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Thanksgiving in the Country

By 10/09/2011January 28th, 201718 Comments

We are here in Yarrow for Thanksgiving at my sister’s/mom’s farm. And I have a few pics from my mom’s carriage house to show you. My mom has a lot of hand painted rocks by one of her best friends. This one is at the front door.

Markus and William

September 30 was the day my mom moved from the little tiny house I grew up in since I was 12 years old. It was purchased by the City of Abbotsford and it will be torn down because they are eventually going to build a road right through the property.

My mom is a pack rat  (love you mom) and when I heard that she had taken the door to her massage room (she is a massage therapist) with her from the old house that is when I started to worry. We had wallpapered it with this great waterfall mural years ago. Here it is propped up beside William’s pumpkins in the greenhouse.

I told Irene about it and she volunteered to come help my mom unpack and get organized since one of my Design Associate’s many talents is that she is extremely organized. I could not have done it without her. My mother has a lot of stuff.

This is the windowsill in her new kitchen. I cannot get her to stop nursing plants back to health and having a row of them at her window. Sigh.

These are my mom’s seven dwarfs. She painted them herself many years ago and loves them. Here they are on her fireplace mantle. My mom likes her stuff covering every surface. The end table (above) will not last long with just a vase with a leaf in it, haha.

This is the little cabinet we found for the corner in her kitchen/sitting area. Yes that is a peek of a La-Z-Boy you can see on the left. When you get to a certain age, comfort is king! There was no talking her out of it, although I tried for about five minutes. I’ll tell you the story to how we arrived at that colour in another post.

This is the vignette I created last Monday and I was surprised that it was still intact when I arrived this weekend. Books don’t forget are all you need to act as a pedestal to make the most innocuous object look interesting. This little basket of crayons is for my nephews when they come over.

That’s the little tour, many of you have been asking how it’s coming along! Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

xoxo Maria

Download my eBook, It’s All in the Undertones. If you have a computer, you can download my book!

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Related posts:

How to Create a Tablescape

Happiness is. . . Living your Life with Gratitude

3 Things I learned about Design While Decorating for my Mother

18 Comments

  • Dianne Tant says:

    I love her cottage! I, too, use books as pedestals. Love her green sofa…wish mine was that type of fabric. The painted rocks are so cute and interesting. you are doing a good/sweet job for your Mom

  • Monique says:

    What a pretty house! The dwarfs are cute and bringing them in the room adds a unique, fun twist. The plants on the windowsill remind me of my mother. She enjoys growing plants too. Looking forward to seeing pics of the rest of her house.

    Maria, your new blog is gorgeous, classy. Well done.

  • It looks so homey already, Maria. Your Mom’s personality seems to shine through as you’ve created a happy place for her.
    Love the seven dwarfs!

  • Deborah McKenzie says:

    This is the home the children will be happy in. You can just see and feel all the love and whimsy. My mom is the same way! When see made her last move I thought this is perfect, for me that is. Then 6 months later she brought out all her stuff and then she was happy!

  • Kelly says:

    Happy Thnaksgiving Maria! I hope you are enjoying your time with the family. Those nephews of your are sooo adorable. The room looks great-love,love the sofa color! Have a great weekend and I hope you get to relax and rest a bit! Xo

  • Mary says:

    Very sweet decorating for your mom. It is nice you can share this with her, what wonderful memories you are making together!
    And thank you for sharing with us!
    (would love to hear her side of this design story too, lol)
    Mary

  • Tina says:

    I adore that couch! I’m having trouble locating the fabric…I’d love to use velvet but I have dogs so this is a great solution.
    Love how personalized you’ve made the space with her little treasures. : )
    ~Tina

  • diane says:

    Love that little green sofa and your moms home is a true testament to the fact that it is the little things that make a house a home. While her collection of “things” may not satisfy what we think is our sophisticated designer taste, they make her happy in her home and that is all that matters. Did I say I love that little green couch?!

  • Robin Reid says:

    LOVE that sofa. Thanks for sharing your holiday and mom’s home with us.
    Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Mary says:

    The green sofa is so pretty! What a “happy” color! Is a Sunbrella velvet easy to keep clean? Do spills wipe up?
    And I love the shadows on the green wall from the light fixture. Can’t wait to see more.
    Loving the blog’s new look, Maria.

  • judy h. says:

    Your mom’s home is so cheery, I love all of the color and way it flows. I can tell from her painted elves, to her plant nursing window to her lavender bedroom that she is a person who thrives on the color and cheer of life.

  • Linda V says:

    Maria your Moms home is looking lovely and I’m sure there will there will be many happy family gatherings there. My Mum has heaps of plants too and they drive us all crazy ( I water them when she is away). When she and Dad downsized recently she promised there’d be no more, but somehow zero quickly grew to fifty. We want her to have a few lovely big statement plants, but her nurturing mother side is only satisfied with little orphan sickly plants that need lots of love and care, just like her children sometimes did before they grew up and left home. My conclusion … we really cant deny our moms the need to nurture. Thanks again for sharing.
    Linda

  • Ellen says:

    I, too, love that couch! The color, the texture, the shape – everything! I also love that she brought her door with her. I have a cat stenciled on my back door that looks so real and I know it will have to come with me whenever we may move. Glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Beautiful space.

  • That’s so funny about the La-z-boy! I have one that is about 30 years old. It’s ugly, but I rocked my children to sleep in it and I just can’t let go. I plan to recover it in leather someday. Mine is a little more streamlined. (Note: I am giving away copies of my new ebook on my blog ‘The Diva’s Home’ and it ends tonight!) Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Heidi Nyline says:

    Maria, You just sold me on Sunbrella fabric. That couch is wonderful. Love it.

  • Jen Rogers says:

    Maria, I discovered your blog a couple of months ago and I just wanted to tell you each post is a cheerful and fun point of my day. Thank you for your great tips and for brightening my day with colour! And I love the new site. Congrats!

  • I love the green sofa! That’s just the shape I’ve been looking for. Who makes it? Is it available in the US?

  • Maria, I love this post and oh my..I just have to laugh. I’m certain that our mothers must be related. This sounds all too familiar. Just reading this reminds me of our wonderful visit in San Antonio. You really are a wonderful person, Maria. :o)

    I’m the organizer who helps mother get moved along with her stuff. We have little chats about that on a semi-regular basis.

    Wow–my mom would just love that couch!

    xo
    Donna

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