Good Blues

I have been adding to my collection of blue and white.

I found this blue & white shoe at a thrift store.  During a visit to an antique mall the same day,  I found a similar vase which was identified as an ivy planter.

I am planning at to create a 2019 photo calendar with my blue and white collection.  I have dishes and decorator items in blue, blue and white and white which will provide plenty of still lifes.  Look for the calendar later this year.





This is a lovely glass coaster in true blue to royal in an ombre pattern.  Love the bubbles in the glass.  It will work as a coaster or hot spot for a teapot.


I found this great bag at the thrift store which of course worked really well in my kitchen.  It is about 6 inches wide and 12 inches tall.  Since the update to the kitchen last summer I have not had a place to store medium sized plastic grocery bags.  I have placed it on my stove handle.
I use the large plastic bags in my garbage and I have a drawer to store those.
I see during my visit to a large chain store this weekend that they are now charging for plastic bags.  I have been using reusable bags for groceries for over 25 years.

A Christmas gift of yellow and navy blue & white tea towels.  Love it!



A true blue canister which matched my dishes came home with me. It now holds my Chai Tea bags in the tea corner.

This great blown glass ornament in the deep blue color which matches my blue and white collection.  It was in the Christmas ornament section but it will live with the rest of my collection.  It will no doubt appear in my 2019 calendar.

I have been looking for a teapot to go with my true blue dishes.  I found this one recently.  Color wise it is perfect match.  You will note that it has a matte finish where the dishes have a shiny finish but variety is the spice of life.

With 8 in my collection I am done buying teapots!

Sharing with
Mosaic Monday #67 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life

Kitchen Reno - Reveal

I have been working on an update to my kitchen since I purchased these 2 cabinets in April 2017.  I love IKEA and these are IVAR cabinets.  This was a challenge and provided many learning curves.

There have been several challenges:

• I added IKEA EKET under frame which includes a frame and legs in clear lacquered birch.
• The freezer needs space above for ventilation so I have decided not to install a counter.  The cabinets also have tops so it is not necessary.
• Since the cabinets are not standard kitchen cabinets I needed a spacer behind to bring them forward to the edge of the wall on the right.  Two by fours with brackets then topped with pretty knotty pine boards did the trick. I had to cut some of the 2x4 with a hand saw but I did my carpenter Dad proud.  Thank goodness for an electric drill he gave me years ago. 
• I added identical wooden shelves on either side for open shelving for dishes.  
• I installed the large metal sunflower my niece gave me for Christmas as the art in the center above the freezer.  I love it!
• Finding trays for the inside to store what used to be in there led to a journey with several options.  

New appliances rose to the top of the priority list when I was headed to Mom and Dad`s in August when I discovered that a bracket that supported the bottom of the freezer was broken.  I supported the base as best I could had headed out.  When I returned I headed out shopping for new ones.  A refrigerator, a dishwasher, a stove and a microwave were on the list.  The ones I was replacing were over 30 years old.  This is the first time I bought kitchen appliances in my life. I did my research and visited a couple of showrooms.
The new appliances were delivered September 11th. This photo shows the new appliances. I bought very basic appliances in white as the kitchen is not a place where I spend a lot of time.  The next day the dishwasher was hooked up. I have not had a working dishwasher for about 5 years so it is taking a bit to get used to how I do things. The counters are staying tidy. It took till September 28th to get all the issues addressed but I finally have the fridge door opening the right way, the fridge is no longer freezer my food and the damage on the front door repaired.

The photo above also shows the painting of the cupboards. I posted in summer that I had put paper in the centers of the doors to see how much of an effect it would make to the room.  It was dramatic and brighten up the room a lot considering there is no windows.  I lived with paper until this week.  I will post later the process.  I am very happy with the change.

I bought a new rug at the sink in white and navy.  I don`t think it is the final solution but it will do for now.  Easily washed and good colors.

The tea cupboard is still in it`s place.  I moved the pot holders to the range hood since that is where I need them.  Navy sunflowers are there pattern.  One of the reasons I bought these appliances because of the handles. I like to hang towels on the stove and fridge.

I found a small glass lemon to compliment the other two in my blue cut glass bowl.  A day with my aunts on Tuesday found us visiting a high end second hand store.  I have been looking for a while. There it was and the price was great.

The bowl lives on top of the microwave sitting on a yellow crocheted doily.  I added a microwave splatter cover.  The microwave has a rotating glass plate.  The old one did not which tells you how old it was.  It has been sent to the eco station.

Super happy with this presentation. 

I recently found a silver tin which is exactly the same as the blue ones I have been using in the tea cupboard.  The price was $2 so it came home with me.  I have been looking for 2 years for a matching tin.

I printed some labels for each of them. Earl Grey, Herbal, Chamomile and Green tea.

I recently found a blue spray bottle for the mixture water and bleach that I use all the time in the kitchen.  Works great on stained teapots and tea cups.

I have chosen to store my dishes on wooden open shelves.

On the right, I have my yellow and true blue set of dishes. A few white plates are also on this side.  The yellow and the stainless steel teapots live on the top shelf.  I have managed to find a sugar and creamer and a covered condiment dish to match my stainless steel teapot.

On the left, I store my blue nd white dishes. The Blue Nordic dishware received a boost the other day.  I now have four White Regency teacups and saucers and 6 Blue Nordic.  I have the clear glass plates, red plates, and the Cobalt blue glass plates.  The top shelf holds the IKEA Cobalt Blue teapot and the Blue Nordic coffee set as well as the large white porcelain teapot.

You will see that sunflowers are the flower of choice in my kitchen.  On the left is a painting from Italy, a very large metal sunflower art in the center, on the right a framed tile from Mexico, and a watercolor print.

I love the plate stand, another recent purchase, as it will hold any of my plates which allows me to customize it to the dishware I am using on my table. My brother in law is working on supports for a black wire rack which will hold my plates vertically instead of horizontally on shelves. 

Further updates:
The original plan was to place some open shelving higher up on the wall.  After some discussion with a friend I am holding off for a while.  I have stored my Tupperware elsewhere for now.

The wood shelves, the spacer boards need to be oiled but I will wait till the plate rack is ready and do it all at once. 

I want to make fabric runners to be placed under the shelves on both sides. 

Sharing with
Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson Share Your Cup #267
Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday 55
Mersad who hosts Through my Lens 114

Mosaic Monday - Tea Cupboard Project DIY

This is a project I have been working for a week.  I have documented the basic details in the graphic but here's a bit of background.  I'm been cleaning up, de-cluttering and organizing.  One of the areas was my tea storage.  I had tins of loose tea and tea bags, bags of loose tea, tools like my tea spoon for loose tea, the strainer for the blue tea pot, etc.  I had been looking on line, at IKEA and second hand stores for a solution.  I wanted it to hold everything so that once it was in place I just had to keep the tea to the space I had.  I always checked the wood sections of the stores I visited.  About 10 days ago, I saw this little wooden cupboard.  I had not measured any of the pieces at home but I hauled around the store as I was mulling over the possibilities.  It was just the right depth, there would no stacking in front of something else. I was quite sure that it was going to do what I wanted but it was pink! Not so great for a white, navy and yellow kitchen.  The price was right so I decided to bring it home.  I washed it all up then set to seeing if it would hold the containers I had in mind.  After several configurations I decided that it would do the job!  Wood can always be painted right?  Not that I have much experience in that department but I come from a family of crafty people with can do attitudes.

I started the transformation stage next.  First, the doors had to come off because I was going to use it wide instead of tall as it was designed.  The hack saw then the Dremel tool came out and you can see the doors cut in half.  The feet were removed and the hanger rod were also removed.  Then all the surfaces were sanded down.  This took a little patience with all the nooks and crannies.  A turquoise plastic table cloth served to protect the kitchen floor from the mess that would come next. The color was next.  I had a jar of paint that would be enough I thought but the color had to be warmed up a little.  The red acrylic paint came out and I added a bit, mixed it thoroughly with my wooden skewer then painted a swatch.  No, needed a little more so a couple times later I was happy with the warmer color.  I painted all surfaces except the back and let that dry then the back.  At one coat, it was clear it would need at least one more.  Eventually, it was painted 3 times on all surfaces.  The jar then indicated that it should dry for 72 hours before the piece was used.  It was a long 3 days because I just wanted it set up.  I was patient and distracted myself with other things as it sat in the kitchen drying.

Today, I set up the cupboard on the counter.  I went looking for a couple pieces of fabric, cloth, whatever to protect that painted surface and bring in the navy. I found some microfibre towels which I had purchased for the kitchen which had not been used yet.  They will serve the purpose for now.  I filled the boxes with the navy blue metal boxes I found a few weeks ago.  They hold tea sealed in sachets. One for each, Chamomile, Earl Grey and Green tea.  Unfortunately, the set only had three, now, it would be nice to have another but I have no idea how they were originally filled.  The small navy round has the Lemon Tea for now.  The bottom shelf holds the Oprah Chai, the Jade Citrus Mint which is a regular, the red tin of Christmas tea, the turquoise brown tea tin holds my Roobios Chai which is another regular.  A few Tetley tins which will live there till the are empty.  On top of the cupboard I have a wooden box which holds all my loose tea bags. Masala Chai Black, Dragon Pearls Green, the extra Jade Citrus Mint, and a few others. Behind the box is the navy tea pot cozy.  To the left of the box is a couple of TAZO tins which hold Chai and other herbal teas. In front of that is a nice yellow ceramic container where I store my tea spoon for loose tea, my strainer, my tea ball.  The mug tree to the right and the new yellow tea pot on a Tuppeware hot spot in navy and white.  I'm thinking of putting cup hooks under the upper cupboards to I can tuck the tea pot right in the corner.  We'll see.
Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.