Hello dear friends! I’m inviting you all over for a pot of tea, lovely music, and my home!! :) I absolutely LOVE decorating and if our bank account would allow it, that is what I would do in my spare time ALWAYS. The vintage store in the next town, garage sales, my mom’s basement, and other places where I can find already-been-loved items are my favorite. Today we’re hanging out in the basement living room, or if you’d prefer a prettier name (which I do), the “Garden Room”. :)

When we moved in about 3 years ago, our house needed some help. Nothing major like a new roof or siding, just some decorating help. Two men had lived here and needless to say their decorating sense was a bit dry. Here is the photo of our basement from the realtor’s site before we moved in (it’s okay – feel free to gasp at the awfulness that is ORANGE PANELING, which unfortunately found it’s way throughout the entire basement and even suffocated the entire garage):

(photo credit: MLS Online)

After painting the orange paneling a beautiful cottage off-white, we decided to leave the green walls (the green made it into the living room upstairs and that was gone IMMEDIATELY since we have orange wood everywhere.) Thus the inspiration for a “garden room.” We added an area rug, neutrals, flowers, and other lovely things to create a cozy basement. Welcome, friends!!

A spoonful of sugar? Yes, please!

As you walk around the table to the couch, feel free to look at family photos that surround the entire room, watch Miss Potter, or even have a seat at my desk and paint for a bit!Or if you don’t want to paint or watch Miss Potter, feel free to peruse some cottage decorating books. There’s more on the shelf next to the couch. (PS. Don’t mind the rest of the orange paneling – I try not to look in that direction.)

Shall we take a peek outside? See how our lovely flowers are getting along?

Shall we sit? Chat? Miss Potter is one of the lovely movies that is always playing down here. Perhaps I’ll make list of other favorites, like I did with my books.

Would you like to play the piano?? Please do! It’s nice to hear someone besides myself play. You can find all sorts of sheet music (lots of classics, Disney, instrumental movie soundtracks like Pride & Prejudice)…

…in the basket on the ground, in the bench, or…

…right over there! Take your pick! And when the stars come out, just grab the telescope and enjoy a lovely evening on a blanket in the backyard.

Alright friends, time to get back to reality and work (because really, blogging isn’t work.) Wishing you a lovely rest of the week and weekend!! Get ready to see some weddings pop up here soon! :)