How I Plan To Stop My Car From Being Stolen While Pumping Gas

Have you been hearing about this latest issue where people are having their cars stolen literally right out from under their noses? Yesterday, I saw a video about this particular incident below that happened a few days ago. A woman had just finished pumping gas into her SUV and was replacing the gas cap when a thief jumped into her vehicle and drove off with her SUV, her handbag, and everything else she had … [Read more...]




How I Repaired A Loose Strap Keeper On My Pochette Metis Hand Bag

Welcome to the 789th Metamorphosis Monday! Almost six years ago, in August 2018, I purchased a Louis Vuitton Pochette Metis bag in the Reverse Monogram style. This bag has been a workhorse! It's the bag I wear during the fall/winter months the most, especially on days when it's pouring rain and I have a ton of errands to run. It's impervious to rain, and when wearing it crossbody it somehow becomes one with … [Read more...]




A Bee-utiful Solution For My Tool Chest & Other Dinged or Dented Stainless Appliances

Thanks so much for all your great suggestions in the comments of Monday's post! If you missed that post, I was troubleshooting possible solutions for getting rid of a really noticeable dent that somehow appeared on the front of this large tool chest here in the garage during the time the garage was being painted.   One suggestion made in the comments that, unfortunately, wouldn't work in this … [Read more...]




My Absolute Favorites For Spring Cleaning The Porches And The Garage

Update: Just noticed that Talbots has made their 25% off sale even better with 40% off any one item and 25% off everything else. You the code SPRING40 to get 40% off any one item. If you missed my spring favorites post, you'll find it here: Getting a Jump on My Spring Wardrobe, Everything is Currently on Sale. You'll find the Talbots spring sale here: Talbots Spring Sale. The temps here this week have … [Read more...]




How To Make A Decorative Bee Skep For Spring Decorating Or A Spring Centerpiece

Welcome to the 785th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy New Week! I have a fun spring craft for you this week! I don't know why but I always get a bit apprehensive when I try to make something I've never made before. I think that's the perfectionist in me coming out. Argggh! I've been working on an idea for a spring table setting, and for the centerpiece, I'd like to use a decorative bee skep. The prices of … [Read more...]




A New Addition To The Garage For The Rainy Days

Welcome to the 783rd Metamorphosis Monday! Thanks so much for all your amazing and much-appreciated comments on our 800th Tablescape Thursday post! I can't wait to see what the next 15 years holds. If it's half as fun as the first 15, I know it will be awesome! If you missed the Tablescape Thursday post, you'll find it here: Celebrating 800 Tablescape Thursdays & Looking Forward to Many More. No … [Read more...]




Would You Have The Nerve To Do This? Yikes!

Mr. Gingerbread Man and his many stories live on! Hahaha! During November and December, whenever I shared about this adorable Kate Spade Gingerbread House bag, the emails, pictures, stories, and comments I received from BNOTP readers, friends, and my daughter-in-law were the best! This fun bag stole the show and was always the topic of conversation everywhere it traveled. I could write a blog post doing … [Read more...]




How To Make A New Candle With Wax Left In The Bottom Of A Candle Jar

Welcome to the 780th Metamorphosis Monday! Do you love candles? Have you ever had an issue with a candle creating a well down the center of the candle as it burned? I've read so many tips about how to avoid that issue, the main one being to let the candle burn allllll the way out to the edges of its container the first time you light it. That, along with keeping the wick trimmed to a normal height, is … [Read more...]




Throwing Fisticuffs–It’s That Time Of Year When I Duke It Out With The Mattress! Ha!

Welcome to the 773rd Metamorphosis Monday! Or, maybe it's more like a wrestling match! It was past time--normally I swap out my summer bedding for my winter bedding around the first week of October. I think I'm late this year because it really hasn't felt that fallish. We've been having some wonderfully warm days. The leaves have really started falling now, though--so it was time, past time! My biannual … [Read more...]




Love This Idea For Keeping Valuables and Collectibles Safe

Since I'm a crazy, handbag-obsessed woman, I like to occasionally watch YouTube videos of handbag unboxings or handbag reviews. In one particular video I watched recently, the YouTuber shared how she secures her expensive handbags and jewelry when she's away. She hinted that there had been an issue in the past, saying, "If you know, you know." I'm not sure what she was referring to but it sounded like she's … [Read more...]




A Wonderful Dollhouse Before & After: The Restoration Is Complete

I'm back today with Part 2--the reveal of Elena's wonderful dollhouse renovation/restoration. If you missed yesterday's post, check it out first so you can see the condition the house was in before Elena worked her magic. You'll find Part 1 here: A Wonderful Dollhouse Before & After: The Restoration Begins. If you remember from yesterday, the railing and balusters of this porch area were broken and … [Read more...]




A Wonderful Dollhouse Before & After: The Restoration Begins

Welcome to the 769th Metamorphosis Monday! When I was growing up, I never had a dollhouse. Did you have one when you were little? I never even remember seeing a dollhouse when I was little, I guess none of my friends had them, either. I didn't really become aware of dollhouses until I was much older, but once I did become aware of them, it made me really wish I had had one growing up. One day many years … [Read more...]




New Blinds For The Basement & A Minor Repair You May Find Helpful

Welcome to the 768th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday--how was your weekend? I hope it was awesome! I have two Before and Afters to share for this week's Met Monday--one is kinda small, but will hopefully, prove helpful, and another one that was a bit pricey but I'm glad to have completed.   Let's start with the pricey one--if you've been reading BNOTP for the past year or so, you know I've … [Read more...]




Basement Updates & A Favorite Jewelry Polishing Cloth

Welcome to the 766th Metamorphosis Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start! I have a couple of updates to share, one that's kinda complete and another update that will happen this week. On Thursday, I'll be saying goodbye to these 30-year-old, yellowed, dingy-looking blinds here in the basement and new custom-made, faux wood blinds will be installed on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to … [Read more...]




A New Method For Storing The 13 Christmas Wreaths I Hang On My Exterior Windows

Welcome to the 763rd Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? I hope you had a great one! Mine was busy and turned out to be quite productive. I started pulling out all of the holiday decor I had stored under the attic eaves, hauling it all two flights of stairs down to the basement.   There was a lot stored here on the Christma-storage side. In addition to what you see, there were around … [Read more...]




This Miracle Trick For Removing Pen & Ink Marks From Leather Saved My Handbag

Recently I discovered an amazing little trick that I never knew about! I had a mini-disaster occur with one of my handbags. There's a barbecue restaurant about 15 minutes from my home. I'm rarely in that area so when I do find myself near the restaurant, I'll sometimes go through their drive-thru to order one of their BBQ plates. On my last visit a few weeks back, when I reached the window where you pay … [Read more...]




How To Adjust The Size Of The Grind On A Salt Or Pepper Shaker

This is probably one of those, "everyone in the world knows this but me" things. lol I love this salt and pepper shaker that I purchased a few years back--except for one thing. Over the past few months, the pepper shaker puts out these huge pepper chunks when I grind a little pepper into my eggs in the morning. This morning, after it happened once again, I started thinking I was just going to have to look … [Read more...]




Make Seashell Napkin Rings For Your Summer, Beach-Themed Table Settings

Welcome to the 760th Metamorphosis Monday! One of the things I love most about blogging is hearing from you and all the wonderful crafts and projects that you're working on. Elena, a lovely BNOTP reader, recently set a fun, beach-themed table for family that included these wonderful shell napkin rings that she hand-crafted herself.   I've made shell chargers before--tutorial for those is … [Read more...]




La Fermière Yogurt Pot–How to Remove Adhesive Off The Rim + A Yeti Tumbler Hack

Welcome to the 774th Tablescape Thursday! I was visiting family in Ohio for the past 9 days and just got home around 6:30 last night after a long 9-hour drive. So though I don't have a table setting to share, I have two things that are table-related that I hope you'll find helpful. Yesterday, I shared these delicious yogurts I discovered during my time in Ohio. As mentioned in yesterday's post, this … [Read more...]




Attractive, Waterproof, Patio-Deck Storage For Outdoor Cushions, Toys, Gardening & Grilling Tools

Welcome to the 756th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend! Well, it has been a process spanning several years, but I have finally managed to move all the toys I saved from my son's childhood--to my son's home in Ohio for his children to enjoy. Of course, I didn't save every toy from his childhood, but I did try to save the best ones that I felt were perennial and would never be outdated. … [Read more...]




Sometimes It’s the Little Things That Can Make Life A Lot Better!

Welcome to the 753rd Metamorphosis Monday! Have you ever had something annoy you for a long time, then one day that final straw hits and you realize you have to do something to fix it, or at least find something that works better? That's what finally happened to me with these super annoying tape dispensers I've been using for ages. The red one normally lives in the basement and I have another one just like … [Read more...]




Finally Did It–Had The Roof Cleaned! What Do You Think?

Welcome to the 750th Metamorphosis Monday! Two years ago, in June 2021, I shared a post where I mentioned I had noticed the roof on my home was looking kinda dirty. In this older 2012 photo, here's how the roof looked when it was still relatively new. It was around 5 years old at that time.   Looking back at older photos like the one below, I can see now that over the years a bit of staining … [Read more...]




Easy Solution For “Fixing” & Hiding Beige Outlets In A Room With White Trim

Welcome to the 749th Metamorphosis Monday! Last year I had the "almost finished" side of the basement painted. The walls were painted in Benjamin Moore White Dove and the trim was painted in Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. Chantilly Lace is a bright white with an LRV of 92.2.   Though this basement is a daylight basement with 5 good-size windows and two French doors, I wanted to keep the room … [Read more...]




Some Fun Ideas for Summer: Crafts and Decor Ideas

Recently someone asked in the comments about this 3-tiered planter pictured here on the potting bench that I painted in the color, Dahlia. It made me realize that I really should occasionally link back to some of the hundreds of posts I've written over the past 15 years because many are still relevant. This post took me forever to put together this morning because I found myself rereading them all again and … [Read more...]




So…How Do You Feel About Purple?

Welcome to the 748th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a restful Memorial Day weekend and are enjoying some additional time off today. When I last shared the basement storage/work room, the painting was mostly finished except for the windows and some areas that needed a bit of touch-up. Before I share how it looks now, here's a photo of where we started. This side of the basement was functional for storage … [Read more...]




When Things Go Sideways–Literally! Never Had This Happen Before!

Welcome to the 746th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was great except for one mind-numbing incident. lol So you know how I've put together a gazillion of these white storage cabinets for use here in the garage? I have 9 here in the garage--five along the side wall and four on the front wall.   I decided to order two for the basement storage room … [Read more...]




New Lighting For The Upstairs Hall & This Lighting Has A Surprise, Unique Feature

When I had an electrician here on Friday to add recessed lighting to the storage/utility room in the basement, I also had him change out the three lights in my upstairs hallway to recessed lighting, recessed lighting with a special, built-in feature. This was the lighting that was in the long, upstairs hallway.   Two of the three lights are visible in this previous photo from when I was … [Read more...]




Such a Big Improvement–Love This Spice Rack Organizer!

My spice organization left a lot to be desired. The only place I have near my stove to store spices is inside this relatively narrow cabinet next to the stove. To try and make it more functional, I have a lot of my spices on a little turntable. It's not a great system because when I need a particular spice, I have to spin it around and around searching for the one that I need. Often, the smaller spice … [Read more...]




All My Favorite Cleaning Products, Including One That’s Great For Polishing Jewelry

Welcome to the 739th Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? I hope it was a great one! We've been having the nicest weather lately and I've so enjoyed all the sunshine! This weekend it was so nice, I backed my car out of the garage, blew out the few leaves that had blown in, and gave the garage floor its first official mopping since it was installed last summer. There were just a few spots here and … [Read more...]




I Found A Solution, But You May Not Want To Read This Post! Spoiler Alert!

Welcome to the 738th Metamorphosis Monday! Recently, I mentioned I had purchased The Happy Isles puzzle from the Magic Puzzle Company. I didn't know a lot about their puzzles, or this particular puzzle, when I purchased it, only that there's a bit of a magic trick at the end that reveals a surprise twist to the story of  The Happy Isles. Before we go any further into today's post, if you've purchased … [Read more...]




Have You Ever Been Inspired By The Decor You Saw In A Great Movie House?

Not sure what got me thinking about this, but a few days ago I was thinking again about how much I loved the home in the movie, Home Alone, and how it had made such an impression on me when I first began buying furniture and decorating my own home. That sent me down another rabbit trail wondering what else have I done in my home that was the direct influence of something I had noticed in a movie … [Read more...]




When Is It A Collection, Or Is It Just Hoarding? ;)

Do you remember when your interest in decorating first began? I have the worst memory in general, especially when it comes to dates, but I definitely remember what kicked off my borderline obsession with home decor. My love for decorating really took off when I discovered two magazines: Colonial Homes and Traditional Home. I could hardly wait for each issue to arrive in my mailbox! I poured over those … [Read more...]




My Top 10 Favorite Amazon Finds In 2022

Happy Weekend! It's raining here. Again. It's been raining here so much, I actually did an online search today to see if we were breaking any precipitation records. I didn't find the answer to that, but I did learn that Georgia is in the top 10 states for rainfall, ranking #7. I never realized we were in the top 10, we even get more rainfall each year than Seattle! Wow! I guess that's why everything is … [Read more...]




Sometimes It’s The Little Tweaks That Make Life Better

Welcome to the 727th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy New Year to you! I hope your 2023 is off to an awesome start! Apparently, I'm trying to repeat the start of 2018 as I began the year with a yucky virus. I came down sick on Saturday and I think I'm finally past the body ache and fever stage. Unfortunately, I had to postpone the drywall work that was supposed to start in the basement tomorrow. So I don't have … [Read more...]




It’s Finished! Welcome to My Cozy Bookstore Book Nook

I should have known when I purchased a book nook kit I wouldn't be able to leave it alone until it was finished. I'm the same way when doing a puzzle. I'm always so eager to see it completed, it calls my name and haunts me until it's done. When I last shared this Bookstore Book Nook that I had just started, it was only this far along: a few pictures and a couple of shelves on one side wall, and a cute … [Read more...]




Building An Enchanting Book Nook

Welcome to the 724th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend! I got a bit of disappointing news on Friday--the drywall company that was supposed to start the drywall process in the unfinished side of the basement this week is putting me off for a couple of weeks. At the last minute, he had a huge job come in, a customer who is having him smooth out all the ceilings throughout her whole home. … [Read more...]




Lots of Fun Updates from Decorating to Organizing to Filling Up a New Freezer

Welcome to the 722nd Metamorphosis Monday! Have you started or completed your holiday decorating? I got my wreaths up a few days before Thanksgiving, but that's about as far as I've gotten. If you would like more info about how I hang my wreaths each year, you'll find a post where I share the details here: How to Hang Wreaths on Exterior Windows.     So, it took me a while but I … [Read more...]




Buying My First Freezer, Crazy About This Rail-Basket Organizing System!

Welcome to the 721st Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? I hope you had a fabulous fall weekend! I was busy making the most out of my recently updated storage room. I brought down more centerpieces/decorative pieces that had been stored in my laundry room cabinets so they would all be together in one spot.   I still had so much available space on the floor below the shelves, the … [Read more...]




A Basement-Terrace Level Reveal, Sharing All 3 Spaces and How They Look Now!

Welcome to the 720th Metamorphosis Monday! I am so excited to give you an update reveal on the basement area. As you look at these pictures, please keep in mind that the basement is still not complete--I have many more plans for this space! You may remember when I first started this process a few weeks ago, the basement stairs looked like this. Not sure why, but when this home was built in 1982-83, the … [Read more...]




Not Your Usual Tablescape Thursday Post, Lantern-Centerpiece Storage

Welcome to the 737th Tablescape Thursday! Lots going on here today, I have an electrician here installing a second outlet on the unfinished side of the basement. I moved my workbench from the semi-finished side of the basement to the unfinished side. The unfinished part of the basement only has one outlet. I may eventually add a smallish chest freezer to that space, so I needed an additional outlet for my … [Read more...]




New Tablescaping Goodies, Attractive Storage Idea & the Room I’m Renovating Next

I'm headed over to Home Depot today. I have a project I'm working on in both the unfinished, the semi-finished, and the storage area of my basement. I will share a lot more about that on Monday for Metamorphosis Monday. In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple of table purchases I just made recently, as well as a few photos of the semi-finished part of the basement at the end of this post. The fall … [Read more...]




The Garage is Finally Done, Landscapers Who Hide Things & Very Hungry Bees!

How is your weekend going? I've been tidying up lots of odds and ends around here. The painter came back today to finish painting the plantation shutters in the garage. The first painter really botched them with drips and runs everywhere. The painter that came today had previously been out and sanded off all the drips and today he came back to paint them. They are once again in the windows of the garage and … [Read more...]




How to Stop a Gas Lantern From Blowing Out On Really Windy Days

I have a gas lantern in front of my home that I had installed 20+ years ago. When I first had it installed, the lantern company estimated the cost to run it would be around $12-14 per month--and it was. Definitely worth it for the ambiance it adds to the front of my home.   Years later, when gas prices went up drastically, I turned it off for much of the year. I was also having an issue with … [Read more...]




Fortnum & Mason Hamper As a Side Table, Great Place to Hide Throws & Pillows

Welcome to the 711th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a fabulous start! A week or so ago I shared the arrival of a Fortnum and Mason Hamper I had purchased, along with the goodies that I chose to go inside. I ended up creating my own bespoke hamper to get the size hamper and the contents I really wanted.   When I first placed my order for one of their hampers, I … [Read more...]




What’s Inside All Those Storage Cabinets? I’m Throwing Back the Doors!

Welcome to the 727th Tablescape Thursday! For this week's Tablescape Thursday, we're taking a peek inside the nine storage cabinets I have here in my garage to see what's stored inside and how it's all organized. I hope this little storage tour offers up a few ideas for your storage needs.   Let's start with the cabinets here on this side wall of the garage. Before we throw back the doors … [Read more...]




Is it True? Will LED Light Fixtures Cause Your Garage Door Opener to Malfunction?

Over the past few weeks as I've shared the updates I've been making here in the garage, one question I've been asked in the comments a couple of times was if the new LED lighting I had installed would create any issue with my garage door opener.   During the renovation process, one of the things I had done was the replacement of the original seal on the garage door. Sometime over the past 40 … [Read more...]




It’s Done! The Cabinets are Back and All Systems are GO!

Welcome to the 709th Metamorphosis Monday! It was a long time coming but I finally have all the cabinets back in the garage and filled back up. Before I share the "After" here's a little reminder of where we started. The garage walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint and much better lighting than the builder-grade lights that had been here for 40 years.   Previously, I had 6 dish … [Read more...]




Garage Storage Cabinets, Progress Has Been Made But There’s Been a Few Glitches

Welcome to the 708th Metamorphosis Monday! As I type this, I'm waiting for the second garage door repairman to arrive. Hopefully, I can get this post up before he arrives. I will have to create a post sharing all the things that have had to be done and redone multiple times so you'll know life isn't all rainbows and unicorns up in here. Ha! Seems like every project I embark on has had a major glitch (or … [Read more...]




Not Again! Unfortunately, yes! Again! Plus, Sharing a Handy DIY Hack

So remember when the garage looked like this?   Well, it looks like this again. Arggh! :( I'll explain more on Monday but basically, the original painter the company sent out did a terrible job of fixing a couple of places on the ceiling where the sheetrock tape that was used 40 years ago was starting to loosen in places. He really botched it. So the painting company has sent out a much more … [Read more...]




A New Addition for the Office & How I Track Down Studs

Back around 2010 when I put my home office together and purchased an office desk chair, one of my top priorities in choosing a chair was its appearance. Of course, I wanted it to be comfortable and great for day-to-day use, but I also wanted it to be pretty and to work with my home office interior. Over the years and many desk chairs later, I have pretty much given up on worrying about how it looks and if … [Read more...]




A Small Addition to the Garage That I’m Absolutely Loving

Welcome to the 707th Metamorphosis Monday! Over the last week, I've been sharing the dramatic makeover my garage went through recently. (See that makeover in full here: Dramatic Garage Makeover with New Lighting, Fresh Paint, and New Flooring.) This weekend I shared over two posts, the 2-day process of how the flooring was installed. A painter will be coming out to complete a few touchups on the back … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Installation, Day 2–All Done and So Worth It!

In yesterday's post, I shared the first day's process of having a new floor installed here in my garage. You may remember we ended here with the garage door left a few inches open to prevent the door from damaging the newly installed floor. The flooring was left to dry and set up overnight during which time the colorful flakes that had been broadcast out over the floor, would have time to meld with the … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Installation, Day 1–Here’s How They Did It!

Imagine that you regularly visit a gym for a full workout, but for some reason, you don't go for 3 months. After a 3-month break, you go back, but instead of starting back slowly, you dive full-in doing your old routine as if you've never missed a day. That's how I feel today, every muscle in my body feels like it's had a full workout to the max! I don't think there's a single muscle that's not feeling the … [Read more...]




Where Did You Store All Those Cabinets & Beautiful New Flatware for a Bargain

Welcome to the 724th Tablescape Thursday! Before we get into today's Tablescape Thursday, for those who have asked for it, I've added a printable version of the recipe I shared recently for these delicious Crunch Wraps to that recipe post. You'll find that post here and the printable version of the recipe is right at the end of the post: Crunch Wrap Recipe.   Soooo, though the garage is … [Read more...]




A Super Stressful Friday (Self-Inflicted) and Choosing a Wall Color for the Garage

Wow! Yesterday was a day and a half around here! I had a mini disaster occur. I was trying to do too many things at once (a bad habit of mine) and while calling a local tire place to schedule having my tires rotated, I managed to spill a lot of water onto my keyboard. While trying to wipe off (and shake out) the water from the keyboard, I didn't notice a small amount had also splashed up onto one of my … [Read more...]




Lots of New Upgrades, Plus I’ve Chosen New Lighting for the Garage

Welcome to the 702nd Metamorphosis Monday! Are you familiar with the children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? In the book, the cute little mouse asks for a cookie. The cookie makes him thirsty, so then he asks for a glass of milk. I've forgotten now what the glass of milk leads to, but each request leads to another and another and another.   This garage project I've embarked on is … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Has Been Chosen & A Back-Saving, Step-Saving New Purchase

Welcome to the 719th Tablescape Thursday! A few days ago I shared plans to have my garage's concrete floor prettied up. I was trying to choose between two flooring systems: Epoxy vs Polyaspartic Polyurea.   After getting estimates for both methods, I've decided to go with the Epoxy system which is also finished off with a topcoat of Polyaspartic. I know several of you asked that I share in … [Read more...]




Planning a Garage Makeover, Here’s the “Before” and the Plan!

Welcome to the 701st Metamorphosis Monday! For many, many years I've been itching to spiffy up my garage. I've always hated this concrete floor. It's so depressing to look at and never really feels clean.   Last week I got a quote for having Epoxy flooring installed. Tomorrow I'll be getting a quote for another type of flooring that is also very popular called Polyaspartic Polyurea. I … [Read more...]




Sneaky Squirrels and Rascally Raccoons–Hoping This Will Be the Solution!

Ever since my son and daughter-in-love moved into their home several years ago, they've been in an ongoing, full-scale battle to keep the critters with whom they share their yard, out of their trash cans. Regular trash cans didn't even slow down the raccoons who visited their home and their neighbor's homes every single night. It's not a great way to start the day--walking out the door dressed up nicely for … [Read more...]




It’s Been Almost 4 Years Now, So How Did It Work?

Welcome to the 696th Metamorphosis Monday! How do you store your silver jewelry? Over the years I've purchased a few Tiffany & Co. silver necklaces, bracelets, and rings They are inexpensive, as jewelry goes, and always so sparkly and beautiful. I especially love their enamel and silver pieces. Of course, Tiffany jewelry always comes in their signature blue jewelry pouch that helps prevent … [Read more...]




Peloton Bike: Add a Handlebars Adjuster to Move the Handlebars Closer

Welcome to the 694th Metamorphosis Monday! I have a dressing room right off of my master bedroom. Many years ago that room was a 5th bedroom but the first owners of my home walled off the door in the hallway to that room and cut a big opening in the master bedroom wall into the bedroom next door.   I sometimes wonder if/when I move one day, if the future owners of this home will turn that … [Read more...]




Will the Green Drapes and The Governor’s Party Painting Still Work for Summer?

Welcome to the 693rd Metamorphosis Monday! Last year I got a bug in my bustle and decided to finally add some art to the wall behind my bed.   Adding this beautiful Chuck Pinson Giclee made such a dramatic difference to the room, I decided to keep going and finally added some beautiful "worn velvet" drapes to the windows. They aren't heavy-looking in person, as velvet drapes could … [Read more...]




Louis Vuitton Inspired Agenda Calendar Refill Inserts & To-Do Lists

Quite a few years back I splurged and purchased a Louis Vuitton Large-Ring Agenda in the GM (A-5) size. I had never had an agenda before and wasn't sure how I would like it and if I would really use it. It turned out to be a great purchase! I absolutely love having an agenda and find I use it a lot! My agenda stays open on my desk full time and I refer to it daily. Whenever I travel, it always goes with me. … [Read more...]




1950s Bathroom Gets a Beautiful, Luxe Makeover! It’s Wonderful!

Welcome to the 689th Metamorphosis Monday! In a post a few weeks back, I mentioned that I was starting to think more about renovating my two upstairs bathrooms.  I was finding it difficult to motivate myself to begin the planning process. Bathrooms typically don't excite me, at least not like travel and handbags! Ha! Then I received an email that definitely upped my level of excitement ten-fold! Sam, … [Read more...]




An Easy Way to Store and Display Your Summer and Winter Scarves

Welcome to the 686th Metamorphosis Monday! Do you love wearing a scarf--a woolly warm scarf for winter, or an airy, bright scarf in the spring or summer? My winter scarves tend to get worn a lot more than my summer ones, probably because this girl can't stand being cold for even a minute. lol I think I would wear my summer scarves a lot more if I had them displayed in my closet where I could actually see … [Read more...]




Pretty Ways to Store & Display Your Favorite Dish Patterns

Welcome to the 703rd Tablescape Thursday! (Update: If you were interested in the Burberry Bag I shared that sold out so quickly on Tuesday, it's back in stock. I've added a link to it at the end of this post.) Happy St. Patrick's Day! Do you have anything special planned for today? I was thinking of setting a St. Patrick's Day table to share, but since I just did that last week, I thought it would be … [Read more...]




Visual Motivation Tools to Help Me Reach My Goals

Welcome to the 685th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday! Did you weather the time change okay this weekend? Are you loving these longer daylight hours? I do like the longer days but I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night--but then, I pretty much have that problem every night. For as long as I can remember, I've always been a night owl. My sister was the exact same way. Left to our own doing, we … [Read more...]




Art for the Upstairs Hallway: The Beach Girls by Hilarie Lambert

Welcome to the 684th Metamorphosis Monday! A few years back I added a little blue chest to this corner of my upstairs living room.   This room has a beachy/nautical feel because of how it's decorated with lighthouse prints and shells collected while vacationing in Captiva, Sanibel, and Hilton Head Island many years ago. Though I loved the chest here, I eventually moved it to the hallway … [Read more...]




It Finally Arrived and I Love How It Looks and Works!

Back just before Christmas, I succumbed to temptation and ordered this awesome Home Alone LEGO house. The house in the movie, Home Alone is one of my favorite movie houses of all time, so I just couldn't pass up on this fabulous LEGO build. (Take a tour of the home as seen in the movie in this previous post: Tour the Home Alone Movie House.)   It was a pretty big undertaking with 3,955 pieces … [Read more...]




Changing All My A/C-Heating Ceiling Vents for Better Airflow

Welcome to the 680th Metamorphosis Monday! Not the most exciting Before and After but I am currently in the process of changing out all the air vent covers throughout the upstairs part of my home. I've been meaning to do this for a while. My home is almost 40 years old and some of the original vent covers are looking very tired. I've started with these two here in my bedroom. It has always bugged me … [Read more...]




How I’m Protecting My Car Seats from Denim-Jean Transfer Stains

Welcome to the 679th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Monday! Hope you are snuggled down inside somewhere this morning, keeping nice and warm. This morning I have a little update I've made that I hope you'll find helpful if you sometimes struggle with denim transfer on your car seats. A while back I shared this awesome cleaner that is pretty much a miracle cleaner in my eyes. When I got blue jean/denim … [Read more...]




An Idea That I Hope Will Work–What Do You Think?

A week or two ago I ordered these black jeggings during an awesome sale. I loved them the moment I noticed the beautiful button detail on the side near the bottom of each leg.   I've never seen jeggings with a decorative button detail like this and I love it! (Jeggings with jewel button detail are available here on sale: Bejeweled Jeggings. All jeans and jeggings currently on sale can be … [Read more...]




IKEA Hemnes Bookcase Review & Sharing Its One Design Flaw

Welcome to the 677th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had an awesome weekend! We had a mini-snow storm on Sunday. It was short-lived but pretty while it was coming down. Did you see any snow in your area over the weekend?   In a previous post a few months back, I mentioned the bowing issue I was having with the Ikea Billy bookshelves in my home office. Two lovely BNOTP readers suggested I look … [Read more...]




How I Trick Myself Into Doing Things I Really Don’t Want to Do

We all have 'em--those dreaded chores around the house that we just don't want to do. We delay, finding other stuff to do that makes us feel productive while those "other" things wait, mocking us like the proverbial elephant in the room. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but I thought it would be fun today to share a few of the ways I trick myself into doing those non-fun things I don't feel like … [Read more...]




A Small Upgrade That Functions Better & Looks More Professional

I made a very small change recently here in the upstairs family room and thought I'd share it in case you have a need for something similar. A while back I shared a new lamp I had just purchased for this room.   You can see the new lamp there on the left atop the old, book-bound Macon Telegraph newspapers my sister, Glenda, gave me many, many years ago. To read more about the new lamp and how … [Read more...]




Repurpose Your Old Record Albums Into Unique, Exciting Wall Art!

When I visited with my friend, Teresa recently, this was the bedroom where I stayed. I was absolutely enthralled with how she had decorated above and around the bed!   Instead of tossing out or donating her old record albums from yesteryear, she turned them into exciting wall art!   Do you still have all your old albums from days past?   I love this idea so much! … [Read more...]




Handmade Christmas Ornaments, Inspired by the Colors of a Beautiful Peacock

I have a wonderful Christmas DIY decorating idea to share with you today. Norma, a lovely BNOTP reader who has become a friend over the years, makes the most beautiful handmade ornaments and flowers each year at Christmastime.   You may remember Norma from this post when I shared a beautiful table setting she created for friends where she decorated the entrance to her French cottage to look … [Read more...]




I Think I Finally Found the Perfect Frame, What Do You Think?

Last November, now a full year ago, I was hot on the pursuit of a frame for this beautiful Chuck Pinson painting named, The Governor's Party. The painting depicts the Governor's Palace just as guests are arriving for a Christmas party. I remember touring the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg many years ago. It was a wonderful experience and I would love to visit again and see it dressed this way … [Read more...]




How Have I Not Ever Noticed This Before?!

Welcome to the 668th Metamorphosis Monday! Last night I finally got around to changing from my spring/summer bedding...   ...to my tartan fall/winter bedding. I'm slow getting it done this year, normally try to make the switch in early October. I think I delayed this year because I was still really enjoying the summer bedding--but it was time. One of the things that always drives me … [Read more...]




Taking All the Stress Out of Halloween Night

If you live where you have a lot of Trick-or-Treaters stopping by on Halloween night, you know how hectic it can sometimes be. I'm like a Jack-in-Box on Halloween evening, popping up every minute or two to answer the door. I love seeing the little ones in their costumes. Halloween and Trick-or-Treating with friends is one of my fondest childhood memories. Back then, we didn't buy fancy costumes, we wore … [Read more...]




Finally Sharing All Those Photos, Ideas and Tips That I’ve Been Saving

Welcome to the 663rd Metamorphosis Monday! Throughout the year, I'm always taking photos of things that I want to share with you that I think you'll enjoy. I've been going through photos this morning, and I thought it would be fun to share an assortment of random pictures and ideas for this week's Met Monday, especially since one of two of these are Before/After ideas. Hope you enjoy! During one of my … [Read more...]




I Had My Car Windows Tinted: Here’s How They Look & How Much It Costs

Have you ever had your front car windows tinted? I have never had that done with any car that I've owned, but I decided to do that with the car I purchased recently. My main goal in having the two front windows tinted was to get some of the sun that streams in through the windows off of my arms. That's the one part of my body that I think has suffered sun damage over the years. As with most things we do … [Read more...]




I Can’t Live Without This Thing–Keep Finding New Ways to Use It!

In the past, I've shared this awesome little desktop vacuum with you. It is amazing! I like it so much, when I set up a desk in the guest room at my son's home, which is also a great workspace for my oldest grandson when I'm not there, I immediately purchased a second one since I use it so much at home.   I use it at least once a week to vacuum my large desk mat that does double duty as a … [Read more...]




Another New Lamp for the Upstairs Living Room

Welcome to the 659th Metamorphosis Monday! Looking at this older photo of the upstairs living room/bonus room/frog makes me want to move the grandfather clock back to this room. I may do that today, I miss seeing it here. But that's not why we're in this room today. Notice the large brass lamp at the end of the sofa.   Here's one more photo taken from the opposite end where you can see the … [Read more...]




Musical Lamps

Welcome to the 657th Metamorphosis Monday! Did you ever play the game, Musical Chairs, when you were little? Well, it's been like musical lamps around here lately. lol I may end up with one odd lamp out in the end, not sure at this point. Last week I shared a new lamp I had purchased to use in my home office. It turned out to be much larger than I had expected so not a good fit for the office. Lesson … [Read more...]




Going Waaay Outside My Comfort Zone

So I did something a little crazy today. See that white shelf on the right wall of the guest room? I ordered a new picture for that spot.   I also moved the trunk out of this room that had gotten shoved over onto that wall when I added cabinets down the opposite wall. I moved my vintage dress form from the office back to that spot, although it's not visible in this photo except for a small … [Read more...]




After I’m Gone, Will Someone Keep and Treasure This Piece?

Recently when I shared a new lamp I had purchased, you may have noticed a large, colorful bowl that was sitting nearby.   I collected that bowl several years ago during a trip to Morocco when we visited Poterie de Fes, a place where they hand-make and paint tiles that they create from their local clay. The tiles are then used to make beautiful pottery and lovely fountains for gardens. I … [Read more...]




2 Beautiful, New Lamps–Unique in Color and Size, Crazy About Both!

Welcome to the 656th Metamorphosis Monday! Thanks so much for all your input on Friday's post! Appreciate all of your suggestions so much! After three weeks in Ohio, I'm back home now. The weekend was spent unpacking, going through mail, washing clothes, and all the catch-up stuff that usually needs to be done after a few weeks away from home. The two lamps I ordered prior to my trip arrived and I'm … [Read more...]




When I Move One Day, These Are Going With Me

Many years ago when I used to go out antiquing almost every weekend, I ran into a good friend in a local antique shop. I was so surprised to see someone I knew in this large, but kinda off-the-beaten-path shop. She was headed out the door with a big brass chandelier in her hands. I complimented her on her awesome find, it was a beautiful chandelier! As she made her way toward the door, she shared that … [Read more...]




Bow Lipstick Case Repair & A Tale of Two Throws

Welcome to the 655th Metamorphosis Monday! A few years back I shared these absolutely gorgeous lipstick cases by the House of Sillage. I think I first came across them in a post on Instagram and I was smitten!   House of Sillage periodically comes out with new additions and they are always beautiful. Over the last few years, I've added to my collection and I use them all the time. I use … [Read more...]