I'd like to give you just a little "background" of where things were before the summer of 2008. My living room was painted sage green...which I really did enjoy, however it was time to clean things up and there's nothing like clean - fresh paint on the walls. I decided that I wanted to stay with green but I wanted a color that was a bit more formal...richer! I decided to go with an olive green shade....Behr's "River Bank".

Soooo...the fun began! As you will see in the photos below, I have a fairly open floor plan. So my decision to repaint the living room would effect the dining room and kitchen as well. I began by repainting the ceilings in all three rooms a creamy off-white. Next, the sage green walls were painted olive green. Okay...you all know how the "domino effect" always takes place when making a change to anything in your home...right? RIGHT!!! Hehe!!! I just loved the new olive green wall color but it left the dining room and kitchen....lacking! My dearest friend Cindy (who is an interior decorator by trade and author of the Sisterhood of the Creative Heart blog) suggested that I paint the white walls in my dining room and kitchen the same olive green! It was like a light bulb turned on! Sheeesh...why didn't I think of doing that? Thank you Cindy...I have learned so much from you!!! Well...I already had two of my dining room walls painted a dark red...and I wondered how the olive green would look with them...but it turned out fabulous!!! It was truly a metamorphosis!!!

Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room...

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Hmmm....lot's of white walls!
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This photo is taken from the kitchen looking into the dining room.

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This is the dining room...I love the olive green with the dark red wall color!!!
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The kitchen.

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As you can see, I made a few changes after painting. A new lamp for my little table and a change in wall art.
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This is the wall in my dining room.
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I just love my big window in this room...I always have lots of nice light! In fact, I have so much light that it's very difficult to get a daytime photo...so this was taken at night. I love my gold drapes...I just couldn't believe how much prettier they looked against the olive walls than the white walls. I made a few changes here as well...added a bench with decorative pillows and I also freshened up the items on the shelf!
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Well my friends...what do you think? I think that this was a huge metamorphosis and all it took was a couple of gallons of paint!!! I love, love, LOVE paint!!! I've heard so many people say, "I want to change the look in this room but I just don't know what to do and I really don't have the money." Ohhh my, with just a little money and time...you can really change the look of a room with just a little paint!
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Thank you so much for coming by today...it's always such a pleasure to have you!!! Hope you enjoyed my olive green metamorphosis! hehe!!! You know, since Spring is here and it's time to do a little cleaning and freshening up...have you thought about paint? Sheeshh...I should work for the paint companies...don't you think? Hehe!!!

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Have a marvelous Monday, my friends!!!

Love ya'll,
Chari

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