Young House Love Week, Day 5

Welcome to the last day of our special week.  Jordan and I decided that a perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day on our blog is to feature our spin on one or two projects each day that John and Sherry Petersik developed for their bookYoung House Love (available here) .  Afterall, it’s all about the love, right?  And we’re here to spread it around.  So welcome to “The 2 Seasons Celebrate Young House Love Week.”

 

 

Today I have a series of very easy book projects that are scattered around our house. You can see days 1,2,3, and 4 here, here, here, and here.  We’ll start with Project Number 89, Go Ahead – Chic Up A Toilet Tank.

 

 

No offense meant to John and Sherry, but this one is a no-brainer.  I bet 99.999 per cent of us have something sitting on our tanks.  I painted a little wooden box that Mr. Autumn bought in China years ago a shade that matches the Palladian Blue walls in our powder room (here, here,  and here).  The accent color in there is red, and so two original water colors of geraniums (you are only seeing one in the photo) are stacked on the wall above the tank.

 

Next up is Project Number 128, Float An Empty Frame Around Something 3-D.

 

When we down-sized, we didn’t have room for a beautiful secretary that once belonged to Mr. Autumn’s aunt.  However, we did have room for the two keys we found in its drawers.  I attached them to some textured white paper that I purchased in the scrap booking section at Michael’s, and framed them in two shadow boxes.

 

 

John and Sherry suggest hanging the item directly onto the wall and then placing a frame around it.  I liked the idea of adding the paper to give it a little more character.

 

 

The keys were in need of a good polishing, but I could have easily left them looking old and in need of some attention.

 

The next project combines Project 137, Hang An Old Corbel or Sconce and Project 169, Bring The Outside In.

 

 

I hung this “isn’t old but  looks it” sconce on the wall in our great room and topped it with a bright vase from my friend Beth.  Right now it has twigs from our trees in it, but in the summer it holds fern fronds.  I put colored leaves in it in the fall, and evergreens in at Christmas.  It is a fun way to add interest to the wall and watch the seasons pass.

 

 

It adds much needed height above my painting which also has a nature theme.  Together they balance out a tall piece of furniture next to them.

 

Let’s move on to Project Number 94, Three Words:  Add Storage Ottomans.

 

 

To add some zip to our formal dining area which temporarily turns into a library area in the “off season”, I bought a brightly colored ottoman.  It provides linen storage and when not in use hides away under the buffet.

 

And now for the last project in our little special series (drum roll, please)….Project 195, Think Outside The Vase.

 

 

My mother-in-law gave me this adorable pitcher that she used for milk when her family was young.  I think it makes a perfect flower vase.  Don’t you?

 

Well, that does it for us.  We hope you enjoyed seeing how we put our spin on some of John and Sherry’s projects.  I know lots of folks out there in blogland have tried some of their ideas.  Please let us know what you enjoyed doing the most.

 

Take care and have a great week-end.