(I wrote this whole post Monday and Tuesday and just noticed yesterday that it was all gone - so bear with me)
WOW - It's been a whirlwind. Things have been busy and my farmer is FINALLY back in the field this morning. That makes me happy, that makes him happy and that will make our bank account happy (beans don't make any money in the bags.)
I haven't posted in two weeks - paint is hard to photograph. So I saved it all for this one post. I did post my paint colors a few weeks ago (see them here) but I should mention that my main color, Benjamin Moore 'Revere Pewter" was a bust. I nearly didn't sleep one whole night because I knew I didn't like the color but I was trying to talk myself into it. Ahhh.... that was silly. One quick call to my sister in law to run to her house and look at her walls, followed by one quick call to my painter asking him to...gulp... repaint. It all worked out and what used to be "Revere Pewter" is now "Barren Plain". It's much lighter much more muted. (say that 5 times fast)
Things are really picking up. Yesterday I picked out the final color for the wood floors. They are being sanded and stained this week. A few weeks (maybe months) ago I gave an update on our wood floors. We have White Oak wood floors laid. They are a grade 1 which just makes them a little bit more uniform. Not quite so much grain. After they sand the floors and before they stain them they will mop them with water. It's called water popping. That brings all of the grain to the surface and really holds the color. We chose just a regular "Red Oak" color of stain. its a great deep rich color but has a hint of reds to it. Although it's not quite this "orangey" this is the color.
This is part of the sanding process of our wood floors.
Last weekend my mom and I wallpapered our downstairs 1/2 bath. And when I say my mom and I, I clearly mean my mom... I was a great paper holder and scissors getter though. I remember as I kid staying up late to help her wallpaper a room. I wasn't much help, I was probably more in the way, but I remember those late night - just staring at her work dreaming that someday I would be doing the same thing in my very own home.
AND. Fast-forward 25 years later I have my own home, but my mom is still doing my projects. I need to learn these things so someday I can do them for my own daughter.
The toile wallpaper just pairs so well with the library paneling.
It looks to be dark in this photo but is actually a very bright room.
It was fun to do together but after upholstering two of my wingback chairs and wallpapering 2 bathrooms I owe her something very special. Thanks, mom.
This is my table and chairs. I restrained the top a darker color and had my painter paint the legs and chairs black (they were originally white).
Then my two wing back chairs will be on the ends of my table in my kitchen ear in area. My mom is almost done with them - they look great. I think the black buffalo check will give my kitchen a less 'formal" feel and make it a little more "rustic".
After the interior painting was finished everything that has been taped up for over a month was uncovered. I must admit - that was a fun day. Seeing all of my countertops and sinks and my staircase.
This is a very blurry picture and I am not sure why. BUT I love these scones and remember my farmers' grandmothers sink that we has restored and it's now in our laundry room. I have been worried about this room for some reason. Just worried about how everything is going to end up tying together. But my mother in law told me it's too pretty to do laundry in - so I must have done something right.
This island is really just the center of our whole house. I see lots of pancakes on Saturday mornings, some spilled juice and eventually something will scratch it or stains it. I'll chug coffee sitting at this island being exhausted from staying up all night with a baby and it will see really early mornings with my farmer during planting and harvest. I will laugh at this island and shed my fair share of tears. I'll drink wine with my sister-in-law and give babies a bath or two in that sink. I'll be up late worried about a teenager that isn't home yet and have late night dinners with my farmer. Refrigerators will do out, dishwashers will too, paint colors might change over time and even that wallpaper I love will someday be replaced but this island will forever remain in this spot in this kitchen in this house and on this farm.
Light fixtures are EXPENSIVE but say so much about a space. I really tried to buy everything little by little and room by room so it wasn't as much all at once. I had originally purchased big chrome bell type pendants for my island. I loved them - I really did but as soon as I saw that creamy linen shade I knew that I needed that for above my table. So the industrial style pedants and the soft creamy shade were NOT going to go well together. I took them back and found these great small glass pendants from Pottery barn (and majorly on sale)...
This is the light at then entry of the garage in our little mudroom area. Super cheap - maybe $40.00 from Lowes and it's just perfect for this space.
They finished the tile in our upstairs bathroom and our kitchen backsplash. We used the same white subway tile. Our grout will be white (it's not yet grouted in this photo). We have a regular bathtub but chose to have it tiled instead a tub insert. I think it makes a small space a little more spacious.
For our kitchen we had just a simple white subway tile but in the area behind our stove I had them do this pattern. It's the same marble basket weave that is in our master bath.
Another blurry photo- not sure what is going on but this is our front door. I love all of the natural light that it lets in.
We hired a local mason to do our fireplace for us. I knew I wanted regular red brick but I wanted it to appear as if it's been there for 50 years. It honestly turned out better than I imagined. it's perfect and mom mother in law said it looks like the fireplace in her house when she was a kid. Those are the things that I love to hear.
Well I think that's it. This week they have been staining the floors and I am in full force packing mode. I hope you all have a great day.
