Homestyle Gathering~ Inviting Guest Rooms

JOINING ALONG WITH kIM AT SERVING UP SOUTHERN.

I have been researching hospitality ideas for setting up an inviting guest room.  I mean, the hostess with the mostest considers  things like this... 

so

 making your guests feel at home remember that love is in the details!

We have become so technical having the wifi password  printed on a card on the nightstand  is a  way to make guests feel really welcome.

Just like any luxurious hotel,  it is best to start with your very best linens..  A smart shopper  can find mark offs of fine 600 count cottons at fun  shops like Tuesday Morning and Home Goods. 

It is a thoughtful gesture to leave a stack of fresh towels in the room,as well.

A cosy knit or fleece throw  thrown over the bed or a guest chair is a very welcome site at our house because  being  hot natured  I might not keep the temps  as warm  as  others do..

and we do like it cool in summer..but I've found not everyone does!

A  few  devotionals or current magazines nearby is  always a nice touch, as well. 

Below is  a  great list of other thoughtful  reminders for  setting up  your guest room for summer guests.

Floor length mirror

Water and a few easy to grab snacks

Essential items in a basket- Kleenex, toothpaste, socks, eye mask, makeup wipes, Tylenol, Tums, lotion

Phone Charger with extension cord

Hooks to hang bags and or clothes

Luggage stand

Reading Lamps

Candle and flowers or plants
Box of tissues

Plenty of toilet paper and room spray

Plunger in bathroom
Cleaned off surfaces clear from personal items

Just some homestyle gathering tips for making your summer visitors so pleased, they will never wish to leave!!

Homestyle Gathering~ Patriotic

 Hosted by Kim at

Serving up Southern

Always about this time of year I get to feeling rather patriotic...  Maybe it is  the  free  BBQ  we  are served  at Mission BBQ.. because my husband is a veteran..  also, historically in my life,  being a semi country gal,  we always went to  the country to visit grandparents on Memorial Day because it was Decoration Day... We would decorate the  graves of our loved ones who had passed.  Even my grandmother  placed a small bouquet of roses on her baby sister's grave..

I have not gpne to a decoration Day in years, but now I love to decorate my dining room and   porch in a patriotic fashion!

Last year  the dining table was  decked  out in a  rather muted  display of red, white and blue..

Dining al fresco is more fun with  a stars and stripes attitude.

This year, I ran across my mother's square heritage plaid woven cloths we used on so many cook outs and picnics. 

I used them on the diagonals to cover my  oval table...to create a rustic look to my patriotic scene.

I particularly didn't wish to use  a under laying cloth,  but   go ahead and allow the table to show   for a more simplified, carefree look!  

For this setting I am using Johnson Brothers  Historic America, Boston Harbor  pattern.

Time to share your flag with pride!

A Country Style Table for Spring

It is always good for me to  change  things up following a major holiday..  The  table had been set for Easter  for   about a month and  I was  kicking up my heels this afternoon,  to change it up for late Spring!

I chose yellow and blue because it reminds me   that I have country roots,,  and  I do miss my opportunities to  spend my weekends in the country.  My mom and grandparents lived in the country all those  years and I thing  as I climb the rock behind grandma's house to survey the gorgeous countryside  that  this is all mine! I have free domain to   roam where ever I want... Everyone knows who I am  and  I have  a certain authority to skip  through the fields and roam the woods at your leisure!

Then suddenly it all vanishes..  Gramps have passed,  mom and dad  have sold out to   move closer to us and now they  are in heaven,, and all I'm left with  are sweet memories..  I can drive by the houses,  but strangers live there now..  best to not ever  go back there...  just remember..  But I can   recreate the mood  here at home and for me it is yellow and blue!!

I  began with a   a lovely soft yellow cloth,,  like the color of sweet creamery butter. 

 I used the mx matched   transfer ware in blue...  Countryside by  by Enoch Wedgewood plates  and Mason's  Denmark cups and saucers.... meaningful to me  because my  grandparents were of ancient English heritage.

who  migrated to England from France..  I love my  napkins, made in France, folded in the   Olde French Fleur di Lys  pattern..

Note the antique  glass pitcher and compote.. both  I inherited from my great grandparents  who taught my grandfather  the carpenter trade so he could build the marvelous farmhouse on his  dairy farm in the early 1920's. 

I can feel a bit of Country French  with a bit of  shabby British thrown in for good measure  in this  setting!! 

 The centerpiece  is a hold over from easter... A bird's nest intertwined with dogwood boughs  and wild flower debecked candles in pewter  candle sticks!

 All together  I think sets a lovely  late spring table  heralding my  loving memories  of life in the country with my family!

 Pink Saturday

Tablescape Thursday

Grace at Home

Homestyle Gathering

Just Around the Corner!

“Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush.”

— Doug Larson

This pretty much sums up  our lead in to spring!
We have had so much rain  this winter  that the ground continues to be  saturated..  I  wanted to  cut some daffodils, but  I need   waders to get over to them.. Maybe I can tomorrow..

But  with the  spring -like feel to the air,,  it really  makes me want to  get  the house all spruced up!

Enter spring,  and the  heavy dark colors in the living room  call out to me to be lifted.. so out come the  white  afghans  to  subdue the  navies and  maroons.  Last year I  removed the  tapestry for cleaning and    didn't put it back until fall...  But,  I missed it.. so  it will stay and  enjoy the  liveliness of spring and summer!!  Besides it is full of  beautiful springy flowers!!

“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.”
— Gertrude S. Wister
To  bring out the  flowery  glory of spring I  happened to be at Pier 1 yesterday  and  found  gorgeous pillows for the  sofa!!!

So Easter Bunny found a home nearby!!

My geneaology table,, actually is  the antique  gateleg table that my grandfather made for his new farmhouse he built   following WWI.  I  like to keep it  vintage looking  in tribute to my  heritage!

Young Lambs by John Clare

The spring is coming by a many signs;
The trays are up, the hedges broken down,
That fenced the haystack, and the remnant shines
Like some old antique fragment weathered brown.
And where suns peep, in every sheltered place,
The little early buttercups unfold
A glittering star or two--till many trace
The edges of the blackthorn clumps in gold.
And then a little lamb bolts up behind
The hill and wags his tail to meet the yoe,
And then another, sheltered from the wind,
Lies all his length as dead--and lets me go
Close bye and never stirs but baking lies,
With legs stretched out as though he could not rise.

Spring time puts such a spark in my giddy up... I have found   a spring in my  step...  a  praise in my heart and a love for   the One true  Creator of all things... Spring is a tribute to His  great majesty.  Tomorrow when we  host  a prayer   vigil in this room,  we will be reminded to  praise  Him for the Beauty of the Earth !
For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the skies
For the love
which from our birth
Over and around us lies
Lord of all to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise
For the beauty of the hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale
And tree and flower
Sun and moon and stars of light
Lord of all to thee we raise
This our joy ful hymn of praise
For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth
And friends above
For a gentle
Thoughts and mild
For a gentle
Thoughts and mild
Lord of all to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise
For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given
Graces human and divine
Flow'rs of earth and buds of heav'n
Lord of all to thee we raise
This our joy ful hymn of praise

Homestyle Gathering

Home and Garden Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things

Grace at Home
 Pink Saturday

Dear March Come In

I am feeling a bit uplifted this week to finally  rid  the home  of the last vistas of Christmas and Valentine red and  things are looking springified!!!

Dear March - Come in 

Emily Dickinson, 1830 - 1886

Dear March, Come in 

 How glad I am 

 I hoped for you before. 

 Put down your Hat 

You must have walked 

 How out of Breath you are !

March breezed into our  parlor and dining room this week...  well, it took a bit of  energy and  planning on my part,   to  organize the storage down stairs to get things  ready to  store  for some items to bring out others..  But a lot has been done!!!

It was so much fun to  bring out the St. Patrick's  items...

 I know the table needs to be editted... Just getting things together  while I  sang 

Molly Malone
In Dublin's fair city  where the girls are so pretty...
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
I love the Irish so much...

The tulips and  lilies of the valley were an after thought,  but I love the splash of spring on the table!!

It is so much fun to  use my British cottage  tea pot this time of year... anchored each side with little pots o' gold!!

Dear March, how are you, and the Rest

 Did you leave Nature well ? 

Oh March, Come right upstairs with me 

 I have so much to tell  

I got your Letter, and the Birds 

The Maples never knew that you were coming 

 I declare, how Red their Faces grew,

 But March, forgive me ! 

And all those Hills you left for me to Hue 

 There was no Purple suitable,

 You took it all with you !

I decided to pair  my  Johnson Brothers Garden Basket  with  JB Vintage Charm...  I love to mix and match patterns...  The  aqua blue gives a pop to the   table!!

The side board with  the flash  casts  a more dramatic look  as the lamps showcases my etchings  from Ireland of the village of Adare and thee Gap of Dunloe!

 The mantel  is  scantly adorned  because  I am leaving room for  bunnies and such  which will arrive in a couple of  weeks for sure!!!

The light in the window made this photo very hard to  accomplish ...  but a flock of sheep  are  grazing under    pussy willow  bush... I  love sheep so much  I have some in every room!! 

 Obviously, those willows are weeping a bit too much!!!They need a bit of propping up!!!  I think those sheep are  rubbing up against  my vase... ummm!

Who knocks? That April 

 Lock the Door, I will not be pursued!

 He stayed away a Year to call when I am occupied! But trifles look so trivial as soon as you have come That blame is just as dear as Praise

 And Praise as mere as Blame! 

 My genealogy table  featuring  my and Hub's  parents  is decked out in  the first flowering  forsythia...

I love that handsome photo  of my grand dad  circa 1917 

 The seasonal tree hosts many birds...I will need to  get a close up to come later...

I  look forward to getting more inspiration as I visit my friends' blogs this week!!!  Happy March!!!

 Pink Saturday

Tablescape Thursday

Grace at Home

Homestyle Gathering