putting a spin on things

The new view ...

Before this was the view of the kitchen island from the dining room , frosted glass doors , I couldn't stop myself from spinning things around a little .

I have been wondering what it would be like to flip the kitchen island around , it has always faced away from the television , I just needed to try it to see if it would be good.

The kids are always dragging the stools over to the computer area , maybe this way the stools will work better for this purpose , more kids can view the games and computer activities, let's hope.
Only time will tell if this is a better design for the kitchen , so far so good.

It must have been quite a sight seeing me slowly spin this monster of an island around , because of the over hang it is making this area feel more spacious , gotta love that .

I also plan on removing the panel moulding from the ends of the island and replacing it with beadboard , the panel moulding is nice but does catch a lot of grime.

Before I had originally built the island with the stool side closest to the sliding glass doors.

I thought it would bother me to see the stools from the front living area , I was wrong. Luckily for me I never attached this island to the floor.

I sit here in my quiet house this morning , I am appreciating the peace , it has been nice to spend time with my girls but it comes with a cost , fighting , a lot of fighting between those girls , the hardest thing to deal with was the lack of access to the computer , I just gave into it , spent a lot of time cooking and baking and relaxing , but I am back now , I can check out all the blogs again . I wanted to add some depth to the living rooms lamps , I did this with three layers of paint , a soft brown a light grey and a deep grey, I dry brushed the paint until I got to the desired look then sanded it back a little to hi light the the details .That's was it for a full two weeks , not much creating going on.

I was given by my children this good looking toaster oven for Christmas, I really didn't want one since space is tight but how could I refuse it is a good looking oven and it has made things quicker and easier for sure.

Here is my second toaster I received for Christmas , see this is the one item I asked for and really wanted , it is a toaster that poaches an egg while you toast your english muffin , or whatever toast, see three of us love my homemade egg sandwiches , this toaster was just made for me.

So here is the story , I have wanted this for two years ever since I first saw it , I decided this year it would be a great Christmas gift for me , easy for the kids and husband to get,right? Well apparently this is out of stock most places , or rather the two places my family looked , they simply gave up .....they were quick to tell me this , which made me quite sad , after all I had my mind set on this toaster, the next morning I learned I was getting a toaster oven when I over heard my child say the words "toaster oven" see she didn't know they existed until this shopping trip with Daddy , she is not the girl to confide in .

So I asked if the had checked XYZ stores , well no, no and NO. Hmmm they didn't try too hard now did they . I don't ask for much , I do a lot and I mean a lot but I do not ask for much , I would not rest until I checked these stores , I dragged my oldest daughter with me , and when I entered store Z {a 1 minute drive from our home}well wasn't it right there , weren't there plenty of them , and $30.00 less than they were anywhere else I had seen them......needless to say they ran out and shamelessly pretended they did not get me this super duper toaster. Aren't they sweet , after being spoon fed.

It does not disappoint either , it makes a perfectly poached egg for my egg sandwiches , and don't worry I don't add the meat .

Have I ever shown you my quilt collection , we can not have enough and I mean we my husband loves these too , this is our blanket of choice , we have bed sized ones , stripes florals and solids , small throws as well which we used in the winter daily , we all love them , the doggies too , they wear really well , there are two more not pictured here , I remember seeing long ago a photo of an armoire full of these blankets it was beautiful.

Are you a quilt person , an afghan person or a snuggie gal , please tell me you are not a fuzzy animal headed blanket person , you know the ones they sell in flea markets and at gas stations, nooooo.

Part Two of 2009 in review.

Part two of my year in review , I am feeling exhausted looking back but I am glad I put all of this work into our home , it is a really comfortable place to be . I was able to finish the master bath this year by adding loads of character using some vintage pieces and my most favourite trim feature beadboard , although I would still like to add new faucets and marble counters.

I picked up these beautiful corbels just down the street for $30.00 for all 4 , I quickly made them into slim shelves.

I found this little cabinet , it needed a little love , I transformed it to hold linens.

The big long awaited bedroom makeover was a big improvement and a huge hit .

I used a simple trick to upgrade our powder room trim by leaving the existing trim in place.

I finally had a slipcover made for our little settee , money well spent this was the finally touch to complete the family room .

The headboard I made for a client .

I tried my hand at slipcovering a simple square ottoman , I think this may be my favourite thing now.

I also using scrap glass made a faux transom window for the doorway leading into the kitchen , having a two storey house bashing away at a load bearing header is not recommended.

Opening up the basement stairs and adding wood to the landing improved this little area.

Easy slips were added just in time for Christmas.

That wraps up the best of my projects , I hope you enjoyed a quick look back at 2009 and thank you most of all for all your support this past year.