Living Room- shuffled furniture and little updates!

You know how after you remove all the holiday decorating and then the room feels almost boring?  I find myself making changes every January because of it.

 I was inspired by a room I saw with a traditional layout of two chairs, coffee table and sofa staged in front of the fireplace that I liked.  I have more pieces of furniture than that so I have to 

plan it out.

 

Next thing I knew I was working up my newest version of the floor plan for the furniture in the living room. 

I use a room planner at the Lazy Boy website.  There are probably other versions but I find this works easily enough for me.

 I have my room saved on their planner so I can go back in and shuffle pieces around to see if it will work for me.  

It saves on the back.  

This sofa is a beast to move and I usually end up doing this by myself so I want to be sure when I start that it will work.

The red chairs rock and swivel all the way around in circle so you can turn  to talk or view the tv.  The wing backs are recliners so they have to have room to lay back.

 This is a panoramic shot I took with my iPhone.  I thought I'd show it because you can see all the way from left to right.  

As you can see there is a lot of windows in this room.  

When we created the room ('96) I had a vision of a lot of natural light, almost like a conservatory.

 Let's back up a few days.  The clock used to be in the corner where the palm tree is now.  Part of this project was to move the clock and thank goodness Dan knows how to do such things.   He removes the pendulum, but only after he sets up the internal parts and takes off the weights.



 


Guess who got to support this beast of a clock on angles while he adjusted the feet to level it!!  Me! 
I'm the official assistant....








Okay back to the present...

Up on the mantel I've been fussing around with different decorative items. 

 I brought up my lantern and then of course a faux book for it.  I filled my big oval bowl with ferns and my big wood candlestick had to be there too...

I pulled out my decorating books and saw a picture with a chest in an entryway and it had two candelabras on it...so I thought I'd give mine a try.  In the past I've only thought of them to be on my dining table.

 I put these two little dogs I got from Nell Hills next to the vase. They only resemble the real Staffordshire dogs but I like them anyway! This is the top of some built in cabinetry.

I've got a super traditional room with a traditional layout....and for now I'm loving it.  When we get the energy we plan to paint the room and I also want to do the windows differently.  

I guess I'm old fashioned with my valances so I'm planning on a more decorative rod with tall curtains.  

This is a link to the room through the holidays. My floor plan

was different then.

I'm not one to leave the floor plan the same for very long because it gives me a sense of newness.  I also like to create different pockets of interest.  

So that's my January update on

my living room.

Thanks for visiting!

I'm joining Tabletop Tuesday

 

Sunlit winter garden...

I thought I'd drop a few pictures of my backyard garden area as it sits in this very cold month of January!

We had about 10" of snow the other night and then the next morning it brightened up to be a beautiful sunlit day!

The birds and squirrels run in and out under the snow laden shrubs.

The water fountain sits quietly...

The garden benches and lawn furniture are covered with protective dressings and now blanketed by the snow...

Keeping the birds fed is a must...woodpeckers, chickadees, finches, junco, nuthatches, tufted titmouse, cardinals and mourning doves visit regularly. 

This Hairy Woodpecker was rat-a-tat-tatting!

  The birds scrape off the snow as they work their way into the feeders. We enjoy watching them in them morning while having our coffee.  I sure wish we had a lot more of these bright sunlit days! Everybody seems to be in a better mood when we do!

If you are a cross country skier, a downhill skier or a snowmobile enthusiast our are provides lots of fun!  I admit though that I am pretty much an indoor gal at this time of year.  I'd rather dig dirt than snow!

I hope your winter is going along well!

Can't wait for spring to see some bright pretty colors again!

I'm joining 

My Little Home and Garden

for Sunlit Sunday

Walking on Sunshine!

Wow what a week we've had of snow, snow snow, snow snow!  The good thing is we also had some bright sun filled days and it just makes you feel so good!  The ski resorts around here are in heaven because of it!  The snowmobilers are buzzing about and all the restaurants and bars are busy as can be!  It's a good thing for our community!  

I'll just post a few pics of my yard as it sits in it's winter state....

 

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 Juncos...they hop in and out of this tree along with the other birds...of course when the camera came out most off them disappeared!

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 The bird feeders are in constant use...heavily laden with snow but the birds keep coming.  

If you can see in the left side of the picture a big ash tree has been marked with a green band. It and some others are going to be taken down because they've got that  

Emerald Ash Borer problem.

It has swept through Michigan and many other States as well as in  Canada.  

We've been treating our big Ash tree by the driveway in hopes to save it from this problem. 

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Some snow cascaded down as I was taking pictures...

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 The weathervane on top of the garage...

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Viewing from my office...

 Blue skies and sun...love it!

I'm joining 

 Sunlit Sunday

Come on by and join us for some sun and brighten your day!  

 Video-I'm Walking on Sunshine

 

Snow overload....

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!!

This is the result of what we call Lake Effect snow around these parts!  I did not pay attention to the weather forecast last night and was surprised to see this when I woke this morning.

 It is quite calm and quiet...

That's our deck furniture covered

with a tarp for the winter. 

 

 The birds will be active on the feeders soon. 

All the feeders have new roofs this morning! 

Standing by my kitchen table looking through the slider doors you can see a blanket of snow has been working it's way down the roof line... 

 It grew a lot last night so it's going to have to be removed before 

one of us gets it on the head!  

 I tip-toed out on the deck in my PJ's and slippers to take a few shots...

Hey, one good thing about winter (if you're a woman) you can cool off those 

hot flashes quickly by opening the door!

 

Pretty cool...in more ways than one! 

It was all of 7 degrees out this morning.

 As I said it has to be removed.  Hubby went out to start cleaning all of this off the deck before he got on the tractor to snow blow the driveway.  I asked if he wanted help but he said no....so I oblidged!  LOL... I do go out and clear the deck frequently though since it's our way in and out.

Dan estimates we got about 10" last night.  

About 2 hrs later...daylight. My view out my office window.

Inside.... 

To keep me from going stir crazy!

This past weekend I started moving furniture (again).  I'm waiting for a bright enough day to take some good photos without a flash or interior lighting.  Don't worry this is not finished...just a beginning.

Working on my dining table and mantel too!

Thanks for visiting! Stay warm, or cold, whichever you prefer!

 

 

Falling back through the seasons....

Last week for Sunlit Sunday I posted pictures from this past fall.  

I guess I'm going in reverse here, and posting some earlier fall pictures.  

I'm really craving color vs. the all white landscape that I have right now!  

So I'm picking through my archives!

As the backyard garden was winding down we enjoyed 

some pretty mornings.  The sunshine really radiated off the yellow 

leaves of the maple and ash trees.

The woods by our home are primarily made up of 

Maple, Oak, Ash and Beech trees.

I can still imagine the good smell of the outdoors at that time.  

We had a nice long fall and it was uplifting to see the sun.

 The sun moves quickly and opportunity to catch a picture doesn't last long.  Sometimes I question myself for taking so many pictures, but on a dreary winter's day it's nice to look back and know that soon enough the cycle of life renews itself again and I can enjoy it all once more!

Up on the deck peeking through 

some flowers.  As you can see the oak leaves had  

nestled their way in everywhere.

Thank-you for visiting! 

I hope you find something to smile about today!

If you have a few minutes you can 

drop over to my garden blog.  I 

haven't posted anything new since

December, but there are plenty of 

garden posts from 2012 and before. 

I'm joining 

My Little Home and Garden

for

Sunlit Sunday

Here's a little more sunshine from

John Denver

Tabletop Terrarium Revamped

All the Christmas is put away and I'm looking at surfaces with a new eye.  I shopped my house (storage area) and brought out my terrarium from last year that had gone to the wayside.

My flying pig was a gift from my sister Jen earlier last year.  He's been sitting on the floor but after I set him on the table to clean the floor and decided I'd keep him up there instead! 

I don't know why but I get big kick out of "flying pigs" I think they are cute and I like the optimism of "If a pig can fly- anything is possible!"

This was a snap shot last February.  See the jar next to it?  Well I borrowed it's top for this new version of my terrarium.

 I set the top in there and tucked the moss around and added some stones for texture.  The flower pot on the left was tipped on it's side and a fern was popped inside of it.

 It's a faux terrarium because there is no glass so it wouldn't really do the job.  I'll give this a try for a while until I get another idea for it!

I'll have to catch a picture with the sun on it- it sure does change how things look!

I guess what I was going for was a bit more organic but not quite down on the farm! 

I'm joing A Stroll Thru Life for

Tabletop Tuesday

 

Keep your face always towards the sun...

Keep your face always towards the sun- and the shadows will fall behind you  

Walt Whitman

 Well, here we are in the middle of January and we definitely 

have more gray days than sunny ones!

   

So I decided to pull out some pictures from this past fall.  My garden brings me great joy and happiness!

My little fairy stands among the garden that's gone to rest, 

bedded by the amber and coppery leaves of fall.

Streaming rays 

 

Viewing out my home office window 

 

These flowers were still blooming into November!  

Makes ya smile, doesn't it??  

 

Today the snow had melted enough to see the grass again- a brief respit from our winter weather up north here, and an enjoyable sight!

 

Thank-you so much for all the comments on my post from last Sunday that was linked to the Sunlit Sunday party.  I am just getting better from a sinus infection and didn't get around to thanking everyone but I did read them all and always appreciate them!

 

Come join 

My Little Home and Garden 

for

Sunlit Sunday

Post something that gives you a sunny disposition, a sunny thought, 

something that puts sunshine in your heart and a smile on your face!