Ready For Lunch On The Lanai...

No. Martha isn't coming to visit, but I decided I wanted to do a little moving around and cleaning of our lanai last weekend.

I took a "before" photograph, but I'd already moved the patio furniture out. So, let's get started with the makeover, shall we?

• Before •

• After •

For the makeover, I took out the dead or dying plants, swept the brick patio, and added a rug to make it easier to slide the chairs when sitting around the table. Then it was time to set the table for you.

Of course, I used my shoreline-themed dishes. After all, we are in Florida! The placemats were my mother-in-law's years ago and are some of my favorites. They're just perfect to use with any of my dishes, but they're especially wonderful when I set the table with these dishes and a seashell look.

I love adding natural and white starfish as accents with the napkins, and their neutral color is perfect for my theme.I've had these napkins for a long, long time. I love the tonal embroidery on the cotton fabric.
These are beverage tumblers we've had for over twenty years. I guess they're getting close to "vintage". They're plexiglass, so they're safe around the pool, too. Fill 'em up with unsweet iced tea and we're ready to spend the afternoon on a swim float.
I think my glass containers filled with seashells make lovely accents around the house. I just grab them and add them to my table as a centerpiece when we have guests. Add a sponge or piece of coral with an interesting shape, scatter starfish about and, if the meal will last into dark, a candle with imbedded shells completes the centerpiece.
I hope you like the finished look on the lanai. Bromeliads and crown of thorns in full bloom add touches of green and red. We're ready for a meal with friends, or just a breakfast together on a Sunday morning. Thanks for joining me on the tour!

Kitchen Makeover And A New Boutique Offering...

I kept my word today. I started by taking a short road trip to a nearby quilt shop to drop off two of my quilt tops. Garden Magic and Cotton Candy are now out for machine quilting and should be back so I can bind them by the end of November. I think the hardest part is always waiting for them to come back!
When I got back home, I proceeded to tear the kitchen apart. Handsome helped me empty the shelves and then refresh buckets of hot water and cleaner while I scrubbed them. I'm ashamed to say I hadn't cleaned the tops of those cabinets in a while and they really needed it! I dare say you could eat off them now.

In the mosaic above, the first two images are "before" pictures. The rest are a progression as I emptied, cleaned and re-staged the kitchen. You can click on the mosaic and it will take you to my Flickr album where you can see enlarged photos.

Please let me know what you think now that I'm finished. Well, almost finished. I looked at the "after" photos and decided that the two large wooden bowls on the floor of the south wall (the wall with the blue & white turkey platter and other blue & white pieces) need to come out of the kitchen. They make for a sort of black hole in the room. I'll be selling those. I also noticed that the little box on the bottom shelf of the island looks out of place, so I'm moving that, too.

What did I do with the other things you no longer see in the kitchen? Well, the pitcher and creamer collection is now carefully packed and stored. I don't want to part with those (at least for now), but there is no specific place for them, so off to storage for now. The Toby face mugs will be sold. I only found out today that Handsome really doesn't like them. I'm not attached to them, so away they'll go. Same for the majolica pig pitcher I have. Everything else is on its way to Goodwill or one of my sales outlets. Feel free to contact me if you saw something you might like. I promise I'll give you a fair price!

All in all, I think this was a completely worthwhile project. The room looks lighter, more cohesive and it's definitely more clean! If you ask me, I think we did pretty well with this makeover.

Thanks again for all your comments. They really helped! Oh, by the way, click on her blog title here to link over to Anita's blog Bloomin' Workshop and read her post from yesterday. It's Halloween-type spooky that we wrote about darn near the same thing! Right down to the Scandinavian furniture reference! Whew!

I don't want to forget to tell you about my new offering in my Brynwood Boutique! I'd love to know what you think of my sweet Dotty Cat Pincushion!
Click here to visit my Boutique!