painted paneling

After over five years of {nagging} discussions, the dark stained paneling in our home is getting painted this week.  Yep ...painted :)

One of the things we loved about our home, when we first saw it, is the very thing that we were starting to dislike ...the dark stained paneling {more-so for me than my husband}.
Agreed ...the picture-framed paneling is beautiful, but a bit overwhelming and outdated when you consider that the entire downstairs floor is paneled dark.  We have beautiful dark-stained wall units from Belgium in our Living Room that are lost up again the dark stained paneled walls right now.
So...

I am sooooo excited that our home is getting a make-over.  I will keep you posted as the transition unfolds.  This is a huge undertaking that will make a huge difference in our home.  After the job of painting the paneled walls is complete, I will have the distinct privilege of re-decorating our home and plan on adding more of the Feng Shui principles I have learned about.
Pinch me ...I must surely be dreaming.
~Jan @ BellaCasa

lucky day tea service

Anyone that know me well, knows how much I love my hot tea and white ironstone collections.
Well over the weekend I had this urge to go shopping ...been looking for a silk tree and thought what the heck ...this could be my lucky day.

 I always walk thru the aisle where all the dishes are displayed first before going through the rest of the store to see what is new.

To my disappointment ...the shelves were very bare that day.  As I approached the third aisle   ...boom, there she was ...my beautiful new tea service.

And this isn't just any tea service.  This is the tea service I have been lusting longing for ever since the day I found the pitcher that goes with the collection.

Research led me to the Victorian Bird collection, but I couldn't find the pieces locally for sale.

I am now the proud owner of my first complete tea service...I am so very proud.
Passing on purchasing the coffee pot in the collection, I'm hopeful that it will still be at available the next time I'm shopping.  Then I'll have {what I think} is the complete collection {not quite sure since I believe the collection to be retired}.  This collection will one day belong to my daughter and for that, I am very grateful.

~Jan @ BellaCasa
{photos by:  Jan @ TheBellaCasaBlog.com, Tea Set:  by Coastline Imports, Victorian Bird collection @ Home Goods}