Lemons & Topiaries

Summer decorating in my dining room has involved shopping my own home and using mostly what I already had. The only item that was purchased for this table are the Eugenia topiaries that my husband got me for Mother's Day. Aren't they pretty? I love topiaries of all kinds, but I had these same live plants a few years ago and unfortunately I went on vacation and they didn't make it. They are beautiful but delicate. As confessions go, I'll be honest, I'm not good with indoor plants. Outdoors it's a different story, I'm pretty good with keeping all my plants thriving and I have always enjoyed designing flower beds and flower boxes; it's a fun hobby of mine. However, I do think one of the reasons my indoor plants do not thrive in my home, is because the lack of adequate light. As a blogger, this is the bane of my existence right now and one of the reasons we are building a new home. I have decided to give these delicate topiaries another try in my dining room, so we can keep our fingers crossed that I don't kill them!

I have had these faux lemons for many years in a grocery basket stand in my eat in kitchen. In the baskets, I keep my dry good like potatoes, apples but in one of the baskets I kept these faux lemons for decoration. I wanted something for the dining room place setting that was bright and colorful; as I was shopping my own home, they popped out at me to try. I put some on the plates with sprigs of greenery and then the rest in the glass apothecary jar. I have a little obsession with apothecary jars, cake stands and cloches and have several all over my house. I really haven't met one that I didn't like yet, hence why I have so many! :)

I built the dining room table this Fall and I love the size and design. The table is a little long for this space, but I built it that size, knowing that it would fit perfectly in the new house, which we will start on soon. The french doors in the picture below were hollow white doors that I faux painted and distressed with a white wash to give it a french country design. I've had these up for a few years but I haven't talked about them in a while.

The place setting is simple and for now that is just fine for me! The black chargers, I painted with chalkboard paint and have used them for a couple of seasons. The ivory and black napkins are from the Hearth and Hand line at Target.

The dining chairs are from Wayfair that I purchased a year ago and are comfy and stylish.

It's been a rainy week here in northwest Arkansas, but today we have sunshine, which is good for my soul!

Last week, we converted the upstairs bonus room in our house for my daughter, who is home taking online summer classes for her Architecture program. She needed a studio so we purchased some furniture pieces that helped her get organized along with a place to draw and work. I will be showing the finished space next week! It turned out great and she has her own space to shut the door and do presentations in a professional space now.

I'm working on some small projects around the house, and the main space that is getting a more drastic update is my office, which my daughter and I had been sharing for the last few months. I'm excited to get organized and make the space function better. You don't realize how much "stuff" you have until you start cleaning out and I'm embarrassed to say, I should have gotten rid of things I no longer use long ago. I think it is going to be great when it's finished.

We are also working on our outdoor spaces that need some updating, but the rain has slowed us down, so fingers crossed that I can get back to that as well next week, I'll be sharing more of that update soon.