Spring HOME TOUR
After seeing Kristy's beautiful coastal North Carolina home, so many asked to see our house in spring, that I quickly put together this tour.
Our front Provence garden is growing so beautifully! The perfect place to enjoy a leisurely cup of morning coffee, read a devotion, or to sit and watch the neighbors walk their dogs. Sometimes I go out here to catch up with a friend on the phone and get some sun at the same time. I look forward to having my morning coffee at this table with a wave of orange-scented air wafting by.
The mantel in the living room, I change it up for each season, the antique English ironstone pitchers are perfect for spring daffodils. While yellow isn't my color for our home, I make an exception for these bright, beautiful flowers.
A little stack of antique French books elevates the antique tureen.
On the other side of the living room, I decorated my antique French children's mannequins for a birthday party. Antiques love to have fun! They are not at all serious, at least they aren't at our house. Waiting for a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of juice, this little Italian tray protects the chest of drawers. {I took this photo before opening the marcona almonds in the footed antique glass.}
I set up this little drinks station on an antique chest of drawers. It's one of the first pieces of antique furniture I ever bought, I fell in love with the hand painted flowers. Since there seemed to be no room in the bedroom, it does wonderfully well in the living room. I store my special linen napkins in it, candles, paper cocktail napkins and other things for entertaining. A few touches are all that's needed to say "celebration!" such as the gold polka dot straws, the pennant proclaiming today is a happy day, and a few flowers.
My collection of majolica in the French armoire in the kitchen. It always changes, as I buy and sell pieces from and to collectors. The majolica is like art, each is different and hand made, hand painted. Love it!
The other French armoire is filled with dishes, French ironstone tureens and this too changes at the whim of what I buy for my FrenchGardenHouse shop. In this shot the burlap "curtains" hide cookbooks, I just tacked it on the shelf. This is pretty much where everyone congregates in our home, the other side of this room is the kitchen. Kids, grand babies, dogs, friends, everyone likes to sit here and talk, drink a glass of wine, and wait for dinner to be served!
The kitchen side of this room. Our table seats up to 12, it has two leaves. Sometimes not having a dedicated dining room is a challenge, but I've gotten pretty good at cleaning up the mess in the kitchen so that you can't see it when eating!
A table setting that I will share soon, this was such a fun dinner for my Giving Circle group of friends. There are times when I set tables with the best, most exceptional antique lace tablecloths, silver, and porcelain, but often, I use the French Country antiques I also sell at FrenchGardenHouse. These two styles of entertaining fit my personality. I believe in candles, in linen antique napkins, in flowers. Creating a beautiful home adds value to your life and to the life of those who enter your home, orchestrating your ideal life begins in your home!
This is a shot of my home office. I have a contemporary desk, a silvered antique French desk chair, I love that mix of modern and antique!
I inherited the antique Persian rug from my grandparents, it's the perfect fit under my desk. I learned so much about gracious living and loving antiques from my European grandparents that I love this visual reminder, I can feel their presence every day when I work here.
This is my shipping house. I took this picture yesterday, obviously my climbing pink rose is a little out of control! It's such a shame to cut it back when it's trying so hard to be so beautiful. So it will wind itself into our large gingko tree a little longer. Inside, we store our shipping supplies, ribbons and tissue papers. {With a few visual beauties thrown in to offset the bubblewrap rolls!}
I'll end with this shot of the shelf right outside our kitchen window....
I hope you've enjoyed the tour, and that spring has arrived in your part of the world, or is on it's way!
To see another spring tour of our home, visit : Poofing The Pillows
What antique piece do you love most in your home?
Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com.
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Beverly Ivey
March 31, 2017
Everything in the spring tour is absolutely stunning! Thank you for being a real inspiration.