Sneak Peak of the New House
We are completely moved into the farm now, and even had our housewarming party. And, we are loving it! There are color and arrangement changes we’d like to make in the near future, but for right now we are settled! Soon I will have a full tour of the place for you all, but for now here are a few tid-bits to get the feel for the antique unique-ness of our new home.
Here is a shot of my closet. Yes, I said MY. And, yes, this whooole space is the closet! Wow is right. Its like my own personal dressing room. Oh, and I might be nice and share one or two shelves. 🙂
This is a peak into our bedroom. The bedroom is sunken behind the closet. The beams on the ceiling you see here are barn boards from our barn. And isn’t that little stained glass window adorable?
This little shelf is in our bedroom. We made it ourselves (whereas the other elements were added or refurbished by previous owners) and it was made out of a board we found in the barn. The curves in the front of the board were carved out by cows rubbing on it. Oh, and don’t worry, the mustard color will soon go.
This is a peak at the top landing of our stairs. This little gate was made from an old antique door. So cute. It latches with an old barn style latch. It already proves handy for keeping the dogs corralled, but will also be handy with kids someday!
Here’s a little magazine rack that is built into the stairway. These little touches are what makes this house so sweet and unique.
This is a shot of the banister that has been antiqued. This is right off the dining room and basically the view you get as you walk in our main door.
Across the other side of the dining room are two antique doors with stained glass windows. One leads to a sun room and one to a storage room. Gorgeous touches!
In the dining room and to the right is the kitchen. The kitchen was added on later and has a drop woods ceiling. The master sunken bedroom is above the kitchen. The kitchen has warm hardwood floors just like the dining room and living room. There is an super cute little arched doorway leading to the kitchen. And notice the antique wood wainscoting? Each room also has original crown moldings.
Here’s a peak at the antique kitchen cabinets. Some of them! Need I say more?
And one last shot I have for you is the living room. The couple who refinished a lot of the house before us built a TV cabinet out of antique doors that were found in the barn. It is large and we are not sure we will keep it here, but it is so neat and such a conversation starter!
Well, what do you think? Are you ready to see how we decorate and accent all of these crazy details?!
Black Kitchen Inspiration
The kitchen needs some help. I can’t change the fact that it’s super small and always will be. But, I can give it a bit of a facelift. This is in the works. I already have all the plans in my head. Yes, I want to paint the cabinets black. Black. It doesn’t matter how many people doubt me now, because I already have my mind set. But, just to put other people at ease, I thought I would share Nate Berkus” gorgeous black cabinet kitchen!
Gorgeous, no? I totally believe I can pull this off too. Stay tuned!
See it posted originally here: www.housetweaking.com
Some Kitchen Inspiration
I ran accross this awesomely unique idea on Apartment Therapy today.
Isn’t this a gorgeous idea?! I feel inspired to do something similar when I get around to the kitchen…
See the post here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/kitchen/diy-inspiration-leather-kitchen-cabinet-pulls-147756
Spring Cleaning
Like I said, last weekend we did some deep cleaning for spring. Yesterday on my Thursday off, I finally finished (as finished as housework ever gets!) the spring cleaning. I wanted the house to be spotless for my family coming into town to visit this weekend. So, here are some always great to remember spring cleaning ideas:
1. Clean the gutters. Spring is time for rain, rain will flood your basement if the gutters are overflowing! Or like us, you might have to walk through a waterfall to get out the door! So, Tony climbed the ladder, hauled a garbage can along with him, and cleaned the gutters.
2. Wash windows. I love clean windows, they even brighten up a room. But, at least this one time a year you should deep clean them, inside and out. I not only windex-ed them, but also took a Q-tip to the corners and tiny spaces. Fresh spring air is great flowing through clean windows!
3. Scrub the walls and untouched spots. Walls, especially in the kitchen, get grimy. Paint will look more its original color if gently washed clean once in a while, plus it keeps spider webs out of corners and in vents. Also, take a dish-soapy towel to the tops of cabinets and inside the cupboards. These rarely cleaned spots need it now and then!
4. Spray and scrub siding. We are still working a bit on this one. But, taking the hose to your siding will instantly freshen the outside of your house. On the porch I scrubbed stuck on dirt off with a wet cloth.
5. Move all furniture to clean/vacuum. I vacuum all the time. But, sometimes I am lazy and don’t move every piece of furniture. I actually never move the bed or couches. So, this time of year I try to move all things, even the big ones and clean or vacuum under them. You never know how much crud has built up under there.
6. And, finally, go through drawers and cupboards. We have a junk drawer that overflows every once in a while. Spring in particular is the time to go through these drawers, even clothes drawers of closets. Toss things you no longer want to keep, gather up the things you want to sell or take to Goodwill, and neatly arrange back the things you want to keep.
After taking these few steps your house should be spring ready (pretty much!). Take a deep breathe once you are done. Doesn’t that feel good? Fresh? Spring is the time for fresh starts! 🙂
And, while there are no pictures of dirty windows and gross gutter goo to show you, I do have a set of cute martini glasses for sale! They are plastic, and oh so cute!
So, what other good spring cleaning ideas do you all have?
Kitchen Cabinets!
They are done. Yes, they are done! I love love it! Remember, as you look at the pictures, though, that the old white on white counter-tops look won’t last long. We will be getting the new dark counter-tops in a few weeks. Also, notice the new cabinet in between the stove and the fridge- now the dog food can be hidden! (It will also get a counter-top!) A before to freshen your memory:
Here you go:
Well? What do you think? I think it feels so nice and new and clean in there! Remember, things will keep changing for a while. In addition to new counter-tops there will be a hood where the old microwave is, and the cabinet above the fridge will change. We also have a few more projects for in here… like new lights and something to do with antique rolling pins… so let me know what you think, and stay tuned!
Kitchen Sneak Peak
The kitchen is almost done! I’m exhausted, but it was totally worth it. Here is a little sneak peak for you until I am ready for the final reveal:
If you like these little snap shots then stay tuned for the rest…
Progress- The Kitchen!
We have been hard at work painting those kitchen cabinets. Not finished yet, but getting close. I just thought that we would update you on some of the process and the progress.
Here are some before shots of the dark, mismatched, and very worn cabinets:
I started by using a palm sander to sand the stain off of all showing cabinet surfaces. They then looked like this:
Next, I removed all of the old hardware and filled the existing holes with wood putty. I did not need to fill the holes from the hinges, however, because we were lucky enough to purchase new hinges that fit in the old holes. But the handles are completely different sizes and shapes, so these holes and to be filled. I also swiped some of the putty across any cracks and dents I found. By the way, the new wood putty they have out there is more of a foam than putty. It is super easy to use. I sanded the putty spots down once they were dry. For the larger holes I puttied and sanded a second time so that they came out very flat with the wood. Here’s a shot of that step before sanding (after sanding they look much smoother):
I then started the painting process (the lengthy part!). I decided to start with only the bottom cabinets. There would not be enough floor space to paint all of the doors at the same time. I taped off walls, trim and floors with painter’s tape. I also taped down papers on the floor. (Actually, this is kind of weird, but I taped down puppy pee pads. We had a bunch left from when the puppy was still having accidents. She never liked to use them, but instead of throwing them out they made great drop clothes!) I then applied to coats of Kilz primer.
You can see that the first coat goes on kind of streak-y, but the second coat covers much more evenly. We now have the bottom cabinets painted with two coats of white semi-gloss paint, and we are hanging the hardware and doors tonight. More updates to come… but isn’t it starting to look gooood?! 🙂
Sweet Little Details
I really believe that it’s the little details in a home that make your space special. Ok, that sounds cheesy. But, it is true. We have made some major repairs, spend lots of money, and in the end it’s the little projects worth a few bucks that make me so proud of our home. I have been excited for days about the new towel bar we hung in the bathroom. This is not only a convenience, but looks so much better than having the towel laying on the sink all the time- and, it only cost me about $3!
So, last night while finishing up the living room curtains we also hung up some coffee mugs in the kitchen. I bought a few new red mugs at Wal Mart for $2 apiece. I got a few cup hooks, and viola! Instant face-lift for the kitchen space. I love my bird of paradise mugs, but these look much more updated and will go great once we finishing the painting of the cabinets. Tony actually hung a separate board under the cabinet so that the screws for the hooks wouldn’t go all the way through. He also had to slightly open up the cup hooks, as the mug handles were a bit wider than standard ones. All in all I think they look great and will be awesome in the new kitchen too!
I know I said that I would be starting to work on the cabinet painting last week, but I got a bit lazy. I really am going to work on it this week, so check back for updates and tips on the cabinet painting!
Kitchen Inspiration
We are currently preparing to do a bit of kitchen renovation in our house. While I have a pretty clear picture in my head of what I would like to do I have also been scouring the blog world for some inspiration and creative ideas. We are trying to do this on a very tiny budget, so I am also searching ideas in that area. Today on Apartment Therapy I found one of my favorite kitchen pictures.
I just love the little swinging door. It reminds me of old western saloon doors. I am wanting one for our kitchen. I’m just not sure that every kitchen could pull this off. Maybe that will have to go on my “someday” dream list. For now we are thinking more basic remodel in the kitchen. I would like to sand and paint all of the dark wood cabinetry a glossy white. The cabinets are outdated and mismatched. This will also allow us to fill the holes from the old hardware and add new pulls. These are the pulls I am thinking of, bin pulls:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wmc3cgAjw0k/SHeOWPk3S3I/AAAAAAAAAOc/sp4juB_wHwA/s400/IMG_6026_bin%2Bpull.jpg&imgrefurl=http://theletteredcottage.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html&h=266&w=400&sz=12&tbnid=1nyLQKGa76QSAM::&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddresser%2Bwith%2Bbin%2Bpulls%2Bpicture&hl=en&usg=__noAFFwDt8FmB3VYpI7taTYFlhEQ=&ei=zCHRSb_kJMSInAfzwbhq&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&cd=1
I have also been reading that it is possible to safely paint laminate countertops. Since paint is a much cheaper alternative to replacing the countertops at this point I would like to paint these black. Here is inspiration for a black and white kitchen with warm hardwood floors:
A Little Industrial
One of my big obsessions right now is industrial furniture and decor. I know that some of you are probably thinking industrial seems too cold and uninviting. But, mixed carefully with the warm colors and textures of your home, even industrial items can be cozy! I have been looking for the perfect industrial cabinet for our kitchen. Right now prices seem to be soring for these items on Ebay and other websites, but come auction season, I bet we can snatch one up for a deal!
One website that I found with some very funky items is http://www.ergstore.com. This site has some great inspiration for industrial funiture, but also has some pretty steep prices. Some of the items I am currently loving:
A 1920's-30's doctor's chair. I know, I love all crazy chairs, but this one would be a real conversation piece!
A 1940's wheeled cart. This would be great for a kitchen island!
A 1930's- 1940's theater light. This would re-purpose as a great lamp.
Another site with some very amazing pieces is Get Back, Inc. at http://www.getbackinc.com. Some of my favorites there are:
A metal and glass medical cart. So what I am looking for!
A metal cabinet. This would be cute in almost any room.
A scissor wall light. A pair of these would make great bedside lamps.
Make Mine Eclectic 
