old country house blog

MONDAY MAKEOVER – REPAINTED SIDEBOARD……………………………. AND THE LOST LITHOGRAPHS

Last week I (RE) painted the Dining Room Farrow and Ball PINK GROUND

FARROW AND BALL PINK GROUND
FARROW AND BALL PINK GROUND

BUT before I do the FULL REVEAL..I have a few adjustments I wanted to make to the room and show you…..

FIRST – the SIDEBOARD MAKEOVER

SIDE BOARD - SHORE HOUSE GREEN
SIDE BOARD – SHORE HOUSE GREEN I love the color but wanted to tone it down to complement the wall color.

MY FIRST change was to (RE) paint the aqua sideboard a more neutral color….

Sideboard painted Benjmain Moore Anchor Gray
Sideboard NEWLY painted BENJAMIN MOORE ANCHOR GRAY  – I also spray painted the handles Gold

…and to FINALLY I completed a DIY “Lithographs”project ,  the makings of which I have had for over a year…and installed it!!!! TA DA!

FRAMED LITHOGRAPHS
FRAMED LITHOGRAPHS

The framed Bird’s Nest “lithographs” are  from a book …entitled

AMERICA'S OTHER AUDUBON
AMERICA’S OTHER AUDUBON

“America’s Other Audubon” by Joy M. Kiser.

AMERICA'S OTHER AUDUBON
AMERICA’S OTHER AUDUBON

(from Amazon) “America’s Other Audubon chronicles the story of Genevieve Jones, her family, and the making of an extraordinary nineteenth-century book, Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. At the age of twenty-nine, Genevieve Jones, an amateur naturalist/artist and daughter of a country doctor, visited the 1876 Centennial World’s Fair in Philadelphia, where she saw Audubon’s paintings in “Birds of America” on display. His artwork inspired her to undertake the production of a book illustrating the birds nests and eggs that Audubon neglected to include in his work.” 

The story continues….. her family, at first is reluctant for her to take on a project of such magnitude BUT after a broken engagement and Genevieve’s subsequent depression and despondency …they encouraged and supported her endeavors. Then only a small way into the production of the book…Genevieve died tragically young of typhoid fever. Her family dedicated the rest of their lives to finishing the book and the meticulous illustrations. There is so much more depth to the story than I am going into here… but the book, which was initially bought as a pretty coffee table book...has mesmerized me…the story is so touching and beautiful and the illustrations are each works of art in their own right. The author, Joy Kiser’s story and how she came to find these lithographs in the first place is in itself an incredible story of perseverance and love. What it took to complete this book is beyond our imaginations and such an inspiration to me.

I knew I wanted to frame a few of these lithographs and found some great frames at Target…on sale for under $20 with the mats included.

sideboard2
The crystal vase, with the feathers was my Moms. When she gave it to me she told me the story behind it. I was a teenager and my mother was out of town taking care of her mother, who was dying from breast cancer…Despite her declining health, my grandmother insisted on taking my Mom Christmas shopping. My grandmother saw this rose vase and told my Mom it would be perfect for my Moms roses (at the time she had 100 bushes in our yard back home) . My Mom returned home and a week later her mother passed away. A month later, just before Christmas, a package arrived from Bergdorfs…and it was the vase, with a note from her mother….forever more.

IMG_IGHT

I invested in the Art hanging hardware a few months ago for installations of my artwork, and have also used them extensively in our home as we have fragile plaster walls and picture rail in every room. I got the hardware at Walker Display

walker display hardware
walker display hardware

I use these hooks…you can see in this photo the grass cloth wallpaper which has been painted over in the dining room. We tried to remove it when we first moved in and the walls behind were too fragile and decided to leave it alone.

HOOK

I love how this piece looks now!

SIDEBOARD PAINTED ANCHOR GRAY
SIDEBOARD PAINTED ANCHOR GRAY
sideboard3
The lamps are threshold are from Target as well …I did a blog post on them here..

side

 

NEXT MONDAY MAKEOVER – THE NEW DINING ROOM REVEALED!

8 thoughts on “MONDAY MAKEOVER – REPAINTED SIDEBOARD……………………………. AND THE LOST LITHOGRAPHS

  1. I usually would be sad to see that fresh blue go… but i LOVE the gray! I also especially love the story of the vase that came from your dear Grandmother. So sweet! I had to speak up because again I see the rug that I adore. Sadly I had the same one too, but after a very sick dog soiled it I made the mistake of trying to spray it off in our tub. NOT a good idea. I still miss that rug! You always inspire me to simplify and refresh my home in a way that speaks to me so personally. Thank you!
    xo
    Leslie
    ps – I passed your link to a friend who immediately replied that she must get one of your paintings. Your talent is amazing!

  2. WOW! I thought I loved the aqua, but I love love love the gray! And how cleaver of you to spray paint the handles. You da bomb. I got a little misty-eyed when I read the story of the vase (possibly in part because I just lost my mother a couple of months ago). What a lovely story. It’s so great that you have it to cherish.

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