Our Journey through Europe.....Nuremberg, Germany

Europe was so full of inspiration.....from Germany to ..... Switzerland Alps to ..... turquoise sea and mountains in Cinque Terre to....golden hills in Tuscany to....beautiful Austria Alps.  Each region was beautiful and inspirational in different ways.


While still waiting to upload more pictures I thought I would share just a little each day with you!


Everyone has asked me what was your favorite part of the trip, and I have to say they all were so different I don't know if I could pick out a favorite!


We started out in Nuremberg, Germany touring the Old City.  We enjoyed the traditional Bavarian food, as well as Spanish style tapas, and visited the Nuremberg Castle.

Rubbing the gold ring for good luck

Of course we had to have a coffee break!

 One night we had dinner at the Heilig-Geist-Spital, or Hospice of the Holy Ghost. Built between 1332 and 1339 and was a foundation for old and needy people. Today it is traditional Bavarian Restaurant.

Greg's German meal.....mmmmmmm

Schäufele - Roasted Pork Shoulder

I don't like meat & I loved this.

Kim's German meal....White asparagus with potatoes

Nuremberg Castle

hill to the castle

view of Nuremberg from the castle

Statue in the castle gardens

Old fountain in the castle gardens

The Nuremberg Castle began construction after 1050 AD, although the oldest remaining part is the Chapel, built around 1200. Severely damaged during WWII, it has been reconstructed to near the original condition when it served as one of the most important imperial castles during the Holy Roman Empire.

Antique Store in the Old City of Nuremberg

Just a few highlights of our trip to Nuremberg, Germany..... One night while walking from the restaurant we were crossing the street, and I tripped over the train track (of course I did) I literately fell flat on my face, caught myself with my hands and knees. We had to throw the umbrella away, and I was just a little sore the next day.  I was more embarrassed than hurt!
That same night (which was our last) we were in bed at 12:30am when the hotel fire alarm sounded.....they came across the phone intercom speaking German (which we could not understand).  Everyone exited the building, and after twenty minutes or so we were cleared to go back in. I made sure I had all our necessities with me before I left the building.

We had a fabulous time in Nuremberg, Germany spending time with friends from Greg's company, visiting the beautiful Old City, eating Bavarian food.  After four days in Germany we were excited to get on to our next leg of our travel through the Swiss Alps to Italy!

Kim

European Inspiration

We are so excited we are going to Europe!  Greg's company's corporate office is located in Nuremberg, Germany, his yearly sales meeting is held there, so we have decided to extend our trip into a vacation.


This year we also celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, so this will be a very special trip for us!  I have dreamed of visiting Italy for years, and you will probably get tired of seeing post from my trip.  I will try not to bore you, but can you imagine all the design inspiration I'm going to get! I can hardly contain myself!

Our trip will start with five days in Nuremberg, Germany with Greg in meetings, and I will be sightseeing.....

Then we will be renting a car, and driving from Switzerland to Northern Italy through the Alps.....

 From there to.....Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre, are five small villages on the "Costa Ligure of Levante". The villages from north to south are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Since 1926, the Cinque Terre towns have been part of the province of La Spezia.

The best way to enjoy the Cinque Terre is on foot! Walking along the mountain side you go through the Mediterranean bush, between the sky and sea! The Cinque Terre is crossed by many pathways. The main trail goes along the coast and links all the villages.


The mountains descend abruptly to the sea; a path, called the "Sentiero Azzurro" runs along the coast high above the villages. Other walks are lower and close to the shores.


We will be spending three days in Cinque Terre hiking, exploring, sunning on the Italian coastline, drinking wine, and trying out much Italian cuisine.

 From there we will be traveling to the beautiful countryside of Tuscany region.....

Our main stay is in a B&B in Greve in Chianti a village situated in the Tuscany region.  Where we will be visiting several villages, castles, winery's all in the area for the next five days.  

On our way back to Germany we are driving to Austria, and staying in the mist of the Alps.....

I can't wait to share our trip experience with you, and I'm sure I will be glad to be home for a day, yes I said a day before boarding a plane, and heading to Mississippi to help my friend with her daughters wedding.  What a great and blessed time I get to share with such special people in my life.....
Kim

Provence Breakfast Dining Set

Breakfast dining set.....before & after

Painted & distressed in Provence by (ASCP).....

upclose

upclose/chair

before

before

The before of this piece was sturdy and had great bones, but the table top was in bad shape.  But with paint
it looks brand new!

after

I love how paint can transform this set from something someone would set out on their curb to a beautiful set in a breakfast area.  Paint never ceases to amaze me!

Kim

Tag sale finds

I've heard it said, " we spend the first half of our lives accumulating stuff, and the last half getting rid of it".

Last Saturday I set out to a neighborhood yard sale.  The neighborhood is part of our community, and is a 55 and older community.  These people are downsizing and getting rid of family heirlooms that have much sentimental value.  I loved hearing the stories behind some of the pieces they were selling.....from old galvanized watering can that was her grandmothers (She was at least 70 herself) to a huge basket that had many puppies delivered in it....to the boat wheel I bought that hung in their families beach home.  Each home and family had their unique stories with each piece.....

Here are a few of my finds.....

small side table

I'm going to paint the bottom iron black, and place  it on my front porch.

Pottery Barn olive jar and candlesticks

Large antique silver tray

old office chair

 Lg wall clock

wood boat wheel  & teal McCoy planter

The wheel is finding it's new home on the front porch also.

side table that I will paint & distress

It was so much fun hearing all their stories, and I love finding pieces and recreating new life for them.

I couldn't get pictures posted of all my finds, but there were a desk & chair, and a few more side tables.  I will be posting pictures of everything when they get painted.

Seriously, I don't know if I could have had any more fun.....it's the small things in life folks!

Have a blessed week,

Kim

Turquoise Sideboard

 This sideboard was given to us from my mother in law, and I have always thought it would be so cool to have, and paint black.   (Unfortunately I cannot find the before picture, but it was just wood and really not that pretty)  Because honestly, until recently about everything got painted black.  Yes, it would look good black, and distressed, but I decided when we moved into our town home I needed some color besides off white and brown.  So I went for it.....I went BOLD..... I went turquoise!

At first It was a little scary, I admit, but you know it's only paint.  I loved it, but it took a few days to just live with it.

Turquoise sideboard

I kept the orginal hardware, which i love, and distressed it.  We have a lot of dark wood furniture, and open living space so it does stand out!

Yes it is bold, but everyone who comes into our home always comments on it!  It is a statement piece, and for now I'm loving the turquoise!  Remember it's only paint.....it can always be changed.  If you're looking for a change or update in your home go out paint a wall, room or even a piece of furniture.

Having a design change doesn't mean we have to spend a lot money, just taking a risk!

Have a blessed week,

Kim 

Homemade Chalk Paint vs Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Yes I'm talking about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, yet again.  I admit it's awesome paint to use.  Why, no sanding or prepping needed.  But the downside is the price a mere $38 a quart.  So I have been researching Pinterest, and youtube, and saw where there were homemade versions of chalk paint.  After reading several post about the homemade paint I decided the Martha Stuart version had to be tried & true, and so I went with that formula!

Homemade Chalk Paint

1 cup of flat paint

2 cups of grout mix

They say to use flat paint, not sure why, I bought the grout at Home Depot for $5 and some change.  I bought the container for $1.14 because it has measurements on the side.  I slowly added the grout a small amount at a time.  Stirring well as I went, if lumps show, you need to stir more.  I found the consistency to be about perfect.

A couple of weeks ago I saw that Ace Hardware was advertising a quart of free paint Clark & Kensington.  The Ace Hardware by me doesn't carry that brand so they were substituting Benjamin Moore instead (that was even better)!  I decided to go with a completely different color, after all it is free, called 'bird of paradise' which is a coral color. 

I had these two end tables I picked up at GW and decided they would be great to practice on.

I wanted these to have a distressed look, and I don't like the blonde color underneath.  So I did use the liquid sand paper ( great stuff ) to take off the slickness, and painted them a flat brown MS color 'garden soil'.  Seriously, the liquid sand paper takes about five minutes max to do both.  Wear gloves, with clean rag rub all over the furniture.

Just a rough coat to cover

Time for the homemade chalk paint.  Painted the first coat on purposely missing some places so the brown comes thru.

Also, a trick to distressing is when the paint is tacky take a wet cloth and take off paint where you want the underneath color to show.  It doesn't require as much sanding later.

After first coat is dry I painted on the second coat again leaving some brown coming through.

side table before lacquer

 Now is time to sand. Go to your local auto store such as Auto Zone, and pick up 1000 grit sand paper, lightly sand the entire table.  I go a little harder in places I want to distress more.  I sometimes use a 150 or 250 grit paper(from your local Home Improvement Store) if I want more distressing in certain areas.

 I like these at this point, but felt like it needed more so I picked up some Lacquer and painted on the table all over for a high gloss look.  I think it adds a richness that somehow they needed.  *Just a note normally you would wax with AS wax after the sanding process. (The Annie Sloan wax is about $28 a can, but it takes very little)

hand-painted side table with lacquer finish 

  Overall I like the homemade chalk paint, and think I'll be making alot more of it in the future!

Don't be afraid, just do it! It's only paint.....You can always repaint, and I change everything so often it will probably get repainted anyway!  

If you have any painting or refurbishing questions feel free to contact me with a post or email....

Have a super fabulous weekend friends!

Kim