My New (Johnston Benchworks) Furniture!

I can’t believe after wishing for Johnston Benchworks furniture for so long that it’s finally sitting in my living room! The day after it was delivered, we left to go out of town for the funeral of my aunt and uncle. So I’m really just now soaking it in. It sure was nice to come home to though!

I know it’s the pictures you really want to see, so I’ll just oblige you with those right now. :)

It is all still a work in progress. Now I have the furniture and it’s time to change out some of the wall décor. It will definitely still have an Americana feel but I would like to add more gameboards. I already purchased a George Washington oil painting which needs to be stretched and framed.  I will be on the look-out for side tables.  And I'm not so sure about the cedar chest in the middle of the room now either.   But those things will just be icing on the cake.  :)

The sofa is the Chippendale long sofa. The legs on all the furniture are the Wheat Oak grooved.  Ever since we built this house (actually before that), I’ve wanted a red checked couch. I LOVE this couch! I can’t stop looking at it. The fabric is in the Steiger Check Red. Did I tell you that I love my red checked couch?  :)

The fireside chair definitely needs a throw pillow. I’m working on that too. This chair is the Miller’s Creek Wing Chair and I love the way it envelopes me when I sit in it. It is so comfortable! We purchased extra fabric with the intention of Jason building me a stool that we will have covered in the same fabric, which is Liberty Check.  Color is called Brazen.

These two recliner chairs are the Maple Springs Recliners.   They are comfortable too. I was a little worried about the comfort since we had never sat in one, but they are comfortable!  They only recline to one position but I'm already used to that.  Even Jason says they are comfortable.  I loved this fabric with the sofa!  It is called Colony Mustard.  This is one fabric that I was absolutely sure of and didn't waiver from when deciding on color choices with my red sofa.  I knew I wanted it in there somewhere somehow.  

I had to look around the house for something to use for a table in between the chairs.  The baskets I had there stacked just didn't look right with these chairs.  The outlet definitely needs to be covered too.  This will most likely be changing over time, but it works for now.

Our next project in the house will be to remove the wallpaper from the foyer/stair area, paint the walls, encase the windows above it in wood, and put wooden treads on the staircase. I think removing the old gray carpet and the dated wallpaper will make a big difference. The plan was to do this before the furniture arrived, but as you know, we’ve had unplanned circumstances these past few months.  So we will be covering furniture and digging into another home improvement project.  Nothing unusual for us, I suppose.  :)

And I'll let you in on a secret because we all know that Johnston Benchworks furniture doesn't come just real cheap......Or at least I didn't know it, but was thrilled to find out!  We purchased our furniture through American Heritage Crafters.  We stumbled upon their sale in March.  Because they are the largest dealers of Johnston Benchworks furniture, they are able to offer a huge sale every March and October.  They offer a buy one piece of JB at full price and get the next equal or lesser value piece for free.  In our case, we purchased the sofa, and got the fireside chair free.  We purchased one recliner and received the other free.  We had to pay to have it shipped (and wait for the truck to be in our area), but still saved over $2000.   This actually made it not that much more expensive than most furniture.....maybe just a little, but much more within our budget range anyway.  Ask for Kathy and tell her I sent you!  :)  And Kris (the designer there) was also wonderful in helping with color choices from a designer's point of view.  They were so pleasant to work with.  And the delivery company (Alpha and Omega) did a great job with their "white glove delivery" and were very careful and thorough in moving the furniture in.

And I also want to say that if you are ever anywhere near Clinton, Tennessee, check out The Speckled Hen.  Sharon, the owner, is wonderful too.  She was very helpful to me as I was deciding on furniture and we had the privilege of visiting her store.  She also sells Johnston Benchworks, as well as many other wonderful primitives there!  If you are ever near there, don't miss her store!  And if you aren't near there, you can still shop with her online.   I have a wish list from there now!

As you can probably guess, I’m kind of floating on clouds these days. I am SO thrilled and SO thankful for my Johnston Benchworks furniture!  Waiting (forever) was well worth it. :)

Thanks for stopping by......and for waiting so patiently on the pictures until I could get back home and get them posted!  Have a great day!  :)

It's (Finally) Here!

Not to tease you or anything,  but………………………………………….

the furniture is here!  :)

Did you hear me squealing?

Pics coming soon!   But let me just say, that I LOVE it!

Updates

I’m sorry for leaving you hanging with no information on several things I mentioned in previous posts!

First of all today, I’d like to thank you all for the prayers for my father-in-law (whom I call Pawpaw) and for our family. We are now at the point where Pawpaw is in hospice care and is basically completely bed ridden because of the damage the multiple myeloma has done to his bones and kidneys. Of course, only God knows how long he will be here with us but according to the doctors, it won’t be long. We really do appreciate your prayers, especially for Pawpaw at this time, and of course for Jason and his sister.

Secondly I told you there was going to be a change in this room.

Most of you guessed correctly when you said new furniture. The wall color is staying the same, however. I have always loved being surrounded by that New England Red so I figure why mess with something I love already.

We’ve had our furniture for 22 years now. Actually, the beige recliner is older than that….probably 25 years old. Every once in awhile I would remind Jason of just how old our furniture was and that we really needed new furniture. He normally would joke and say, “Nah, it’s only 22 years old” or “It’s still got some years left” or "Tammy, it's sentimental". That part is actually true......this furniture has gone through all three of our kids' toddler years and it has the wear to prove it! :) One particular arm on the couch is especially worn because Colt and Joy particularly loved to lean across that arm when it was near the wall heater for keeping warm while watching TV. And there are stains from the sippy cups (that weren’t supposed to leak).

For a long time, I’ve wanted a red checked couch. I also dreamed of Johnston Benchworks furniture. I had decided I would live with worn out furniture rather than settle for something I didn't really want. Thus the long wait. As you know, Johnston Benchworks isn't exactly the least expensive furniture out there. It took quite a bit of researching and looking at fabric samples and pouring through Country Sampler magazines to find what I wanted. There were so many wonderful fabrics that it made the decision difficult. In the end, my love for red won. When I got these three fabrics side by side, I knew it was me. It was what I envisioned for my living room. It goes with my red wall and it’s simple, casual, and informal which pretty much sums me up too. :)

Here are the fabrics:

I made up a color combination with my wall color behind it with the fabrics laid over it.  Here's how it looks:

The one on the left, the small check, is called Liberty Check Brazen. It will be on this chair (which is called Miller’s Creek Chair). I was able to sit in one of those chairs and it is SO comfortable! It just enveloped me and I felt so snug and secure in it. Jason has plans to make a footstool to go with it so we are getting extra fabric to cover that.

This is the style chair that will be by the fireplace, but not the fabric.

The middle fabric, which is called Colony Mustard, is for two recliners. The recliners I chose were the Maple Spring Recliners, which do look alot like wing chairs.

This is the style of the recliner, not the fabric.

And I got my wish…..my dream come true…..my red checked couch! :) I tried other red checks which were too pinkish, or with other colors added in with the red that I didn’t exactly love……..but this one was definitely "it" when I saw it. It is called Steiger Red.

And it will be on this style sofa: (Country Chippendale)

This is the style of sofa, but not the fabric I chose.

The furniture is being made right now and won’t be finished for another 3-4 weeks and then we have to wait for delivery which could be another 2-3 weeks. So, I still have quite a wait, but after 22 years, I guess a few more weeks won’t make a difference! I’m really excited! :)

And we have a lot of things (and stress) going on now, so not sure how it's going to work out before the furniture gets here, but we hoped to take up the carpet on the staircase and put in wood that will include painted risers and stained pine step treads. Oh, and the wallpaper will come down in the foyer and be painted instead. And I could definitely envision a cabinet (cupboard style) in the foyer. I haven't filled Jason in on that part yet. Shh....we'll let him in on that later. :)

You can see how the red stops here right now.

I'm really not sure about the paint color for the foyer. I have to ponder that a little more. My first thought was that we would paint it the color of the dining room and then I was thinking that might be too much break up of colors and wondered if continuing with the red might be better. I’m really confused and unsure about that. Any thoughts?

This shows the color of the dining room wall.

Along with these changes, I hope to add a wall of gameboards behind the two recliners in the living room and I have always wanted an oil painting of some sort of George Washington to go with my Colonial Americana. I found one and will share it when it gets here. All of this will hopefully come together slowly after the furniture gets here.

And so......that is what has been going on in our neck of the woods these days. Speaking of neck of the woods, how much is gas in your neck of the woods? It rose to $3.85 a gallon here yesterday! It actually jumped 16 cents per gallon.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Fresh From the Workshop (to The Cedar Loft)

If you heard squealing Monday evening, that was probably me! I knew my carpenter was working on a carpentry project that I requested of him (a TV cabinet for the loft), but without my knowledge, Jason finished it and snuck it up to The Cedar Loft. He summoned me up to the loft, and there it sat…..in all its glory! And it looks so perfect there. It was one of those pieces that was just meant to be, so in character for that space. You know how you envision a piece of furniture in a spot? Well this went far beyond my expectations! Can you tell I love it? :)

I had shown Jason a few cabinet ideas that I found online and in Country Sampler magazines, and told him I would like a “sort of mix” of those. I “turned him loose” on it. I so trust his judgement, because he knows me now. I say now when it comes to building furniture for me because it did take awhile to get the distressed idea through to him, but once he got it, he really got it! He even added some of his own creative touches that I didn’t show him!

The panels on the front of the door were his idea! I love that!

Instead of using antique glazing on the green (it's actually called Brown Moss), we had agreed upon sanding and rubbing on stain. We decided on red oak stain.

The ends being "paneled" was his little addition and I love it!

Monday night, after calling us up to the loft, after a while the kids fell asleep on the couch. Jason and I just sat there staring at it. Is that silly or what? Do you do that? I do that with my Christmas lights and décor. I like to turn off the lights and just sit back and enjoy it. And that’s exactly what we did with that cabinet. We didn’t even have the TV on. We just snuggled up on the couch and admired his handiwork. :) And it’s all his handiwork. I didn’t have one hand in the building of it. I just told him what I wanted, and he built it. I’m so grateful that he enjoys building what I dream up!

I just love that little indention of the wood near the left knob!

We just got the 40" flat screen LCD TV a couple of weeks ago. Jason started on the TV cabinet right about then, but has only been able to work here and there after work and a little on the weekends.

 I’m really thrilled because now we can enjoy our Christmas movies in The Cedar Loft if we want! I’m still working on adding some Christmas decorations up there. Hopefully in a week or so, I will have it to the point of sharing more pictures of the loft decorated for Christmas.

He made sure I had a shelf to display rustic/prim decor....even though it's on a very low wall!

This is absolutely one of my very favorite pieces Jason had made for me. I really love my red stepback cupboard in the kitchen and the navy blue sideboard/buffet in the dining, room, but this definitely rates right there with those.

Now for the next projects……….pegboards and a cupboard for the kitchen in The Cedar Loft. That would make a great Christmas gift, don’t you think?  :)

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**Dianne (a reader of my blog) left a comment asking if I could recommend more movies, possibly from instant streaming Netflix that were family friendly. I didn't have a way to contact you, Dianne, so I decided to post it here. I would love to do that. I will try to put together some sort of list and post that as soon as I can get it all together. I am not sure if you were speaking of movies in general, or just Christmas ones. I am assuming movies in general. If you would let me know for sure, that would be helpful! Thank you for your comment! I love hearing from you! **

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Thank you for stopping by today! I don't know if I can hold out to 500 followers for a giveaway.....I want to do a Christmas one, so I might just have to do that real soon! :)

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait....

I have a philosophy when it comes to purchases or decorating my home.  If I can't figure out exactly what I want where or if I can't find or afford what I really want, I wait.  I'd rather have nothing or do nothing until I know what I want or find what "speaks to me", or can afford to get what I want.  Actually it's kind of exciting know that it will happen one day.....I will find exactly what I want or be able to purchase just the right thing for the spot!

That's why my kitchen cabinets have had nothing above them since we remodeled our kitchen.  Nothing I happen to think of just makes me jump up and down.  I think I have an idea now, but it hasn't been until recently that I thought of what I'd like there.  It will take awhile to get it to that point though.  So there we go again with waiting.  But that's okay.

One big thing I've waited on concerns living room furniture.  We've had our living room furniture since 1990!  Maybe I shouldn't tell that....I guess it's kind of embarrassing.  It's been through life with all my kids.   But.....what I want I can't afford, or put it this way.....it's not #1 on our priority list.   There are always other things that come up that have to come first.   I LOVE Johnston Benchworks furniture, but I would also settle for used furniture with the right bones to have re-upholstered in the prim fabrics that I love.   I'm always on the look-out for a good deal on either of the above options.

That's why I was so excited to find my newest purchase at the antique gallery that Joy and I frequent.  I passed by one particular booth and saw "it".  It was a blue chair and it was a fabric pattern that I loved!

I figured it would be way out of my price range, but imagine my surprise to find a price tag of $90 on it!  I was thrilled!  I came home and presented my case to Jason.  He said yes.  I decided that when I went back, if it was still there, it was meant to be and if it was gone, not meant to be.  I was really really happy to find it still waiting (for me).   :)

I'm not really comfortable with haggling on prices, but I thought it was worth a try to just ask.  I mean, all they could do is say no, right?  So I asked if the owner of that booth would take any less for the chair (actually I thought the price was already reasonable and I was getting it anyway), but I had to ask.  The clerk asked me to make an offer.  I didn't know what to say, so she suggested I offer $75.  So I did.  She called the owner and when it was said and done, I got it for 10% off, $81!  Even better than $90!

My intentions were that it would eventually end up in my living room, but for now it would probably go in my bedroom.  I had just the spot for it there.   I would wait until I had the rest of my furniture (that I'm still sort of patiently waiting on) before I put it in the living room.  However, when I got it home and put it in the living room in this corner, I knew it had to stay.  I love it there.  Actually, I love that entire corner! 

When the Christmas tree goes up, it will have to be moved to our bedroom for the Christmas season, but it will then be moved back. You know how everything always looks bare after Christmas decor comes down?  Well, now I'll have my chair to look forward to and it won't be so bare!  I love it! 

Good things really do come to those who wait.......so now I'm waiting on the rest of it!  :)