Alicia Damron Photography

As promised I’m giving a photo tour of my house, one room at a time.  Today I decided on the kitchen, don’t have a good reason other than it seemed like a good idea.

Here’s a shot from the eating area:

Directly to the left is an under-stair pantry that I love because it gives me plenty of room for food, paper supplies, trash can, etc.

And here’s an inside shot of the pantry.  Not huge, but big enough.

I got this cake plate from a junk/antique shop.  I hung it quickly one day just to get it off the counter, but I might end up moving it because it doesn’t seem quite right here.  But I still love the plate so I thought I would share it with you.

In this little corner I have a few odds and ends.  The blue glass Ball jar and tea canister came from the same shop as the above plate.  The 1934 Hershey’s cookbook was a gift from a lady I worked for, and the glass gallon jug came from Blowing Rock with cherry cider in it.  I kept the jug because I just like keeping glass containers.  More on that later…

And don’t you love my red clock from Tarjay (also known as Target)?

Here’s a shot from the front door.

My Kitchen Aid mixer, a handmade pie plate, and a vintage Pyrex sugar and creamer set.  The pie plate was made by my cousin’s husband, Sid Luck.  His family has made pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina for generations, and he was featured on the cover of Our State magazine in July 2009.  That’s kind of cool, don’t ya think?

I said more on the glass container thing later.  I like glass jars and bottles of all shapes and sizes.  Don’t know why, I just do.  Here are some of my favorites that I grouped together on a ceramic tray from Ikea.  I really like the old ones that have raised lettering.  Among them are a Milk of Magnesia bottle, a Dr. W. B. Caldwell’s Pepsin Syrup bottle, a little Listerine bottle, a glass Evenflo baby bottle, an old pharmacy bottle with the units of measurement marked, and a half-pint liquor bottle that says “federal law prohibits sale or re-use of this bottle”.  (That was my random act of rebellion when I bought it at a flea market.)

Love my little copper pendant lights I got on clearance at Lowes.

Love my under-counter lights and my subway tile on my backsplash.

Love my retro cupped drawer pulls.

Love my vinyl floor, it doesn’t show dirt and I don’t have to clean grout.

Well, that’s my kitchen.  More tours to follow as I get them ready.  Thanks for visiting!

In my last post I was describing our recent snow and I ended by saying I was ready for spring now.  I’ve been going through some old pictures looking for some that I would like to print and hang in my house and I came across some that I took a couple of years ago at the McGill Rose Garden.  If you’ve never been there you should go.  It looks like a little hole in the wall on North Davidson Street in Charlotte, but when you enter the gate you realize it’s much bigger than it appears.  Contrary to the name, it has more than just roses, it’s full of different flowers, plants, and all kinds of electic artwork.  It’s free, although donations are requested, you can just roam around and take pictures. 

Anyway, I came across these pictures at the perfect time because after all the cold weather we’ve been having around here I am ready to see some flowers blooming.  And isn’t that the great thing about photography?  You can see your 73-year-old father when he was 2 and playing with a tricycle.  You can see your 72-year-old mother when she was a schoolgirl of 12.  You can see your daughters, that now come almost to your shoulder, when they were newborns.  And you can see flowers bloom in February.

Here in North Carolina we don’t get a lot of snow, and I’m okay with that.  We did get a little yesterday though and my kids have loved playing in it.  Me?  I just went outside long enough to snap a couple of pictures, then went back in and curled up on the couch with a book and a quilt.  Some of it was still lingering around today, so I did slide down the hill at Mama and Daddy’s a few times.  I’m not a complete old fogie…yet.

Samantha and Charlotte all bundled up with Buttons:

Since we didn’t have any sleds at our house they were sliding across the yard on their backs…

This morning when the sun came out it looked like diamonds sparkling across the yard, so pretty!

And now I am ready for spring.

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about moving into our new home.  We moved in on New Years Day and I’ve been unpacking, adjusting furniture, hanging curtain rods, fluffing pillows, etc.  I still don’t have everything in place but it’s getting there.  And I LOVE it!

I promised some pictures and I’ve been holding off on it because, like I said before, I still don’t have everything in place.  But I’ve thought about it and I probably never will have EVERYTHING in place, so I figured I’d start showing off parts of our new house.  Maybe just one room at a time. 

I’m starting with my bedroom because it’s the room that’s the most settled.  My philosophy is that I want my room to be clean and neat even if the rest of the house isn’t.  My reasoning is it’s the last room I see at night and the first room I see in the morning, so I at least I go to sleep and wake up in a clean room.

Here’s a shot from my bedroom door:

You can see that my beautiful orange chair  from Habitat for Humanity Restore got a place of honor in my new home.  In fact I decorated my whole bedroom around it!  I went to Target, Kohl’s, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, Stein Mart, etc. and bought anything that looked like it might match.  Then I would put it with the chair and it would clash horribly and I would return it.  But I finally found enough curtains, spreads, and pillows to make it work and I love the way it turned out.

After all, who couldn’t love this pretty feminine chair with it’s graceful curves?   

Now, in the opposite corner…I didn’t want a ceiling fan in the bedrooms, I really liked the look of having a vintage fan with a pretty ceiling fixture.  But I didn’t like the idea of having fingers chopped off because the vintage fans don’t have childproof guards.  And some places (like Restoration Hardware) sell replicas but they cost about $150 to $200.  I didn’t want to spend that.  After doing a little online research I found this one at Wal-Mart for $25.  Score!  Now I can have my pretty ceiling fixture and still move the air around a little if need be.

I thought this guy needed his own picture.  I found him while I was hunting through an antique store a few years ago.  I love horses, I used to have one when I was younger and loved to ride.  Even though I haven’t ridden in years I still love them, I guess it’s a girl thing.  So when I saw this figurine I had to have it.

Here’s the front view of the bed, none of this bedding “came together”.  I just put together pieces from here and there, and I’m right proud of how it turned out.  In the past I’ve always purchased the “bed in a bag” because I was afraid to mix and match.  I know I’m no decorator, but I still like it. 

A close-up of my beautiful blue pillow, I really love this one…

My little menagerie of items I keep close by my bed…for various reasons.

The picture in back is Charlotte at 10 months old, clapping her hands.  The other is Samantha at 10 months old.  And that’s me in the small picture in front, somewhat less than 10 months old.  I guess the reason for these is obvious.

This crystal angel was given to me by my sisters and brothers for Christmas one year when things in my life weren’t going very well.  I thought it was a very sweet gesture.  There is also a story behind the other item.  My brother-in-law had a kidney and pancreas transplant in 2008.  He spent a lot of time at the Emory hospital in Atlanta and my sister was there with him while their life here was put on hold.  All the family helped out in various ways and afterwards my sister gave us mementos that she purchased at the hospital gift shop.  This is mine and I like the sentiment behind it and the saying on it.

And I love to read, so there is usually at least one book on my nightstand.  I frequent the library quite a bit and these were my most recent selections.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my bedroom.  It turned out longer than I expected, I hope you weren’t bored.  There are still some things I would like to add, one being a picture on the wall above the bed.  I have one that used to hang above my bed but it doesn’t match my orange color scheme.  I’m planning to take one myself and use the same frame, I just don’t know what to take it of.  It will come to me in time and I’ll share it with you when it does.

One of my inspirations for decorating and blogging came from this blog http://www.younghouselove.com/.  They are so talented and interesting, check them out if you want some design ideas.