Farmhouse Details

 

We are in the middle of Week 14... the walls and interior stuff going up so fast I am really starting to make some actual house decisions. Sure I have had this house built in my head for at least a year (or 30), but when it comes down to what you actually end up buying for your home that will look good, be of good quality and most importantly, staying in budget - it is quite different than folding down a page of a magazine, pinning on Pinterest or adding to an online idea book (Houzz)..

Here is a look at what my farmer and I have already picked out for our home - and some things I plan to purchase very soon.

LAUNDRY ROOM

These are the sconces (there will be two) that will go in the Laundry Room. My Laundry sink will be in front of my window and one of these will be on each side of that window... I found these at Home Depot.

 
I will have white cabinets (have not picked out or even started with any of that) but I do know that they will be white and the hardware will be oil rubbed bronze in the laundry room.
 
I received these as a wedding present (Pottery Barn) and think that they will look so cute in my laundry room. They also have pig knobs that I plan on purchasing as well for the doors that don't require a pull.

 

 

 

 

My laundry room flooring will be a brick floor. At first I was looking at tile floor that looked like brick. But it was all just that - tile floor... I am still working with my tile guy to make sure that this company, and what I have picked out is the stuff that I am wanting, but I think that we are on the right page.

 

I don't care for the really glossy brick floor look, but not the rough brick (for cleaning purposes) either... Hopefully  I can find something to put over the top of them that will still look natural but be durable and not super tough as well.

 

I will have it laid in the herringbone pattern, and use white grout just like below. There are SO MANY color combinations and while I think that they are all really beautiful, this one, Charleston, was my favorite.

         

 



Half Bath

We have a little half bath in the back of the house off the Laundry Room and Garage Entrance. Just enough room for a toilet and sink.

While we have not made the purchase yet (need to make sure the sizing is correct) we are going to probably end up with this beauty from Lowes. I did research for endless hours trying to find a white vanity, marble top, but not completely breaking the bank for a 1/2 bath. I think this one does the trick.

 

 

The flooring in there will be the same hardwood floors that we will have throughout the rest of the main level (and upstairs if I have my way - I am sure I will do a post about the great hardwood floor debate)

 

I have always loved wallpaper. When I was a kid going to the wallpaper store with my mom was one of the funnest things to do (weird I know)... While I know that most of you consider wallpaper a little out of date, I think it's perfect for a little bathroom. I have yet to finalize my decisions (I have 6 months to decide :) but this is what I am probably going to end up choosing. It's a very light grey and white (even lighter than it looks here) ... It beat out a beautiful red raspberry print in hopes of going for the crisp clean look.

 

 

 

Half way up the wall I hope to have a white wide plank bead board installed... Something like in this photo but maybe not up as high.

 

 

 

 



STAIRWAY

I will admit that the pretty much one and only reason I wanted a 2 story home was for this exact reason. A  big open staircase!

We (not me, my builder- he is the one with the great ideas)  changed some things and found a way so that my staircase is open all the way to the top. The foyer when you walk in is vaulted so you see just one strip of railing, then my hallway downstairs is vaulted (which in location to this photo is right to the left of the stairs) so when you stand there you can see all the way upstairs.

After we got that finalized I started picking out a banister style. I am still finalizing it, but this photo above is the style that I am going for.

UPSTAIRS:

They are just starting to work on the decking for the second floor, and we haven't even 100% finalized the floor plan (I want a small craft room somewhere) but my farmer and I agree on one thing. We will have to make cuts on the second floor - which just consists of two future kiddos bedrooms, one bathroom Jack and Jill style bath and a fairly good sized loft area/bonus room and hopefully a little craft nook of some sort.

Although I have nothing really picked out, I did purchase two of these white ceiling fans for the bedrooms. They were on sale at one point at Home Depot and then that was one thing I marked off my list.

 

 

FRONT DOOR

I had this dream of a double front door-just like this one below, but two of them. After getting a couple of quotes that dream quickly came to an end. Staying on budget is NOT ALWAYS possible, but spending 3x your budget on a front door was silly. SO we settled on this door (without the sidelights - they just take away from a good door).. But instead of the standard size, we did have them make us a 42" one. That way we will never have any issues moving in furniture, etc...

I really contemplated on not having as much glass in the door (for privacy reasons) but in hopes to bring in more natural light (not the beer) since I took away those west wall windows.

KITCHEN

The kitchen is really a blank canvas to me. We of coarse have MOST of our appliances already picked out and purchased  but a main part of your kitchen is your cabinets. I have not even started on that yet. I am sure it will be just right around the corner, but its such a process, I can't even imagine where to begin.

SO right now I am trying to get other kitchen details in order. Lights and hardware.

These lights in the photo below are from Restoration Hardware. Rest assured that mine are not... To my farmer that it reading this if you look and see the price, ours were no where near that much. I got ours at Home Depot, they did not have then online anymore, so these are the only ones that I could find in comparison to ours. They are not quite as big, but very close. They will not go above our table, they will go above our island. Very industrial looking and it's not something I thought I would go for but I love them.

My kitchen hardware will be chrome. Everything from my light to my sink faucet to my hardware... My cabinets will be white, and so will my countertop .

This is the only cabinet hardware that I have purchased (like my laundry room, but chrome and a cow not a pig)..It wont be my main cabinet know but I think that it will look great on my island. They were actually a wedding present from Pottery Barn.

I also love this drawer pull (Pottery Barn) and how wide and thin it is. Just something different than the half moon shaped pull that I love so much too. I cant get too carried away on hardware until I know more about my cabinets though.

 

 

 

 

 

 I purchased two wing back chairs from First Friday's in Kansas City a couple of months ago, and I purchased some fabric last weekend from Nell Hills and I am going to have them re upholstered.

Black and Cream Buffalo Check is the fabric I ended up going with.  Hopefully something similar to this look.

 

And they will be used as the head of the table in our eat-in area off our kitchen. Something similar to this, but with just two chairs. 

 

 

 I am getting ready to pull the trigger on my kitchen lighting above my table. I just don't know which one to do. Help me out - give me some opinions...

 

I already have this light from Pottery Barn, and I was thinking about buying another and having two above my table like in the photo.

 

OR... I have a feeling that this beautiful cream colored shade will go with my wing back chairs.. Is it too much.



 

 

That's really all that I have either purchased so far or have in mind.  At first it was really hard for me to start buying things when I wanted to make sure it was exactly what I wanted, but it feels really nice to have a lot of this stuff done, so when the time comes I can concentrate on bigger things. It's also nice to buy things little by little -like light fixtures. If you go buy them for your whole house at once you are going to spend a pretty penny. But if you purchase them little by little it's not near as bad and it's something that you can pay out of pocket. One less bill that you take to the bank and have them pay is less money that you have to come up with in the end. It's no where near expert advise, but it's just what has been working for us so far.

 

It is still feeling like early fall here with higher temps, but I think the cold is coming sooner rather than later.

 

My farmer still has over 500 acres of beans left to harvest, but hopefully that will be over soon too. It will be nice to eat dinner earlier than 9:00 p.m. again..  

 

Have a safe and Happy Halloween... October - where did you go?

 

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My First Farmer

 As I am sure that most of you are annoyingly aware - I refer to my sweet husband as my farmer in all of my posts... He's mine and he farms, so it just fit from the very beginning.

What most of you don't know is that he wasn't my first farmer. A very long time ago I gave my heart to another farmer... I called him Poppy.

He was not my grandfather, there was no blood relation to me, but yet he always loved me (and my siblings and cousins) as if we were his very own. He married my grandma several years before I was even born, so he is all that I have ever known.

People tease that I was his favorite, and while it always makes me smile on the inside (and outside) that was not true. BUT - we did have a bond that you couldn't deny. Probably  because we spent so much time at their house when we were kids. They had a swimming pool and lived in the country, plus just like a typical grandparents house - we pretty much got to do whatever we wanted.

He taught me how to drive. I used my left foot for the break and my right foot for the gas, so I know I had to scare the heck out of him (But in my defense - I was probably only 12 years old). Late at night after my grandma would go to bed, Poppy and I would always stay up late and watch The Cosby Show. He would pop popcorn and cut up apples - that was our late night snack. And to make us chocolate milk he always used coco powder... YUCK... It had no taste at all, and I can still remember to this day him saying "Kids, that's what it's supposed to look like - you don't need all of that sugar." He was a hand holder, he loved his farm and his land just like my farmer. I remember tractor rides, going with him to feed his cattle, and jumping on hay bales back behind the house. He was a farmer, my very first farmer...

It's been a month today since we lost him. 31 days without him and 31 days trying to figure out how we all go on. He didn't live on his farm anymore. Him and my grandma moved to town (right across the street from my mom and dad and one block away from where I work) so I saw him a lot more in the past couple of months. I will forever be grateful for that.

I have been trying to write this post for a month now... I'll write some stuff... stop... go back later.... erase it... I did that every four or five days. I just couldn't get out what I wanted to say. I started this blog for many reasons, but always my main priority to use this blog as documentation for me and my family. It MAKES me take pictures, it MAKES me write my feelings out. I will always be able to look back on this part of my life...
 You are going to lose people in your life and realize that no matter how much time you spent with them or how much you appreciated them and told them so, it will never seem like it was enough.

That's how I have felt these past 31 days. Hoping he knew how much he meant to me. Hoping it was enough for him. Hoping that he holds the same memories very close to his heart.

 

Rest in Peace Poppy... I'll see you someday I know, but until then - I'll be missing you.

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The Lichte's New Farmhouse.... Week 13

It was a VERY happy Week 13... Our whole downstairs is framed. Still waiting on the exterior walls by the garage (as you can see in the below photo) BUT we need concrete in our garage first. My guess is that will happen next week.

It's so fun to give you a sneak peak to the inside - take a look at the reason I rush home from work everyday to see the progress. AND I think on average I walk through it at least 3-4 times an evening. Yes - I have already decorated it in my head AND found the perfect spot for the Christmas Tree. (insert my farmer rolling his eyes as he reads this).

See my week by week picture of Week 13. I need to find better spot, to take this picture - I am missing the whole left side of the house.

One little request from my farmer on this house was heated floors in the garage. It was absolutely silly to me, but I am sure he thinks honed marble herringbone floors are silly, SO as a good wife (and smart woman) I agreed with this purchase. AND considering my car has been sitting outside during the cold winter nights for MOST of my life it will be nice to not only be in a garage but to be in a garage with a heated floor. 

This is the living room. That back wall will have a fireplace in the middle and built in bookcases/shelves on each side. 

The eat in area off of the kitchen....

The pantry in the kitchen. 

And since the house plan never really had a great pantry place and we were limited with places it could go - we made another pantry in the laundry room (which is just right down the hall from the kitchen.)

Laundry room window

The view from the laundry room - our lane and the gravel road.

View from the master bedroom. Hello combine and grain cart.

 My side of the closet...

 My farmers side of the closet....

My farmer's office... I am currently trying to think of some great built ins and a desk location. The windows are really low (which I love - it's the front of the house) BUT it limits my options.. Anyone have any ideas. 

One last thing that happened that I forgot to take a picture of - stairs to the second floor... Guess that means that's what gets worked on next.... 

Later in the week I will do a post on specific things that I have purchased for the house. (Front Door style, light fixtures, sinks, etc....) I know I know you all are just dying of anticipation for that... :)

Have a great week - I will continue to enjoy this 85 degree weather that we are having the last week of October.... I am sure it will come to an end soon.

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Lichte Family Apple Butter

If you read any of my posts (minus my overload of week by week of our new home) you will see that family and family traditions (not Hank William Jr. style) are very important to me. It's how I was raised and I am blessed/lucky enough to have married into a family that is just the same.

Which brings me to the Lichte Family Apple Butter Weekend. It's a tradition that I have heard a lot about over the past couple of years, but somewhere along the line, this tradition stopped. You know how it is, life gets busy and you can think of 101 other things that need to be done, you vow to start up again next year, next year comes and it never happens. That's the way Apple Butter Weekend has been for the past 8 years.

Until this year...

We took off work, we cancelled plans, Aunt Sarah and her daughter Samantha even flew in from Montana. It was everything I had always hoped it would be, it was everything that I hope fills one weekend in October once a year for the next 50 + years...

And it all starts with this woman. My farmers grandma - Grandma Lichte....

While we are all blessed that she is still with us, she suffers from the crappiest (for a lack of better word) disease... Alzheimer's. The mind is such a beautiful thing and rest assured, hers

is no different.

She is my version of this all American Farm Wife. The kind that brings her farmer lunches and dinners in the field. Raises kids with little help from others, does farm chores, isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, creates memories with her grandchildren.  The kind of woman that holds a family together. The kind I always hope to be. I will always wish that I had a chance to actually get to know her - to learn from her. I will always feel that she could have taught me so much. We may be from generations 60 years apart, but she had a farmer and I have a farmer, so I can't help but think that we could just be two farmers wives sharing stories of planting, harvest, and the day to day farm life. After all, it's because of this woman, and sacrifices from her and her farmer that I am able to live the life that I have... It's a beautiful one.

So as a farm wife (for all of about 4 months) who bring her farmer Subway more than a pot roast (Subway 57 Pot Roast 0) I can't promise to live up to her, but I promise you that I am certainly going to die trying.

Take a moment to check out some of my very favorite pictures from Lichte Apple Butter Weekend 2014.

If your family used to have a tradition that you loved and like our apple butter and somewhere along the way things stopped... I strongly encourage you to start it up again. You won't be sorry.

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