July Fourth Home Tour

Hi Everyone,

You may guess that today is one of my favorite holidays!  What's not to love on the most Patriotic day of the year?  I thought I would celebrate by finally showing you pictures of our new house, since it is always decorated for the Fourth.

Here is the front.  We only have the bunting hanging on Patriotic holidays.  This was Memorial day, but we also hung it on Flag day, and now for the Fourth.  We are going to take down that tree that blocks the porch.  I hate to lose a tree on purpose, but it blocks so much light.

This is the entryway.  I knew the wall would be perfect for a church pew, so we shopped around on Craig's list and antique shops and finally found one the right length and price.  On it, are some pillows inside vintage pillowcases that we have collected from every military post that we have lived. (They were popular from WWI through the 60s as gift items)

Next up is the dining room.  When we bought the house, it was painted a wine/maroon color.  I have always wanted a red dining room, but it was just too dark (the window is covered by that tree out in front of the house.)  I painted it cream, and it is much brighter.

  

Here is the living room from upstairs.  

Across from the entertainment center is the fireplace.

The yellow walls came with the house.  I like it so far, but I suspect when it needs to be painted, it will become cream, as well.  It is not a "do it yourself" project with the vaulted ceiling!

There was nowhere to display my Uncle Sam collection, so I made this shelf and my husband helped me put it up.  Through the door is the kitchen.

The fireplace in the living room is a pass-through.  Here it is from the kitchen side.

The kitchen has a desk area, which I love and is where I keep my laptop and the household paperwork.  The quilt is one that I didn't make--my good friend Dorothy made it for me and I love it!

From the desk, you look out the slider across the eating area.

The kitchen itself.

The kitchen was two shade of green when we moved in.  I don't have anything against green, but it just doesn't go with my decor.  I did a lot of considering and decided on a medium blue.  I got the idea from Minick and Simpson's fabric lines.  They are patriotic--red, white, and blue, but they usually have a pretty, medium blue as well.  This color is "Americana" by Pittsburg Paint, which made it perfect, in my opinion.

Behind my desk area is the sunflower-themed powder room, which I shared here.  The laundry room is behind the kitchen. Behind the door in the kitchen is a pantry.

Off the living room is the master bedroom.  I decided that I wanted a main floor master since this house will be our "forever" home and in case there is any issue with either of us in the future and using stairs, I wanted to eliminate the need.  I was just looking for pictures of the master, but I can't find any.  I'm afraid this post won't be finished if I go take some, so I'll skip that for now.

Upstairs are three bedrooms--one of which is my quilt room and a bathroom.  The other two bedrooms are guest rooms.  The "front room" (facing the street) is still green.  It also has a vaulted ceiling, so I haven't painted it yet.  The green works, though, with some of my quilts.

The quilt on the bed is "Eldon" by Laundry Basket Quilts, made from Thimbleberries fabric.  There is an old, green ladder in the corner full of quilts, too.

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The front room is bright and is where visiting girls usually stay.  

The other room was that of a teenage girl when we bought the house.  All walls were gray except the window wall was teal.  This room became our "Presidential Suite."  We started the long-standing joke about the name of this room years ago.  When you decorate Patriotically, there are sub-themes, such as Uncle Sam, etc.  I also collect vintage Presidential memorablia, so we display it in the guest room--hence the "Presidential Suite."  When I was looking at paint samples, I found one at Lowe's that was actually called "Presidential Suite!"  I took it, but I thought it may be too dark for a room.  I decided to try it out, though.

It is a dark blue, but it has a lot of red in it, making it more "royal," maybe, but not too bright.  When I first started painting, I panicked!  It looked really purple.  Here is is on the teal wall.

I knew, though, that paint dried darker and needs more than one coat.  In the end, I loved it!  Here are some pictures from around the room.   My nephew's crib is usually in the corner.  This is the room that the boys usually sleep in.

We also have a finished basement, but I'm not quite done decorating down there yet.  I've put all my "leftover" decorations down there and am having trouble pulling them together.  So, that's pretty much it for now.

 I hope you have a safe and Happy Independance Day!
JoAnne