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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham
Showing posts with label box. Show all posts
Showing posts with label box. Show all posts

Rustic Blue Box Paint Refresh

Sunday, September 8, 2019



A rustic blue trunk on my back porch needed repainting with an exterior paint to protect it from further damage from the weather. New paint refreshed the looks of the box we use as a coffee table / serving table. 


Rustic blue box on back porch has a new coat of exterior blue paint
The new paint color is a little lighter than the previous paint, and I may add a darker coat of blue to the box later. The most important thing is getting the box painted with an exterior paint before Fall and Winter rains set in. 

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French Inspired Fall Window Box | Step By Step

Friday, September 21, 2018


Window boxes are possible at my house, but only for limited seasons of the year. Fall is one of those seasons, and this year I created a window box, with lots of help from my professional florist sister, for the front of my house. 

We love how it turned out! 



create a beautiful fall window basket filled by pansies, kale, ivy
One of the things I enjoy about France, and all of Europe, is the abundance of gardens and flowers in every city, town, and small village. In Paris, it seems window boxes are everywhere, from large hotels to the tiniest apartment balconies. I come home with picture after picture and am always inspired to create my own window box at my house. 

This Fall is THE year I created a French inspired window box.   

In case you are inspired, too, and want ideas how to create a window box for your house, take a look at how we created my front entry window box. I took photos at almost every step of the process to share with you.  

Restored Rustic Box w/French Graphic

Thursday, September 26, 2013

What is it about 
Boxes 
that is so appealing? 


I can't walk by one without looking it over, 
often picking it up, thinking about how it can be used. 
For what can I use this box? 
Fourteen inches wide and thirteen and a half inches tall... 
Scrapbook paper? Remote TV/DVD/xBox/Computer controls? 


Always trying to organize my life, making order out of the disorder, 
making things better tomorrow than they are today... 

Unexpected treasures without going on a treasure hunt 
are often in plain sight... 
Just opening my eyes to see what is right in front of me all along... 

Older wooden boxes or drawers surely have 
a second life... a third life...  
Dovetail joints, carvings, rare wood, beautiful images... 
all reasons to salvage a box, a drawer. 

But this box?

No dovetail joints, no carvings, 


No precious wood, no beautiful image... 


But this box?
The inside is not even finished at all. 

Sure, it is a great size, has a good feel to it, easy to carry... 
Sturdy, no loose joints... 
and inside, one small piece of fluted molding... 
Maybe... it has potential. 


What a little Valspar sample paint can do! 
Honeymilk on the outside and Navy #5 on the inside... 


Still rustic with nicks and scrapes, and some deep gouges from living, 
but with tender loving care inside and out, this little box still has hope for a new use. 



The Graphics Fairy French flower seller label paired with 


A hydrangea stem tied with a bow from the Etsy shop Graphicals 


Gives the tired, old unloved box a fresh look to face the world anew. 


A Hobby Lobby porcelain blue and white knob is just the 
finishing touch for the rejuvenated little box to lift its lid. 



So, what will this restored box hold? 


Perhaps a new life in the garden shed to hold bulb and flower catalogs? 


Or, to hold magazines filled with inspiration and beauty?



A new life filled with inspiration and beauty that makes order out of disorder... 



Salvaged shards of a previous life that were shattered and discarded 
can hold the beginnings of a restored life with beauty and purpose. 
~~~~~~~~~~