my mission statement, if you will

First, I thank each of you who donated to the Denham Springs, Louisiana Animal Shelter  (the shelter where we adopted Louise) after the recent horrible flooding that I wrote about in my last post HERE

You are amazing and generous!

I adore this photo of our morning ritual- girls waiting to be given the "okay" to eat after Dan/I thank them for being such good girls and tell them how much we love them!

Photo by Linda of Lime In The Coconut.  

Fun stories about LindaLime that resonate with this entire post at the bottom!

Initially I was going to do a quick, short post to let you know I have added a feature

  "adoptable dog of the week" 

to the top of my sidebar, in hopes that you will notice, read it and maybe share with your friends on Facebook each week as I highlight a different dog needing a good home.  But, as I started to write my short post I realized that often things mean more if you understand the back story. And for me,  the back story was much bigger than a quick post.  That this whole journey on my blog- the sharing of our home, of my design and interiors and my love of antiques, the sharing of my love of dogs, and my passion for rescuing dogs-  is a joy and my mission.  With that comes a story...

When we decided to sell our Dallas house and move to New England it was a HUGE life decision as you can imagine.  I have never "journaled" per se  (though I tend to see this blog as a form of a journal),  but do understand the importance of putting all the emotions of a situation down on paper.   The decision to move here was exciting, terrifying, scary, nerve-wracking, thrilling-  all with anticipation of a new life,  and I realized I needed to write those emotions down before I popped!  

(if you would like to read how we got her click HERE and HERE)

A paragraph from my random writings from that time read:

want to help.  dogs maybe;  people

 finding dogs.

want to bring joy- thru design/antiques 

I need to find my life's work. 

What brings me joy, and how to 

share that.

  I wrote this in 2007 before the word "blog" was even in mainstream vocabulary, and a good year and a half before I figured out what one was.  I didn't give a thought as to how I would accomplish any of those things I listed, but they were just on my heart, so I wrote them down.   

It wasn't until several people wrote to tell me that because of our adopting Amelia HERE and HERE, and then Louise and Magnolia HERE that they had decided to adopt/expand their family, and one person (Tery) even wrote to tell me she was going to adopt instead of "buy" her next dog (and I am thrilled to say she has since adopted "Sullivan";)  that I vaguely recalled this paragraph I wrote years ago and went to find it in my "house book."  I sobbed.  Because of a random decision in October of 2008 to start this blog to chronicle the renovation of the farmhouse (the blog started as private), and then the request by Brooke Giannetti at Velvet &Linen to share my blog on her blog HERE and Joni Webb of Cote de Texas who added me to her blog roll several months later, I received exposure and in some way or form that is how you found your way here (thank you to my friends Brooke and Joni! xxo)

Because of the above events I have been able to meet you and share my loves and passions on this blog, and for that I am forever thankful and grateful.  

My love of home, my love of dogs and my love of rescuing dogs are my greatest passions.  For me,  dogs (pets) make a house a home.  

I thank you for allowing me to share all my passions and loves with you.  

I have received some negative comments and emails about my posts on dog rescue- people saying that they signed up to see pictures of a house, not of dogs.  My response was/is....  

 I'm sorry you are disappointed.  I write a "lifestyle" blog, so therefore I write about all things I am deeply passionate about that make up my love of a house- decorating, design, gardening, cooking, entertaining and dogs; and that includes using "my voice" to promote dog adoption.  The beauty of writing a personal blog is that I get to choose what I want to write about, and I will continue to write about all of the above, just as you are free to choose to not read if the content isn't to your liking.  Isn't it great that we all have choices!

You might recall that one of my readers, Amy (check out her new blog Home Glow Designs) adopted Nanny after seeing her on my blog HERE  Then over the past weekend Alice,  the dog-angel volunteer for Lytle, Texas Animal Control wrote to tell me that one of my readers in Houston was going to foster one of the dogs, Missy, that came in with a horrible injury to her foot and this woman is going get Missy a prosthesis!  I do not know who this person is, but she is an angel.  It was after hearing that (and the memory of every one who had left a comment saying they were going to adopt because of our girls) I wanted to do more!  And I thought to add the "adoptable dog of the week" feature at the top of my sidebar!  I am but one person, but with your help we can be a "force" to find shelter dogs homes!

It breaks my heart the number of dogs (and cats) that are euthanized in our country everyday (approximately 3,288 dogs each and every day)  and also the number of stray dogs and cats (there are 9,000 stray dogs in south Dallas alone.  You read that correctly... 9,000 source)  I wholeheartedly believe, as with most things, that education is the key.  It saddens,  infuriates and frustrates me that the wonderful nation that we are, we can not get a grip on this problem.  The only change that I can personally make is trying to make it better for one dog at a time.  So, that is what I want to do, with your help- spread the message of the importance of having all pets spayed/neutered; to please opt to adopt and highlighting dogs that are in desperate need of a good home.

All- one dog at a time!

I promise, my blog has not "gone to the dogs," and I am writing a "summer favorites" post that was a request from a reader, and have several house project posts coming up, but I wanted write this to you to explain myself.  I just never know when a post about a dog needing a home will change that dog's life or yours- either way is priceless!

Thank you for reading, thank you for helping me spread the word about adopting and thank you for being you!!!  xxo

The fun stories I mentioned at the beginning of this post...

Linda of Lime In The Coconut and I have been friends for years.  While writing this post and linking to Brooke's post from Velvet & Linen HERE I discovered through the comment section that Linda found me through Brooke, on November 19, 2008 at 5:25 p.m.  to be exact!!! :)

Well..... just two weekends ago LindaLime (as Dan and I call her;) came to the farmhouse to visit!!!!  She was on her way to see her daughter who had just finished a three-month environmental conservation internship in northern New Hampshire at Squam Lake  (a.k.a the lake where On Golden Pond was filmed.)  Finally we meet!!!!  It was sooo wonderful to meet in person. Linda and I were up til 4 am talking!!!  We ALL loved her-  I swear the girls would have left with her if they could have- they adored her!!!  To see Linda's photos from around the farmhouse and her trip to New Hamphsire HERE  !!

Another fun LindaLime story is that last summer Linda wrote to check up on me as I hadn't posted in a while.  I explained that we had just come home from a road trip to Louisiana where we adopted Magnolia and Louise HERE.  Linda asked how I found them and I told her on Petfinder, which she was not familiar with.  Within an hour she and her daughter (mentioned in the story above) were on Petfinder and found a Great Dane that they wanted to go meet!!  Days later "Finn" was adopted...

and then months later the beautiful (blind and deaf) "Pearl" was adopted by LindaLime and her family!!!

Moral of the story.....you just never know how a random sharing will change a person's life for the better!!!  

Love ya Finn & Pearl & LindaLime!!!!!

I also want to share that Linda is a Lactation Consultant and she is getting ready to leave for Greece where she is volunteering to help the refugee women and children fleeing from war and terrorism.
To read about her upcoming journey HERE.

love dogs and be well!!!

and please share the featured dog of the week!  together we can find these dogs forever homes!

xxojoan

the birthday bookcase

When I originally posted the master bath I had said I would do a whole post on the bookcase that Dan made.  I failed to do that, and a recent request (thank you Amy) brought that to my attention!






 Dan and I married on my birthday twenty three years ago. 

Not long after we married Dan started the tradition that he would "make" my birthday gift.  It began with Dan surprising me with a simple wood stand for an oriental Peking-blue porcelain duck. 
The gifts evolved into bigger projects like making a zinc-topped potting table,

making a wood garden gate,

 



making a beadboard vent-a-hood cover for my kitchen in Dallas from vintage beadboard we picked up off a someones bulk trash pile that was going to the dump,

taking out the small entry closet to make a larger entry,

and making a wooden driveway gate! 
(funny story.... just out of view at the front of these photos was our large air conditioning unit.  It was older, so I painted the ugly metal part the house trim color to make it blend in and go-away visually.  One day Dan was walking a contractor of some sort down the driveway and the person said "I've never seen a painted air conditioning unit,"  to which Dan replied..."And, you've never met my wife!" :):)

 


One year I designed this bookcase for our kitchen in Dallas.

The project was started, but took a little longer than planned, so it wasn't finished by my birthday... this is what I found the morning of my birthday!





Note the garage of an antiques dealer- three chandeliers hanging in wait!

I wanted the look of an antique piece that had been originally stained, but had been painted-over many times throughout the years.

I have painted the exterior of the piece Benjamin Moore's White Dove since we moved into the farmhouse, but the interior finish is the original French blue that I painted and waxed 9 years ago.  It turned out that the interior was almost the same color as the Benjamin Moore Horizon (OC-53) on the walls!
 The shelves are adjustable and their design was copied from antique furniture pieces we had seen in France. 

Antique glazed terracotta architectural fragment sits on top of the piece.

Collection of vintage alabaster compotes.  I love the birds!
I left the ceiling of the bookcase the dark stained wood, which is the base color of the whole piece.

Antique starburst mirror found at The Mews in Dallas.  Trio of antique mercury glass vases share the shelf with an "American Brilliant" crystal bowl which was a wedding gift given to Dan's grandparents in 1917.

Old hotel silver tray from the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas found at Round Top.  Dan found the decanter while we were antiquing one day- I envisioned it filled with bubble bath; Dan envisioned filled it with Glenmorangie.  The scotch won!  Antique French gilt wood fragment found at the Porte de Vanves flea market in Paris.  Dan found the coral on a beach in Aruba; the tiny shell fossil was found in a wonderful little shop in Creede, Colorado!

Large clam shell with Japanese fishing float and small piece of coral found in Florida.  The color of the interior is a little bright in this photo (the color in all the other photos is more accurate), but it gives you a good view of the cut out notches for the wood crossbars that run front to back that hold the shelf .  The photograph above with the starburst mirror shows the crossbars well.

Alabaster compote filled with collection of old silvered Christmas ornaments.  Antique mercury glass pieces share the shelf with an antique oil painting found at the Scott Antiques Market in Atlanta and an alabaster shell.

I found this large piece of blue coral at a consignment store in a nearby town.  I left it.  Then came back with a paint chip to make sure it would match the walls and the painted inside of the cabinet.   It matched perfectly!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my very creative and talented husband who makes all my designs and dreams come true.  Without Dan's creative vision and innovative designs my "ideas" would remain just that.... ideas. 

Thank you my talented Dan!

saving sweet memories...

This photograph captured a very sweet memory of one of the many dinners we shared with our dear (and much missed) friends and neighbors, Don & Michel, at our home in Dallas.   Judging from the glazed lemon pound cake, which was one of Don's favorites, I would guess this was his birthday dinner as I would always try to make their favorites.  I remember taking this photo at the end of the meal thinking it was such a wonderful night that I wanted to remember it forever.   I love how it is slightly blurry, and the table is in disarray-  just like a sweet memory, faded and softened around the edges.

One of my favorite personal possessions is my guest menu-book that I have had for the last 20 years- where I have kept the names of all guests/family that I have made dinner for with the date and menu,  how I decorated the table, what dishes, glasses, flatware and napkins I used.  I write down any notes about preparing the meal, any comments from the guests about the meal... .  It has become a journal of sweet, wonderful memories centered around the dining table and sharing meals.  Reading it transports me back to that memory and all the guests who have graced our table.

  I also will, on occasion, take photographs of the table before the guests arrive, but my favorite photographs are the ones I sometimes take after the meal, like the photograph above-  when the table isn't set and perfect, but the memory of one meal and one wonderful evening is captured forever.

I wish you the makings of sweet memories as you gather around the table with family and friends this Thanksgiving!

xojoan

a lovely surprise...

This morning as we set out on our walk I found this sight..... a plastic bag attached to the mailbox.

huhhhhhhhhhhhh?????????

I hadn't a clue what in the world was in the bag or who would have left it.

I walked up slowly, a little apprehensive, and

this is what I found inside!!!!!
CONKS!!!!!!!!  A bag full of conks!

I knew instantly who it was from....a gift from our painter/handyman, Seth,  who knows that I collect conks, aka tree fungus!!!

Isn't that just the nicest thing?!  I think they are absolutely beautiful!

 I don't think I would have been more delighted if it were a bag of diamonds..... (well, okay maybe if it were diamonds;), but you get the point of what a kind, thoughtful gift it was!!

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday too!

vintage japanese glass fishing floats

basketball-size fishing float in antique urn at front door


(This post could also be entitled "it's a small world," but I'll get to that story later in this post!)

Japanese glass fishing floats were once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their nets afloat. Large groups of fishnets strung together, sometimes 50 miles (80 km) long, were set adrift in the ocean and supported near the surface by hollow glass balls or cylinders containing air to give them buoyancy.  These glass floats are no longer being used by fishermen, but many of them are still afloat in the world's oceans, primarily the Pacific.

The earliest floats, including most Japanese glass fishing floats, were hand made by a glassblower. Recycled glass, especially old sake bottles, was typically used and air bubbles in the glass are a result of the rapid recycling process. After being blown, floats were removed from the blowpipe and sealed with a 'button' of melted glass before being placed in a cooling oven. (This sealing button is sometimes mistakenly identified as a pontil mark. However, no pontil (or punty) was used in the process of blowing glass floats.) While floats were still hot and soft, marks were often embossed on or near the sealing button to identify the float for trademark. These marks sometimes included kanji symbols. Today most of the glass floats remaining in the ocean are stuck in a circular pattern of ocean currents in the North Pacific.   Once a float lands on a beach, it may roll in the surf and become "etched" by sand. Many glass floats show distinctive wear patters from the corrosive forces of sand, sun, and salt water. When old netting breaks off of a float, its pattern often remains on the surface of the glass where the glass was protected under the netting. Other floats have small amounts of water trapped inside of them. This water apparently enters the floats through microscopic imperfections in the glass while the floats are suspended in Arctic ice or held under water by netting.  Most floats are shades of green because that is the color of glass from recycled sake bottles (especially after long exposure to sunlight). However, clear, amber, aquamarine, amethyst, blue and other colors were also produced.

They have become a popular collectors’ item for beachcombers and decorators. Replicas are also being manufactured.

(The above excerpt is from Wikipedia and the full article can be read here.)

Fishing floats on the dining room table.  I love them all, but my very favorites have the rope etching.

photo for the love of a house






A collection of baseball-size floats still in their nets.
Vintage Biltmore Hotel Silver tray.photo for the love of a house



Close-up of the "marking" on the float.

photo for the love of a house

More of the collection in the basement!  This jardiniere is huge, so the size of the floats is a little misleading..... the largest in this photo are basketball-size and the smallest is grapefruit-size!
photo for the love of a house



My own personal exposure to fishing floats came at a very young age...  as I've mentioned before, my mother grew up in Hawaii (the story of her childhood lamp that now resides in my kitchen is here) and she would find floats on the beach that had washed ashore.   When she married my father and moved to the mainland she brought those floats with her and I grew up in San Antonio with the floats scattered in the yard amidst the flowers and shrubs.  After meeting Dan and moving to the Pacific Northwest we began antiquing to furnish our then apartment.  I started spying the small floats at shops, back then for very little money- usually around $1-$3 each!!  The floats captured my heart for three reasons:  I have a fondness for the orb shape (as can be seen throughout the house); they reminded me of home; and being poor newlyweds,  at $1 it was sometimes the only thing I could afford to buy on a shopping trip!   
Thus, a collection began!!

Fast forward several years and many floats - small baseball-size floats, grapefruit-size and large basketball-size floats have now been added to our collection!  We lived in Dallas at this point, and my much;) older sister, Susan, and beloved brother-in-law, Doug, admired our collection and started collecting floats themselves.
We had many wonderful antiquing sources in the Northwest, so for my antiques business in Dallas Dan and I would fly back regularly to shop.  On one such trip we took Susan and Doug with us, and went to the Tacoma Dome Antiques Show.  At the show, we separated to shop and when we met back up with Susan and Doug they were in a booth that had floats for sale talking to a man who was introduced to us as "Frank Forster."  Frank evidently had a vast collection of floats and the next thing I know we are driving to Frank's house in Tacoma to see his collection!  And vast it was- Frank was a serious collector and a whole room had been dedicated to fishing floats!   We also met his lovely wife Kim.  My sister corresponded with Frank and Kim for several years, until Frank's death.

So..... imagine my surprise when several months ago while blog-hopping I stumble on a blog called

Glass Float Junkie 

and on her site find photos and a mention of Frank and Kim's collection!! 

It is definitely a small world, yes?!

Rich Richardson and Frank Forster

photo Glass Float Junkie

Kamichia used to live in Alaska (she now lives on the Oregon coast) and would take plane trips to remote
beaches and find the likes of this....

photo by Glass Float Junkie



I squealed out loud when I first saw this photo!  The mother load of fishing floats right on the beach!!  Like an Easter egg hunt, only better!!!!  Can you imagine?! 

For a fascinating pictorial be sure to click on all of Kamichia's photo-links on her sidebar here showing her beach combing trips and the individual photos of different types of floats!

Since floats are now considered "collectibles", there are a lot of fakes out there too.  Kamichia talks about how to tell what is real from what is fake here.

Several of you have asked me where you might find fishing floats for sale; Kamichia also sells fishing floats on etsy,  (you can also look on ebay), but-  be forewarned.....
fishing floats can quickly become an obsession!!!:)

Here are a few other photos of how I use the vintage fishing floats around the house...
placed in the center of the iron dining table on the back porch

...in a copper tub filled with fishing floats and copper floats on the back porch

... in an old wire basket on the upstairs master bedroom porch.  I love the pop of color of the one amethyst float!

leaving something behind...

You often hear stories of people finding all sorts of things in the walls of antique homes during renovations.... things like: coins, children's shoes, newspapers, bottles- artifacts from another time. When we renovated the farmhouse we had hoped we would find items that had been placed in the walls 150 years ago when the house was built. We did not.

Today I wrote down this house blessing that we have used to bless our home since we first purchased the property. We will place this blessing inside of a wall in the barn room in hopes that in another 150 years, when someone finds it that they will know how much the house was loved.

I signed a second piece of paper with our names, and the year. I contemplated including photographs, but with close to 10,000 photos (literally) of the renovation where would I start and where would I end??

Instead, I wrote something else on the piece of paper that felt surreal, strange and exciting all at the same time.... I wrote the address for this blog,

for the love of a house

We often talk and wonder about the people who originally built the farmhouse- what were they like, why did they make certain design choices, how long did they live here, were they happy, what did the interiors look like the day they moved in, did they die in this house, did their children own it after them, and on and on... . What I wouldn't give to know these answers.
So, imagine through the power of magic, or in this case the Internet, in 150 years from now when we are all gone from this world that the new owner would be able to type in an old Internet address and see and read about the renovation of this farmhouse a century and a half before. It seems so silly on one hand, but...
what if?!

That then makes you, dear friend, part of the history of this house too!  I truly can not thank each and every one of you enough for being along on this journey with us,  and for all the house-love and encouragement you give to us along the way.

Thank you so much for your role in the renovation of this farmhouse.

The House Blessing

God, bless this house and all who live here. Fill this dwelling with an ambiance of peace, prosperity, health, happiness, harmony and love. Let this space shine with divine light and beauty and provide a warm, comfortable haven from the world. May only beings that are kind-hearted and well-intentioned enter here. May nature's spirits feel welcome and live with us as friends. May all who enter here receive what they need, and feel richly blessed with their heart's desires.

quieting the voices...

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or if you are one of those wonderful, crazy new followers that have told me that you've gone back to the beginning and read the whole thing  (xo to all of you!) then you know how much I love New England and how much I love living here. 
That said, there is one thing that I dislike HATE about it.........
power outages.


This morning we woke up to this winter wonderland!

 As much as I enjoy the beauty, there is this nagging little voice inside my head screaming...
"PLEASE DON'T LET THE POWER GO OUT!"


It was in our second winter here that we lived through what is now referred to in the media as the "ice storm of the century."  (the story is here)  While we were some of the "lucky" ones who only lost power for SIX days (some people were without power for over three weeks), it was still a very traumatic event.  We were living in a rent house while the farmhouse was being renovated, and our rent house's only source of heat was a tiny flame from a very lame gas fireplace with the temperatures getting down into the single-digits every night.  When we lived in Dallas we would have the occasional power outage and would gripe for days if the power had been out for 2 hours!!  So, needless to say six days was a really long time.  Last year we lost power for two days and then just last Saturday we were out for a full day. 

There are a lot of occasions in New Hampshire for power outages:  snow, ice, high winds, falling trees, etc...   When we renovated the farmhouse (and after the ice storm) we buried our electrical lines from the road, but that doesn't eliminate all the other factors around us. 
(I would also like to note for the record, that somehow Dan always seems to be out-of-town during these power outages..... hmmmmmm...)


So.... this week this little beauty was installed!  For those of you not familiar with this type of animal this is a whole-house generator that comes on automatically when the power goes out.
(This should make some of the voices in my head go away!!)
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

(I would also like to point out that Dan, with the help of Big Blue!, built the stone retaining wall behind the generator... it is still a work in progress!)


So, what's the longest you've ever been without power?!

do you Craigslist?!

If you do then you know the great finds that can be found; if you don't may I suggest you do!

One of our favorite stops on Craigslist is the "free" section.  We are constantly shocked and amazed at the really good things that people give away for free.  (We are also shocked and amazed that people list postings like:  one free container of baby formula - I kid you not!) 
I can't tell you how many times I have told Dan I could decorate a whole house with the things that people give away.  I do acknowledge that we seem to have a very generous free listing section here in New Hampshire.    For example...before Thanksgiving there were probably 50 listings giving away Thanksgiving dinner to families in need- some with all the ingredients to make your own, some in a restaurant and some actually invited strangers into their home.  I realize this sounds crazy and frightening to many (depending on the size of your city) but we have found New Hampshire to have a very helpful and generous spirit.  I thought maybe this was the new "thing" but after looking at a dozen cities (of varying size) across the country the only place I found people offering free Thanksgiving dinners to those in need was here. 
But, even if your free section isn't as overly generous-  still check, you never know what you will find!

Yesterday Dan and I (and, of course, sweet Ella) drove 5 hours round trip, in the snow to pick up a free antique Victorian sofa that we found on Craigslist.  Neither of us could bare the thought of it going on the burn pile which was to be its next stop (the burn pile was literally roaring when we arrived!)   It was a very dark day which is why this photo is so grainy.  This is how we found the sofa- sitting alone in the dark corner 'praying' it wasn't next to go on the fire.  I thought it would make a fine addition to the loft (office space) that we are creating in the barn.  To be perfectly honest, this is not a typical style of sofa that I would normally chose, but it was exactly because of that, and that I think the lines will look fabulous with the exposed beams of the room that I wanted to have a closer look!   The piece is indeed antique with its original horse hair peaking from under the springs, and once the rather ornate woodwork is sanded down and either left with hints of the white paint (that someone unfortunately slapped on years ago), or maybe painted a gloss black- then upholster in a brown/mushroom velvet with one long, down-wrapped linen cushion......  I'm thinking it will be fabulous and fun, and it was FREE!!!

Look past the hanging springs, the b.a.d. white paint on the frame and the nasty 1970's upholstery ripped and exposing even older upholstery to the lines and curves of the back and the arms!  The sofa is really long and deep, and looks perfect for napping!  And, if you can't look past all those things, then I will say what I occasionally say to Dan.... "trust me on this one!"

Dan and the husband of the woman who posted the listing carrying the sofa through several feet of snow as it wouldn't fit through the doorways to enable it to be carried out the front of the barn.
A favorite part of this sofa story for me is that this couple was hired to clean/clear out the house and the barn, no doubt making minimum wage... that the woman saw the beauty in the sofa and took the time to take a photo, post a listing and take phone calls regarding the sofa warms my heart.  It would have been much easier to simply toss the sofa on the fire and be done with it.  I thanked her profusely for taking the time to help the sofa find a new life (and slipped them a twenty;)

This iron chandelier will find its home in the barn room, and is another recent Craigslist find.  
And, although I paid for this one it was still an amazing find and bargain!  I have had my eye out for a chandelier for the barn room for well over a year.  The room is a good size, and I knew it would need a rather large chandelier.  I knew I would not find anything that large in an antique, and all the beautiful new ones I could find that were large enough were thousands of dollars, and that wasn't in the budget!  One day I thought to look on Craigslist, and kept expanding my search to neighboring states.  I stumbled on this beauty in Connecticut (another 5 hours round trip!)   People are notorious for posting bad, blurry photographs and not giving any information, so don't hesitate to ask.  In the original photo this chandelier was laying on the ground in front of what was obviously a really large staircase and it covered the expanse, so I knew it was big.  I was thrilled to find out that it was just over 4 feet.....  perfect scale for the room!

She was asking $300, I offered $250 and got it!!

The chandelier is not old, but is hand wrought and has great lines.

Dan and our carpenter hung the chandelier in the barn room so I could see it up and see the scale!  I will probably paint it  a brown/rust color.  The piece of plywood is giving the illusion of a large candle sleeve!  (oh, and I'm sure some of you are wondering.... the green stuff on the wall is soy-based insulation!)

I would love to hear of your great Craigslist finds!