Serendipity Refined

Master Bathroom Reveal

2013-05-20T06:11:00.003-05:00

Is it odd that I'm showing you my bathroom? I haven't shared this room because I wasn't sure. Until today, only my family and a few very close friends have ever seen our master bathroom. It's en suite; through the dressing hall, past our closets. It has french doors to allow the natural light to fill what would otherwise be a dark hallway.

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How to Make A Four Generation Family Tree

2013-05-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

I have a question for you. Have you ever made a four generation family tree?

Over the years, my sons have made more school projects than I can count and certainly more than I even remembered...until recently. You may wonder why I'm telling you this.

Did I mention that we're getting our home ready for sale?

We are...and we're cleaning out closets

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Home Tour: Living Room

2013-05-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

I realized this morning as I was ~~walking to the kitchen~~ trying to make my way past the boxes to pack lunch for my youngest that our formal living room is one of my favorite rooms in our home.

Do you want to know why?

It's not what you might think......

Summer Urns and Container Gardens: Tips and Tricks

2013-05-09T07:29:00.000-05:00

I've been designing and planting gardens, urns and planters for over thirty years and my favorites are still That sounds like a really long time, doesn't it?

Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes: A Quick "Hello"

2013-05-08T07:24:00.001-05:00

Hi! You're probably wondering where the heck I've been....

.....at least I hope that you've missed our two or three times a week "chats", I know that I have.

While I can't give you details just yet, there's are some pretty significant changes happening here at the Refined house.

Our oldest will be home from college in about 72 hours for about a week...then he'll be moving to Georgia for a summer internship.

Our youngest graduates in three weeks.....and....in the middle of it all, we're selling our home...and purchasing what will likely be a smaller, older home in need of rehab....because, let's face it, both of my sons will be gone this fall, our current home is finished, and I need a new project.

So, right now, pretty much every room looks like this...and the garage is full....

...and my life feels like a Jimmy Buffet song....

"With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

Nothing remains quite the same

With all of my running and all of my cunning

If I couldnt laugh I just would go insane

If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane

If we weren't all crazy we would go insane"

There are some changes coming....
....and yes, so far, I'm laughing...and packing.

xo,

My Kitchen Back splash: Hand Painted Ceramic Tile

2013-05-03T09:06:00.002-05:00

Have you ever seen something so lovely that it "haunted" you for a year afterwards? Well, that was the case when I found my hand painted kitchen back splash tile; proving, once again,

that, Good things come to those who ~~wait~~ work their butt off and don't take "no" for an answer!

I had seen it in a local tile store. All they would tell me was that it was hand formed and hand painted by two ladies that had a small tile company some where in Canada. That's all I knew...for a year...that and the fact that I had to have it in my kitchen.

A year later, we began construction of our home and, when it came time to design the kitchen, I knew that the tile was going to play a central role. I chose cabinets and counter tops that would coordinate with the tile that I had seen.

Everything was progressing smoothly...until my tile source went out of business. Our home took just over a year to build and I spent that time looking for another tile that I would love as much as the one that I had seen nearly two years earlier.

I found....nothing. Nothing would compare to the crackled glaze and hand formed tiles....nothing came close to the range of color found in raku. This tile haunted me!

We moved into our home and the kitchen was without tile for nearly two years after that (for those of you keeping track...this is nearly four years from the first time that I saw this tile)

Over the next several months, I scoured the Internet, searching, in every conceivable way, for hand painted, hand formed, ceramic back splash tile....then, one day, I found it! I called the lovely ladies in Canada and explained my situation and they agreed to work with me.

It took nearly another year before the tile was finished and installed. Each time there was a revision to the colors or to how I wanted it painted, it took 12 weeks for the new sample of the tile to leave Canada, clear customs and make it to Illinois.

After all that, I can still say that I love this tile! So much, in fact, that I decided that I'd like to install something similar in my new kitchen...different colors, of course, and a slightly different pattern, but I want to work with these ladies.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that I've lost the name and address of the company!!!!!

If any of you happens to recognize this tile or knows the name of the small, Canadian, tile makers that this may have come from....please message me....otherwise, I'll be searching the Internet...again...

No, I don't have a new home chosen...yet.

I do know that it will likely be a rehab and that it will involve a new kitchen....and hand painted ceramic back splash tile...from this company...if I can find them. You may wonder why I'm looking when I haven't even found a place yet... Well, this time, I'd like to have my tile installed in less than five years....that seems reasonable, doesn't it?

xo,

How To Replace A Garage Door Weather Seal

2013-04-29T08:57:00.003-05:00

It's finally spring in the Midwest! You know...spring..when a young ~~man's heart turns to love~~ girl's mind turns to home maintenance.Yep, it happens. Every now and then, I have to take a break from painting furniture, decorating our home and repurposing found items to do a little work. Today is one of those days. Today, I'm replacing the vinyl weather seal that goes around my garage door.

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White Spray Painted Metal Patio Furniture and Tea in My Garden

2013-04-26T08:28:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! I'm so happy that you stopped by today so that I can show you the "after" photos of my spray painted metal patio furniture!

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Small Space Portable Gardens: Herbs and Veggies in Repurposed Containers

2013-04-24T08:04:00.001-05:00

I planted the first part of my kitchen garden last weekend. Literally...

It's a garden that is, for now, resident in the east facing windows of my kitchen.

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French Rooster Kitchen Lamp Chalk Paint Makeover

2013-04-22T09:09:00.001-05:00

I like to think that I usually have a pretty good eye for detail but sometimes, I've got to admit that I'm completely oblivious.

Take this lamp, for example.

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Knock You Naked Brownies {Easy Recipe}

2013-04-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

I probably don't need to tell you that I've never found a chocolate recipe that I didn't like and that if anyone ever asked me, chocolate and caramel should be considered their own food group.

Yep. Right there on the food pyramid...up at the very top...in a little triangle all their own.

They should be right there...next to licorice...and gummy bears.

When I found this recipe on Group Recipes and the name of them was, "Knock You Naked Brownies" I've got to admit, they had my attention.

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Wicker and Wrought Iron Patio Furniture Makeover

2013-04-15T10:44:00.001-05:00

I've got a couple of questions for you: First, have you ever read the book by Dr. Seuss titled "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"? I'm pretty sure that it was the very first book that I ever read aloud. It was a favorite at the time.

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Yarn Wrapped, "Let's Go Fly A Kite" Wreath

2013-04-12T05:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever flown a kite? I have. Lots of them. I think that I started when I was six or seven years old. I think that this is largely due to the fact that I was raised during the "go outside and play" years. Yes, it's true, I was an often unwilling member of the "fresh air generation".

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Home Is Where You Make It....Changes are Coming!

2013-04-10T10:15:00.003-05:00

Wow, that was fast!

It seems like just a few months ago that I stood with my young (and much shorter) sons watching, in amazement, as the house that formerly occupied the lot where we were going to build our home was razed on a very cold, snowy, December morning. The home had been a rental. It had a fire in the kitchen, the foundation was cracked and there was no way to save it so we salvaged what we could and tore it down.

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Spring Urn Planter: Tulips, Forsythia...and Bird Houses!

2013-04-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

Well, that's going to be a tough act to follow...

I remember those words as if it were yesterday. Last spring, basking in the unexpected glow of several weeks in the 70's and 80's in March, I'd been inspired to create what was probably my favorite spring arrangement ever in the huge urn that sits on the stone wall in the front of my home.
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Spring Tablescape with Flowers in Moss Covered Containers, Ironstone and Glass

2013-04-03T05:30:00.000-05:00

I've got a confession to make. Remember the cute, Pier1 knockoff burlap bunny ear and butterfly napkin rings that I showed you last week? The ones that I was convinced were going to be a part of my Easter tablescape? Well....they didn't make it into the final design.

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PB Moss Basket "Rescue and Rehab"

2013-03-31T11:43:00.003-05:00

You've probably figured out by now that I'm a bargain hunter...and a that I love to rehab things that ~~should have probably been thrown away~~ other people may not have the same vision for.

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Hippity Hoppity Easter's On It's Way!

2013-03-29T09:22:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter Weekend! WHAT?!?!? Easter?!?!? What happened to the month of March?! Honestly...this Sunday is Easter...and Monday is APRIL!? What the heck!?

Not that I'm really lamenting putting the cold, gray, snowy days of March behind me. I'm rather enjoying the whole "out like a lamb" part of the month. The early March "in like a lion" thing...notsomuch.

March is always a crazy month for me. It's end of quarter at work, there's usually a spring break (or, in my case this year, TWO) thrown in with the unpredictable weather, a little snow, some rain, maybe some sunshine, the first day of spring and, usually, Easter.

I've been head down at my day job for the last ten days. I've been working a bunch of hours and trying to spend at least a day or two with each of my sons on their respective spring breaks (which, for some reason, did not coincide this year) so I'll admit that, for all of my careful planning, Easter snuck up on me this year.

I'm running around today, finishing last minute transactions at work, shopping for the final items for Easter dinner, boiling eggs for the dyeing that will take place tomorrow after my oldest arrives home from school, cooking and baking and cleaning

....and finishing the decorating and tablescaping in the dining room...which brings me to the source of the darling basket that you see in these photos...my friend Becky from Timewashed, fine hand made and vintage goods. She's got such a wonderful eye for detail and she makes the most beautiful things. Bits of lace, scraps of ribbon...sigh.

How could I possibly resist?! You're right. I couldn't....and you don't have to either! Visit her Etsy Shop! She's got lavender sachets, and gift tags and pin cushions...and beautiful baskets...like the one that now makes me smile from its spot on my dining room side board.

Becky didn't compensate me for this post, in fact, she didn't even know that I was writing it until this morning! I just wanted to share a little bit of Easter Joy as I'm getting ready for the holiday, celebrating the real reason for the season and enjoying spring...and time with my family! Thanks, Becky...I'm blessed to have you as a friend!

I'll (hopefully) be back tomorrow to show you my table! Happy Good Friday, friends!

xo,

Burlap Easter Napkin Rings {Pier 1 Knockoff} Bunny Ears and Butterflies

2013-03-28T05:30:00.000-05:00

I realize, of course, that this is a little "last minute" but these napkin rings are super simple and you can make a dozen or so in under an hour...honest.

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What A Difference A Year Makes... Spring

2013-03-27T07:43:00.003-05:00

What a difference a year makes. As a mother of sons, this became apparent in the spring when "long pants" suddenly weren't and I was reaching up.to give my little boys a hug.

Over the course of twelve quick months, hair styles, and clothing styles (and girlfriends)... change.
My high school Junior is now a Senior getting ready for Prom...and graduation.

My college Junior is getting ready to be a Senior and to move from Illinois to Georgia for a summer internship.

Sometimes, I wish that I could make time stand still...or better yet, turn back the clock...just for a moment...to have time to catch my breath.

So far, I haven't been able to manage to make that happen so, I'm hanging on... with both hands... feet firmly planted in the present...enjoying every second of the crazy, wild, ride that is spring, 2013 with all of the new adventures that it will bring for my family.

And marveling at the fact that all of the photos above were taken exactly one year ago today....
and that precisely 365 days later, my spring garden looks like THIS.

Maybe turning the time clock ahead a couple of weeks wouldn't be such a bad idea...

Oh wait... that would mean that it would be a couple of weeks closer to graduation...and my son's move to Georgia....

Yeah, on second thought, never mind. I think that I'll just take life as it comes and enjoy it.....

one...day...at...a...time.

Because this photo was taken in my yard last week...

xo,

Midwest Bloggers Meetup Old Friends and New

2013-03-23T06:40:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to do a couple of things that I've wanted to do for a while now:
1) Visit an amazing shop that's owned by my Friend Mark, Room 363, in Naperville, IL
2) Hang out with 25 other bloggers, soon to be bloggers and friends of bloggers for an entire day!

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Spring Lemon Lavender Scones {Recipe}

2013-03-20T06:27:00.000-05:00

Happy official first day of spring! I'm beyond ready for a little warmer weather, some sunshine and a few flowers...aren't you?

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Spring Break, Nesting and A Moss and Butterfly Wreath

2013-03-18T05:54:00.001-05:00

I decided last week that recently it feels like all I've done is write tutorials. Have you noticed? Does it feel that way to you, too? For me, it started to feel like that brief period last summer when I turned into a food blogger or at least I thought that I did.

Easter Table Setting

2013-03-15T05:30:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, the table in my breakfast room really has looked like this for over a week. I'm not quite sure why. I took photos last weekend and we've been eating meals and doing homework on the kitchen island ever since...much to the chagrin of my youngest. I have enjoyed looking at it as I've stood at the counter each morning for the last five days eating my yogurt.

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Easter Bunny Napkin Fold {Tutorial}

2013-03-13T05:30:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's the post for those of you who asked me how I folded these cute bunny napkins last year, for my simple Easter Dinner Table Setting. In the spirit of full disclosure, let me come clean right here, right now, about a couple of things:

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