Painting is Finished!

I finally put the books back in our bookcases. The knobs are on their way. Looking good!!

Mock-Ups

I am deciding on a light for our kitchen and this seemed like the perfect time to talk about mock-ups. If you are thinking of making some changes to your house - like purchasing a carpet, moving furniture and changing light fixtures (and you don't have the items out on approval), it is so important to do a mock-up to see if you will like the changes.

The first thing you need to have in your junk drawer is Blue Painters Tape....

I capitalized those words to show you how important I think Blue Tape is! It is the best, you can use it on the floor to visualize a new sized carpet - just stick it down on carpet or wood and it comes right off. You can also tape off the size of upholstered chairs, and occasional pieces to see how you would like to lay out a room. It is so helpful.

I also use this miracle tape to hold up Athena's artwork on our kitchen walls. It doesn't peel the paper and it comes off the wall nicely. You really need to buy this if you don't have it, or stuff someone's stocking with it for xmas. They will thank you.

So back to the light fixture. I tied up the pendant lights in our kitchen (using bread ties:-)to see if I wanted to do a flush mount fixture instead of pendants, and immediately I loved the results. It really opened up the room to remove something hanging over our island. These ceilings are low.

Then I found a fixture I loved here

but after reflecting on the price, and receiving the RH catalog, I decided this one will work just fine. I actually like it better.

Next, had to figure out the size to order and here is where the fun began. I couldn't find any cardboard boxes in the garage so I hit the playroom to see if the kids had anything which might roughly be the same size. I came up with this Melissa and Doug wooden box which is 15 inches long. I then used kitchen string (also another necessity) to hang it precariously over the tied up fixture and see what I thought.

Here are the results - close up. It is hanging lower than the real one will, but from one end of the island I was really able to visualize the width of the fixture, and I think I am going to order the middle sized light instead of the large which is perhaps just a tad big for our kitchen.

As cheesy as this looks, putting a little extra time into these decisions can save you money and aggravation in the end!

Happy Friday everyone! We have Christmas in the Square here tonight! Hingham does it right. Santa rides into town on a fire truck. Should be a lot of fun with family and friends.

See you Monday.

Kitchen Update

Our new backsplash! Simple, white.

Transformation of a Living Room

Before: Shallow open bookshelves

What you can't see here is the shelves are so shallow that the cable box is practically falling off the shelf. We needed hidden storage! I immediately thought to put cabinet doors over the bottom. We quickly realized it would look much better to start from scratch with better materials and a more cohesive look.

Empty

Construction Begins...

We decide to wrap the bookcases around the wall:

Mahogany tops of bottom cabinets:

Progress and a new mantel!

The Man! Dan, our carpenter.

Looking good -loving the pull-out drawers below:

Completed Mantel

Unpainted, but finished room!

You can see what a difference this makes!!

WE LOVE OUR LIVING ROOM!

Our next steps:

~Get all of the woodwork painted and the mohagany counter tops stained.

~Tile around the fireplace surround (the black part)

~Order knobs

~Change Sconces and add picture lights over the bump-out part of the bookcases and over the freestanding boookcase to the left (not pictured above).

Happy Monday everyone!

Bar & Basil

Here are a few shots of the bar room in our house. I have added this simple matchstick shade and now I have to order a new light fixture.

This is what I am thinking - the small mirrored version. circalighting

And below left is the most ingenious thing I have seen in a while. My new obsession is the local market here (post on this later). This is how they sell their basil. For those of you who often wonder how to maintain your basil once you buy it - this is it! You could find a fancy clear one like the picture or re-purpose another container, like this ricotta one I had left over from making lasagna the other day.

Front Yard

grass!


this is our cannonball closure for the front gate. thought it was fitting for the period of the home. the weight of the cannonball pulls the gate closed.

view of the new fence

More Exterior Shots

Hi Out There - We are in the middle of our fence installation so I thought I would update some exterior shots of the work and progress so far.

Before:

After levelling the front yard and tearing up asphalt walkways:


After the newly-configured brick walkways and retaining wall were installed:

After our mason, Dominic, added cobblestones to the driveway and the front yard was re-levelled and seeded for grass:

With the new picket fence:

And our finished driveway (whoo hoo!):

This is the biggest change - we took down the fence which ran across the yard and ran it along the property in the background of the picture:

Solid fence along the side/front yard:

We will hopefully paint the picket fence white late this fall...

View from the Back

Curb Appeal

The cobblestone work is finished on the front side of the house and the farmer's porch. It is remarkable how it ties everything together - the original front granite really blends with the antique cobblestones nicely. This transformation has unfolded in front of my eyes and it is all due to our mason, Dominic. He has an amazing eye (he suggested the step off the side of the porch since we kept walking there to get to the side yard). Once he lays the cobblestones at the edge of our driveway and at the entrance to the driveway he will be finished. Now, I have to plan my flower beds! I can't wait to see this same angle of the house with beautiful flowers blooming all around.

Hey there, Farmer

The rain is about to put me over the edge here, but I need to stay positive!
At least it isn't raining under our new farmer's porch!

Big Dig and a Cake

Yesterday...

THE BIG DIG!






If you were wondering what that big hole is in our front yard, it is a dry well so we can divert some of the water from the downspouts under the new brick walkways. All of the other trenches are for electric power for our driveway gate.

And while all of this unfolds outside, here is my strawberry 4th of July cake which Athena requested. Everything is looking (and tasting) great!