Hello again. It has been a while since I last posted, but things have been busy around the farmhouse, and at the renthouse for that matter. We've been taking care of a sick one year old this week and it turns out it was a reaction to the varicella (chicken pox) vaccination. But she seems to be on the rebound, thank goodness. When you have a sick kiddo, nothing else really matters. Simple as that.

Below are some pics of the current condition of things. Turns out I do like the color Sea Salt that we chose for the kids' bath and baby girl bedroom. I think it has a nice tranquil quality to it, and let me tell ya, we could use some tranquility around here....particularly with little Miss Princess. She is quite the strong willed warrior princess. Good thing, cause she showed those chicken pox whose boss. Boo-yah.

 And here are the pics of the framed out corner pantry. I am really excited to have a pantry again, and I've always wanted a corner pantry. Yea! We contemplated putting a decorative window above the pantry door, but I opted against that today. Just ask my mother, my house may APPEAR to be spotless relatively clean but open up any cabinet door or closet and you will see my true colors. What can I say? Out of sight, out of mind. Super tidy hidden spaces have just never been a priority of mine. So I decided to be truthful with myself and enjoy being able to stash things on top shelves without worrying about their appearance. The pantry dimensions are 48" x 48", less the dimensions to angle the door. To the right of the pantry is where the double ovens (halleluia!) will be installed. And to the left of the pantry (under the window) we plan on building a bench.

 Okay, so the pic below illustrates a renovation reality: surprises (a.k.a. more money) will happen. When the original pantry was deconstructed we found a little surprise....the plumbing drain from upstairs. Oh joy. It looks like it can be moved relatively easily to the left, which is where it should have been in the first place! One upper cabinet that will house the microwave and one base cabinet will be installed here. It's also where I plan on keeping the coffee pot; I'm envisioning a mini coffee bar here. Hoo-ra! Push me up to a coffee bar any day of the week,  y'all. I'm in.

 And here is one excited boy about all the action that's taken place. He keeps asking when the moving truck is coming so we can stay at the farmhouse for good.

 And the pic here shows another renovation reality....not all walls can really be removed. Or at least easily r emoved. We had planned to take down this strange 43" wide wall and totally open up the kitchen to the dining room. Umm....not gonna happen. At least for now, anyway. Inside there is the plumbing that runs from the basement to the second story. But that's really a non-issue, because it could be moved. The problem is that 43" is actually load bearing. In theory, we could take it out, have a beam constructed, move the plumbing, move the electrical and on and on, but we are going to leave it for now. Ever heard the phrase "if you can't fix it, feature it"? Well boy do we have a feature planned. I'm going to leave that for a surprise for later. Can't be telling all our secrets, now can we? But let me say, it's gonna be awesome. And it was my idea, and Mr. Fashionable Farmhouse is totally pumped about it.

 And here you can see the cabinets that were removed from that 43" wall that will become the center island. I want an island that is all countertop. No sink. No cooktop. Just counterspace. Almost everyone else has advised against this, but I am set on it. The house I grew up in has an awesome bar space where we spent all of our time. Doing homework, chatting, baking etc. And I loved it. I want the same for our kiddos. It will be all one level too. I like the raised bars, but not with little ones. Just doesn't work very well.

Okay. So there is the progress for this week. Hopefully things will continue to move onward and upward. When not at the farmhouse, I have been sorting through the storage rooms in the basement and cleaning out a lot of superfilous items. I've already made several trips to the local donation center, and it feels great!

Decisions, decisions.....

I hate decisions. I am such an indecisive person (or am I?) that I have  gone back and forth, round and round,  and back again this week. The time crunch is stemming from the 20% off sale on the Decora cabinets. They do this twice a year, so we would have to wait til Fall to get the promotion again. I'm very glad that they still make our existing kitchen cabinets. We are only ordering an oven cabinet, 36" drawer base cabinet, and 6" pull-out spice base cabinet. That's it as far as actual cabinets go. We are also ordering beadboard for the back of the island, a couple pieces of crown moulding and some cabinet skins. And grand total of that, you ask? $2800. Yikes. They're pretty darn proud of their cabinets, don't ya think? And they're nice, but come on. They're not THAT nice. I'm told they're expensive because they are semi-custom...whatever that means. So kudos to using what is already in place. And that's what we had planned on doing for the appliances....buuuuuuuut we've changed our minds about that also. We decided to do an induction cooktop and built in ovens instead of a free standing range. I think it's the right deicision. And too late, too bad, if it's not. Because the cabinets have been ordered. Non-refundable. Non-returnable. So there you go. It's done! If you're looking to do a kitchen remodel, I think Decora does a really nice line of cabinetry. You can check out their products here:

http://www.decoracabinets.com/

The existing cabinets are the Harmony Maple Suede, as seen in the pic below.

I would have loved to do an island of a different color, but I'm afraid that will be a fading fad, and you know there's that other issue; money. So, they will all match and we'll stick to a classic kitchen since this will be our one and only shot at a dream kitchen....at least in this house.

My mission for today is to decide on a double oven. That's right. I have to decide today so the cabinets can actually be ordered.  Perhaps it's a good thing to be on a time crunch. Hey, I basically planned my entire wedding in one afternoon so this should be easy, right?!

Current Exterior

Hello all! I was all set to take pictures of the kitchen demolition that went down yesterday, but I didn't have my regular lens with me.  Ah well. It was a BEAUTIFUL day here today. Almost 70 degrees, so we spent a lot of time outside with the kiddos and even took them to the park. Yesterday we tackled removing the peninsula from the wall and positioning the two pieces we'll use for the island.  I cannot believe what a difference this will make. 1000% better, for sure. We're also investigating removing the 3 foot wall between the kitchen and dining to make it totally open. Not sure if that will pan out, but it would be nice. We're getting quotes this week on having the wood floors refinished that were water damaged at some point. Here are the exterior pics I snapped today. So thankful the weather is getting warmer here; we started hearing the seagulls for the first time yesterday. Ahhhh, beach time is just around the corner!

And a few of the country kiddos:

Found Love at Lowe's

Oh happy day, oh happy day! Don't you just love it when you stumble upon a bargain? My poor mother has had her eye on a specific rug for over a year at Lowe's, and has just never pulled the trigger. Well, today I'm picking up necessities at Lowe's with my two houligans  angels and thought I would breeze through the Rug Department and see if they might have anything on clearance. Now before I praise Lowe's, I have a little bone to pick with them. Have you noticed this tricky litttle yellow sticker on every other item that is disguised as a clearance sticker, but is really just a contractor price? Argh. The ups and downs of thinking I've found a beautiful light fixture for super cheap, only to be totally degratatated (shout out to Little Women) in realizing it's a 10% off for contracters. Hmmph. Whatever. Anyway, today was TOTALLY different. I'm flying down the aisle with two (happy) screaming kids driving those big blue racecars (thanks, Lowe's!), and what does my little eye spy? Actually I think my eyes looked a little more like this:

But anyway, you get the idea. It was LURVE at first sight.

I found this beauty for $103, originally priced at $253!! This is when I begin dancing in the aisle....meanwhile 4 year old is hiding his face. Heehee - I'm SO good at embarssing him already. Teenage years are gonna be FUN, ya'll. Back to rug. Isn't it beautiful?!? It's everything I could ever want in something I'm going to throw on the floor.

So I call my Mom (first person I call when I've scored a deal - hey, the lady has spent years priming me for pushing other ladies out of my way at garage sales. kidding. sort of.) and am telling her what a great price I got it for and she cuts me off, asking what the name of the rug is. San - "MARINO?!" She finishes for me. "YES" I say. How did you know? "ARGH. I've been looking at that for over a year, waiting for a deal. They're not on clearance at OUR Lowe's!" I offered to pick one up for her, but it's a bit bulky for a carry-on.....so, sorry Ma'.

Anyway, I LURVE the first second accessory I've purchased for our new home. The first was actually a way cool Spiderman picture my 4 year old picked out for his bedroom. I'll save that for another day.

Happy day to you all. Hope you've been finding some great bargains of your own!!

Choosing Paint Colors

Hello all,

I have been scouring all sorts of designer blogs, etc for good recommendations for neutral Benjamin Moore paint colors. As some of you may know, one of my most prized possessions is my BM fan deck. What a fun job that would be, to create new paint colors and name them. Oh so fun! It is actually sad how I agonize over paint colors, taking my time and thinking I've made the right choice, and then seem to always be dissatisfied with the result. Argh - maybe I should just stick with my mother's favorite: Antique white. Nah. (No offense, Mom). I am actually quite proud of her for taking a leap and painting her living room a barely there sage green with leftover paint from my sister's house. Hey, baby steps :) Seriously though, the older I get the more inclined I am to go neutral on the walls. We're aiming for an airy neutral feel that we won't get tired of, but something different than white. We're leaning towards Benjamin Moore Tapestry Beige with BM Coastal Fog as an accent color in different places. The trim is white throughout the home, so I feel that it opens up our choices for paint colors. I'd love to pick an airy gray,  but it seems like it can appear "cold" rather easily. With our winters up here, we definitely need to lean toward the warmer neutrals. Just not as warm as the yellow/gold that is currently throughout the home.

The picture below, taken from http://localism.com/neighbor/ddazzo?page=7, has a lot of the BM neutrals that I am drawn to.

We had also thought about Edgecomb Gray, but I had read online that it can look kind of lavendar in different lights, and I definitely don't want that. I also like manchester tan a lot, but it looks almost identical to Sherwin Williams softer tan that we have used throughout one of our previous houses. I really do like softer tan, but I wanted to venture out and try something different.

For the Jack and Jill bath and the small bedroom, we've chosen Sherwin Williams Sea Salt.

It is a bluish greenish gray, and I love the way it looks in the can. I really hope I can say the same for the walls. Mr. Fashionable Farmhouse informed me he is only painting once, so the pressure is on for choosing the right color scheme :/  How about you guys? Any great color recommendations to use throughout an entire home?

Well, I am off for a trip to Lowes with the 2 kiddos in tow. Wish me luck. I've been commissioned to round up the supplies for another DIY weekend. A few of the items on the to-do list for the weekend are sheetrock work, painting the Jack and Jill bath, and adding some extensions to some of the downspouts of the guttering. Ahhhhh, home ownership, don't ya love it?! I actually do.

Before Pictures

This is our fourth home purchase/renovation and the first (and hopefully last) time that I have done any before/after documentation. So as you can see, the entire house is currently a yellowish/goldish color. And while I don't hate it, I don't love it either. A couple of rooms this color would be just fine, but an entire house (including closets).....no thanks.

Master Bedroom - Before; Facing East



Master Bedroom - Before




 



Master Bath - Before

Master Bath - Before

Jack and Jill Bath - Before; Facing West

Middle Bedroom, looking thru closet into Jack and Jill Bath - Before

Stairway, looking down into Dining Room and up to Bedroom Area - Before

Family Rm. Facing North - Before

Front Living Rm Facing East - Before

Looking into Dining Rm from Entryway - Before

Kitchen looking into Sunroom - Before

Kitchen facing South - Before

From sunroom, looking into Kitchen - Before

Thanks for touring our ray of SUNSHINE. And keep checking back for updates, hopefully sooner than later. 

Welcome friends and family! I have started this blog so we can share with you the progress, albeit slow, that we are making on our new farmhouse. It has been a busy week, but we finally have water - halleluia! A good plumber is worth every penny, I tell ya'. The lack of indoor plumbing was of no consequence to the one year old in diapers, or my four year old who can, ahem, take care of business outside, or even to Mr. Fashionable Farmhouse. But I was starting to get a bit irritated with running back to the rent house or gas station several times a day, so hooray for progress! We are also brainstorming on what will be the best layout for the kitchen remodel. The bathroom floors only lack finishing up, as my husband would say.

Thank you for joining us, via modern technology, on our journey of beautifying our place in the country. We hope to have it visitor ready by the end of May, so start making those summer plans to head our direction!

Hope your day is blessed!