A New Place

Most of you probably know by now that we've moved!  

A little over a month ago we packed up our Element and a little u-haul trailer 

and made the trip acrossthe states to Boise, Idaho.

I must admit, it was harder to leave Cleveland, TN than I expected.  

Of course, we left kids there, and that was brutal, 

but also we left many good friends 

and a church body that we had come to love.  

We still miss them all....

With that being said, we are settling nicely into Boise living.  

We have a little 2 bedroom apartment that is right next to the greenbelt.  

Even though it is cold here right now we have taken advantage of it for walks. 

It goes along the river and a small lake just steps from our parking lot!

  Just beautiful.

 We are looking forward to spring weather so we may take even better advantage of living so close.

Our apartment itself is nothing special but it was plain and neutral with a good floor plan.  

Since we hadn't brought any furniture with us, 

I spent the first week shopping antique and used stores with my sister.  

Such fun!  

I'm not finished with the whole place yet

but enough that we are able to enjoy being here.

Today I'll show you the most completed room:

The living room

This isn't entirely the before but it is the beginning! 

The bookshelf is the only piece of furniture

we had brought with us.

  And that was because it went in the first!!!! 

 Everything else got taken off the

list as we filled the trailer up!  

My Mom and I had already painted the wall on the right.

it had been a dark brown-green color

and the room gets very little light because of a huge tree

outside.  It made such a difference!

I'll show you the "after" of the stand the TV is on in a minute.

The office chair is just that - in our office now

as is the "wood couch"

looking down the hallway.

the kitchen is to the right.

Here is the TV stand after!

I sanded and then lime-waxed the top

so that the oak is more gray instead of orange

and painted the base.

The living room after.

This is what you see as you come in the door.

I ordered the love seat online from Home Decorators.

It has a natural linen slipcover.

The two chairs are from World Market

and they are called "The Vanity" chair in flax.

The wicker coffee table is vintage and naturally grayed.

Here I am standing by the hallway....

The basket in the corner holds the TV components.

The picture is "Goodwill".

The lamp is from Target and the shade is World Market.

The curtains I had bought several years ago in Twin Falls, Id.

at a second hand store for $6 a panel!  

They are crewel, lined and amazing!

Here is a closeup of the two things I based the living room on.

The pillow I took out of our master bedroom in TN

and the curtains.

looking toward the hallway

I bought the bench to go outside by our front door

and then liked it here :)

The locker baskets are ones that I had brought along.

Our carpet looks orange in these pictures but really it is a nice

medium brown...

a closer look at my area rug...

I'm sure as time goes on I'll tweak it now and then

but for now this is our living room.

We are feeling right at home.

Let's visit Joni again!

This time we will take a tour of her backyard.
It's been the most recently done
and I didn't help much!

hmmm.  What are they trying to say to me?!

Joni and I had talked about things but when the patio came out
(they decided not to do as much of the work themselves this time)
he had some good ideas.

Joni and I had designed and plotted out her garden shed.  

Isn't it so cute?!

From there she knew she wanted a place for vegetables, entertaining, and flowers.

AND she didn't want it all in block shapes but rather she wanted to weave from here to there

-taking it all in.

Her patio guy came up with the fire pit

and they have been known to use it even

on hot summer days!

They have also hosted Boise Bronco parties outside

as they have the area wired for TV.

As a matter of fact, 

we are invited to one the first weekend we are there!

It's a wonderful place to hang out.

And the deck.

I've got to enjoy many a meal out there.

Relaxing with a capital R.

(do you have plant envy?!!!)

You're looking here from the garden shed with the house to the left.

coming from the side gate you would walk past 

these wonderful raised beds.

It used to be Joni's vegetable garden 

until trees grew up and blocked the sun

so....

They incorporated a new one into the plan. 

Don't you love it?!

It's not a large yard but it is so well planned out

that it lives large and can entertain many.

I think I'll drop by for a visit and maybe just stay.....

Out of Sight - Not IF I Can Help It!

The Pantry.

Not something we had planned to do.

I mean, we were building it and we hadn't planned on having a pantry.

It was going to be a place where the refrigerator was recessed 

and the rest of the space was going to be outside storage.

Then I came home and saw it framed up and said

"this would be a great pantry".

And Warren laughed.

He had just told his visiting friend that when I got home and saw it

I would say exactly that.

And so, a pantry it became.

And we are so happy for that decision.

Flexibility.

Key word in remodeling.

There aren't really before pictures to show as there wasn't a pantry before

but this is the back door where the pantry door is now.

I knew that I wanted to put excess (yes, I have some of those) dishes

in the pantry and while we were planning it out

a friend mentioned that she had this hutch that she wanted removed from her house ASAP.

It was perfect.

It had lighting inside of which Warren wired to go on with the overhead light in the pantry.

We worked the shelving in the rest of the room around the hutch

and it worked out perfectly.

Finally all the old jars I have collected have a home

along with the baskets - both wire and wicker-

and my old brass jello molds....

Warren did an unbelievable job on the floor

(I kept telling him that details matter as he was laying the tile)!

And then there is my "beloved" door...

he's so hard to leave behind....

The Heart of This Home

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home.
Well, if that is true, this house didn't have much heart.

It was small and ugly and yellow!  TOO MUCH YELLOW!

The walls, the cabinets. the countertops.  Yellow.
I use to like yellow now I can't imagine having a yellow kitchen ever again!

See what I mean?!

And look at the floors....

I had started to strip them of the old wax in this picture

and I was thrilled with the difference.

(I did it the day before we left on vacation to Oregon 'cuz that's how I roll :)

The new dishwasher and refrigerator

are already installed in this picture.

When we bought the house the dishwasher was portable

and the fridge was small. 

The stove was big. 

And there was a "wonderful" folding screen between the kitchen and dining rooms.

I had forgotten that until I saw this picture.

It came down immediately.

The kitchen looked like this for far too long!

Just this spring we decided it was the "next room"

on the list

and I was ready to jump in.

We were unsure at this point if we were going to stay in this house or move

so we both thought it best to make due with as much of it as possible.

We had already added on the pantry

(I'll show that in another post)

so we had plenty of storage.

Warren revamped some of the cabinets and made new drawer fronts and doors.

We had a new apron front sink installed, 

a polished brass faucet (of which I removed the lacquer so that it could patina), 

appliances, floor (this was installed just a couple of weeks ago),

the walls and cabinets painted white (my job),

and the most wonderful of all?

New quartz countertops and carra marble backsplash....

oh ya, new hardware and hidden hinges,

an antique schoolhouse type light fixture

and Warren covered the exhaust fan with style!

(I so love how that turned out)

The shelves came down on either side of the sink, instantly updating the look.

The cabinets to the left of the sink were then left looking strange as one bumped out weirdly.

Warren took the side off and changed it out with doors.

Almost looks like it was designed that way!

The cabinets over the fridge were added onto for depth as were the ones running

along the right side of it.

In this picture you can see the door to the pantry.

I chose an old door, with character.

I want to take this door with me.

It's staying.  Subject closed :)

On this side of the kitchen we cut a pass thro into the dining room.

Warren, again, added onto the depth to these cabinets and put 

pull- outs in all the lowers!

The cabinet to the left of the opening was made to fit the microwave.

I chose quartz countertops in a solid gray so they would go with this:

My tile!!!

I am so in love with it.

Warren installed it himself and did a great job.

It's a basic subway but the small details make the difference...

and this is the new floor.

We didn't change it much.

Before it was a black and cream colored check

and we switched to a dk. gray and white check.

The new check is a little bigger and softer looking.

I'm loving the new look of this room
 and the function is an added bonus!

Believe it or not, I actually have empty cabinets here and there 

since I have the pantry.  

It's got plenty of counter space I need 

and it feels airy and spacious.

And it's not yellow.

That alone is huge.

Being out in Front!

This first house belongs

to my sister Dori.

She was never interested in yard

work.  Her husband kept it mowed

and trimmed and nothing else much was done to it.

AND THEN, one day, she

asked me what could be done

with the front of her house.

I wish I had pictures.

It wasn't that pretty of a sight.

But both her and her husband, Mike,

were willing to get their hands dirty.

Literally.

And so we went from a house with  little detail to this!

Isn't  it beautiful?!

Shame on me for not having before pictures!

They had kept it in good condition before

but it didn't have much personality.

There were basement windows

that didn't need to be seen

and pipes and what-not

snaking their ways across

the front of the house.

Things that weren't going to be changed

and yet didn't look good.

So we hid them behind a great lattice

fence and planted plants growing on it and a flowerbed in front of it.

New pillars, front door and white trim

was added.

Cobblestone- lined sidewalk was installed as well

as a parking pad with a cobblestone

header and lights.

A sweet trellis greets visitors at the beginning of the sidewalk.

Trees that once had dead grass around them are now lined with borders and  rock.

A chain link fence came down

and opened the yard up to the neighbors who now come by to tell

them how wonderful it looks.

They, Dori and her husband Mike,

did the work.

I just laid out a plan.

And Dori?  a girl that once hated yard work is now known to be out in her yard often. 

 Loving it. 

Proud of it.

And they should be.  It looks amazing.

Next, we will look at another of my

sister's yards.  

This is Joni.  (I would tell you

that she is my older sister but

she hates when I do that!)

Joni is the sister that can grow plants like no other!  

We rely on her for help with knowing what to plant, where.

Again, I was asked to help with the layout and the hard scape ideas.

Before they had the typical sidewalk

that went to the front door from the driveway.

That was changed to a sidewalk coming from the sidewalk 

along the road

(where we all park when visiting).

The front walk is lined with a stamped concrete that looks like brick.

From the driveway there are now stepping stones for those that park in the driveway.

 A retaining wall out of sandstone midway in the yard was added to have a tiered effect instead of a boring front slope!

 The railing on her small front porch was removed, a new post put in and the porch area itself enlarged.

It is a wonderful place to sit, relax
and watch the neighborhood.
I know, I've been there!

Keith,  her husband, and Joni did a lot of the work here.  I didn't lift a finger other than to hold a pencil and draw out plans.

Didn't they do an amazing job?!

I'll show you her backyard sometime soon.

It's something to see!

I'm so proud of both of these sisters. 

 They, along with their husbands, have worked hard.

And it shows.  

And they both are reaping the rewards of a yard they want to come home to.