Dining Al Fresco

It has been a very short summer here on Prince Edward Island......lots of rain, cool weather and overcast skies.  And usually, our weather turns decidedly cool by the second week of  August........I can only imagine what two sunny days in a row would be like and I would really have to stretch to imagine what a month of sunny weather would be like!

But, poring over the following dining al fresco images sure reminds me of what life could be like.............and definitely puts me in a sunny state of mind!

Imagine!



Photo 5 Country Living

All others Romantic Homes

Gorgeous Ginghams

Photos 1 & 3 Traditional Home

Photos 2 & 4 Better Homes & Gardens

Photo #5 Pinterest, Photos 6 & 7 Katrin Cargill

Photo 8 Country Living

Suite Dreams in Shades of Blue

Image 1 Charles Faudree

Images 2 & 4 Architectural Digest,

Image 3 Better Homes and Gardens, Image 5 Southern Accents

Images 6 & 7 Elle Decor

Image 8 Suzanne Tucker

Doggie Decor....um?

Image 1 Melanie Acevedo, Images 2 & 6 Elle Decor

Images 3 & 5 House Beautiful, Image 4 Architectural Digest

Images 7 & 8 Unknown



Gorgeous Garret Getaways

I've had an affinity for attics since I was a little girl.......what other room in a house could be so out of the way, so invisible and yet, hold such treasures?  I spent many a day in the attics of a friend and cousins dressing up in their mother's old dresses and high heels and wrapping myself in an old mink stole with the head on one end and the tail tossed casually over my shoulder!  What a glamorous life I could lead in those attics!

Then, as a teenager, my parents bought a farmhouse and it, too, had an attic......and, once again, I was drawn to it as a complete and private getaway.  It was completely unfinished, mind you, with nothing more than a window, an old victrola and a brass bed with stairs leading down to the kitchen.  But, what a retreat to read a book in, or just to be alone and dream about it's possibilities. 

Yes, even then at 14, I was dreaming of interior decorating and even though I had completely redecorated my own bedroom in our new (old) house with blue and white striped wallpaper, floor length blue drapes that I had sewn myself, blue bedspread, painted wood floor and antique furniture with a white faux fur area rug on the floor with pictures symmetrically arranged on the walls and lamps in all the appropriate places.......I still escaped to the attic.  When I think back to that time, I had a Laura Ashley like bedroom, but it was only 1964 and I hadn't really heard about British interior designer Laura Ashley in small town Nova Scotia......we didn't really find out about her until the late 70s or early 80s.  (In fact, in 1964 Laura Ashley was still experimenting on her kitchen table with silkscreened dish towels!)  This was completely my idea of how I wanted my room to look......all that was missing was the chintz.....I hadn't discovered that yet!

So, when I came upon the rooms below, they brought back memories of good times, coziness, comfort and possibilities!  A place to dream.........!

Love the dog art theme going on in the last four rooms

All photos courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

Canadian Coastal Chic

For those of you who may have missed Canadian designer Sarah Richardson's personal cottage reno on HGTV last year, here is a run down of her project.

She took a dark, dreary rustic cottage to new heights by adding an extension on one end, which became the new living room, and installing large windows throughout, painting all the interiors white, painting floors, buying old furniture and re-painting it, recycling old painted wood in parts of the kitchen, and embellishing it all with wonderfully bright, fresh fabrics, old quilts, lots of pillows, candles and fresh flowers.......a winning combination!

All photos courtesy of Country Living

Shabby Chic Cottage

I wanted you to see the interior of this cottage that I posted about last week.......hand built by a woman as her private getaway in upstate New York.

It is a perfect example of a shabby chic cottage......recycled materials, everything painted white and feminine details such as the chandeliers, gauzy curtains, slipcovers, old bottles used as vases, pink roses, fresh flowers, silver teapot, red rubber boots, books recovered in white to match the decor......what fun she must have had putting this whole look together with found windows, corbels, window boxes and all.

A pure delight and very inventive!  What woman would not love such a getaway?

Click on photos for greater detail

Photos via New York Times