A To Do List to Add Curb Appeal to the Front Yard

If I had tons of money I have visions of adding a peaked roof portico to shelter guests from the rain on the front porch and expanding my pedestrian front concrete stoop into a magnificent mid-century modern deck with multiple steps down and built-in planters, with a flagstone walkway to the public sidewalk.

I would expand the garden beds, remove the tree that was planted too close to the bedroom corner of the house and have an appropriately sized tree (when mature) installed further away, and add tons of beautiful plantings.  Or I might decide to go full-blown English cottage garden, complete with white picket fence and rose bushes everywhere, and a pillared front porch with a porch swing.  I'd hire a professional landscape architect to do a fabulous design for me who would hire contractors to do all the work.  I'd never have to lift a finger except to sniff and point if something doesn't please me. Or I'd buy a Cajun (French) style cottage and fix it up to look exactly like this one:

Source:  Laurel Home blog. This is an "after" photo 

To fully appreciate the scope of the work that was done, here is the "Before" photo from the same source:



Ahhhh, I wish I had some of those trees.  I'd also have a full-time gardener to take care of it all, LOL!  To sleep perchance to dream...

Back to reality, THUD.  On a limited retirement budget, dreaming of various gorgeous front (and back) yards is fun but can also be a bit depressing.  That can paralyze you from doing anything because a few small changes here and there don't see like they'll make that much difference.  And even those few extra things will stretch the budget and make you think twice about splurges that you really should not do because what if my Medicare increases by 50% or even disappears in 2020 if Speaker of the House Paul Ryan gets his way?  I wouldn't be able to do a time reversal and unspend the money.  One must be practical.

It's hard to believe, but next month will be four years from my 2014 move in date on July 7.  Wow, time really is flying.  I'm going to be 67 in a few months.  I still have painting to do on the inside (yes, I know, me bad.  Me very very bad.)  And it makes me mad that I have to worry about spending maybe $500 in total to do some things to prettify my front yard which already looks respectable as it is.  I want to be able to enjoy my house and be satisfied with how it looks on the outside and the inside in my old age.  Is that too much to ask after working my butt off for 46 years, playing by all the rules, and saving saving saving? 

One of the first things I did after moving in here was painting the black and worse for wear mail box a bright shiny red.  I had mentioned that to a friend in passing, and as part of my birthday present in 2014 was a can of bright red gloss spray paint!  Free!  The mailbox's fate was sealed.  I love how it turned out.  I always intended to paint the front door red too, and this year, finally, in fact today - I pulled the trigger and ordered the paint to get it done!  I really want my red door, it's been silly to wait so long, so I will not wait another 4 years before I get around to actually opening the paint can and rolling on two coats of paint.

About six weeks ago, I repainted the current (old) mail box in gloss red again because rust spots were coming through, despite using Rustoleum.  That mailbox has definitely seen better days.  It may be nearly as old as the house (the house was built in 1956).  I also wanted an actual factory-finished red mailbox, not buy a less expensive black one I'd have to spray paint every few years.  So, last month, I shopped around and found one I liked online at Wayfair.  It's much larger and an entirely different style from the current traditional mailbox and I think the new mailbox is a bit more "modern" looking.  It arrived last week and it's gorgeous, but the mounting holes on the back don't fit the screws that are holding the current mailbox in place on the stone front of the house.  I don't have a drill with an attachment to drill into masonry, let alone a power screw driver, so I will hire a handyman to do that - along with a few other things that I'll note below.  Here's a pic of the new mailbox, by Nach, from Wayfair:

I also decided to add a pair of budget-friendly vinyl shutters to the ginormous picture window with oversized white vinyl trim.  I've thought about adding shutters to that window since Day 1 and, again, finally decided to pull the trigger.  It took awhile to decide upon a style as I was shopping online.  I quickly decided upon the paneled style as more suitable to the house, but then I came across some shutters that had three raised panels instead of two, and I loved the look.  But then I looked at my front door, which has four less ornate raised panels, and decided to go for a simpler two panel raised design.  This took a few days of looking looking and looking again and then stewing about it for a few nights to make up my mind.  I finally settled upon black raised panel shutters (two panels of equal size) in a premium heavy vinyl guaranteed for 50 years (if I live that long I should win a prize).  These are from Architectural Depot, which offers a huge selection of all kinds of styles and colors and free shipping:

I also ordered a new porch light, something I'd also been putting off, something a bit more modern looking (to my eyes, anyway) and a bit less traditional than the current coach lamp light, which I am not too fond of.  I found this one at Target and liked it a lot, so I pulled the trigger right away to get a 15% Father's Day discount.  It's 14.5"tall by Bel Air Lighting, and will make a statement above the cleaner lined mailbox with its equally clean lines and crackle glass:

I may also end up installing a kick plate to dress up the front door once it's painted, but it's not something I need to add right now.

This year things didn't work out with two different friends who said they would take me shopping for flowers but didn't.  I don't drive, and the garden centers are too far away to either bus to in a reasonable amount of time or are not on bus routes at all.  Plus, try lugging home two flats of flowers on the bus - I wouldn't attempt it!  Thus, my front porch planters are EMPTY!  It's really been bugging me.  Here it is, nearly July, and my planters are vacant and forlorn looking, up their on the front porch with no beautiful plants in them for people to admire as they pass by the house.  After thinking about what I could do to find some way to fill those planters, because I hate having them empty when people so enjoy the display every year, and then thinking about how much I've spend each year just on annuals alone, I decided on another splurge and ordered a pair of artificial 3-ball topiaries!  I've always wanted to buy them but never wanted to spend the money.  However, being carless (and even if I had access to a vehicle, I don't know how to drive, LOL!), beggars can't be choosers, so I found a good deal at QVC online for 3-foot tall topiaries that I fell in love with, and got a 5% discount plus a slight additional monetary discount by purchasing through Ebates.  Every dollar saved helps.  Here they are, so elegant!

   

They will be anchored firmly inside my white Chippendale style planter boxes so the black pots, which I know will tip over in the first breeze to come along if not inside the planter boxes, will be stable and hidden.

The handyman I hire will install the mailbox, the new light fixture, and the shutters. I'll paint the door. I'm also planning out some changes to the front yard garden beds that won't cost me anything but time and a lot of sweat, huffing and puffing in the heat and humidity and bug bites (they bite me even through Deep Woods Off, heavy jeans, sweatshirts and knee socks on).  It involves transplanting some current perennials I already have elsewhere that need to be thinned out and/or divided - beauty at no cost and they'll fill in bare spots I'd been planting every year with annuals, not good for the pocketbook buying new every year.  Trimming shrubs is also on the menu.

Project List:

1.  Paint front door
2.  Have new mailbox installed
3.  Have new light fixture installed
4.  Have new shutters installed
5.  Install pair of topiaries on front porch
6.  Trim miniature barberry bushes in front planting beds (they're not looking so miniature right now)
7.  Divide and transplant some giant Iris to front planting beds
8.  Remove and transplant giant volunteer columbine that appeared last year by magic and reseeded itself this year, right over a miniature Spirea
9.  Divide and transplant some hostas from backyard to front garden beds (probably a fall project)

I'm going to be busy!

Catching Up: How I Arranged the Tray on the Round Ottoman

Hola!  I've been so busy with spring clean-up (when spring finally arrived here, that is), and all of a sudden cutting grass every 5 days because we had tons of rain over a 2 week period and the grass grew I swear an inch a day!  Anyway, the flower beds are slowly getting back to presentable, I've even managed to get some pruning done, and I've been busy planning some curb appeal improvements to the front of the house.

But first, I had promised way back in January (I think) to show you some photos of various ways I experimented with arrangements on the round framed glass mirror I finally decided to use as a "tray" on my ottoman.

I had shopped around online for tray but, of course, everything I really liked I wasn't willing to pay that much for.  So I eyed up the contents of my house and lo and behold, one day while I was going through some accessories in the wreck room storage cabinets I came across a mirror I purchased years ago from The Bombay Company when they were the big thing and you were able to buy things online.  It looked great in the room and I really liked that the mirror added a nice sparkle, so it stayed.  Without further ado, here are some of my attempts, and then the final product:

Above, Try #1.  I used a 14" diameter brass tray that I bought at a rummage sale years ago while on vacation in Las Vegas.  It is solid brass and has Asian ladies engraved on the front with mountains in the background.  I tried out a battery-operated candle, a black African-carved elephant with ivory and brass accents, and a set of black coasters.  My initial reation was - meh.

Above, Try #2.  I replaced the coaster set with a Damascus steel dish with its intricate design inlaid in gold thread. I bought in 2002 while visiting the ancient town of Toledo, in Spain.  We visited a family that makes the Damascus steel in small furnaces and you can watch the artisans at wrk.  That is actual 24 carat gold thread used to create the intricate geometric design.  I had it in my glass hutch but it wasn't really noticeable there, and I want people to see it, I think it's so beautiful and it reminds me daily of that wonderful 10 days in Spain in October 2002.  Not bad, but still blah.  I knew I was going to keep using the Damascus steel dish though.

Above, Try #3.  Third time's a charm, but I was also weary of trying to find something absolutely perfect.  I swapped out the wood carved elephant and added three eggs from my egg collection, also housed in the hutch in the living room.  The egg laying on its side (it has a carved flat side to lay that way) is made of white alabaster and I love it.  I purchased it at a gift shop in Red Wing, Minnesota one summer's day when a friend and I drove across Wisconsin and across the Mississippi River to go visit a friend at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  We took a break at the gift shop and that's where I bought the souvenir egg.  That was my one and only trip to Minnesota.  The larger clear egg is carved acrylic resting on a raised brass stand, and the smaller egg is hand-carved Waterford Crystal that I bought at a gallery in Las Vegas during one of my many past trips there.  I liked this arrangement a lot, but still felt it was missing some zing.

And the winner is, ding ding ding ding ding:  Try #4!  Ta da!  I swapped out the brass tray and used it elsewhere in the living room to hold the coasters from Try #1 through #3, replacing it with the Bombay Company mirror I mentioned above.  Its diameter is the same as the brass tray but the actual flat area is smaller because the frame around it is deeper than the rim on the brass platter.  The brass button moulding around the mirror and the mirror itself add sparkle and I love the look, a touch of glam in a room of elements mixing traditional and modern furnishings.  It's been this way for 4 plus months now (whew, where does the time go?) and I haven't felt any urge to change it. That means it will probably stay that way for the next 10 years :)

Winter Refuses to Leave!

Southeast Wisconsin - what can I say?  I'm going to sit down at my kitchen table and try to get the rest of my tax returns for federal and state done today.  UGH!  I was going to go to the Post Office tomorrow to mail them certified mail, but I think I'll wait until this late "spring but actually winter" storm passes, which it is supposed to do on Tuesday, the filing deadline day.  UGH! 

Right on schedule as forecast, the storm hit here Friday afternoon with strong gusting winds, dropping temperatures, and torrential downpours.  Saturday - pretty much the same.  This morning, not a surprise since it had been forecast - ice storms and snow, including lake-effect snow - heavy snow.  Gee thanks, Lake Michigan (NOT!)  More of the same forecast for tomorrow.

Tuesday is supposed to warm into the 40s and hopefully all of this crud will melt, because it certainly isn't going to be ice-picked away by me, for sure!  A couple spring-time in SE Wisconsin photos for your viewing enjoyment.  I took these about 9 a.m.:

Looking northwest out of my front door.

Looking southwest out of my front door.

Three of my intreped squirrel tribe members, munching on hazelnuts by my Shezebo.
(Been feeding my tribe since 6:30 a.m. - they're coming in shifts today).

Once I get my 2017 income taxes done (yep, I figure only another 12 hours aughtta do it) later today, I promise I'll do some updating around here.  I was going to change out the photo collage at the top of the blog, for instance, for something more "spring-like," but not much in the mood for that today...

Another Need (Versus Want) Satisfied: Mercury Glass Lamps

Hola!  Today is the last day in the second January thaw we've had this month.  Sometimes we don't get one at all; this year, we had two!  Today we hit a high of 47 degrees F away from Lake Michigan and it was sunny all day long.  The snow that I awakened to on Monday that had coated everything a week ago Sunday into Monday and turned the city into a winter wonder land:

Shortly after sunrise on Monday January 22, 2018

has all melted away over the past week, leaving just a few tell-tale signs where the sunshine doesn't quit hit yet:

Half an hour to sundown on Saturday January 27, 2018

I finally got the Christmas tree from in front of the living room window wrapped in its white shroud to keep dust and ick off (it's an old full/queen size duvet cover) all the way through the house and down those endless steep basement stairs to China, er, storage in the basement.  The living room has been rearranged back to its usual configuration, but with the new round upholstered tufted ottoman replacing my square wood coffee table.  What a difference that single change has made, it is amazing how different the room looks now!

I made a few other changes to the living room at well.  Since I wanted to keep my elephant lamp in the room, I brought up a round table from the wreck room and parked that near one side of the fireplace.  The elephant lamp now holds court on it.  I added a new pair of matching lamps to the console table that sits behind the sofa in front of the picture window where the elephant lamp used to sit.

I also dug out of storage an old small round glass and "brass" 3-legged catch-all table that I think I paid $10 at a Woolworth's Dime Store years ago (that's how old some of my stuff is, LOL!)  It is light weight and can easily be shuttled around the room to hold drinks and plates when the tray on the ottoman is in use.  More about that in a future post.

I will also be writing more about the trauma and uncertainty of my first decorating - oh, sorry, "styling" -  foray into arranging items on the tray that now sits on my upholstered ottoman.  Oh boy!  Deciding on a Supreme Court nominee would be far easier, let me tell you...

This latest change started last summer, when I began feeling that the living room needed another lamp, not just an accent lamp on top of the fireplace mantel, and I wasn't satisfied with anything in my collection of old retired lamps that seem to breed magically while in basement storage.  What do you do with old lamps that are still perfectly fine, you're just sick of them?  All of them are out of style, or far removed from where my current decorating tastes lie.  I sometimes wonder "What was I thinking?," when I see the sorry troop. 

I settled upon the idea of buying a pair of lamps to anchor the console table and introduce some symmetry into the room, lamps that would fit into my frugal budget and maybe something to satisfy my long-standing itch for mercury glass.

So what did I do one Saturday morning?  I visited Horchow online. 

Now that was an incredibly dumb thing to do.  I LOVE Horchow, and I absolutely CANNOT AFFORD Horchow.  LOL!  But I visited anyway, and fell in love with this lamp:

This beauty is the Genie Glass lamp in silver, on a square crystal base.  Oh, be still my heart! Cost: $249.00.  Sorry, Horchow.  Genie is more expensive and taller than I wanted in a lamp, a statuesque 31".  But oh my, she is soooooo gorgeous.  Sigh.

So, off on the hunt I went.  And of course, I was frustrated to no end.  I looked for a few days online to no avail, I could not find anything that I thought closely enough resembled Genie.  I found tons of very pretty mercury glass and silver-colored lamps, and of course the more expensive they were, the more I loved some of them.  WHY does that happen?  It's like daydreaming about what Prince William looked like twelve years ago when he still had all of his hair while I'm old enough to be his grandmother.  Yes - I must be warped.

I checked the usual:  Overstock, Wayfair, Kirklands, Penney's (I have purchased several lamps from Penney's over the years), did a Google shopping search, yada yada yada.  I just didn't find anything that really rang my chimes enough to consider buying one, let alone two.  Eventually I ended up at Target's website because I knew they had lamps, catered to a more modern aesthetic in some of their lines (like Threshold) and generally are moderately priced.  I hit paydirt!

I ended up purchasing two Large Mercury Glass Trophy Lamps, at a wee little discounted price of $36.09 each (regular price $37.99).  Right now, though, they are on sale for even less:  $26.59.

I also purchased two large black lamp shades lined in gold for $19.99 each.  They are also now on sale for $13.99 each.  Yikes!  With free shipping, my total bill was around $113 plus Wisconsin's 5.65% sales tax.  I could have bought four lamps and shades for less than the price of one Genie lamp.  Sorry, Genie.  

The lamps are 17" tall; the shades I purchased are 10" high, 13" wide at the top, 15" wide at the bottom a "threaded uno" shade fitter, it snugs down on the lamp socket.  Because of how the shade fits on the lamp, the total height of my base plus shade is 24", they are just the right height.

I tried to copy one thing from Genie - her crystal base.  Glass was more expensive than acrylic, so I purchased 6" square 1/2" thick acrylic bases for the lamps to rest on.  The lamps are open across the bottom, so I wanted to rest them on some kind of base.

Here are my lamps, now elegantly in place on the console table in the living room:

A look at the acrylic square bases I rested the lamps on

The Threshold lamps are a lot different than the model Genie lamp in both shape and cost, for sure.  But I am delighted with them and the touch of sophistication I feel they've brought to the room.  Very happy camper!  

Finally Bought A Tufted Round Ottoman!

Hola everyone!  I've wanted one for years, but never pulled the trigger to actually buy one.

Here it is - TA DA!  

But on January 13, 2018, after years of dithering should I or shouldn't I because I still own two perfectly fine coffee tables, I finally decided to do some online shopping to see if I could find a good bargain on a nice looking round tufted ottoman that would be large enough to serve as a footstool and as a coffee table.

I checked lots of different websites, so many I can't remember them all, including Overstock, Wayfair, Joss & Main, Google Shopping, etc., looking for the best deal.  I tend to do overkill always looking for a few more dollars off.  Below are just some of the sites I visited and what I found.

Joss and Main: 

Ravi Tufted Ottoman 34.6" diameter, 18.13" height, black turned wood legs with metal casters, in "Natural" linen (polyester blend), sale price $327.99; regular price listed at $452.99

I really liked this ottoman.  It was a good height to go with my sofa and wing chairs, and I was looking for a color as close as I could get to the creamy/natural color of those pieces.  My sofa is a modern Tuxedo style tufted (without buttons) in a solid linen-look creamy colored fabric, and my modern-style wing chairs are covered in a large modern floral print in tones of charcoal, grey, and taupe on a creamy colored background linen-look fabric.  I also loved the "lux" details of the turned wood legs in a dark finish (mine look black), the burnished metal casters, and the double row of burnished metal nailhead trim.  The nailhead trim matches that on my dining room chairs and table.  Since the rooms are open to each other, I want my decor to flow and relate from room to room without being matchy.  These details add to the cohesion of the two rooms. 

But I didn't want to pay $328 on sale for the ottoman.  I was looking to keep my budget as close to $100 as possible.  Yeah, cray cray.  But I kept at it, shopping to see if I could find THIS ottoman or one similar enough that I could do a convincing "look for less."  Way less. 

Here are some of what I found: 

Home Depot (Canada):

Linon Home Decor Products
Linen Round Tufted Ottoman 34.63" diameter, 18.13"height, black turned wood legs with metal casters, in "Natural," $234.00.  (I wasn't sure if I'd be able to buy this from Canada without paying a duty tax or what shipping charges would add to the cost.)

Bed Bath & Beyond:

Isabelle Round Tufted Ottoman, 34.6" diameter, 18.13" height, turned wood legs with metal casters, linen-look material, $219.99.

Houzz:
Identical looking to the three ottomans above, Isabelle Round Tufted Ottoman, 34.6" diameter, 18.13" height, dark Espresso finished legs, "natural linen" upholstery, $159.99 on sale, regular price $460.99. 

Also found at Target for $230.99 ("beige" fabric color) and Amazon for $135.99. 

Then I remembered some commercials I've been seeing on streaming live television - check eBay!  And so, I did.  Lo and behold, I hit a winner.

I ended up purchasing what as far as I can tell is an identical ottoman at eBay.  Although now the price at the eBay vendor I purchased my ottoman from is listing its price at $129.95, I paid $119.95 and got free shipping (many of the sites above also offered free shipping).  The eBay dimensions are a bit smaller than the Joss & Main "Ravi" ottoman, ebay stating the diameter as 33 1/2" and height as 17 3/4", linen fabric in "beige." 

I unboxed it yesterday evening after it sat in my kitchen for a few days.  Assembly was easy, just opening up the velcro lining flap on the bottom of the ottoman to pull out the legs and then screwing them into place in pre-drilled holes.  The piece is from Belleze Furniture Company. 

I am in love love love!  The height is perfect.  The product was in perfect condition when I unboxed it and just as pictured.  The color is just a pinch darker than that of my sofa but really not noticeable unless you're looking for it.

I finally got my wee little bit of lux for a truly bargain price and am thrilled.  Now I just have to lug my heavy wood coffee table to the basement without killing myself.  But I'm going to take a nap first to gin up my energy level again; I shoveled first thing this morning because we had 3 inches of wet heavy snow dumped on us overnight.  UGH!

It's Cooking Time! Alfredo Chicken Mashed Potato Casserole

Hola!

This is the time of year, when it's bitterly cold outside, the sidewalks are iced over and it's not safe for this woman who mainly travels on foot and by bus to be out and about much, to batten down the hatches and work inside my comfy and cozy retirement nest!  I experiment with cooking on days like this.

On Sunday I got an idea for a recipe because I wanted to use an older frozen package of mixed veggies in my freezer and I did not want to make my usual easy-peasy version of ground beef Shepherd's pie.  I outlined the recipe in my head and today I picked up the remaining ingredients to put the dish together.  It's sort of a take on a chicken pot pie - but in a large casserole, with mashed potatoes rather than a crust, and Alfredo sauce rather than a classic beef gravy or tomato-base that is used in traditional Shepherd's Pie or a smaller crusted version of a chicken pot pie.

Sorry for the photo of the already partially eaten casserole.  I didn't think about blogging this until after I'd already dug into the casserole for supper! 

The basics are easy:

Ingredients:

-- One pound (more or less) of chicken tenders, cut into about 1 inch size
-- One standard size (I believe it is 8 ounce) jar of ready-made Alfredo sauce (I used Prego brand because it was on sale and I have used and liked other Prego ready-made sauces)
-- One 8-ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans)
-- Eight "servings" (per package) of instant mashed potatoes, made per directions on package.  I went the lazy cook's way, you can also make yours from scratch!

Directions: 

-- I cooked the cut-up chicken in a large frying pan/skillet.  I added about 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the chicken in a few tablespoons of olive oil and cooked quickly on high/medium heat.
-- Meanwhile, frozen veggies were made in microwave in a 1.5 quart covered casserole dish per package directions.
-- The cooked veggies (drain if necessary) were added to the cooked chicken in the large frying pan.
-- Entire jar of Alfredo sauce was added to and mixed into cooked chicken and veggies in the frying pan.
-- A "crust" of mashed potatoes was spread across the bottom of the (now empty) casserole dish that I'd used to cook the frozen veggies. 
-- The chicken/veggies/ Alfred sauce mixture was then poured over the "crust" of mashed potatoes in the casserole dish and topped with the rest of the mashed potatoes.
-- Baked for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees F, uncovered, long enough for peaks on mashed potato top of casserole to brown on peaks and form a mild crust.  If you want crustier potatoes/more browned peaks, bake longer.  The sauce was bubbling up all around the sides of the casserole.

After cooling the casserole (still uncovered) for about 20 minutes inside the now opened oven (to let the heat into the house), I served myself up a dish and oh boy - it was GOOD! 

Easy to make, makes a LOT - I will have enough for at least six-seven more meals and will freeze most in individual servings.  This is a rich and hearty dish for a cold winter's day.  YUM!


NOTES:  I will make my mashed potatoes "drier" next time I make this dish, because even though I baked the casserole uncovered and also made sure there was no excess water in the cooked veggies, adding a full jar of Alfredo sauce made the casserole "wet."  The mashed potatoes did not turn to mush, but if you want them to have more body, add extra dry flakes to your instant mashed potatoes (if you use instant like I did) to make them stiffer.  If you make your mashed potatoes from scratch, use less milk and butter than you normally do to make a stiffer potato.  Increasing baking temperature (I use 350 degrees F as my default setting for most of the casseroles I make) and/or extending baking time may also help "dry" the casserole out a bit, too.  This will depend on your personal preferences.

A Look for Less: Ballard Designs "Petite Indigo Botanical Art"

Hola everyone!

The weatherman has promised us temperatures rising into the 20s by tomorow and into the mid 30s by next week, fingers crossed.  Even a few days of relief from this bitter cold will be welcome.

House bound except for extremely necessary and brief as I can make them errands (like quick walks to the Family Dollar for bread, milk and peanuts for the squirrels and the liquor store in the same shopping strip for wine - not for the squirrels), I am already itching for spring and fluffing up Maison Newton.  When I'm in the "fluffing up" mood I look at a lot of decorating sites, shops, etc., but I usually don't buy.  LOL!  That being said, today I felt the urge to do a "look for less" post - I haven't done one in ages and I do enjoy viewing websites like "Copy Cat Chic" and the High/Low articles in HGTV's monthly design magazine.  I wish Sabrina Soho's "The High/Low Project" was still on, sigh. 

I headed over to Ballard Designs, a favorite site for inspiration and way out of any price I would ever pay for anything they sell - even on super-sale, and looked around.  There, I came across these lovely botanical prints on sale:

Petite Indigo Botanical Art.  Normally each print is $75, right now on sale for 25% off, a net price of $56.25 each.  The size is large (well, I consider it large):  15 x 18 1/4, wood frame 1" deep with silver finish and glass over artwork. I think they are gorgeous!

Buying all four prints even on sale would be outside of my budget: $225.00 at the sale price or $300.00 at the regular price, and that doesn't include shipping or possibly sales taxes.  Yikes! 

So, being the type of home decorator who wants it inexpensive, fast and easy, who frames pretty greeting cards that I fall in love with and prints things for free off the internet (or cuts up calendars) for framing, here's my let's cut this price way way down attempt at duplicating the Ballard Designs prints!

First stop, the Simply Made by Rebecca website, where she just happens to have cached free printable botanicals of the blue hue variety, yippee!  Standard print-out is on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, but she also provides a downloadable/uploadable option for 11 x 14 paper that you can upload to a commercial printer or do on your own printer if you have that size option available (I don't).  NOTHING MUCH BETTER THAN BEAUTIFUL AND FREE!  Here are the four I would choose:

                     

Second stop, Ikea to look for inexpensive picture frames.  Rebecca recommended the Jallvik wood frame, but I could not find it at Ikea online, so I guess it's not available any more.  However, Ikea does have an assortment of different colored woodish frames, among which I thought the Silverhojden Frame might do the trick.  It is made from wood products (not solid wood) and has a faux "foil" finish (not painted finish), and has a polystyrene cover over the art rather than glass, so it depends if you like the look or the safety of polystyrene over glass if there should be an accident with the frame:

Silverhojden Frame by Ikea, $7.99
Finish: Silver color
12 x 16 without mat
7 1/2 x 9 1/2 with mat
Outer frame: 13 x 17

If you buy four of these frames, it would cost you approximately $32.00 plus shipping, and maybe sales tax depending upon your state.  Far cry from $225.00 or $300.00, before adding shipping and possible sales taxes if you purchased the framed prints from Ballard Designs. 

I would float an 8 1/2 x 11 (letter size) print-out on my home computer of each botanical over the mat inside the purchased frame or remove the mat altogether and add some white lining paper cut to size underneath, rather than cutting off some of the beautiful print by placing it underneath the mat, which would reveal only a 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 size!  The overall 13 x 17 Ikea frame size would be just a bit smaller than Ballard Design's outer frame size of 15 x 18 1/4, but I think the overall impact would be pretty much the same.

You may already have your favorite budget-family wood (or wood look) with glass frames that you buy from your favorite craft or art-supplies store/source (Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, etc.), and could paint up the frames to get a silvery look if they don't come in a silver-toned finish (or not, if you don't care for silver).  Or you could go with an 11 x 14 size, have the prints commercially printed at FedEx uploaded from your smart phone or tablet and fill the entire frame with the print - similar to the look of the Ballard Designs prints, which float across the entire width and length of the frames.  If you purchase a 1" width frame, the outer dimensions would finish at 12 x 15 (compared to 13 x 17 for the Ikea and my Family Dollar frame [see below] versus Ballard Design's outer frame measurement of 15 x 18 1/4). 

You could also get thither to thy favorite dollar store or thrift shop and look for an 11 x 14 or more custom-sized frame.  This one that I now have hosting a horse print (cut from my 2017 calendar), has glass over the artwork and a champagne colored inner edging on the frame, so I would leave it as is rather than trying to give it a silvery finish (not my favorite finish anyway).  Bonus: its dimensions are identical to the Ikea Silverhojden frame, but only costs $3.00:

Four of those on a wall would pack a big punch and cost $12 to $16 (if your store charges $3.99 instead of $3.00) plus sales tax.

Or, go cost free except for the cost of paint or silver-leaf (if you refinish), if you might have a stash of old frames, like I do.  I bought the $3 Family Dollar frame because I didn't like the supply of 11 x 14 and somewhat larger frames I already have in my stash for the space I wanted to fill and I did not want to have to bother with refinishing to black to match my existing decor. 

TA DA!  There you have it.