THE KITCHEN

Here are some before pictures of the kitchen from right after I moved in. I think it had been painted by this time. The new paint color is quite similar to the old just lighter by several shades. If you look closely you can see the old floor. Definitely like the new better. On the still to do list is countertops and a new sink. I’m also changing the window treatments. I set the new fabric in the window --- you’ll see it in the after pictures. The roman shades will be replaced with cafe curtains in the new fabric. I’m planning to hang the curtains a little above the halfway point in the window and then not do a valance. I want to let lots of light in but be able to have privacy at night if needed.

This is the only before picture that shows the top of the cabinets.

You can see just a little of the “empty space” in the upper left corner. The ceiling is over twelve feet on that wall so that is a lot of nothing up there. Thanks to raiding my mom’s fruit cellar where the old crocks and bottles are and the decorating eye that my sis has I think you will really like how it turned out. The only things up there we bought were the sunflowers and the two little wooden crates.

Now for the after – the appliances have been replaced. I also have a new vent to go above the stove – it’s stainless also but hasn’t been installed yet. I’m looking for a cart or something to set next to the end of the counter where you see the trash can to set the microwave on. Once I find what I’m looking for it will free up that counter space and I think I’ll have plenty of space for fixing meals.

The table I’m using will probably be replaced if I ever find an old farmhouse table. The chairs are school house chairs I recently purchased and I love them. They are are nice and sturdy but not modern looking. The pastel of the apples on top of the pie safe was done by my aunt. I really like how it looks up there. If anyone read this far, thanks for putting up with this unorganized rambling. See you next time and don't forget to head over to Susan's place and see all the other Met Monday posts.

WHAT DOES 44 REPRESENT TO YOU?

For me it represents the amount (in feet) of shelving in my sewing room which means that all of this (and more) will soon be off the floor.

And just so you know, I helped paint the boards :)) What you see in the pictures was accomplished between 2:30 and 5:15 this afternoon. Tomorrow, Brandon “the carpenter” will be back to add extra braces to the shelves, calk the seams, fill the nail/screw holes and touch up. I think I’ll end up with some very nice storage. Oh, he's also going to fix the "happy" the DirectTV guy left me in August. Isn't it cute ....

READY OR NOT I CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER

I need to sew or embroider or stick my finger with a pin or something so even though I won’t be doing it in my sewing room quite yet, I’ve broken out the old sewing machine and worked on some of the projects I’m so behind on. And you know what -- I feel good!! She’s been packed away since April and I was afraid she would be rusty and not want to work but I was wrong. A little dusting and oiling and she’s been working like a horse for a couple of days. Here’s what we’ve been working on.

I cut out and put together the top to a blanket for Jennifer’s friend who’s expecting a baby. I just have to sew the top to the chocolate brown minky back. I made a burp cloth to go with it.

Then I cut out and put together the blanket and burp cloth for my neice Lisa’s surprise. Her two oldest are 9 and 11 or there abouts so Colton William Peace was definitely a surprise to all of them:)

A couple of towels for Charley Kate and Micah that I’ve had since before I moved. I still have some basting and stuff to take out of the towels.

Finishing up the embroidery squares that will go in Charley Kate’s Bible story quilt. I’ve got about 6 more squares to go. There will be 24 embroidered squares with sashing in between . I think it will be really pretty.

I’m hoping to get all caught up on my embroidery before the day is over tomorrow and then get to quilting a quilt that made the move with me. Then I have 2 Halloween pumpkins to make even though Halloween will be over but I don’t think Micah and Charley Kate will remember that they didn’t have their pumpkins for this year and two more Christmas stockings that I’ll have to have ready to hang on the mantel for Christmas. I know there is more on my list but I don’t have it here by my laptop. I’ll be busy for awhile I’m sure.

FALL BREAK WITH AVERY

This past week was Fall Break at Ruby Major Elementary so Avery came to visit Tuesday – Friday.  I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.  Of course the other cousins came by a couple of times and she went with me to the grocery and a few other errands but we did spend a good bit of time around the house. and she and Toby got to play outside and she colored and watched some movies.  Here are some pictures commemorating the week.

     

Thursday we made a trip to Murphresboro to drop off something that needed repairing.  About a 30 minute drive each way for those not familiar with the Nashville area.   We went to the library to check out some books and then over to Aunt Jen’s for a little cousin time while she and Uncle Matty signed the papers and got the keys for their new house.  Tonight Uncle Brian came and ate spaghetti with us .  After supper Miss Avery entertained us with some fun tumbling on pillows under a blanket on the floor, a magic trick and a game of dodge the pillows.  Then it was off to bed for one very tired red head

Friday , Avery and I went over to Aunt Jen’s new house and I helped clean some baseboards while she played with Vail and Katy.  We brought the girls back to the house with us for lunch, to play some more and then watch a movie during rest time.  

We took the girls back to there mom and  met up with Michael and Brian for super at Maniac’s  a local chicken place.  That ended my fallbreak week with Avery.  It was a lot of fun having company each day.  Hope she had as much fun as I did.

 

MY FIRST VISIT TO MET MONDAY: DECORATIING MY NEW PLACE PART 1

After living in a small town in the MS Delta for over 30 years, I have moved and am getting settled in the Nashville area. Since I’ve been following Met Monday almost since its first week, I thought it would be fun to document the things I’m doing to make my new house my “home”. It’s an ongoing process … that’s for sure…. and I need lots of help. My sister is my go to person in that area most of the time. She spent several days here last week and got me off to a great start.

I thought I would begin by sharing the fireplace wall in my den. Besides the fireplace, it has a window on one side and a french door out to the back yard on the other.

Here is a before from shortly after I moved in.

One of the first things I did was to change the floor from carpet to this. The people who lived here before had two dogs and two sons. The carpet was clean but aged and then my dog, my grandkids and I had it looking old and dirty in a couple of days. That kind of made my mind up about whether or not to have carpet in the room where the two main exits in my house are located. AND I love the laminate that was installed. It is a perfect color and looks great.

Here is the after picture of the fireplace wall.

The chair you see is a red wingback chair that should be pushed back in the corner a little more but I forgot to push it back after I hung my sheers on that window. I’m going to add a triangle valance that matches the seats on my extra pull-up chairs. I’ll add some sort of trim around the edge and I think it will look quite nice.

The sheer on the door is knotted at the bottom because I need to shorten it, add a casing to put the rod through and add then put the other magnetic rod on the door. I love that I can use magnetic rods on that door and the sidelights on the front door since I had had some on my patio door at my other house and had brought them here with me. Magnetic rods are a little more expensive but they work great on metal doors and there’s no drilling or hammering required:) Here are a few close ups of the sign hanging from the doorknob and some of the things on the mantle.

Except for the greenery in the crock, these were all things that made the move with me.

Hope you enjoyed this look at my fireplace wall and will come back for a look at some more next week.

In the meantime go on over to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.  I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.