I have been gone A While

I'll be the first to admit.
I had some serious aspirations for this blog.
When we started out renovating this house, and doing this blog, I was all full of optimism about what both could become. I had visions of those gorgeous shabby chic houses you see on every other blog site out there.
Then reality set in.
I haven't posted in months because I am burnt out, and totally over this house.
Literally everything that could have been wrong with this house was. We ripped the entire inside down to the studs out of necessity and started over again- strained our budget until there is literally nothing left- and still have an entire basement left to finish.
It snowed yesterday- and we have no furnace. Not even any heat ducting to blow hot air anywhere even if we did have the furnace.
So, here we sit, in sweatshirts and sweats, hovering over space-heaters.
And I am feeling crabby.
No new pictures to offer, no pretty nick-nacks, because I can't even afford to buy drapes, badly needed dressers, or a single rug at this point.
No new entries, because my life is not a vacation, and I have to work. All day. Every day.
Maybe, at some point,
I will get over this Edgar Allen Poe moment I am having
and write a happier post.
:)

Long time no see! We have been actively renovating and moving over the last two months or so, and here it is. Finally, the big reveal of our 1950s brick cottage.


The floors in our living room were stripped and refinished. Look how amazing they look after 50 years!

Here is the master bedroom complete with my "cloud" bed. I plan to keep with a white color scheme in this room to keep things looking heavenly.

This is the newly completed closet size bathroom. By the way, who knew that faucets would cost an arm and a leg??

Our beautiful tile work made of travertine with glass accent tiles.

This is the pantry in our new kitchen. We got the cabinets from lowes, painted them white and smeared a brown glaze over them. Delicious.

Here is the new kitchen nook. The art is my fav, I have been wanting this painting for a very long time, and now here it is in my first kitchen!

The kitchen cabinets are made of knotty alder and distressed in the same way that we did the pantry. I love love love these cabinets. But they were also painfully expensive. SO, no granite counter tops for us. The Formica is called ebony mocha, I was drawn to it because the name sounded like coffee, and you know how much I worship coffee.

This is my favorite part of the kitchen. I love the staggered cabinets and I love my new oven.

There is lots more to do around here. The new dishwasher comes on Wednesday. I am so excited after doing dishes by hand for two months.

I am going into full hunting and decorating mode, and will be dragging you along with me whenever I can.

Love,

Kristin

We are currently in the process of sheetrocking and mudding the entire first floor of our house this week. My husband, power tools, goopy mud, and me don't mix. So, I will be posting a new set of photos tomorrow when he is mostly done with the messy work. As for now, it is time for a kitchen update. The awesome kitchen table that I showed in an earlier post was sold not soon after. :( So, I have been on the hunt since for a different table. If you haven't already guessed, I love all things antique, old, and somewhat sad looking.
This table is for sale at Savvy Brothers Consignment in Logan. And I loove the detail in the legs. This table measures 42 inches wide, 30 high, and 30 deep. Even though it is quite small for a table, it still may too big for my tiny eat in kitchen. I will have to measure this week to see if it makes the cut.

Speaking of cuts. I currently have a dining room set, but it is far too big for my kitchen. I was thinking of cutting the table. Just take saw and cut a big chunk out of the middle and then glue the halves back together.

That could work right??

Dress it Up

I have been dreaming of antique dressers lately. Yes, dressers. I have a beautiful antique armoire with carved wood and beveled glass doors that I have been looking for a mate for, for a while. Somehow no dresser I have found lately seems to be good enough. Too big, too small, too much detail, not enough detail.




Then... This gorgeous hunk came up for sale on KSL, a Utah classifieds website, yesterday. It is absolutely perfect. I love the detail of the feet and the original wood knobs. Sadly, it is priced at 450 dollars. Ouch. My already over the budget, budget cannot afford it.

SO, here are a few other pictures of lovely antique dressers I have found lately.

Ahhh, if only....

A look at our beautiful, leaf free backyard. A few days ago, the backyard looked nothing like this. The previous owners hadn't raked this yard in years. There were three feet of leaves in parts of the yard, and it took us 25 gigantic black garbage bags to clear it all. It made for a fun weekend, and some very happy new neighbors.

The inside of the house is not so pretty right now. We have just finished the electric, a total rewire of the house was required. We initially did not plan to completely rewire, but when we found out that the garbage disposal was merely hot wired into an electric outlet, we thought we might need to take a look at the rest. Boy were we right.

Here is a look at the fantastic recessed lighting that has been newly wired into the kitchen.

And here is a look at the kitchen with new plumbing and wiring added. Sad to say, this level of dis-repair looks much better than the house did when we bought it.

And here is a look at the worlds most expensive light switch. Who knew light switches could cost 6 dollars a piece. About 25 throughout the house, and it adds up quick. (I won't add it for you, I am an English major)

My Mother in Law, Hollie, and I packing leaves into bags the size of me.

Don't let the pictures fool you. This is the one and only time I have done manual labor during this renovation. Thank you husband.

We are working on having the heating and air re-routed this weekend, and also having new doors installed this weekend. Goodbye 4 inch gap under all doors! We will also be having the cabinet maker come to make his final measurements for the kitchen this weekend. Hello American Debt! It should be a busy, interesting weekend.

Holding Pattern

My house is officially an empty shell. The floors are covered in dust, the walls are crumbled where they use to stand. Electric wire and exposed plumbing show through everywhere, and we are in a holding pattern. There isn't much for me to say about the house right now because there isn't much house. I can say that I am very appreciative of all of the help we have received. We have been lucky enough to have one dad who knows how to do the electric, framing, drywall, mudding, etc. and one dad who knows how to do everything else. So things are getting done, slowly but surely.

This week both of the dads are away on business trips. So the little house will get a much needed break from surgery.

I thought that I would share a few inspiring decorating photos with you.

Have a great day.

Inspiration

SO, because I am currently avoiding all things reno, I thought I would focus on some of the fun stuff that I am thinking about. This adorable little table is something I found in Salt Lake City. They call it a shabby farmhouse table, which is definitely my cup of tea. I am thinking about pairing it with the dining room chairs that I already have and painting them to match. The table that I currently own is far too big for the kitchen. This shabby one, is about half the size. My husband will hate this table, he says that antiques are what people call things when they want to sell a pile of crap for at least a thousand bucks. When this baby shows up in his kitchen, there will be hell to pay :)

I absolutely love this print from Pier One. The colors match perfectly with the color scheme I am thinking of for the kitchen. I will have to save up for the hefty price tag of 125$, when I do, I am planning on putting it over my new fantastic kitchen table.

We had a few cabinet estimates done this week. Basically, these are what the cabinets will look like, but on a much smaller scale, and with no granite of course. I am sadly not that rich. The cabinets and formica will come out to be a cool four grand. Ouch! Anyone want to donate to my house renovation?