Keeping Busy

Hey everyone!  In my last post, I shared that I had done a bit of tweaking in my living room and dining room areas, so I thought I would share that today.  Actually it was more of a "switcharoo".......

 

Between this armoire that we've been using as kind of a cocktail bar, and......

This little white buffet where I have been storing extra glassware and some china.  Oh, also the lower part of my china hutch got involved in the fun, too!

As you know, my table, chairs and china hutch are very dark pine (inside the hutch, too), so the lower cupboards were kind of hard to see inside of.  That was okay, because I mainly used those spaces to store some seasonal dishes and some crystal, but I practically had to stand on my head to retrieve things and they really did not fit well.  I also did not feel that the armoire was a very good spot for our cocktail supplies.

 

Now the white buffet is our cocktail center, and it's working out perfectly.  All the appropriate glassware is now in one spot, & bottles of wine are on their sides -- much better than on the top shelf of my pantry, don't you think? 

It's so much easier to see what we have now -- hmmm.....I'm feeling a little thirsty!

The silver tray holding some barware can be easily moved when we need space to mix drinks.   

The barware and a lot of our glassware came from Guam when The Man worked for the Navy in Bremerton, WA, way back in the late 60's and early 70's.  He was an engineer working on the "behind the scenes" workings of nuclear submarines and warships; and periodically, he would have to go to various places for sea-trials and or ship-checks.  The only perk for going to Guam and dealing with the horrid humidity and bugs, was that he could do all of the "duty-free" shopping he wanted to do, and it was super-inexpensive.  I'm pretty amazed at how well this glassware has held up through all the many moves we've made.

So anyway, back to the rest of the "switcheroo."  I decided the armoire was best served as storage for some of my crystal bowls, vases and other decorative pieces; and also a better spot for my seasonal dishes.  My china got relocated to the china hutch, along with some other serve ware that had been in the white buffet.  Everything just has more room and is much easier to locate now.

This is a beautiful piece of coral that I bought in Morro Bay when we were on our California Cruisin' vacay.  The cake dome is the only cloche-type thing big enough to cover it, and it truly needed a cloche!

It's sitting on a book page wreath that I made last year.

Y'all know how it goes, one thing just leads to another, and I had to tweak my dining room tablescape.  Since summertime in the AZ desert is our "inside" time, I decided to keep my decor light with lots of natural elements.  I know that by the first of September, I will be dragging out all of my Fall decor, so this is kind of the "calm before the storm," and gives us an opportunity to relax for a few months before all of the color and chaos of the Fall and Christmas seasons take over.

I had not used this big old wooden bowl for awhile and decided it would be perfect simply filled with

moss and jute balls, book bundles, a moss covered mushroom all sitting in a bed of greenery.

I have had these big old hurricanes for awhile now and have had so much fun filling them with different things for almost every season and in between seasons, too.  I always use my timed-battery candles and really like the look of the corks surrounding the candles.

I only moved a few things around on the top part of the china hutch & added some greenery.

I wish I had real peonies, but no such luck around here, so these white silk ones will have to do.

I like to keep this album out here on the coffee table.  It is filled with pictures of the trips that The Man and I have taken together, just the two of us.

I kept it pretty simple in the foyer on this table.......

With some light colored candlesticks and matching clock that I've had for years.  Light colors, natural elements and some greenery here and there is the name of the game for summertime around here.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and please come again anytime!

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