Making It Pretty

This Monday morning at the kitchen table looking out 

at the yard and the light rain falling.

Bruce's truck is parked by the back patio 

so he can have easy access to his tools

{he moved his "work" area from the front to back

so it wouldn't look like hoarder's live here}.

There's a little brown bird, larger than a finch, 

with a super bright orange beak, flying around the cab

of the truck then landing on the window sill admiring itself.

It's hilarious because it flies away then will come back a few

minutes later and do it again. 

I LOVE it!!

We finally got one trailer completely emptied 

after power washing the screen porch and

spraying for critters.

There were some huge spiders in there

that you would not want to come

face to face with!

That's what we did on Saturday instead

of working on the inside of the house.

Yesterday after church and lunch

at The Josephine,

we came home and got to work.

Well, I did. All three boys

were outside playing in the rain

and porch chatting with the neighbor 

{sounds pretty awesome, huh?}.

I was inside {happily} unpacking the dishes 

that were held hostage in that trailer we emptied.

No more paper plates!

I am in love with our free cabinets!

We had a remnant piece of slab

Carrara Marble laying around so 

we put it on the counter to protect the wood

from food and water.

I'm also "trying it out" because I am enamoured 

with marble. I just don't think the gray in this

stone is gonna work with our bisque appliances 

and other cabinets we have planned.

Might be looking at the Oro or a cream granite for the 

top of this cabinet then something darker for the other cabinets.

Decisions, decisions.

I love standing in front of this with my hands

in the photo frame pose because

... this is what the rest of the kitchen 

looks like right now....

The left side of the cabinet is our makeshift pantry.

The wall behind the fridge is the old 

laundry room and will become the new walk in pantry.

The fridge will be moved into its own niche across

from the cabinet and the new sink will go 

where the fridge is {in the picture}.

In a nutshell, the entire left side of the house has been and is getting re-done. 

The only thing that is staying the same is where the dining table goes.

But even that got a little change.

It gained about 2 feet.

Although the kitchen seems "closed off", that's how

we wanted it. When we were in the rental, it was an 

"open concept" where the kitchen, kitchen table and

family room was all in one big room. 

All that did for us was make for constant grazing and it

made the big island an easy dump off ground for papers

and clutter. 

I also noticed that in older homes, the kitchen was more a 

utilitarian room that was not seen.

Hmm... I guess we're bringing some of that here. 

Our biggest challenge...

the floor.

See anything wrong?

Yeah, there's a whole lotta gaps in there.

Not just in the kitchen and dining room but throughout 

the whole house. :)

My husband want(ed/s) to rip it out 

because he is not a fan of oak flooring.

I gently remind him how expensive that will 

be and his pole barn will get pushed back, in that case.

I also remind him that we are among some fabulous, charming and 

grand old homes that are perfectly imperfect.

I love that we will have some quirk to it 

{conversation piece} and I love that they squeak.

The issue {part of it} is that they used the wrong nails to install it.

The nail heads protrude out of the tongue making it

impossible for the groove to snap right in cleanly.

Yep, through the whole house.

And we're not talking minimal.

At the base of my beautiful wall cabinet,

we're talking an inch and a half!

That is one whole plank off, no lie!

"Amber, why on earth would you show people that?!"

"Because I love the wackiness of it!

You can still have pretty with some funky 

thrown in. 

Once it's all done {and filled with wedges}, you won't even

notice, trust me."  , says me, like I know what I'm talking about. 

We also recycled some of the drywall 

we took out since it was barely {hanging} damaged.

I hope we are doing Miss. Kitty Gardner proud.

The stove will now live here, on this wall below.

The dining room, past and presently

 in the same place...

The hallway to the front door below.

We have a Mahogany leaded glass door we 

will be installing and the area to the

right of the door is the old kitchen and 

new laundry room. The wall still needs to

be put up. ;) 

Well, that's what's been going on here 

at The Cottage.

We'll see what today brings. Of course I'll have 

hubby stop and pose for some good shots.

I think I know what we're doing but then again,

you know how that goes!

Till next time!

xo, Amber