Country Living meets Cottage Charm!

Welcome to my "Serenity".

I need to take a class on how to use my camera indoors

(Hint Hint Viv)

Imagine VERY VERY light granite countertops

with a beige background and hints of black specs.

Notice the handmade tablecloth my Dad brought back from Polland last summer?

 It fits perfectly in my NEW, OLD soul of a kitchen!

I actually loaded my  Mom up with half of my decorations

because it just didn't fit and I wanted a less is more approach.

We have plans for pushing the fridge back into the wall and a bit in our

daughters room and will build her a ledge to decorate.

(this house was not built for a modern day fridge).

My apron was meant to hang here!

The shelf in my hallway was unpainted, untreated wood.

It now has a beautiful rice grain finish and acts as my linen closet. 

Before these baseboards were covered up by a horrible ivy board.  Luckily the original boards were still in great shape and we added the quarter round to seal the deal!

When I hung the last picture I wanted to say "How Divine"

The ceiling is one of my favorite parts.

Cash even approves!

I think you can see how we went from Country Living to Cottage Charm!

This is Me, Then

A Spring Shower Brings Pretty Flowers!

I had a Couple's Shower at my home in honor of my brother and his fiance.

It was fun to be able to use my chalkboard as part of the decorations.

I also wanted to show you the centerpiece I made. Instead of the usual pricey roses I go for when I have a party, I grabbed some bunches of wild flowers from our local grocery store that were marked $3.99 a bundle.

I used 3 bundles.

This picture frame was from the Dollar Tree and I used some scrapbook paper and a chipboard to put their "married" initial in. 

After the party I gave it to the bride to take home.  She loved it! 

Congrats Eric and Joanne

This is Me, Then!

Come on over to my other blog and take a look at some

"organic living" ideas.

Orange Juice Anyone?

End of Day 5! The Painting is done, but the remodel has just begun!

I am jumping on REALLY fast to show you the end of todays pics!  We have my brother's couple's shower tomorrow, here at 11:00 A.M. YIKES!  I can't move anything back into the kitchen until tomorrow morning! 

This is Me, Then!

End of Day 4 and What Happened on Day 3!

Ok, at the end of Day 3 I had a slight panic attack, did not blog, no pictures taken and went to bed very upset! 

My BLACK cabinets were SO shiny! 

I mean, fix your hair in them shiny!

The painter promised me they would turn out perfectly and dry way less shiny and they did!

SO, all is well, and the big reveal is coming soon! 

 We still have another day of painting,

fixing this and that and adding hardware.

You can't really see the paint color in these pics because the sun is going down!  I PROMISE to take the final pics with the perfect lighting!

I finally got my RED door!

This is Me, Then.

End of Day 2 Kitchen

Day 2 is REALLY wonderful!

The primer is on and our eyes are burning, but it's worth it!

Everything that you see white, will be white and everything you see the blue/grey will be black!

Except the back door is going to be red, remember?!

I actually kinda like the cabinets

the primer color!

Now, don't you all vote for me getting a black antique stove to replace this one?

The closer we get to the end I think I should NOT get granite and I should go with tile (subway tile) to match my house! 

Decisions Decisions!

(but that is for later, I have months to decide)

I decided on a white ceiling! 

I am SO glad I did!

I decided to paint the china cabinet top black!  Can anyone see all my white serving pieces on it? I can!

I think the beadboard really POPS now!

NO MORE BROWN WOOD!

Can you believe the transformation and there isn't even any paint yet?  Do you think my table and chairs miss me?  (inside joke around here. That table and chair set should be a diamond on my finger. I opted for that as my ten year wedding anniversary gift 3 years ago instead of a new ring! Maybe I can take a picture of it and make a pretty necklace!)

This is Me, Then!