There is one letter that is very apparent in my decorating alphabet. It is the letter "P", and while this isn't River City and it doesn't stand for Pool, it does stand for two other words...
Pretty..and..Practical
Case in point:
A few years ago, almost twenty to be exact, there was a sun porch in the Cottage fixed up as a sweet room for a new grandson...
It had clean white walls covered in little boy pictures, blue wainscotting, a child size white iron bed, colorful quilts, and a wallpaper border with frolicking teddy bears.
Very Pretty...and...Practical
The ceiling was painted like the evening sky with shining stars that glowed after the lights were turned off.
There was a shelf around the room holding all sorts of vintage toys.
Very Pretty..and..Practical for sweet dreams.
A poem was stenciled above the toys...
"Between the dark and the daylight
When the night is beginning to lower
Comes a pause in the day's occupations
That is known as the Children's Hour."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1860
Very Pretty.
As the years passed that little boy outgrew the pretty room and so, little by little, the pretty things were removed and replaced with boxes and bits and pieces of things and was no longer...
Pretty..or..Practical
So now the room has been taken to task. Everything has been boxed, labeled and stacked so it is readily available when needed and the floor is cleared for easy access.
Not very Pretty...but very Practical
Remember the Snuggery? A very pretty little spot to get away from it all. It was practical as well, as it stored a few collectibles and was a light filled sewing spot.
But as time passed, and I was still using the dining room table for certain projects and needed to move the comfortable chair into another room...
...and the painter's cloth skirt was not convenient to access the drawers and cubbies of the work bench...
...it became less Practical and not at all Pretty...
...as it started to fill up with the overflow from the storage room next door.
Not very Pretty..and..far from Practical.
So now the Snuggery has just become the plain old work room...
More Practical than before.
We have brought in more storage and everything is in sight and is easily accessible.
There is more bench space readily available to sit and work on a project...
...there is still a light filled sewing area...
...and Mabel has a new pocket book to hold all the "change" that has occurred in the room!
Not as Pretty...but certainly much more Practical.
I am so happy with what we have turned these two rooms into.
But, along with all that Practical...you simply still must have a little Pretty...
...Judy...
I'm sharing today with everyone's pretties over at:
...and..
The purse is very pretty and practical:) I'm a pretty and pink person. My daughter is verrrrrry practical. Everything has a these two p's, a purpose and a place.
ReplyDeleteYour room looks so good for all your crafting. I have some in the garage and some in the guest bedroom. I need to get it all in the garage as I have a wonderful desk/low chester drawers from a hotel that is perfect for crafting - just need to clear off all the junk and get organized.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week, Judy.
Mary
This is practically the most practical post I have seen all day! I do like an organized space and sometimes it is definitely function first. I love that the room is so bright and light for your sewing and crafting and I do see SOME PRETTY in there, too. It looks PRACTICALLY PERFECT to me! PRETTY cool!!!
ReplyDeleteYou've done a lot of organizing and it all turned out really well - pretty and practical. I love the sunroom/snuggery. It's so bright and cheerful and very pretty. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have been really busy. Practical is great because you can find things in an instant but its nice to have lots of pretty too and you have a combination of both. I loved the photos of your grandsons bedroom and especially the shelf with the vintage toys on it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteIt's true.. while it's so nice to have pretty things that put a smile on our face, it is also necessary to have things that are practical . Hence the reason that I DO NOT have a beautiful white slip covered couch***giggle**! No way would that work around my house. I'd be ripping that cover off the couch every other day :)
Love the way that you've been able to adapt both spaces to work for you, and your darling little cottage.
Your Grandson is a gem, and I'm sure that he loved the nursery space when it was his, but now it is nice to have a place to put your decorative things.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Smiles :)
K.
Hi Judy,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the tour and seeing your pretties and practicals. :-)
I've been thinking about you and hoping that your broken heart is healing.
Take care,
Gina
The changes are wonderful - the grandson very handsome. I like practical, but I agree, there must be some pretty to go along with it.
ReplyDeleteI think everything looks so well organized! Sometimes I avoid my craft room when it's a mess. It's a trick to keep things pretty and practical. Mimi
ReplyDelete