House dreaming and sniff, sniff, and a bit of a broken heart....

There once was  a house I  fell in love with.

Ever since we'd moved here 10 years ago; I'd had my eye on a little place near by.

 I would drive by slowly and imagine myself in the yard with a huge garden and the kids playing, or how our Christmas tree would look from the window, or I'd even picture a big green wreath with a red bow on the front door, the yard blanketed with snow.

For 10 years I've done ex-boyfriend stalker-like drive-bys, and peered up the winding driveway through the wooded lot.

( not the house.. I didn't want to get sued.)

 It was built in the 40's with a brick exterior and copper gutters. It has mature oak trees and sits on over an acre. Lots of yard to garden and grow in.

 Even though we just redid our kitchen, when I saw it was back on the market I had to go see it. It was just the right size for our family  and had  a ton of potential with the kind of character you can't buy.

I know it was never realistic, but I always had it in the back of my head that this might be our house someday.

This house was a house dream for me.

 It had  a sunroom that would be perfect for my studio. And  a huge yard for the kids to play in. Arched doorways, rooms just big enough, a coal room/cellar,  big farmhouse utility sinks in the basement and all original hardwood flooring. It had the kind of basement where you could put in  an extra oven  and have a big family party.

 I knew from the pictures it needed a ton of cosmetic updating, but for me that's a good kind of challenge.

 But when I walked inside thinking there might be a possibility, my heart was broken at the first whiff.   Mold. Mildewy, wet, mold. I know now it takes  A LOT of mold for it to be where you can really smell it in the air. Then my eyes started burning and my throat got itchy. I could smell it and feel it from the basement to  the attic. Even as I walked around, still holding onto a thread, I knew it was over. That is one task I just can't do. and it broke my heart. 

It makes me so angry that someone could let such a gem just go by the wayside. If we had the funds to fix it up and take care of all of it's issues, I would do it in  a heartbeat, but if we bought the house,we'd be  tapped out.

I know there will be other homes and what is meant to be will be; but sometimes it's hard to see that. We have  a beautiful home now that is healthy for our family, I would never compromise that, so crying over what I never had anyway is really silly if you think about it. I consider myself very lucky, so for now, I am going to sit tight in our happy little place and maybe someday, I'll make a million dollars and be able to fix it up and it will still be my house dream after all.

Jen.

Cyber Monday Etsy sale!

In the spirit of Cyber Monday I am offering 20% off anything in my Etsy store!

 Just use the coupon code:  MONDAY 

to get your discount!

Happy Shopping! :)

Jen

Christmas tree in a jar...

I love herbs, especially Rosemary. There is something about  having the  fresh green in the deepest, coldest part of winter that really brightens things up. I love to add it's savory the flavor roast potatoes and it goes so well with carrots too. It's so versatile! I added it to my Strawberry jam this summer, and I even made Rosemary caramel once and it was awesome.

I think I might wrap the jar in burlap. How cute would that be? I think all of the teachers this year are going to get one with a gift card. I am, however, going to  make sure there are directions on re-potting. I would think the jar might get a little swampy after a while even though I put gravel on the bottom for drainage. I know  Rosemary grows in bogs so they like their "feet wet", I don't know if they want to live in a canning jar full time.

I did go out briefly on Black Friday, and then I came right back home. The cutting table at JoAnn Fabrics was a two hour wait. It was craziness.I returned bright and early Saturday where I was in and out with the same coupon. 

In the spirit of sales, I am going to be offering a Cyber-Monday sale tomorrow in my Etsy store; so if there is anything you have your eye on, it's going to be 20% off. :)

Jen

Jolly inspiration....

It's Black Friday and I am debating about whether or not I want to journey out into the chaos. Did you go shopping? What I really want to do is pull down all of our decorations from our attic and get my Christmas on. I was looking through some inspiration photos and thought I would share some with you.

 Jen

images from country living and canadian house and home

Kitchen details....

Because it's all in the details...  :)

So. Where's your microwave?

In what I call the "ugly" area next to the coffee maker. Even though we've had the kitchen re-do, we still have our mish-mosh of appliances and I thought it was better to have all of those things grouped together.

Does your chandelier give you enough light?

   It actually gives off so much light I feel guilty because I couldn't find CFL bulbs to go in there!

I had it rewired to take 25 watt bulbs so times 8 that's a lot of watts.

Where did you get your countertops? How do they hold up? Are they a lot of work?

   I love them! The only work is to oil (from Ikea) them every few weeks. It completely repels water and beads up fine. I just use vinegar and water to disinfect. I will say we've never directly prepped or cut on our countertops anyway. I'm not a germ-a-phobe as much as a chem-a-phobe. If you read more about wood countertops you'll find they actually are naturally anti-microbial, more so than plastic which holds bacteria. We bought them at Ikea which is a great deal, but they come in slabs, so if you want more than a straight cut then you have to have someone fabricate them for you.

What is your hutch color?

That's kind of a hard one; because I mixed it myself  it has about 6 shades on it. The closest straight color I could find was Antique Jade number 465 by Benjamin Moore. I think BM needs to call me for my own color line.  :)  Ben... please call me... please.

Where did you get your handles?

I found them at the Great Indoors. Talk about a hidden expense. Prepare to take out a small loan to replace all of your knobs and pulls. I don't have the bags any more but I think they are by Amerirock.

 What are your paint colors? 

The Walls are BM Bennington Grey which I love. It's  a taupe-y, warm grey and it really changes color depending on the light. The cabinets are Linen white which is a warm white.

Why did you decide to not paint your cabinets a color instead of white?

 Originally I was going to put Bennington Grey on my cabinets. Then, I tried a couple of green shades. I even sent away for a $13 dollar sample of Mouse's Back from Farrow and Ball. Because to be honest, I didn't want  a white kitchen, I never thought I could love  a white kitchen. However (never say never), once the floors and the countertops were in, I just couldn't take away from the wood. I was just so pretty. 

Who designed your blog?

The super talented Sara from Sadie Olive. She has amazing instinct for what a client wants and her house is nothing to sneeze at either! :)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jen

A big thank you and more Horton's pictures....

I want to thank everyone for the out-pouring of great comments about my kitchen. I am so glad you love it as much as I do! Even though it was quite the journey, it was so worth it.  I made organic turkey soup today and it was so nice to have everything where it should be. 

I am working on a post for Wednesday to answer all of your questions. :)

Back to the magical place called Horton's...

I love this ice skate idea! I know I am going to keep my eyes out when I go thrifting for next winter. 

Tracey and I  went to the open house that kicked off the season, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found some pretty good stuff. 

If you live near Tipton, Indiana, the open house is just the start of their holiday season and you can still actually go every day from 9 am to 6 p.m. except Sunday's when they are closed.  It's just this cute, little hardware store that has this awesome holiday boutique and amazing fudge made right in the store!

I chatted with Donna, who is the mastermind behind all of the fantastic decorating. There are no other booths or vendor's, just Donna's amazing talent. She told me she starts shopping the minute the holiday's are over for the next year.

I was loving all of the adorable, clever decorating ideas. She has some mad talent, keep an eye on her!

 I might steal this thermos idea too, I see these at yard sales all of the time.

 Tracey was their photographer and she  has some amazing pictures of the sale.

 I wish I was closer. They have this awesome Black friday shopping event coming up I wish I could go to, and they teach classes the 2nd Saturday of each month. December 11th they are having a class on gift packaging and tags and have  a guest bakery coming. Mmmmmmm  bakery....

  Horton's is also opening an on-line store soon so you can get some of their goodies yourself. I bought the Whispering Pines candles and wished I had bought more, I already burned through them! Each area had  a different fragrance. It was brilliant.

(I should have bought this wreath.)

If you get a chance to go, you'll see it's one of those amazing little places kind of tucked away that is a treasure to find. I think we are going to try to go to the flea market in the summer.

I could use another girl's trip. :)

Jen

Welcome to my new kitchen.....

Finally the saga is over.

3 months.

finally.

I never thought I could love a white kitchen.

I love a white kitchen.

After 10 years, we are finally out of "The Oak Cave". I can't believe this is my kitchen because I never thought I could live somewhere so pretty.

 Come on in....

 Before

 After

 I had my grandmother's chandelier rewired. It's from the 1930's. For $45 I couldn't buy a new one!

We actually decided to REMOVE some cabinets and replace them with  a hutch. The cabinets we had were really inefficient and just seemed to hold crap.

Before

after

Before

after

The light fixture over the sink is a thrift store find I made over.

And I do love our countertops. So far they are gorgeous and easy to take care of and environmentally and health friendly!

Thank you so much for your patience! I had a rough time with the lighting this morning so I hope the pictures show everything well enough. I'll be going over some of the details in another post, but for now, I just wanted to get the wait over!

It was quite the journey, but definitely well worth it! It helped we had the best contractor ever, he was fast, organized and sooo easy to work with. If you live in northern Illinois and need someone,  Klaske construction does an amazing job.

Jen

It's almost here....!!

The big kitchen makeover... coming Friday...

FINALLY!!!

sniff..sniff..I hardly remember you!  

Holiday Inspiration....

If you are looking for some wonderful holiday inspiration; Mimi from Bonjour Romance puts out a fabulous e-magazine called  Belle Inspiration.

It is full of wonderful holiday gift giving ideas and inspirations and I was blessed enough to be a contributor for this issue with my lavender sugar recipe!

If you head over to Belle Inspiration there is a sneak peek at the current issue. :)

Jen