Outdoor living

Things are happening on the inside of our home but also always on the outside! We always have something going on, whether it be planting bulbs for Spring, burning leaves, moving leaves, raking leaves (seriously there are a ton of leaves) we are outside quite a bit! We love working on the land because if we didn't it would be an overgrown nightmare, clearly but also watching it transform into something we love is fun. We didn't buy this place to sit inside. Today wasn't an exception!

We have TONS (literally) of debris from removing our old foundation. All the cement and dirt is just in piles and today we decided, time to move some of it. 

Could we hire someone to take it away? Sure. Does that cost money? Yes. & we do not pay people to do things we can do ourselves. So the terrible terrible process of moving all that junk begins.

& as usual we always have a fire going. 

Since we constantly have leaves falling (seriously - CONSTANTLY) I started raking around the front of the house. Everything on the outskirts we can use the leaf blower on when the time comes but I'd like to keep the front cleaned up. The goal is to have grass down eventually. With all the shade around here I think weeds are going to always be more prevalent, but its worth a shot. 

All dirt & weeds under leave. It's just a matter of getting all the stuff you can off the ground. Dragging tarps around for a couple hours. 

My piles look so piddly but they were actually pretty big and EVERYWHERE.

I decided to pull out the two tree-bushes from the front. I waited until Spring to see if they would flower and they didn't. Then I waited until after Summer and nothing happened. They weren't really serving a purpose so out they came. 

I have no photo because they barely showed up IN a photo since they were mostly wild branches going every which way. I will say this, it looks nice.

Also found these cool little things while tilling the front bed space. 

They were against the foundation wall, coming through the dirt, in bunches. Still not sure what they are (could be flowers) but I ended up tossing them in the woods so we will never know. Whoops.

The great debate is to tear out the wagon wheels or not. They are now just rusted pieces of metal & there isn't any wood left on them. but I love them! They are a part of this house. I think they will be staying. 

Can we all bask in the beauty of new countertops, please.

C-O-U-N-T-E-R-T-O-P-S. Say it with me: countertops. Beautiful new countertops.

After nearly three months of using our dining room table as an entire kitchen, I can place things on an actual kitchen counter. Well, can't put anything on it yet - but I can at least touch it and dream.

It's going to sit all weekend and cure. They have to do some tweaking with the cabinets, make everything level and whatnot. Im so excited! I just love it. Even out contractor said he really likes the white on white. See? I kind of know what I'm doing. Kind of.

*claps hands and does happy dance*

There is a small area to the right of where the fridge will be. Instead of using quartz there, we are using butcher block that will be cut to size. Will post as soon as that's in! 

The hardest decision? Paint.

 We don't have a lot of room in the kitchen for paint. There's just not much available wall space. I am fine with this. For me, picking paint is HARD. The less I have to worry about it, the better. We have our hood range exhaust starting to be installed. That wall will be the wall with the most color on it, paint wise.

If you have really good eyes (or zoom in if you're on a phone) there is a line that is level with the cabinet. Below that line will be tile and/or backsplash. Above that line just a bit will also be tile and/or backsplash. The rest will be paint. 

The decision has been made. 

Full room view

I love it love it. It is a dark blue/gray. It goes with the colors in every room of our downstairs and isn't too crazy for our taste. I think it will be nice. There will also be paint over the window (just a tiny bit where there is space) and next to the fridge area. Obviously I will share the finished product.

Im excited to see the hood range go in. It's stainless steel and beautiful. We have the vent through the roof and installed, so it shouldn't be long now. Let's not forget what the outside looks like (I know, we're living like royalty over here)!! The siding should go up soon but honestly, kitchen first please! 

A pretty kitchen window & a dishwasher

Today I came home to the new molding around the window and the doorway and the dishwasher in place! Already with the dishwasher there it makes such a difference as far as color goes. Let's be real there is no color right now but it's nice to see something other than white!

Pretty window! The hole you see in the ceiling has to be moved to the right (we moved the window to the right a little because it wasn't in line with the sink). When alls said and done it will be a pendant light above the sink.

My lovely wood ceiling beam has been covered. Im still sad about it but again, I know its under there and it looks so much better with a clean drywall up. 

Doorway molding in and ready to be painted.

Dishwasher! Plumbing has to be done and electrical, but it's there. & that's pretty darn exciting.

One step at a time. 

Getting these cabinets in check

Oh hey! Yes, the kitchen is still happening. I've been awful at updating. I apologize for that.

That being said, let's see what's happening.

The cabinets went up and went up pretty fast. That is, the SHELL of the cabinets. I'm learning quite a lot through this whole kitchen reno process. Cabinets go up, but then they of course have to be measured to fit just right, and then molding has to go up. and shims (I think thats right) on the bottom of the cabinets where the floor isn't level to make everything level. It's a process! Cabinets just don't go up and thats that. There is plenty to do in between.

So here's where were at right now:

First & foremost, look at my gorgeous sink! I LOVE farmhouse sinks and this just is such a beautiful beautiful piece for this kitchen. So excited about it.

& onto the kitchen:

I know what you're thinking "holy WHOA that's super sterile and white". Yes, yes it is. There is also no paint on the wall, no appliances, no back splash, no counter accessories (or as Troy calls it, "junk") to add color so yes, right now it's pretty white and bright. I also took these photos at night so with the recessed lighting (that have no covers) just BEAMING, it looks totally different than in natural daylight. 

One step at a time people!

Cabinets? Yes please!

After the floor was done being sealed and all the sanding that needed to be done was done, the tarp came down between the kitchen and dining room. Can I tell you how weird it was to once again have that open space in the house? It was like Christmas.

& then it began - bottom cabinets started going in!!

We chose simple white maple cabinets because we love that farmhouse look. It flows with the theme we have in the rest of the house and its really clean, bright and airy - a design we love.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The floor has been giving a little bit of problems as its not 100% level (not that shocked based on all the other curveballs this house has thrown us) but our contractor is doing a great job of making everything come together. 

So from the left of the kitchen to the right:

The refrigerator will be in that left space.

The doorway was opened up to create a more open feel in the kitchen. The cabinets will come out from the space a bit, but there still exists a nice entryway and I think the end result will look great. 

To the right of the above cabinet is an open space for the dishwasher and then (below) the cabinetry for our gorgeous farmhouse sink. I cannot WAIT to have that installed!

Next come our corner cabinets with our "super susan" (because its massive). I am so excited for the left vertical cabinet for trash and the right vertical for baking pans. New kitchens are fun! 

Next a space for our stove and then another cabinet and our huge pantry area. This is going to be wonderful. I cannot fathom not having this tall cabinet once I saw it. It's going to be wonderful.

Bottom cabinets happening people. It's happening.

We still have the top cabinets to go (along with countertops, appliances and backsplash. maybe some paint in there somewhere & molding finishes) but we see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

On the threshold

Our new kitchen floors have been stained and are ready to have cabinets and appliances sit on them! We are so so excited. Another step complete.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We are so excited!!! I just love hardwood floors. Happy that we have carpet upstairs but as far the downstairs goes, it looks phenomenal. 

The color of the wood floor does not exactly match the rest of the hard wood in our house. As I previously touched on, the floors throughout the house (not the kitchen) were original, unstained wood. So those were sanded down and refinished. Where as with the kitchen - this is all new hardwood, untouched. So the kitchen floors are also natural, no stain. When you're dealing with unstained wood matching it is pretty difficult. That being said, we like the contrast. This is an old farmhouse with character and charm and the floors make it that way. We're very happy with the outcome!

The threshold also turned out great. We ended up having it be a sloped piece of wood, in order to minimize anyone tripping going in and out of the kitchen area. 

This photo shows the contrast between kitchen and floor better, too.

I just love it! Im constantly amazed at how this house keeps becoming our home. I love it more and more every day and can't wait to start the next project (after a 3 month hiatus from projects!)

Floor! FLOOR!!

I came home from work today and, after eating dinner and putting some things around the house away, I got cozy and curled up on the couch. & then it hit me - they started the floor in the kitchen today! How did I forget this?

So I hurried into the kitchen and tried to calm my high level of excitement. Pulled back the tarp a little....

And BAM - there they were - beautiful hardwood floors were down!

Oh my gosh. This is like Christmas. 

In this photo you can see the different colors in the wood from the kitchen to the dining room. The floor will be finished to match the dining room as closely as possible. Since the floors in our house are all original and were refinished, and the kitchen wood floor is new, Im not sure how eaay that is going to be.

We will also be adding about an inch thresh hold to join the two rooms because unfortunately the floors arent flush with one another. As long as its not something anyone will trip all over, Im good with that.

Also - my beautiful beam got hacked at today because we had to have it flush in order to put drywall over it. Poor, pretty beam. 

I cannot wait for the next week to happen! I feel like its all going to come together pretty quickly now and that makes me SO happy and SO excited!! 

Stay tuned - there might be a big reveal sooner than we all think!!