Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Helping our son finish his remodel

Our son called in February and asked if I could come out and 
help them finish their house so it would be ready to put 
on the market.  

It was on the 15th that I arrived and I spent two and a half
weeks there helping paint, spackle, caulk, pack boxes, 
and whatever else needed to be done.  Plus the bonus was, I got to see the
kids and the grand kids.  I arrived on Braxton's birthday, and
left the day before Weston's birthday, so we had some
 really fund times together.  

And did I mention caulk?  Oh, we went through a lot of tubes
of caulk!  I learned from the painters we hired 3 years ago that
one of the keys to a great paint job is caulking first, and getting every
crack between the floor boards, and casings, and anything
else filled before you paint.  
So we caulked! and caulked and caulked!

I am just sharing a few rooms of the house in this post.
It really turned out great, and the house was under contract in
10 days!  So it was worth all the work.
                                                                                                                                                                      Here is the living room/Kitchen.
Several years ago we helped Jer remodel the kitchen,
all the cupboards are original to the house, however, they
are not all in the original space, where the island now is - was a 
wall with cupboards on it.  So they got moved to the other side making
the kitchen bigger and on the bottom of the island,
and giving the house an open concept living room/ kitchen.
                            

Here is another view of the kitchen



This view shows some of the living area too.
The false fireplace is a fun feature that Jer added to the room.
This is a unusable wall, basically a walk way.
The mantel was given to me as a gift from the contractor we
hired, and came out of a very, old house that was falling apart.
I loved it, and used it in every house we sold 
when I was staging.  Jer has put it here permanently.


This is the bathroom that needed an entire new floor, which 
Jer did before I came, he put a new countertop and sink in the 
bathroom before I came too.  I only had to paint and 
lots of caulking, he also put in a crown molding which you
cannot see, but made the room!


This bedroom was only sheet rocked when I arrived, 
so there was a lot of work to this room.
The walls were quite wavy too, so many days of 
spackling and drying before any painting could be done.


This is my bedroom when we come to stay. This time I came
by myself, but usually it is both Dana and I when we come to visit.


Isn't this laundry room a dream!
Long story as to how it came to look like this, but it is 
one of the greatest features of the house.   Jer made the counter
tops for the room from scratch!  So love this room.
It is pure joy when you have to fold clothes.  
Well, as "pure joy" as folding clothes can be!


Master bathroom.
All the bathrooms and bedrooms were painted in 
Agreeable Grey from Sherwin Williams.

There are 4 different grey paints in the house.


The Family room.


 My adventure to the kids for a few weeks was a job for sure.
But it was worth it, we knew the house would not last long on the
market.  One great feature of the house, is the guest bedroom is on 
the opposite side of the house as the master and kitchen,
So when we come we have privacy, which is nice sometimes with
4 grand children running around!

So happy for the kids that the house sold so fast.
It was a fun few weeks, and I must say, I am getting older,
cause there were days I was in pure exhaustion.

What do you think?

Robin




Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Valentine's Day Brunch Tablescape

Valentine's Day brunch or dinner
will take place in this room in a few days.

This is our sun room, newly added to our home.
I thought it would be a great place to take our dinner or possibly
our brunch.

I love all the window in this fabulous room!

Even in the winter, snow has encased the ground, and it is below double
digits in the weather, there is not a single room in the house that draws us
in like this one.  Is it because we can see the outside, but yet are warm 
inside as we enjoy the beauty of the snow?


So with this love of enjoying the outside while we are inside, 
we will have lobster for dinner by candlelight in this room.  I love
to bring romance to our lives like this.


 The red tablecloth brings brightness to the room.  I decided to use grey with
the red.  Silver chargers, and grey dinner dishes.  A Pink bowl and cream plate from
Gracious Goods bring the valentines look to the tablescape.



Silver accents on the table bring such elegance, I have collected quite a stash of
silver.  Should I share that with you?  One of these day I will.
Silver with white dishes are my favs!




To bring height to the table, I added my cupcake  display towers.
Inside right now I have flowers, but during dinner there will be, cupcakes.
and chocolate for the valentines holiday.

The table is one of my favorites of late.
Hopefully you will find some inspiration in it too.





Happy Valentine's Day


Robin



Thursday, January 31, 2019

Valentine's Sun Room

Oh how I love Valentine's Day.

My mother always made each of the holidays quite special.
Valentine's Day was certainly on the top of the list of days she
worked so hard at making fabulous for us.

As I married and had children, I too made holidays special.
Breakfast was the first thing that was different.
Pink pancakes!  
Mom always did this for us, and so I too cooked pink pancakes
for my children.  It was always a favorite.

We have recently added on a sun room to the back of our house.
It really has become the favorite room.  Even in the winter
you can sit on the couch and look out over the yard, in the warmth
of the house and enjoy the winter, and of course in the
summer, spring, and fall it is quite our favorite room as well.

I decided to decorate the sun room for Valentine's Day this year.
The rest of the house still has winter snowflakes, polar bears 
and white everything, and I wanted to have it stay this way
for the winter.  White on white.

But the sun room can bring me smiles of joy and love.
Valentine's day.


When we added the sun room, we just added right on to the outside of our
house, so in this room, there are windows and the outside of the
main house as 2 of the walls.  The other 2 outside walls are panels
of glass that give the view of the back yard with french doors 
that open up to the back yard.  


We added furniture, some of the furniture is from my garden
like the lounge chairs.  They have red floral pillows (Ralph Lauren)
and black and white pillows, with a grey stripe throw over the top of the 
padding.  Then a pink tablecloth is thrown across the top for the
pink Valentines look.

The table is covered in a red and pink, two separate table cloths, on top of
the other, and then my fun Valentines items on top.


Our walls in this room are very distressed, and for the most part I will leave
them that way, I may fix a few spots.  

I have a darling silver tea set on the table! 
Remember, I love silver!


On the shudder I added a piece of wood Dana found for me in the forest one 
day with a heart in it.  I have saved it for many, many years, and still to this day
love it.  I will probably keep it here all year now.  It has been in the laundry
room, and just now graduated to the sun room.


Sometimes when we buy things we wonder what will we ever do with it.
That is the cute winter lady on the shelf.  She just represents 
Valentine's day for me.  She wears a coat with hat and gloves, which
for me, this is February!  This year most mornings are at 4-6 degrees Fahrenheit
and just 2 days ago 0!


I still to this day don't remember where I got these cherubs,
but I really love them.




I made this cute heart with Robin's Nest products and dew drops.
I just pack it away and bring it out every year.  So Fun!


I made this banner this year for all my grandchildren's pictures.
I'm still missing a few kids, but I love having it up,
they are my valentines.


I also made this Love banner years ago with Robin's Nest
products.  I still love it! 
And used it on the window this year.


One day I will post our couch and what it looked like when we started.
Such a good find, and such a beautiful couch!


The box in front of the table was mine in high school.  It just recently became
mine again after mom and dad passed away.  
I sure fits the decor of this room.  Casual elegance.





Well there you have it! 
The sun room at a glance with Valentines all over.

There is a table set for a quaint brunch on the other side of the room.
I will post that in a few days.

Happy decorating!

Robin

Monday, January 7, 2019

Winter Whites on the Mantle



It is winter here where we live.

I love the winter, sometimes I complain about the temperature.
This morning when I left the house it was 4 degrees!
Woah, that is seriously cold.  But none the less I still love my home,
and where I live.  Here is my happy place.

I recently grey washed the rock on my fireplace.
It has made all the difference in the world for me.
There were lots of hours working on my husband to let me lighten the
fireplace, even now as I work with it, add the winter whites
to the mantle, I realize, it was really the perfect update for
my living room.  It is so cozy, and feels so much bigger.

Love the new look for sure.


The white against the light grey, Yes! 
Just what I wanted!


I decorate the house in winter whites during the winter.
It is refreshing especially after all the bold reds and greens
of Christmas.  I love the change.


Aren't these polar bears the cutest!
When I owned my store years ago I fell in love with them.
They came just before we sold the store and closed.
These were one of my fun saves.  I wanted to
have them for Christmas, but over the years I have changed
how I decorate the house for Christmas.
Now they are packed in my January box.
They are perfect for the winter, I love bringing in these
cute polar bears and white snowmen.
and white snowflake dishes during the winter cold season.


The cool thing about winter whites is you can use just about
any white item to decorate with making the home feel so bright.
I love the bright feel especially in the middle of winter.
You don't get the dol drums of the winter when the house
feels so light and white.


The white trees are also packed away for January.
This year our January is quite white.
The last few years we haven't had very much snow,
so with white on the ground, I wanted to give the house
a white feel as well.  Bright and cheery!


Here are just simple items in my house that I have brought to
the mantle and living area for the January winter feel.


White old windows, white bowl full of old books with
the covers torn off.


My angels that represent my 2 angels in heaven, and books covered in 
brown paper, with the backs to the rock.


The twists of thread that look like white trees are thread that is used
in Ethiopia to make dresses and gabi's.  We lived in Ethiopia for 2 years
on a humanitarian mission.  Behind the thread is my piece of redwood
that we purchased in California this year on our Coastal
vacation.  It is made into a bowl.  

Tell me what you think of this winter white mantle.

Books, platters, greenery, that is all it takes to create this fun
mantle.  You can do this too.

Happy New Year!  2019
Celebrate the winter with decorating with white!

Robin