A New Mud Room
Check out this horrible mud room!
I know it doesn’t show it well, but behind the open back door is a small closet and then a sink. Yuck.
It is an old farm house, so once upon a time the sink had a purpose. Now it was just wasting space. Valuable space. We knew this room could be better utilized. Little did we know, we would, as usual, open a giant can of worms…
We thought we’d tear out the sink and old paneling, paint, add barn doors and call it a day. No.
The walls had to be redone down to the studs. A new false wall had to be added above the closet, since we were taking out the drop ceiling. Then we found that the paneling went behind the flooring. This removal ruined the flooring (not sad about it) and in removing the tile we found we had a rotten spot and needed to even replace subflooring. The house is 1862, but still, whew!
We did make the closet go all the way across the space and Jason built custom barn doors and trim. Gorgeous!
Look what we found under the flooring! Lots of these old papers from the 40s!
But now… she’s about done. (I say about, because we do still have an antique flag we are making a custom frame for to hang about the coat rack, but still, very close)
What do you think?! I think I love it so much that I need to add a chair for company. Come in further and you will see the dining room and hallway that we need to do the same too. 🤣
XX,
Jess
Farm House Tour- The Upstairs
I have been wanting to show a mini tour of the new farm house, and finally got started! These are “semi-before” photos, as we already have our things moved in, but these our not our paint colors and mostly not our curtains. There will be many more changes to come, and I wanted a way to show the progress and changes. So, lets start with the upstairs!
Here is the view at the top of the stairs.
There are some frames in the hallway and the book shelf I redid…
At the end of the stairwell is an old antique wash cabinet from my granparents…
The view back towards the stairwell…
Next is the room on the left of the stairwell, next to the old wash cabinet. We call this the “kid room,” which used to be a little girl’s room…
The other side of the room…
And on the wall by the door there is a chalk drawing of Dora! lol
The door in the last photo goes to what we call the “baby room,” which will one day be a nursery…
The other side of the room has chalk spiderwebs, which were for a little boy…
Here is the view back towards the “kid room”…
Next is my walk through closet that leads the master bedroom. This is across the stairwell from these rooms…
I still can’t wait to have the time to paint the closet the dark navy I have picked out!
The jewelry area…
Next you walk through the closet door and into our sunken bedroom…
The walls are currently yellow, which is fine, but we plan to paint them a nice gray at some point. The little white shabby dresser was found in the back of the house and makes a perfect TV stand for us…
The wooden shelf above the chair is a barn board we found…
Recognize the blue chair from the old office? It was too big. The next photo is of the antique dresser from my grandparents that matches out bed…
Our bed…
The shelf by my side of the bed we made out of another barn board that we call the “cow board,” because its front is smooth and wavy due to cows rubbing on it…
Our stained glass window and exposed rustic beams…
Next is the main bathroom. This shot is a view in the doorway from the closet…
The blue and flooring aren’t really our first picks, but they will make due until we can paint and spruce…
Well, thats the upstairs. What do you think so far? A lot to do, but so far we love it! 🙂
An Addiction To My “Dressing Room”
I am absolutely loving my new closet, or “dressing room,” in the new house! I am getting used to having all of my clothes, shoes, and jewelry out on display where I can easily pick outfits and use things I haven’t in a while. With the new arrangment comes, well, arranging, however. As I get settled I am slowly making changes and getting ready to paint. So, with that said, that means that I have been making some changes to my organization. If you remember my pictures of my older house, you will remember that I kept a lot of jewelry and items in an old antique metal medicine chest hung above my dresser. There was nowhere to hang it up in the closet and sitting on top of a dresser did not allow the door to open… so…
I had gotten an old flower-y frame at a garage sale that just so happens to match the colors I want to use in the closet. I also happened to have some chicken wire in the barn. A staple gun and some elbow grease later…
I think it turned out super cute. It will probaby be going on the one wall shortly. So far its been handy too!
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?!
Simple Fix and 4th of July Weekend
Sometimes the tiniest details of your home can make life so much more organized, easy, and even pretty. Well, the other day I was very annoyed by my growing collection of costume jewelry. My good jewelry is hung neatly in my jewelry box and some of my most often worn costume pieces are held in jars in my dresser and vintage medicine cabinet in the bedroom. But, the rest of it has been hanging in clumps on hangers and hooks in the closet. You couldn’t see them easily, and you definitely couldn’t grab one easily. Here is the pile that I hurriedly threw on the bed.
So, my grandma gave me some vintage hand crochetedhangers. And I picked up a package of sewing pins with bead heads.
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Although the pins didn’t stick into the wood hanger underneath very well, they stuck in the ends enough to keep any slippery necklaces from falling off the hanger. And, viola! Simple, yet cute and organized. What an easy fix. Thanks grandma!
Oh, and if you were wondering why the big bandage on my hand… I burned my hand that night while cooking dinner. Yes, I think it was a sign from God to quit cooking and get some take-out menus. But, the sloppy joe’s turned out well, so Tony didn’t buy that. By the next day I had to go to the doctor for it and my hand was completely wrapped up for the whole holiday weekend. Â
And, as with most of my projects, the dogs helped of course!
So, on to the 4th of July celebration! We camped at our local park, and it rained here the entire day (of course). That didn’t stop us! We waded through the mud the entire weekend. It ended up clearing up just in time to have amazing fire works! Here’s the guys playing in a horseshoe tournament right through the rain!
You can see all the umbrellas out there! You can also see the river in the background. That’s the rock river, and right were we camp and also sit and watch the fireworks. Here we are playing games together.
Our softball team also won another game Sunday, so we are now 6-1! Yay!
How was your 4th of July? Hope it was a great one!
Tidying Up
I’m a neat freak. I know it. I’m actually proud of it. I like that my home is always clean, neat, and organized. I feel that everything should have a place. Junk left out of it’s place clutters up your house and really ruins the appearance. I love ugly necessities (like cleaning supplies or utensils) to have a place to be stashed that is concealed when not in use. Not only does this just look so much better, but it also means you will not lose things or forget where you left them. Our cleaning supplies are under the kitchen sink in tubs. We always keep a flashlight right under the sink as well. A few basic tools and utensils that are needed frequently are in a drawer in the kitchen island, and the rest of the tools are in the tool box in the basement. I could tell you where ever item I own is right now. This drives Tony nuts that he has to put everything back in it’s assigned spot, but he will be thanking me in an emergency when I find what we need in seconds!
Anyway, this brings me to the topic at hand. Our mops and brooms. They are too big to fit under the sink, but too ugly to be left leaning against a wall in the kitchen. I had them stashed away in the basement. But, no one wanted to go down there to get them every time there was a mess. I even caught myself on hands and knees wiping up the floor with a paper towel instead of heading to the basement. I knew there had to be a better solution.
We took a trip this weekend to our local hardware store and found a basic hook set. My plan was to hang this strip of hooks inside the basement door for easy access to brooms and mops. The strip was a bit too long to fit from one beam to another along the unfinished basement walls. We compromised and leaned the strip of hooks on it’s side. It actually worked out perfectly, and the long handled tools hang perfectly just inside the door. I’m pleased. 🙂 And, now we can save paper towels and make our lazy selves go grab the mop!
The brooms and mops hanging so nicely just inside our basement door.
The row of hooks that proved to be a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance.
We were so inspired we even added a couple single hooks to the opposite wall for hanging dog toys and leashes.
These things will no longer have to be draped sloppily over the banister!
Simple fixes make all the difference in a home!
On An Organizing Spree
After being so impressed with my organizational skills with the jewelry in the medicine cabinet, I decided not to stop there. I moved onto the closet next. Mostly we were already pretty organized in there, but rearranging a few things helped free up some space. I also hung a hook on one of the walls inside the closet to hang a few extra long necklaces from my costume jewelry collection. Things seem so handy and visible now. Here’s a peak inside the space of our home that everyone is afraid to share:
This is a view of the closet as a whole. The shelving was already installed when we moved in, so we are using it as-is. It is helpful, but we do not have "sides," just "areas." A little confusing at first, but now it works.
We hang belts, scarves, and ties on the low bar, along with a few of my shorter shirts. My giant shoe rack fits in the corner.
This is the hook of necklaces that I hung along a side wall of the closet. This is so helpful!
Here is a close-up of the hook I used. It is actually a hook that fits over a door, so one end is flat, which I use to hold multiple necklaces. The other end is curved, but I twisted it with pliers to hang agianst a wall. So simple I even did it myself.
Make Mine Eclectic 
