Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Ring, Ring! Hello, Is It Me You're Looking For?

Ring...Ring. Hello? Are you there?


Ever since I won the book, French Accents by Anita Joyce, (you can read that post here), I've been on the lookout for a piece of furniture to try out the style on.

However, I haven't found anything that said French to me. I love the look of the piece below:
Source

Then one day, my brother-in-law told me about a curious table he saw at Good Will in their auction section. It was, he told me, a chair with a table with shelf attached. "Oh!", I exclaimed, " a telephone table or gossip bench. How much are they asking?"

He told me it had $15 currently on it and was in decent shape. I asked if he was going to be there the day of the auction. Yes, he could be. I told him my daughter and I saw one at Salvation Army once for $80, how we didn't buy it, and how we've regretted it ever since. (Much like the one below):
Source

He said he'd try to get it for me...how much did I want to spend? I told him what my limit was and that was that.

A few days later, I got a text from him...he got it for $32! He sent me a picture. Oh my! So cute. The shape is just right for my French look. The table has a nice curved shape and with the right fabric and paint, it's going to be "ooo-la-la".
Not very "Ooo-la-la" right now

It needs a few small repairs so why we take care of those, I've been figuring out fabric and paint.

Yesterday I found this fabric- the color is taupe - my favorite neutral, of course.

Oo, I love! Now to order a yard. And I think I know just the perfect paint color...I still need to check it against the fabric.

And I'll need one of these:



I have to admit, I thought about painting it red and make it very country looking:

But I really think its shape is perfect for a French inspired piece. I guess if that look doesn't work out for me, I can change it. I can't wait to get started on it! What fun!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Kitchen Dreaming

One of the things we want to do at the farm is to redo the kitchen. It was a dirty mess when we bought the place. Brown cabinets, brown paneling, wallpaper, and lots and lots of grime. (Gross)




My sweet MIL came up with me one weekend and helped me scrub and clean....bless her!

Then my friend Cindy came up and helped me paint all those brown cabinets...we wore ourselves out but thanks to her that job got almost done in just three days! (Bless her too!) Bruce helped me finish them up, so in five days the kitchen was freshly painted and put back together.

Then I talked Bruce into taking down the low hanging cabinet over the bar. Best.decision.ever! It opened up the space and brought it into the 21st century. Lol.

But now we need to decide what's the next step will be. How much we will do to really make it a kitchen we not only will enjoy but will be the best we can make it.

Let's start with the countertops. We know we want to upgrade them. I have Silestone here at the city house. I love this stuff! It's heat resistant, stain resistant, and doesn't need sealing. Lots of pretty colors and patterns to chose from. Definitely my top choice.

Which brings me to the cabinets...
These are very sturdy. Not extremely pretty but sturdy. However there are some design/construction issues that are annoying..

The toe kick is too low, they are not exactly pretty, the interior sides are missing where the appliances are. Uh, what in the world?!? I'm pretty sure there's a code violation in there somewhere. Oh wait. It's the country...probably no one cares.

So, what are our options? Live with the too low toe kick and pray our toes never meet that edge, add the cabinet sides, and accept the cabinets as a charming country look (painting them did improve them considerably)!

Or we could replace the cabinets and address all those issues at one time. But that's also expensive and time consuming. Not sure I want to go there...

Another option would be to reface the cabinets and drawers and just replace the countertops and backsplash. This would also be the most economical choice. I like this option the best. We just need to see what's possible.

I'm excited to explore our possibilities and make this kitchen really shine. I'll leave you with some inspiration photos.

Beadboard backsplash, shaker style cabinets - love!
bhg.com
 Beadboard backsplash and open shelves:
The Inspired Room
Three color choices if I decide to paint lower cabinets darker:

ASCP "Coco"
Coco is the color of our bathroom vanity and I love it! But oh, French Linen or Shenandoah Taupe!
ASCP "French Linen"

Benjamin Moore "Shenandoah Taupe"
Quartz countertop colors I like:

Cambria Castell

Cranbrook
 I like these two lighter options as well:
Quazar

Hyde Park

So, I would like beadboard backsplash, Quaker style cabinet doors, possible darker lower cabinets, and quartz countertops.

What feature do you love/hate about your kitchen? What would you change or keep if you were doing it over?



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

My Word For The Year


Another year has come and gone. My grandma was right when she said the older you got, the faster time goes by. Crazy. But here we are - 2016.

What does it mean for The "B" Farm? Well my friends, this marks the fourth year of us owning our sweet farm. When we bought it, we set a goal of getting it live-in ready in five years so that means next year all projects will be completed! (hopefully everything falls into place)!

I am so ready to leave the city behind and become a Country mouse.

To that end, my word of the year is "Prepare".

Prepare by tackling a couple of big projects - new kitchen countertops and making Tin Roof Studio a reality.

Prepare by getting rid of all the stuff we've managed to accumulate over the 22+ years we've been in this house and only keeping what we really need. (When we do move, we don't need to take a bunch of unwanted stuff with us. And by doing it now, we'll have less to do when we do move).


Prepare by refreshing what needs refreshing at the city house so we can sell it when that time comes. So many projects to do in just a year. It's exciting!

So 2016, let the "preparing" begin! It's going to be busy!

Springtime Projects 3: Have A Seat!

It might still be Spring, but here in Texas, things are starting to heat up and feel like Summer. I knew I needed to get the last of my Spri...