Happy Holidays Bring on 2016

Hello... I hope you had a super fun filled Christmas. We certainly did considering we were not feeling 100 % as the flu swept through our house affecting us over a 3 week period.  We made the most of a happy holiday.

New Construction Update no. 6 Kitchen granite and sink installed

Hope everyone had a wonderful and fulfilling Thanksgiving.  The kitchen granite and sink is now installed.

I remember how upset I was when they didn't have the original piece of granite  I picked out at the beginning of construction.  I was forced to choose from 3 - 4 slabs of colors that were different from our original pick.

It actually turned out pretty nice.

The new color is slightly darker which makes a nice contrast with the white walls and cabinets.  It also matches nicely with the stained woodwork.

The faucet I chose was different than the normal single hole faucet that usually gets installed with granite. I like having the two levers for the hot and cold.  At least this way I have the option of installing a single lever faucet later if I changed my mind. The holes now are there now for either design faucet that I choose.

The sun and window glass is causing the colors in the picture.

So here is new kitchen completed. The cabinets were designed up to ceiling to keep from having to dust the tops because I'm lazy smart and looking to SIMPLIFY my life.  We picked black appliances instead of stainless because I think black is going to be the way to go. The black appliances always look nice.  I have black appliances in the my other kitchen.

This is open concept into the living room  ( I call it a parlor ) . The floors are still covered and protected as there are still more contractors coming and going doing some finish work.

This is part of the living room from standing in middle of kitchen.  It is much larger than the picture shows.

This is still my favorite room of the whole new construction project. I love the ship lap original wall and old window.

I will show you the window and how I distressed it out with just a little sanding and scraping of the multi layers of paint.

New Construction Update no. 5 Kitchen Granite and Hardwood Floors

The new construction project is near the end. I'm going to jump ahead here on the project since I lost a camera on vacation with pictures from the project on it.
The kitchen cabinets are now installed.

I picked out Martha Stewart Cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. All the appliances are going to be black. They're actually on the porch and going to be installed next.

Here are the choices we had for cabinet door styles. We chose the bead board doors with blank drawers since we already knew we were going to use the the " half moon " drawer pulls. My mom wanted all real wood cabinets which made a difference in some of the pricing. The corner lazy susan unit added in was $1800.

The plumber came and installed all the baseboard heat and tied everything in from the last time he came when he laid out all the plumbing. 

Since we were adding a new zone to our heat , we decided to buy a new boiler/ heating system. We didn't replace what we had for a boiler, we bought a new system that mounts to the wall and it's high efficiency and qualifies for the tax credits. 

We now have a 4 zone system.

The hardwood floors are installed here in Dark Walnut with 2 coats of poly. The floors will get one more finish coat of poly once the appliances are in and the plumber leaves. 

We placed cardboard on all the floors to " plumber " proof  them while he installed the heating.

At the beginning of the project, we picked out the granite for the kitchen. I had 7 samples to pick from.
When we were with the architect and going over the design, we already knew in the beginning what we wanted for colors and cabinets and stuck to the plan which made it easier.  Once you change one thing, everything else changes and it could become overwhelming. If you are planning doing construction, know what you want before you start and try to stick to the plan. You don't want to stress out the contractor and make a million changes. It will slow down the job and the changes  will effect other contractors on the job.

The granite we chose was now not available since we first picked it out months ago at the beginning of construction. This is the picture the granite store sent me with a piece similar to the piece we wanted.
I was not happy. I was also not going to select a piece of granite for the new kitchen through a picture in an email.
Our contractor called the granite store and set it up for me to go up and select a piece I wanted. I could drive 45 minutes west to go see the piece that was similar to what we picked or drive 30 minutes east and pick from 3 other pieces.
I dropped our son at school and headed up to see three pieces of granite.

I got to pick from 3 pieces to stay within the budget of the project.

It was easy to choose the piece since I had to picture the white cabinets and dark walnut floors and black appliances against the slabs.

This piece was the prettiest. It had black , browns , hints of white , beige , gray and specks of  maroon. I've seen a lot of granite when I was shopping for ideas and knew I didn't want the granite with the hints of purple in it. The granite with the specks of purple seemed like it was most popular and too common. I've also seen it in a lot of  new construction while doing real estate. The trend is now light counters with white cabinets in this area of new $800,000 homes.

I insisted on keeping this wall with the ship lap boards. One of our contractors who is very meticulous was not happy with my choice. He wanted to go over it with new ship lap boards and I kept saying no. I wanted to keep the old window also. I was heartbroken when they cut into the wall. They had to set a beam for the roof and it destroyed the wall. I watched this wall throughout the whole project and a new guy they hired pieced the boards that were cut out and nailed them back in. I flipped out when I came home and saw this mess. The new guy could of put the boards back in the same spot like a puzzle that they were cut from.  He didn't.

We headed to the lumber store and I bought some ship lap boards and ripped that whole side of the wall out that weekend. I talked to myself and cursed him  for every board I ripped out. 

The new ship lap boards are not exactly the same as the old original ship lap. Keep that in mind if you are repairing or replacing ship lap.

This is how it came out. I also sanded and distressed the frame of the old window.  I now have a nice base for shabby chic farmhouse decorating for this room. 

The reason we kept this window is for natural light into my dining room on the other side. I wanted to keep the house original even though we were tying in a 1,000 sq, ft. of new construction.

When the plumber finishes up, I will show you how nice the hard wood floors came out. 

Garden Design Ideas and Tips

How does your garden grow?  If you're having a hard time on planning a garden and design here are some design tips and ideas to help you.

New Construction Update 4

Hello Everyone.  We are back from vacation which means back to work , school , and the new addition on our home for mom. The project has moved a long way since my last post. The green dumpster is finally gone. When they remove the dumpster, you know the project is near the end.

New Construction Update 3

Hello Everyone ! Although our new addition construction is past the half way mark,  I thought I would continue to show you the steps taken along the way.
I've been working, shopping, painting and moving things around here trying to live through this construction project. Contractors are coming and going. It can be hectic some days. Here's a sneak peak of the front porch. Yes, we did all the staining and painting ourselves. It's more sweat equity we put into this project to save money.

Mix n Chic Style Challenge-Decorate bringing the outdoors in

TGIF . Yesterday flew by.  Have you ever been stuck on decorating ideas and not knowing where to start? I'd like to share some tips with you that I use .  Pick one or two items and let your imagination go wild .  There are no rules when it comes to decorating .  I'll show you how I chose to bring the outdoors in for this design Mix n Chic Style Challenge .   I headed over to Chairish, an online marketplace for vintage and used furniture.  They have a great selection of  Shabby Chic pieces to add to your home.  When the paint is peeling and the metal is rusty, the easier it is to mix it in with any decorating style.

Hall Tree Bench Made from Pallet Wood

I finally finished making the entry way hall tree bench this past week. I have been wanting to make one for a very long time now.  It's been so hectic around here with the construction going on for the new addition. We are trying to move furniture from 2 rooms as the new addition gets tied into our home with beams, a door and window. There is just no more room to put anything during  this time. I did manage to complete some DIY projects that you can make too.

New Construction Home Update 2

The builder started here 2 weeks ago. Here is an update on the addition to our home.  There has been 3 loads of lumber and 1 man doing this job so far. The rest of the crew will be arriving next week as they are finishing up another job.

New Construction Home addition update Foundation floor

I'd like to share with you an update on the construction of our home addition.  It's moving along pretty good now.

Spring 2015 Garden Bloom

It's been very busy around here. I'd like to share a small portion of  my spring garden in bloom.  I've been trying to get my garden flower beds edged and 5 yards of mulch spread out before the construction crew arrives.  We had a damaging winter  especially for delicate shrubs , young trees and flowering bushes. Lots of clean up and repair.

Wood Log Mounted Deer Antlers idea

While our tree guy Dan was trimming some trees for us to prep for the new addition construction site, I had him cut some slices off the logs for me approx. 3 inches thick so I could mount the deer antlers I bought last year.

Here's Dan our tree guy on a smaller tree we had to remove.  I planted 8-9 trees last year around our property to make up for the two we had to remove.

  I've been letting the log slices dry out for 3-4 months now.  They will split during the drying process if left untreated.  I used a stain mixed with polyurathane and applied several coats.

The log slice doesn't look like it's been treated because it just absorbs the stain/poly like a sponge as it dries out.  There is a product you can buy for this process, but it's expensive and I'm only doing this one slice. The other 2 slices did split as they were drying out.
 Traced the skull of the antlers onto the wood and remove the inside of the wood so the antlers sit flush.

 Cut pieces of rope and cover the skull. You can use a glue gun to attach the pieces.

 

                 I originally hung this without mounting it to the wood but it didn't look finished.

 I drilled the top of the skull at an angle and used a 3.5 inch wood screw to attach it to the wood.
I used two 2 inch screws for the bottom.

                                                                           
Drill a hole in the back of wood slice and hang on the wall. Since it's such a heavy piece, I decided to hang it on the pine wall in parlor  (livingroom)  instead of drywall in the den.

                                                                         
                               It's alot easier to do. A great place to hang my Stetson.

1,000 sq. ft. Home Addition Construction update

Here is an update on the home addition we are adding to our house.  The snow is finally melting after this long winter we had here in New England.  There are still snow banks in our yard.

                                                                          

Old door for my garden from Mansion Demo

I had a chance to pick through a mansion built in the late 1800's before we demoulished it. The mansion was located an hour away from my house so I was limited to how much stuff  I could load on the trailer and the back of the pickup truck.

Carriage House of  Mansion Demo

joss & Main Inspirational Painted Picture

I'd like to share with you a picture I saw on joss & Main that I gave me inspiration for a special Christmas gift.  I was browsing on their website and came across this picture of a Shih Tzu dog.  It looked almost exactly like my Mom's dog.  Since it was only a few days until Christmas, I didn't have time to purchase it so I decided I'd try to paint one just like it.

1,000 sq.ft. Home Addition Construction Project

Here is an update on the 1,000 sq. ft. addition being added to our home.  It will feature a den, another kitchen with open concept into a parlor (livingroom), bedroom, a spa bathroom and area for laundry all on one level. A small porch will also be added to the front and rear entry.I will be showing you this project step-by-step as it moves along.

                                                                                

Reupholsted Old Kitchen Chairs DIY

Here is a project I finished some time ago.  I have been busy with school and I just haven't had time to post them.  I received these old kitchen chairs for free and reupholstered them.  The material was dirty and in rough shape with rips, but the chairs are sturdy.  It was time to go bold and add some color to the room. For those of you afraid of decorating with red, don't be afraid of the color.  I chose a country plaid and still was able to use the bold color of red without it looking too loud and busy.