My Kitchen in Color. And a short detour about dirty dishes.

I suppose it was this ad that started it. Or maybe it was the bland monotone of both the winter view outside my window and the view inside from my kitchen chair. I had a sudden urge for color.

I began to "shop the house." I pulled the red vase from the entryway table, the red glass votive hurricane too. I found red and teal cookbooks and brought up my stash of blue ball canning jars from the basement.

I allowed myself a tiny bit of shopping. A Valentine plate from Target's "dollar" aisle (the $2.50 shelf), a green plate from The Mill for $2.00, and a blue glass insulator turned votive for $1.50.

Oh, look!  A fun artsy angled photo. Nah. I was just avoiding the full sink of dirty dishes. *wink* Jesus did say He came "that they might have life, and have it to the full," and sometimes that means leaving dishes in the sink. A "full" sink. Ha.

At least that's what I tell myself. But I do think it's true. It's only when I see a friend's spotless sink that I get all jealous of their dedication to cleanliness and then I doubt myself. Thus the hiding of the dirty dishes picture.

Sigh.

Anyway. Back to the kitchen. A red mug from a friend, various glassware....whatever I could find in my color scheme, I used.

 Yes, we always have a Papa Murphy's pizza on our stove. What of it?

The Christmas card wreath still hangs, but today I have plans for it. I love items that can easily convert from one holiday to another... I'll post when I'm done. 

I spy two berry hearts from Target's "dollar" aisle. ($5.00 for both)


This would be a fun project and nice addition to my sink.
Should I try it? I wonder where Robb's drill is........?

The plate clock above my sink does need to go. As in buh-bye.

I've had it forever and a day. Like, since the first year of marriage, and I can't even remember what it was like to not be married and have kids, so it must have been forever ago.  Maybe I should replace it with this:

May Your Cup Overflow - Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print

On second thought, maybe I'll just paint it myself! (It could say, "May your sink overflow. Ha!)

sorry.

This needs to stay a very cheap makeover. If it wasn't, I'd get this, too:

God Is Good - Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print

Because it's true, and I think it would be good to have in my face every morning, ya know?

Especially when I've left dirty dishes in the sink.

Barn Renovation - {Part 3}

So, we had sold our business. The inventory in the barn slowly disappeared and the haymow emptied as the new office was bolstered and filled with a level floor, a stairway, a loft. 

Sometimes we start things that seem like a good idea and then along the way, 

circumstances change and we wonder – what was THAT all about? 

How’d we get HERE? 

But we knew our history of business and adventures and we were convinced that somehow, God still had a purpose for this project and we hadn’t just started this thing on our own. And along the way, our lives are remodeled too. He's been bolstering our supports, tearing out the rotten boards, preparing our life structure for what is to come.

As we go about the busy bits of life and work, we feel we are in a waiting period, a not-quite-settled-in time of learning to be empty of ourselves and full of trust and praise and worship. He has brought us this far, and we are waiting for his purpose to be revealed.

Are you waiting too? What are you doing while you wait?

Barn Renovation: Before
Barn Renovation : Part 2

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Barn Renovation - June/July (Part 2)

As we looked at the structure and available space and thought about our options, we began to get excited. Envisioning a heated office/man-cave with access to all our business inventory in the barn, we contacted our landlady, discussed what we hoped to accomplish, and she was all for it. We love her family, they tolerate us kindly, *cheesy grin* so it's a great arrangement for everyone!

We have a good relationship; I have the ladies out for tea, Christmas visits, and photo shoots in the woods. They are welcome anytime. I love to hear the stories of the girls growing up together in this house, and all the history of the farm. And they love to share! We have a mutual love of these acres, and they are satisfied to see kids enjoying the farm. 

So, with their blessing, we began.

First the interior wall board was removed, along with the ancient insulation, wiring, drop ceiling and plumbing. The windows were removed, and the last thing to come out was the beast of a milk bulk tank. Much thought was given to the process of removing it, as it had to be lifted a few feet off the floor and slid on runners out the window. Without denting it. Because who wants a dented milk tank? All that shiny-ness marred? No thank you. Forget that it now sits in a storage building. It must not be harmed!

The bulk milk tank is removed.Without so much as a scratch. Thank goodness.

Of course, a renovation is never completed without the unexpected appearing. In our case it was a sporadically rotten support structure. Worse in some places than others, many of the boards needed replacing. We reused boards as we were able.

We also intended to reuse the siding, but as it was pulled off, much of it splintered or crumbled. New siding was in our future. But that was OK. It gave Robb the perfect opportunity to discuss the merits or lack thereof to pre-painting siding.

Larger windows were framed and purchased,  an interior wall was removed, and the project moved right along, notwithstanding a mosquito plague.  

 New support walls to replace rotten boards.

Things were looking up, and then we sold our business...

Barn : Before (Part 1)

Barn Renovation: Before

 
See the little "house" protruding from the barn?  This building has been our most recent project. And by "our" I mean Robb and his friends that have have been hired to do all the work. This is to be Robb's space and I have been banned from even suggesting paint colors. Thankfully Robb has excellent taste and I am pleased with how the project is coming together. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The main part of this space, the room with three windows, housed the milk room, the place where all the milk was stored in a huge stainless steal tank until a truck came to pick it up. If the calendar on the wall was any indication, it hadn't been used for it's intended purpose since 1993.

The door on the left opens to a storage space that is butted up next to the silo. You may remember we used this space as a temporary locker room for Robb's birthday party. A hallway leading to the cow stalls, still complete with name plaques for cows that were called Pizza, Lollipop, Bonbon, & Sowflake)  separated the silo room from the milk room.

The second level? Well, I'm not sure of the original purpose of that space. It only had a floor the breadth between the little windows, and a tiny, crawl through door leading into it from the hay loft.  When we saw it, and how easy the ceiling above the milk room would be to remove, our imaginations were captured and we began to dream of what this space could become...

Stay tuned for answers to questions like, "What's it to become? Aren't you a little crazy to remodel a rented space? I thought you sold your business; why do you need an office now? What colors did Robb choose anyway?"

Organization and Lack Thereof

I had a very productive day yesterday.

This is my new sewing station. I LOVE it!

I got this chair at a garage sale years ago for $1.00. For some reason *cough*laziness*cough* I never recovered it. It was "good enough." Until now. Now it is perfect. I'm calling it my {So}Sartina chair.

The tables I purchased at Ikea. The cutting table pulls out for extra workspace.

Is it weird that I just sit in here now and admire it?

And this. This is where I will store all my pretty roses. I made the little macrame rainbow when I was 10.
Cute, no?

I also heaved and maneuvered two ergonomic desks out and brought this baby back in. I'd mourned the loss of this oak desk and am happy to have her back where she belongs. I love her storage and counter space. Maybe I'll name her too. Ha!

Now the danger of sharing all these pretty pictures is you may think I have my act all together and my whole house is spotless and perfect and organized. I hope you don't think that. I don't like being on a pedestal. Pedestals are precariously tippy. And so I show you these:

This is my husband's file cabinet and corresponding crapola. Which since it has been sitting in the hallway (another thing I cannot move by myself no matter my impatience) I walked headlong into and gave myself a huge nasty bruise on my leg.

My sister laughed out loud when I told her. But that's because she bangs into stuff all the time. No lie.

It seriously hurts. Good thing swim suit season is passed.

And here is one old desk turned fort and the other turned desk. Oh, wait. It's already a desk.

Whatever.

They are sitting in my dining room. Waiting to be sold on Craigslist. Or to be hauled to the barn by a big strapping young man.

Do you need ergonomic desks? They are really nice, heavy duty, adjustable and are very expensive to buy new.

I just didn't like them.

Tomorrow I shall tell you about Robb's new job and training or our camping trip which will include pictures of a snake regurgitating a frog.

You pick.

Man, my blog content is deteriorating.

But I made myself laugh, so that's something.

Corn Crib Pavillion and Robb's 40th Birthday Party

Robb has always said he does not like a big to-do about his birthday. This year he changed his mind. Maybe it was because he turned 40. Maybe it's his way of having a mid-life crisis. Whatever the reason, I got busy planning a BIG party on the farm.  I'm fine with that kind of crisis!

In fear of rain or hot sun, and in need of some sort of shelter, we brain-stormed, almost rented a tent, and in the end, necessity and frugality birthed a great invention. We converted the corn crib into a rustic pavilion.

I scavenged windows we have just removed from the barn for a renovation we are undertaking, begged old sheets off my mom to be used as curtains and table-clothes, poked around some more for makeshift conduit curtain rods, discovered old barn doors just asking to be used as tables, vacuumed the walls (yes, I did!), gathered jars and flowers

and re-purposed the old milk-parlor-bulk-tank-room sink. I joked that we even had our own "water feature" as the ice melted, dripping down the drain into buckets.

For entertainment, the kids swam in the pool, played volleyball or nuke-em, and ladder golf. And when we have a pool party with lots of children invited, we attempt to keep all wet towels and bodies out of the house.

So, of course we needed a:

complete with lockers.

Midway through the day, the girls claimed this space for their own, kicking the boys out to change in the rented outhouse. Who knew this room would evolve into a playroom?

Everyone had a great time. We were extremely relieved because we've had a wet couple of weeks and the mosquitoes had just hatched. I cannot begin to tell you how awful they were and how worried it made it us about this party. We were swarmed. The hum would not go away. We were afraid to even go outside. It was not funny.

Robb pouted and prayed and I tried to be positive that the forecast was for wind and sun and surely that would help.

In the end I was right. But Robb was true to nature and sprayed the entire lawn and shrubs with a mixture of Lemon Joy dish soap and Lemon Ammonia (mosquitoes don't like the smell of lemon) just to make sure those buggers did not bug us or our friends. They stayed away until dusk and by then most of our friends were gone anyway. BigSighofRelief.

My sister Laura and niece Victoria (daughter of Sara).

The Hendrys

Our longtime babysitter, Hannah, and her littlest sister, JennaRose

We ended the day sharing fireworks with the two families remaining of our nearly 60 guests.

I am now in love with this outdoor room and can't wait to host our next farm party!

P.S. I've linked this post to DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land, and I've added a link to today's post, too. 07/20/10 ~KJ

How I got Bursitis

Or whatever technical name my dad spouted off when I told him my wrist hurt.

I painted.

This bedside table and headboard.

This old dresser. Which by the way, I especially love in black.

Before. A long time before. The uniform is long gone from the wall.Ugh.

I also painted this tea cart for the dollhouse I made when I was 13 and just can't part with because I know my daughters will love to play with when I finally allow them to actually touch it. (I know that's a run-on, but sometimes I talk that way. :P ) The cart I found at goodwill for cheap cause it was butt ugly. And missing a drawer. But it was the perfect height and width so the dollhouse can turn on its lazy susan and not hit the rail. And I'm lazy and abhor shopping with three kids, so when I find something that might work on my once a quarter trip to goodwill, I grab it and think later. Three coats of paint and I love it. Now my dollhouse needs its own updated curb appeal. :)

Stair landing before. 

After. 

 I painted the $10.00 goodwill dresser,
(a lucky find that fits this space perfectly)

stole my sister's recovered chair, 

and re-used a sheer I removed from my living room.
I then shopped my walls for pictures and these found a new place.

There's such satisfaction in reusing old stuff. A coat of paint makes a world of difference!

 

Crop Check

A farmer went out to sow his seed... Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown... The seed is the Word of God. The seed that fell on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8 - The Parable of the Sower

Revamped Front Porch

My porch is red. This color goes way back, to another generation and another family who lived in this house. The porch was a playroom, and the mother thought her children would enjoy playing in a red room. When the family remodeled this house a few years ago to prepare it for new renters (us!), they kept two colors original. The porch stayed red and a wall in the living room stayed green. I love the history that comes with old houses!

Well, needless to say, I had nothing that coordinated with a red room when we moved in. But we weren't planning on staying that long, so I made do. Now we've been here three years, and I'm slowing tweaking as my old decorating obsession returns!

I tried arranging this room many ways, and finally decided to use one half for an entryway and the back half for exercise equipment. We have no other place to house a treadmill and elliptical, so this was the best option. My mom gave me a screen for my birthday, and the process was underway!

This screen used to be green with a colorful floral print. I painted it and made new fabric panels. I even switch them out for Christmas panels during the holidays.

The screen hides our workout space, see?

With two doors into the house from the porch, each end becomes it's own room.

 I recovered this coffee table turned bench a second time and added bins under it for kids shoes.
So there, you have it. My entry is lovely and coordinated and my unsightly equipment hidden.
Now if the spring mud would just stay outside, I'd be all set!

For more projects check out DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.