1300 posts and Friday the 13th

 I noticed just yesterday that I have 1300 posts , wow , that's a whole lot of posts isn't it? I started this blog to create an outlet for my own personal design projects, I really didn't know how I would come up with topics and material at all and I truly didn't know if anyone at all would read this blog.
Happily I have made friends and opened my life up to so many new wonderful ideas and most importantly wonderful people along the way.

 I have received support through my many projects , advice and encouragement through some personal situations.
Sometimes sadly I have experienced mean and hurtful comments and jabs but they pale in comparison to all the kindness that I feel from the majority of the comments and emails I receive. Most people are kind , but of course there is some ugliness out there, some people just can't help themselves. Here is where every post has been created.

 Its funny to see how far this blog has come and how far the house has come, it is so much better than when I first started, well the house anyway.
 I love this house even though we are moving on. Its not a palace or a million dollar home but it is our home full of warmth and loads of charm which we added one project at a time . In 46 short days it will belong to a new family who will make it their own. I'm sure they have plans .

 I will miss all the one of kind details we leave behind. The finally established gardens. I hope spring brings the new owners lots of beautiful surprises outside. We added so many new plants to the gardens this past year including a front yard tree and loads of boxwoods and hydrangeas and so much more, we weren't planning on moving at all remember.We made sure to not let our doggies outside since we sold to leave the new owners with a clean yard , those of you with doggies who use the yard for their business will know what I mean. We have been walking the dogs lots and lots and we have been thankful for a mild winter so far.

This kitchen has come a long way. It was actually pickled oak when we moved in , by choice, and I painted them this mocha color two days after we moved in. I found it too gloomy , I love a white kitchen. We have spent so much time here. It is a great kitchen , just the right size . I always dreamed of adding soapstone counters but never got around to that . I wonder how the new owners will change it if at all. I think it would be so nice with a farmhouse style sink , but it is not mine to change anymore, boo . ( Mason was 4 years old there now she is 13 , where does the time go?)
I have been going through such DIY with drawl, I haven't been to Home Depot in so long....I wonder what they think happened to me , I should go for a little visit.

So thank you for coming to share your time with me. Don't know what the future holds but I thank you in advance for all of your kindness and support.

Have a happy day this Friday the 13th , it's a lucky day in this house.

Planning and deciding

I love the planning and decision process of interior design , there are lots of ideas and too many choices , sometimes it is very overwhelming . Many people get stuck in the decision stage and become paralyzed and don't do anything because of the fear of making a bad or wrong decision. That is not an option for me. It took me 7 years to pull this house together to add all the special touches and to create a home full of character and I don't want anything less for our new house. I will not be giving myself quite so much time on the new house . I figure 2 years tops . Lots of blog post material.
We have finally decided on the wood flooring , drum roll please..... its is going to be rough sawn pine flooring stained dark . The photo above is my inspiration . I have done lots of homework and asked lots of homeowners that have pine floors to let me know what they think of them. Turns out they love them. See wood was a no brainer , we love wood, but having two kids and two dogs we know wood floors get scratched and show wear and that is just a fact of life. So do we want rustic floors that have loads of charm that can have character added to it by everyday life, or perfect floors that will get scratched and marks that will break my heart and make me mean, no we don't want that . I want the bones of the house creamy white and have quiet elegance but the floors obviously rustic.

For the family room we will need built ins flanking the fireplace to house the tv components. When I recently saw this image on House of Turquoise I thought how perfect . Where they have art we have windows. This will be the perfect arrangement for our family room.I think a lantern will be in order for our family room as well.

I recently ordered a box of these Moroccan tiles from Overstock , they made it all the way from Utah . I don't know how any of them made it in one piece however. The bottom of the box was wide open , they where barely supported ,its a miracle there were only 4 tiles broken, luckily I will have to square up the bottoms anyway to add these to our back splash above the range. They are so lovely and only $11.00 a sq foot.

I went over to the new house on Friday to measure for blinds for the bedrooms , did I mention we have 27 windows. For now I am only concerned about bedroom blinds and bathrooms . As you can see they installed the lovely slider closet doors , gosh they are something else. Mason and Sophie both want curtains and not doors at all , so they will be removed at some point.

I will have to absolutely replace the linen closet sliders , because they just look plain awful. I actually found the same doors we have throughout the house in slider form for $169.99 , I think that is pretty good , I will just have to trim out the opening nicely to add some character. Why don't they trim nicely around closets with sliders ? , well they did in the laundry room , which makes it look so much nicer.

eclectic family room design by general contractor Borges Brooks Builders

I have been noticing a lot of rustic wood accents in the houses I am drawn to on Houzz , like this photo above of the eclectic family room. I am planning on the cladding the soffits in the dining room with wood to create this look , so it will look structural .

So for now I am planning our first steps after we take possesion and move in .
Projects  # 1 Kitchen: remove sheet vinyl flooring( laid in the kitchen to close the house , darn by-laws) lay wood flooring in the kitchen first and foremost , and finish the kitchen flooring.
#2 remove kitchen counters
#3 paint the kitchen  cabinets before installing gas range.
#4 build onto kitchen island to add microwave cabinet and wire for electricity
#5 add stone counters and new farm house sink
#6 install appliances ( run gas line and water line for fridge)
# 7 customize kitchen cabinets with valance and crown moulding.
# 8 add wood counters to island.
#9 find and install two beautiful pendants
#10 back splash
#11 install range hood
#12 trimmed chalkboard wall

Other projects : (inside only list)
paint all interior doors black
install all the pretty lights starting with bathroom vanity lights
install entry hall brick floors in herringbone pattern (easy right)
stain and paint staircase
install remaining wood floors on main floor upper hall and office
beam treatment in dining room
add trim to staircase walls
customize entry closet
install open shelving in laundry room
paint kids bedrooms , bathrooms and our bedroom
built ins in the family room
add tile accents to master bath
build upholstered master king sized headboard
replace all interior door hardware
install floors in the powder room
trim out nicely all the bathroom mirrors

well that is a starter list , I'm getting worried , oh heck who are we kidding I love this stuff don't I , I live for this kind of list.

Fresh Start

Happy new to you , hope you had a whole lot of fun.

We had a nice relaxing holiday and now its back to reality , back to work , working out , cleaning house and packing for our move next month.

Lots of planning and day dreaming going on here that is for sure.

We have almost 100% decided on rough sawn pine floors stained dark, this has been a tough decision for sure , but from what I hear we will be happy with it , lot's of character for our spanking new place.

Our new house is on a corner and we have been trying to figure out how we will fence our property when the time comes. Lucky us a near by community has homes by our builder set up exactly the same way as our new house is with the separate garage. So we have been able to see how at least 7 other home owners dealt with such a set up. I love the one below most of all with the open iron fence and all the mature trees. We also like the home above how they kept the fence back which visually connects the house and garage. Really in our climate you use the yard 6 months of the year maximum , and we don't need a ton of privacy as we mostly just hang out and relax in our yard. Most likely we will opt for the privacy fence .

But the fence is an issue for the future.  For now I have been just looking for appliances.

As I'm sure I mentioned I have a 36" opening for our range , we had considered building it in to accommodate a 30" range because 36" ranges are very pricey. I have been eyeing a beautiful Kitchen aid range at Sears . This floor model has been marked down for quite some time , since well before the idea of a  new house was in our minds. It was crazy expensive , I won't even say how much , let's just say there was no way no how. But clearly not many people around here buy 36" ranges , so they were trying to move it. The price was fair but not low enough for us, that is until I asked . It really does pay to speak up because they came back with an unbeatable price so it ours now I'm so happy to say. It is so exciting , it is duel fuel , 6 burner and so pretty. We currently have a Kitchen aid convection smooth top range which we love , but it was sold with the house . The new range has all the same digital features of our current stove which will be so nice , no new learning for the kiddies.

I am really loving this corner house separate garage set up , a mere 56 days and we will be moving in to our very own corner house.

We indulged in lots of holiday goodies for Christmas and New Years , I enjoyed cooking up some killer treats , but it is time to get things back on track.

 This was the most delicious Pumpkin Chipotle soup for Christmas Eve.

And these are the easy chicken enchiladas I served with the soup, yummy .

I'm off to tackle some more packing and cleaning .

Here's to a great fresh start for 2012