Fundamentally Fall

Photo credit:  

It is officially autumn in Colorado 

Today, October 25, marked the first snowfall.

Photo credit:  alysefashion.tumblr.com

I was fashionably unprepared.

so…

before buying some fall clothes.

I thought that I might peruse for a little inspiration.

Photo credit:  wolf and willow blog

Photo credit: room seventeen.blogspot.com

Photo credit: fashionarts.com

I consider myself inspired 

Off to the shopping district!

Happy Autumn!

Cristine

Ooo La La….Look What I Found!

For the past several months I have been {and remain} on a very strict budget

You see I have made a commitment to pay off debt and become debt free by the end of the year {except for the mortgage of course-that will take a little longer ;-)

I have done very well on my strict budget and my willpower has been amazing 

{really I am not jiving}

UNTIL

I saw this on craigslist….

http://roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com/

Not really…this exact table... 

{this is a table that I fell in love with when I saw it on one of my absolute favorite 

drool inducing blogs Room Seventeen Style}

More like this table…

my spectacular craigslist find 

Can you see it?

Or I should say can you picture it with a zinc metal top instead of tile?

Pretty darn close wouldn't you say?

and I betcha the table up top did not cost $400

That's right folks~this solid iron base outdoor table whose original price tag was $2000

is going to be mine for a mere few hundred dollars.  Now I ask you~who could say no to that? Oh did I forget to mention~please don't tell my darling husband~he just doesn't seem to understand how life altering and exciting this once in a lifetime, mind boggling basement bargain bonus find really is ;-)  

Of course it will be kind of difficult to hide a 77" x 40" solid iron base and tile table sitting on the patio in our front yard  for an extended period of time~I think we'll just have to go out for some cocktails prior to the unveiling ;-)

The second conundrum involves getting it home~I don't suppose that my daily exercise of walking the dog and lifting the dishes to the cabinet actually qualify me to lift a 200 lb table top….hmmmmm….I wonder what my brothers are doing this weekend.

Now after snagging this fabulous find…I figured I wouldn't find anything spectacular for at least a few months….but wouldn't you know it.

I spotted these….

Another spectacular craigslist find-no way! 

And guess what they reminded me of?

http://roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com

Yep another one of those drool worthy photographs from 

Room Seventeen Style

and get this~the craigslist price tag is $300 for 4 chairs

{holy moley}

I can furnish my entire new front veranda 

{it is really a small area bordered by landscape timbers and filled in with pea gravel

but veranda just sounds so much better}

for a whopping $700 

Dear Visa Card~it doesn't look like I will be paying you off this month as I had hoped.

Check back next month~after my darling husband takes my computer away so that I don't have access to craigslist ;-)

Hope you find treasure too.

Cristine 

From Manic to Marvelous

How nice it is to start Monday off with some beautiful images 

Better Homes & Gardens April 2010

~

Yellow just brightens the spirit 

and 

flowers always make me smile

~

Traditional Home May 2010

~

The decorator in me with always look toward interiors when the mere term of 

beautiful images is mentioned

I find this room's eclectic and light hearted fabrics calming and perfect

The slightly modern mix of the subtle yet telling light gray lampshade fabric 

against the brightly colored floral chintz draperies 

and the soft green damask love seat

{did you notice the lampshade fabric on the side of the love seat}

Heaven

~

I hope these images make your Manic Monday 

Marvelous :-)

"For hath God not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sound mind"

Retro Ramblings

With so much going in on my head these days…

Instead of trying to sort it all out~

I thought that I would just pick a few of these random thoughts and post about it

These are the Clematis vines that I planted last weekend

I will be so excited to see the iron trellis dripping white blossoms

{news update: a pair of magpie chicks have nested behind my clematis bushes-they seem to like it there

-hope the Clematis feel the same}

The other day C-and I had some time on our hands...

We just so happened to come across this nifty little shop called RETRO

Now I am not a mid-century modern type of gal…

{my style is better suited toward a Saturday afternoon stroll at a vintage market in Paris}

But I can appreciate a modern sensibility and the"thinking outside of the square" approach

and I might have to admit that I do find these white curvy chairs 

to be a bit groovy :-)  

Boy… if retro mod was my style this would be the place ~

a one stop shop for everything "cool"

You can even take the "cool" outside

They even had a few outdoor throw pillows that this vintage loving citizen of the historic district and avid francophile might want to take home

These are the ultimate of "cool" and I would venture to say that I could see this little 

aluminum number gracing a street side cafe in Paris tu ne peux pas?

And this…can't you just picture the lunch menu and list of lavish latte's

chalked out here?  

It just goes to show you that sometimes….

you have to venture out of your own proverbial square

 to find your inner "cool"

C- showing off his sorbet tongue while uttering
"Mom are we done shopping yet?"

Happy Weekend Mes Amies!

Cristine 

Where I am today-at least where I'd rather be

johnnyjet.com

Just one of those days….

wishing I was here.

Going on a walk with the the dog

My instagram of a neighbor's gate and garden

When going on a walk with the dog….

I like to take a look at my neighbors' gardens 

in order to be inspired for the planting of my own

(my husband calls it being a Mrs. Kravitz)

What is a little voyeurism among neighbors right ;-)  

I do not know the source of this image

Now I don't know how he couldn't understand that an open gate 

means it is okay to wander in…

maybe even take a few instagrams or two right??

Christine Bauer 33 roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com

pinterest image

I must not have disturbed my neighbor "kharma" too much 

because as luck would have it~

a landscape architect moved in right across the street ;-)

He is going to help me create the yard of my dreams

(Mrs. Kravitz worthy even ;-)

Cristine 

Stuck in a Closet Conundrum

 I spent our beautiful weather weekend working in our front yard-

clearing out the "squirrel" debris, awakening the sprinkler system 

and unearthing the lawn mower from the tool shed.

So…

 needless to say that I did not finish my wisteria wannabe desk painting project

(this weekend for sure ;-)

Image source unknown

Since I am almost finished with my desk project…

my thoughts are starting to drift toward the next big thing

I posted a while back about our coat closet redo (read it here)

My dear husband has worked diligently to trim out our entry way coat closet

in an effort to make it well….

not look like a closet ;-)  

executivecraftsman.com

The outside of the closet is almost ready for its big reveal

as I am painting it too!

However, the inside of the closet is still in an utter state of 

chaos =:-O

casa sugar 

I have been searching blog land to find inspiration and some really cool ideas 

on how to organize the inside of said chaotic closet

(hence all of these great closet photos)

orderobsessed.blogspot.com

What I cannot figure out is how 

these people don't have more stuff???

pinterest

and for that matter…

how do they keep the stuff that they do have so clean, pretty and coordinated ;-)

Is it only my children who come in the front door immediately kick off their shoes 

(and I mean kick them wherever they land which is most of the time no where near the closet)
and drop their 50 pound backpacks on the floor spilling out the evenings homework assignments 
and leftover lunch apple dippers???


Help

apartment therapy

Now that's more like it …a closet with lots of stuff!


Okay I am starting to see the light and my creative organizing juices are flowing
time to get out the power tools…good thing I already cleared out the tool shed ;-)

pinterest

I had to end this post with a photo of a closet that I love
LOVE the artwork and the flourish detail around the light fixture


Happy Tuesday 


Cristine 

June Captured & More Progress

"Westport" stephaniewilliamsphotography.com

I wanted to share my June calendar images with you.

If you missed the post where I talked about my continued need to have a paper calendar 

in spite of this digital age… you can read it here 

pinterest via brabournefarm.blogspot.com

pinterest too many have pinned to say exactly

Lillian Heekin Barber in House Beautiful 

roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com

I also wanted to show you the progress that I made on my wannabe Wisteria desk.

Still not finished… hopefully the weekend ;-)

Have a lovely evening

Cristine

Project Progress

Remember the paint project that I posted about doing a few weeks ago?

The one where I was going to create 

THIS

from THIS

Well…I had an opportunity last weekend to work on it.

(I did not finish it) 

BUT 

I did do THIS

I hope to have finished project photographs 

by Monday ;-)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Cristine 

Spring Soliloquy

I just can't help myself.

camille styles

When the weather gets warm….

my mind drifts toward summers in Maine.

Topside Inn Booth bay Harbor Maine

Where do you go?  

Cristine 

Cure for What Ails Me

No~I don't have photographs of the amazingly ambitious

weekend project that I posted about :-(

You see...

after a weekend of wiping runny noses, of refilling the humidifier

and taking temperatures -I myself caught the infectious sinus cold that has 

managed to inflict all in our six member household

So…

in an effort to feel better

I went searching for some beauty and this is what I found

New Hampshire farmhouse of Nancy Ross

New England Home 

Now that will heal what ails me 

You can see more of this home and read the article 

here 

Now back to my box of tissues…

Cristine