Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Sunny Day


The sun was shining in so brightly the other day that I just couldn't resist snapping some pictures. I also have some new goodies that I wanted to share with you guys.













This late 1800's gathering basket is one of them. I bought it at a little shop that is right on the main street of our town only minutes from our house. Every time I go there I find some really great things, like the awesome rustic trunk that I keep on our porch.







The basket is perfect for some of my vintage linens, most of these are from thrift stores and I just love each and every one of them.





Another new goodie is the shutter hanging in the corner. I bought it at my favorite shop Romantique Boutique in Erie, PA. The shop owner Mickey is so amazing and every time I go to her shop I am blown away by her talent and creativity. I always leave there inspired and with a renewed fire in my belly to one day have my own shop.











And my last new goodie that I am going to share with you today is this pretty table runner that I found at TJMaxx. I had been looking for something just like this but didn't want it to be vintage because with my kids around it's likely to get crayon or something on it.










I am almost finished painting the living room. It has never taken me this long to paint a room before but my reason is totally worth it...




And we finally have the beautiful antique cupboard repaired and moved into Eli's room and I can't wait to tell you guys more about it so stay tuned! Thanks for being such awesome followers, you guys make my day:)





Tuesday, January 12, 2016

January Whites

We took our Christmas tree down this week and I am thinking that I will keep the furniture the way it is arranged, for now:)  And I know I say the same thing every January but after the clutter that Christmas creates I am always ready to get back to a mostly white palette and simplify things.






I know you guys are probably tired of seeing this same room time and time again, but honestly this is the only area of the house that is presentable right now. We have one whole end of the dining room taken down to the studs and we were going to rebuild it but honestly taking down the plaster and lath is so messy that I am beginning to think that we should just gut the whole room at once. But that requires me being patient, (which I'm not so good at) because we don' t have the time or the money to do it right now. And I bought the most beautiful cupboard (needs a major makeover) to go in the dining room and I can't wait to paint it and put pretty things in it but I don't want anything in that room right now if we are gutting it. And in the meantime the cupboard is just calling my name longing to be pretty again. I also want to repaint the living room so I haven't been wanting to photograph it until I get to that. And on top of it we are going to have our chimney put in the family room sometime in the next couple of months...which I am head over heels excited about but that too will create havoc:/ It will all be great in the end but bear with me in the meantime!




































































And I wanted to take a second to thank my assistant who is always right there next to me while I take my pictures....




she is the best helper, she is especially good at throwing pillows on the floor:)

Friday, January 8, 2016

Farmhouse Powder Room


So here it is...our farmhouse powder room!!!












Even though this room was tiny it seemed to take forever to complete (actually we still have a couple things to do like baseboards, but I couldn't wait to share). We did a total gut job on this room and I was so excited to finally be able to expose the beautiful original post and beam framing. You can actually see the wood pegs that are holding the timbers together in the corner beam. The fact that someone did this almost 150 years ago and it is still what is holding our house up is amazing to me.




The picture below is the bathroom as it looked when we moved in (we had started to rip up the rotted floor).




The area seen below is where the vanity is now, pretty huh?




We didn't have the money to do a full gut job and reno on this bathroom until this year so right after we moved in we attempted to make it a little less gross. We tore up the rotted linoleum and took down the weird stuff on the walls. We put in a new toilet and a new vanity and painted. We had to leave this weird middle wall with the light on top of it though, ugh. To say I HATED this bathroom is an understatement. And because it is right off of the kitchen our guests always used it and I was always sooo embarrassed.




Alas no more though! 




The above picture shows the bathroom in respect to the kitchen, just to give you an idea of where this bathroom is in our house. The below picture is the same spot of the house a couple of days after we moved in.




Below is the same area as it looks now. 






Here is the bathroom during the gutting process, we were so excited to finally get that gross tub out (no worries it was not original to the house)!




The good thing about how long it takes us to do something is that I get to think long and hard (and obsessively) about exactly how I want the room to look. Another bonus is that I always have plenty of time to look for the items that are going to be just perfect in the space, something I LOVE doing.




Originally I was going to have Neal build us a vanity with salvaged wood and doors but then I found this dresser for $40 at the Goodwill. It was an ugly brown color and had hideous knobs but I loved it the minute I saw it. For the price I figured even if it didn't work in the bathroom I could use it somewhere. I was really hoping it would work in here though. I knew the decorative scrolling at the bottom was the perfect thing to contrast with the more simplistic beadboard and rustic beams plus it was the perfect size and height for this room. It took lots of online searching but I finally found a drop in sink (Home Depot) that was small enough to work with it.









The faucet  is made by Kingston Brass and we also got it from Home Depot (Online).













So that we could still use the drawer Neal cut the bottom out of the original drawer and then made two new side drawers to allow for the sink in the center.




I was on the search for drawer pulls when I found a set of faux drawers (Gabriels) that I guess you are supposed to hang on the wall? Not something I would do but the cast iron pulls on them were exactly what I was looking for and I can have Neal build me something with the faux drawers...win win.






The towels seen stacked next to the sink are actually what the Dollar Tree calls "bath mats" but they are the size of hand towels and have a great nubby texture so I thought they would be perfect in here. I bought the antique mirror at Boondocks Antiques in Tidioute, PA.






The light  over the mirror is from Lowes. I absolutely love the fact that reproduction lighting is finally afforable. 







The overhead light is also from Lowes, I bought it years ago on clearance but I believe they still make something similar.




As usual I wanted beadboard walls in here, I painted them Sundrenched Sand by Colorplace (Walmart). We put in a new window (Anderson) replacing the ill fitting and cheap one that was there, for me windows make the space. The white cupboard above the toilet is a flea market find and the hooks are from Hobby Lobby.




The floors are cedar planks that I beat up and then stained Minwax's Early American. The ceiling wood I left just as we found it. After we took down the plaster and lath ceiling all I did was give it a good washing.

















On the other wall I hung this awesome wall cubby that I found at Burlington, it isn't old but it sure looks like it is. I bought it over a year ago and I just couldn't wait to hang it and put all of my vintage bathroom items in it. I was actually on the hunt for something just like this but I figured it would take forever to find it so I was so excited when I stumbled upon it.



It is the perfect spot for my ironstone pitchers and soap dishes.





































My niece bought this cute "FARMHOUSE" bar of soap for me and it is just perfect in here. She bought it at a farmstand but you can it get at several online shops one of them being Sweetgrassonline.com. And the little antique looking scissors were one of my Christmas presents from Neal, they will be perfect in my apron when I do antique shows.












I know you guys waited a long time for this reveal so thank you for being so patient! I tried to think of every question I might get from you guys but just email me if there is something else you want to know!

Walls Paint Color ~Sundrenched Sand - Colorplace (Walmart)

Trim Paint Color ~ Swan White - Glidden

Window ~ Anderson Windows

Lighting ~ Lowes (links above)

Faucet ~ Kingston Brass (link above)

Sink ~ American Standard (link above)

Floors ~ Cedar Planks stained Early American By Minwax

Vintage ticking sachet and pin cushion ~ Rustic Farmhouse Wares - Etsy

Hooks ~ Hobby Lobby

Small Chest of Drawers on Vanity ~ Hobby Lobby

Linen Towel On Hook ~ Moo Shop - Etsy