Joan's Pretty Old House--The Inside

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your Dream House?

Did you ever pretend when you were little, or imagine--maybe last week, that you had your dream house?

That you found your style and really truly made it happen.

Joan did it.

It took a long time...

and a lot of work...

and some sacrifices...

 but she has something we can appreciate. 

 

 And she shares it with her friends.

It isn't grand or palatial.

But it's WONDERFUL!

Joan knows what she likes.

She told me years ago that when she was young and getting started she picked "country" because it was cheap and she could do it.  I think it was because that's what she loves.

Joan's a very accomplished crafter--no, she's more than that--what she does is art.

She has that eye for detail.

And a ton of creativity.

Joan is an inspiration. 

I'm so lucky.

If you missed the previous posts you can see the Porch here and The Garden here.

I'm linking to:
        

Patti

Joan's Pretty Old House--The Garden Tour

Welcome back to Joan's House. 

If you missed the first post about her Porch you can view it here. This post is all about the garden.

I'm starting this tour at the pergola-  you know how I feel about those.  I LOVE PERGOLAS.

Remember what I said a while back about the Seaside Gardens? "Every garden needs a gate."
Well this one has a PERGOLA GATE.  And a picket fence.

It takes a while to see everything is the picture above. How wonderful.

Garden designers tell us to make rooms in our gardens.  Joan did it with such ease.  Here is her brick patio out by the garage.  Its not fancy and it doesn't require too much attention--in other words it's perfect.

The next stop is the pond. I didn't see any koi, but I heard the biggest bullfrog in Ball Ground. Joan said he's a permanent resident.

A cute story about the lily pads.  When she bought them--one pot mind they were expensive--the nice people at the garden center told her how to place them on a brick under the water and be sure the pot stayed upright, blah, blah, blah.  She did just what they said and had two pitiful lily pad leaves for years. Then something happened and the pot tipped over. And viola--the thing started growing and now look.

There's not too much garden art. Just enough.

This is a pecan tree.  I covet this pecan tree. Joan gets bushels of pecans in the fall.

I hope you'll come back later for a tour of the Inside.
I'll show you what's happening on the other side of this kitchen window.

 Patti

Wordless Wednesday

Good Life Wednesday @ A beach cottage

Joan's Pretty Old House

Get ready Readers.
This is one really Pretty Old House.
It's so PRETTY it's going to take me several posts to show it all.

This house belongs to a dear friend whom I've known for ages. It's her dream house and you can tell.

Just a word of caution: Joan's style is very rustic and country.

If you're looking for a serene beachy styled Pretty Old House.

This ain't it.

The house is in Ball Ground, Georgia, about an hour north of Atlanta.

Enough already... Let's step up on the porch Banksie's waiting.

We're met by this rustic rocker with the table and Spanish Moss covered birdhouse.

And this wonderful old front door which may or may not be original.

I'm always so overwhelmed I forget to ask.

We're just beginning and I'm already dizzy.

This porch extension is what Joan refers to as "The Porch"  as in "Come on up and let's sit on the porch."
Notice the robin's egg blue ceiling?  Seen that before?




I love the "rug" Joan painted on the floor. Also, the floor color is probably something like "Front Porch Gray." It's very classic.  She wouldn't dream of painting it any other color.

Don't overlook the distressed blue chest.  All the furniture on the porch is so comfy--made for sitting and talking and taking it easy.  The farm table is a little higher than a typical coffee table--just right for snacks and drinks. And the ferns...

This porch wraps around three sides of the house. Sigh....
Here we go.

The side porch has so much style-I just don't know how to describe this.  Joan said she needed something for the walls--they were too plain--so she hung these chairs. And the spinning wheel? And more wicker?

a little secret--- Joan stashes her pillows in this rustic bin.

Turn the corner and---

The back porch holds the white picnic table. For those of you who love all things white this is pretty good.

How about that dinner bell?

This is the bathroom window--from the outside.

And an old wash tub with its stand filled with silver dead nettle.

This is what to do with an old garden cart.

And a shelf for succulents.

This dear reader is the Back Door.  Its nicer than most front doors. Look at the transom above the short roof/cover.

 Details, details, details.



Well, that wraps up the Porch Tour. I want to thank Joan again for allowing me to take pictures of her amazing home and share them with you.

Check back soon for the Garden Tour  and the Tour of the Inside.

Patti

Linked to "Wow Us Wednesdays"

Happy Easter

Meet The Bunnies.

When our kids were little every Easter they'd get at least one bunny in their basket.

My mother would make a few ceramic things every year, too.

So...over time we amassed a Bunny Collection.

We used to take out all the bunnies, play with them and make a big bunny pile on the dining room table.

When the kids grew up they kinda lost interest and the bunnies were packed away.

Now there's a new kid on the block so the bunnies are back.

I missed them.

Patti

Terraces

My house sooooo needs a terrace.

Not a patio, but a raised terrace.

This one is very nice don't you think?

It's from a 1920s home on East Lake Drive in Decatur, Georgia.

image from the FMLS

There's a covered area- shown here and an open area that goes around the front of the house.

The decorating on this terrace is really pretty. I love the colorful pillows.  Notice the distressed sideboard on the left side of the picture.

Nice.

I'm looking for inspiration for floors and steps down from the terrace to the lawn.

The terrace below was on the garden tour last year. It was so good but tooo big.

These steps could work on my house---they're my not so secret inspiration. I like the planting beds on each side of the steps.  The stone is beautiful but might be a little too busy for my taste.  I can go with stone steps and a plainer deck.

The elevated terrace is surrounded by a low stone wall and sports a fantastic fireplace.  I'd love my terrace to look like this.

The terrace below was also on last years garden tour. It has a pergola!  with a swing!!

So shady and lush.  This is more of a patio in my opinion--we need an elevated terrace.

Another garden tour terrace- from 2008 I think.  Here we have a pea gravel terrace with a border to hold the gravel in place. An outdoor kitchen was a real bonus.

It's raised and has nice steps down from the terrace to a pool deck.  The "Garden Tourists" seemed to enjoy the terrace.

Hydrangeass planted in a row make a great hedge.

The seating area and outdoor fireplace were awesome. I sat there ad admired everything for the longest time.

The furniture was perfect.

An alternative to solid stone is scored concrete with stone accents.

Here's a nice example.  I really like this look better--not so busy.  Another graden tour stop.

The concrete isn't smooth--it has a rough finish that mimics stone but the color is calmer.

It could be that I don't like crab orchard stone--its too orange.

Here's one of the nicest terraces I've seen.  Check out the fireplace.  The spa and pool aren't too shabby.
images from the First Multi List

So classy.