Friday, February 27, 2015

Why We Farm

 
I saw this on facebook the other day and couldn't wait to share it with you all... This is obviously a woman (you go girl) but this reminds me of my farmer. Him and his dad and someday my farmer and our children, building a legacy... All of their hard work and their sacrifice over the years is paying off and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it.

Not to worry, I'll remain the part of the equation that brings lunch to the fields, even if it is subway.
 
Happy Friday - from our farm to yours.





Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Lichte's New Farmhouse..... Week 30



Week 30 has been the best one yet. Sure - very early on when they were framing and walls were going up was pretty great too, but this place is really starting to look like a house - a farmhouse... 

This is our Week 30 picture. Doesn't the sky look cold?



The major thing in Week 30 was sheetrock. From Friday night to today around noon all of our sheetrock was hung. What I thought was going to be another slow-ish week turned out to be a really fun one. 


 Our Garage


The back mudroom looking into the front of the house.

Master Bedroom

 Kitchen

Another Kitchen angle


Living Room

Front Foyer

 Another highlight of Week 30 are the garage doors. Our doors are a little over sized (10' wide and 9' tall). My camera kept messing up, I think maybe from the cold, so I was unable to get the best picture.  We ordered our garage doors from Quality Overhead Door in Odessa, MO. They are the nicest people so if you find yourself in need for a garage door there isn't anyone else that I would recommend.

They custom made this barn style garage door for me. I think they add the perfect amount of charm to this side of the house. We have no windows on this side and our entry door to the garage has no glass in it, so I knew all along that the garage doors had to be something special. We still have some "hardware" to add to the door which I think will also add a lot.




A few weeks ago my farmer and I started over with a different cabinet maker. I probably failed to mention it in that weeks post because I was unsure of how things were going to work out. It was a stressful time and I think my farmer even made me promise to have two whole days where we don't talk about the house. WHAT? Two days to not talk about the most important thing that we have been doing for seven months.  That was a tough but failed attempt. Anyways, fast forward to a few weeks and we could not be more pleased. We began working with Dominick Gillotti from Prestige Cabinets out of Centerview. I love his creativity and I feel like he just "gets my style". I want to show you all of his drawings and sketches and ideas for all of our cabinets/built ins, but we have not quite yet finalized things. As soon as we do (hopefully soon) I will share them with you. 

Cabinets go far beyond just your kitchen. We have something custom or built in, in every room in our house except 3, so it was important to me to work with someone that not only "got my style" but completely respected my ideas. So again, if anyone finds themselves in need of any kind of cabinets, I would defiantly recommend Prestige Cabinets

So where you have cabinets you will need counter tops. My farmer and I went through Braco Stone in Kansas City and they sent us to several "granite places" in the Lenexa, KS area. They had lots of selections, and you get fast quotes. We had went to a couple of other places and didn't get service like that, not to mention their prices were so much more reasonable on the exact same stones, so Braco Stone is definitely a place that we would recommend. 

While we are still 100% unsure of our counter top choice, I think we will finalize that decision next week. Take a look at the below choices.
I apologize for the poor quality of pictures, they are taken on my farmers cell phone. I didn't want to lug the big cannon in the granite shop. 

Kitchen Granite: 

My first choice is a stone called Bainco Romano. It's a pricier granite (big shock there according to my farmer) I think that this is the one that we will end up going with. It's a lighter colored granite, but has great color that runs through it. Our main cabinets will be white, bur our island will be stained a darker cherry. It think this stone will compliment both finishes. 


Master Bath and 1/2 Bath 

Both of these vanities will have White Cararra Marble. I would put this everywhere if I could afford it, it's such a beautiful piece of stone. The master bath will be a darker cherry color and the 1/2 bath vanity will be white. Again, I think that this stone will compliment both of these nicely. 




Upstairs (Kids) Bathroom: 

This is a white shade of granite called SF Reel. It's a lower grade, so not too expensive for an upstairs bathroom. These cabinets will be white as well.
 I also thought about putting this in our kitchen. Still a very pretty piece of stone, and about $1800.00 cheaper than the Bianco Ramono. I sure hope my farmer isn't reading this part. I may have left that information out.



Laundry Room
 

It's no surprise that I am not a big fan of color. Most of my cabinets and all of my trim is white. I am sure that most of my walls will be a very light grayish or off white, all of my tile is white, and the outside of my house is white - you get the picture...  SO in my laundry room I am dying to do something a little bit different. I probably won't, but I am very tempted to try either this granite or a darker butcher block counter top. I need to finalize that decision soon so help me out - what are your thoughts? Another white ish grants, this beautiful coffee colored granite or a wood butcher block? 




Well thanks for bearing with me through that long post. Week 30 was an exciting one - looking forward to the weeks to come.


Have a good week.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

The Lichte's New Farmhouse..... Week 29


It's cold here today..... Cold as in bundle up and run across the driveway, snap a couple of pictures and run back home cold. Probably just typical February weather but we have been spoiled with some spring like weather and it makes cold days like this really hard. If it's going to be this cold - can we PLEASE have some snow.

Spring is on the horizon and hopefully so is move in day.

But before green grass and moving boxes, lets get back to Week 29.....



Week 29 was all about insulation.


It's amazing how after the insulation it just makes the house feel so "closed up". Don't get me wrong, we still don't have garage doors, BUT it's not a cold echoing house anymore, the insulation really warms it up - no pun intended (okay PUN intended).. :)


In addition to insulation we have had a good amount of deliveries this week. This is the sink that my farmer and I are putting in our laundry room - it came from his grandparents farmhouse before it was tore down and we "salvaged" it from his parents barn. It needs a little sandblasting, which speaking of, does anyone know who does that in this area? I love the drainboards on the sides.







Back to deliveries, my farmhouse kitchen sink came in as well.  The front is this ridge. I think it's perfect "rustic" look without being too.... well... rustic.


The nice people at Home Depot made us take our double wall oven that we purchased at the beginning of December. I kept pushing back deliveries every other week and finally they stopped that. Let's just hope that the nice people at Best Buy don't make us take our Refrigerator, Stove and Dishwasher that we purchased in (gasp October) anytime soon... 

AND -probably the best part of Week 29, my kitchen cabinet design. 


I poured over them in the mornings before work (and sometimes at work). Marking where I would put things in each and every cabinet and drawer. Sure - some things might change a bit but that's the only way that you can know that you have a space for everything that you need. 

I have made a couple of revisions so when I get those done and finalized I will share the design with you. It's beautiful and exactly what I always envisioned when I thought of my kitchen. The perfect mix to country but still sleep and clean. Sometimes I picture "Country" as "cluttery" and I hate clutter. Just ask my farmer and his never ending stack of papers that are always all over our counter. 


Our siding also came in during Week 29. It's white, but our shutters will be black. For a shutter selection we are going with a basic Board and Baton style with detailed "hardware" like the ones in these photo...



Well - that's all for Week 29. I should finalize ALL of my cabinet designs by the end of this next week (Week 30) and they are starting on sheetrock. Ahhh - we are FINALLY to the sheetrock phase. 

I am making beef fajitas for my farmer and I for dinner tonight. I very rarely ever post anything on this blog besides house updates, I need to get better at that. If these fajitas are yummy I will share the recipe with you. I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman, so how can it NOT be yummy. (My love for Ree Drummond is deep)..

Here's to Week 30 and more progress... 



Friday, February 13, 2015

A year ago - I said YES


It's Valentine's Eve, I just made my farmer his requested meal of Prime Rib. He loves  prime rib, and I love to cook it for him. It's something "special" that we have on occasion - trust me, it's a long ways from our usual Friday night homemade Pizza. 

Being the sweet man that he is, he sent me flowers today. White Hydrangeas - they looked just like my wedding bouquet - which to my surprise is why he sent them. After reading my card that read "Thanks for saying yes a year ago" I was quickly reminded of February 13, 2014. 

That night - it was perfect. The ring was beyond perfect - still my favorite accessory. Though this year has been full of trials (planning a wedding in four months, starting building a house shortly after that along with the death of my poppy) but together we have always remained tough as nails - that's us. 

Take a look at our last year. life is good today.... 











If I could be the reason your hair's a mess,

 The bass drum beating way down deep in your chest,

 If I could be the voice on your radio,

 Then I could be your long ride home.



If mine could be the name that changes yours,

The wine in your glass,

 The swing on your porch,

The dollar in your pocket,

 And the peaceful in your sleep,

 Then I'd be what you mean to me.



If I could be the fire in your firefly,

 The cool in the rain,

 The spark in your eye,

 The answer to your prayer,

 And the faith that sets you free,

 Then I'd be what you mean to me.













Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Lichte's New Farmhouse..... Week 28

Gosh the weather here has been perfect.... Sunshine and warm breezes. I purchased some white tulips today and a lilac candle. Some windows were open and I was cleaning - those are all signs that it's Spring. BUT it's still early February, and I can promise that we have not seen the last of cold weather... For now we will take it.

Tomorrow morning we get siding delivered (that will be covered next week) but it's nice to have some warm days so we can get some outside stuff done.

Back to Week 28...  Notice the front doors in...




We had an oversized (42") front door custom made from Bredehoeft Millworks. It will be stained a very dark mahogany.
And this is how it looks like from the inside. Just as pretty and oversized and lets in a lot of natural light. I'm in love with this door. 











The main thing that happened around the house this week was insulation. 


Comfort Solutions is doing all of our insulation - they will be blowing cellulose. 


A very blurry picture, not sure what happened there. BUT we do have a little "room" built around the upstairs HVAC that is in the attic storage above the garage. 




That's all for this week. I think next week will have a lot in store. Finalizing all of my built ins/cabinets, hopefully some siding and getting ready for the sheet rock on the inside. 

We are getting excited to see all of our ideas come alive inside our new home - and we are happy to have you all along for this journey. 

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