Farmhouse Kitchen Part 2

Finally.....kitchen pictures!

 Our kitchen has come quite a ways since we gutted it and it has been and still is a work in progress. When I finally finished repairing the walls in here I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with the space in between the two doors. I knew I wanted some sort of storage here but a chalkboard also seemed perfect. So I painted a chalkboard onto the wall and had my husband, Neal, build an antique inspired cupboard for storage.

I just bought the adorable blue chicken wire cupboard at Home Goods this past weekend and it is empty for now because I am going to have Neal make little shelves for inside. I hung it anyways though because I wanted it to be in the pictures:) He also built the tall and skinny cupboard for all of my spices.

The french door was a lucky $5 dollar yard sale find. Neal had to cut it down to fit and replace one of the panes of glass.

I designed our island and Neal built it. I wanted it to have a butcher block top but we can't afford a piece of butcher block that size right now so we just used an Ikea table top that we didn't have a place for anymore. I had painted the top black originally but it just wasn't me so I painted it all one color and I love it so much more now. The side of the island you can't see hides things like the garbage and recycling and the microwave.

Our counter tops are from Ikea as well as the sink. Neal built the base for the sink, and then I just made a curtain to hide everything underneath. If you notice I found many wonderful pieces of ironstone this past weekend that I snuck into all of the pictures.

The rectangular platter below is a thrift store find from this weekend, I absolutely love it.

I had a different sign above the stove until last week but I decided to swap it for this one that I had out on our porch. I bought it years ago for $7 and I always wanted to hang it in our kitchen but the gold lettering bothered me, so I thought why not just paint over it with white?

Sign Before

The Anderson windows that we put in last summer make all the difference in this space. They let in so much light, plus they actually open and close opposed to the ones that used to be there. I will show before pictures of our kitchen in the next post, I didn't want to mix the ugly with the pretty.

I keep my dish towels in this antique basket. This past weekend I finally found some antique homespun dish towels, they have been on my "hope to find" list for so long!

I hope you enjoyed Part 2, stayed tuned for Part 3!

Ironstone Platters

One of my favorite things to collect are shabby discolored ironstone platters. I love them all stacked together, I love them hung on a wall, I love them on shelves...you get my point. I recently purchased some from Spring Hill Farm on Etsy, Emily's shop is one of my favorites (also where I got the ticking pillow covers pictured). She also has a wonderful blog Springhillfarm-eg.blogspot.com that you should check out.

My best friend and I are going to some antique shops this weekend, hopefully I will find some goodies! And the sun refuses to shine here so no kitchen pictures until it decides to come back out again:)

Rustic and Rusty Kitchen Items

I am waiting on just the right sunlight to take pictures of the other side of my kitchen but in the meantime I couldn't wait to share two great rustic and rusty kitchen items that I found on Etsy.  

I absolutely love the old rusty basket I purchased from Blue Moon Collectibles, I looked at this item for sometime before purchasing, now I can't believe I didn't buy it sooner! And my recipe cards fit perfectly in this charming box from Simple Life Vintage. 

I put both of my new items on my island for quick access, looking for a recipe and cooking with potatoes, I pretty much do both daily. With it being Valentine's Day yesterday I did quite a bit of baking this week and my chocolate chip cookies, the family favorite, were begging to be photographed. 

Happy Friday, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Great Finds

I recently picked up some new goodies that I wanted to share.

I bought this awesome dove-tailed store box this past weekend, I love the description and the tiny little hook. Old boxes are definitely one of my favorite things and I could never have too many.

I found some great chippy platters, the bigger one is from the thrift store and was only a $1! And I purchased another ironstone pitcher at a great price to add to my collection.

One of the things I was most excited about finding were these antique shelf brackets. They were at the thrift store for $1 each!

The round ironstone plate is also a thrift store find that I got some years back, it was also only $1.

Did I make you want to get out there and look for some great finds of your own? I am dying to go to the flea market, watching "Market Warriors" will only get me by for so long!

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Pictures of the rest of my kitchen coming soon!

Our Farmhouse Kitchen Part One

As promised...some pictures of my kitchen!

This is one of  the entrances into the kitchen from the dining room. The cupboard pictured was in the house when we bought it and I can not even begin to tell you how much I love it. There had been an estate auction at our house before we bought it and almost all of the original farm items sold. The only reason the cupboard didn't sell was because it was literally screwed into the wall, lucky for me!

The new slipcover I put on the armchair goes perfectly with my kitchen decor and colors. This is where I often sit with a cookbook and a cup of tea.  I just found the antique towel rack at the thrift store for $1, I was so excited! And the deer bell is for me to ring when it is meal time.

Our kitchen table is a thrift store find that my mom found and bought for us. I sanded down the original top and painted the bottom. Our kitchen chairs came with a table my sister bought, she didn't want the chairs and we were in need of some.

You wouldn't believe it now to look at but neither that door or the window were there when we bought the house, actually that doorway lead into a closet. My husband and I tore down both an exterior wall and an interior wall (with the exception of family we have done everything to date ourselves, we have yet to hire anyone). The kitchen was half the size it is now and very dark.  The area that I am showing in these pictures was actually a tiny bedroom. Everyone thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to rip down the wall separating the two rooms, but I think it worked out:)

Somewhere along the line someone had glued linoleum to these beautiful floors. I spent over a month on my hands and knees scrapping off that awful glue. I sanded the floors down and then restained them a dark walnut. An endless process and not easy with a 1 year old crawling about, but so worth the results.

There is lots more to show of the kitchen....stay tuned!

Linking up with the Cowgirl Up Party!
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Living Room Changes

I wanted to share some changes that I made to our living room. I had this beautiful round table in our attic and I really wanted to find a place for it. Coincidentally my son needed a table for when he does puzzles or crafts, at least one that I wasn't always clearing off in preparation for the next meal or project. So I thought why not bring down the round table from the attic?!

It fits wonderfully in this little corner, I bought this table for the tiny kitchen we had in our last house, it was only $50 and I almost wrecked my car when I saw it on the sidewalk for sale (I do that quite often actually)! I moved the bench in from another room and it made for the perfect little seating area.

Another thing I am really excited about finding is the slipcover I have on the chair, I found two of them on Ebay. Yes I know it needs to be ironed but I had to take advantage of the sunshine and my husband and son being outside and snap these pictures when I had the chance!

They are just my style, muted colors and striped. They don't fit great but they are better than cranberry colored chairs. I am going to put the other one on the wing back chair we have in our kitchen (yes I plan to show the kitchen).

I changed up what I had on the walls because I wanted to incorporate some woods tones into the corner. I like decorating with things that have or once had a purpose. And as you have seen from past posts I have an obsession with fly screens and old cutting or bread boards.

I finally feel like the rooms of our house are cohesive, which I think is so important in good design. It is especially important in our house because no matter what room you stand in you can see 3 or 4 other rooms. I like when rooms are calm and cozy and ease into one another anyways. 

Speaking of easing into another room, I need to get to my couch....it is almost time for Downton!