In this room...

...lies MANY projects.  But today - I thought I'd share a super simple one.  Come on in...

to the office.

Today's project - bench. 

My sweet Papaw Ronald, who is nearly 81 made this bench for me about 3 years ago.  It is made from a double bed and is still in its original finish which is one of the reasons why I love it so much - besides the fact he made it for me of course.

On the back you can see where 44 years ago - this bed was antiqued by A.A.A., B.S.M., and G.S.A.  You can see where it is dated December 27, 1967.  That is why I can hardly bring myself to paint over it.  

And I happen to really like the crackle finish.

 But, the bench needed a face lift and I was not about to paint it.  So off came the seat - you can see it has had a couple of previous fabrics on it ;-)  Now, no comment on my upholstery skills - hey, nobody looks under there anyway - right.

 This lil' redo is nothing that a staple gun, staples, some scissors and new fabric won't fix. 

 It just doesn't get any easier than that.

 I was fortunate to find some fabric that matched EXACTLY - lucky me - the color of the walls is Sea Salt by Sherman Williams.  Now, I will confess - stripes on the horizontal may have not been the ideal choice but I was trying to find something that would not compete with this other fabric that I had already splurged on.  Do you ever get the cart before the horse?  Well, I do - especially with fabric. 

I also had my map as some inspiration and my peddlers mall leather desk chair.

Now this room is far from finished.  Here are a few other things that are going in there when it is complete - a brown dresser

a wicker chair

some more brown and cream fabric

checked rug

 a globe and some other "officey" things - when I find the right ones.

Oh, and the most important thing - a desk.

 So stay tuned for the completion of this room one of these days.  I'm going to be real busy in the coming days and weeks however- getting ready to go full swing into greenhouse season at work - I begin planting tomorrow - spring is right around the corner you know and oh how I love flowers!

 I'll shed a lil' more light on this room soon. 

Have a great week everybody!

In my new Laundry Room...

...I find it is the little things that make me most happy to do laundry.  Truthfully, I haven't complained (not yet anyway) about doing laundry since we moved into our new farmhouse.  Honestly, I use to grumble quite a bit 'bout doing laundry - but now, I'm finding when you have room to be organized a bit - everything seems to be a lil' more enjoyable - even if it is washing dirty clothes.  But instead of ramblin' I'll simply share some pictures with you and let you in on why this room makes me happy.

Of course, starting with my sink - graciously given to us by Linda and Tommy from an old house of theirs being demolished.  I'm so thankful they thought of me - because I will always love this sink.  It is cast iron of course with a 1934 stamp on the bottom of it.

So #1 - I love my sink!

 #2 - I love my big window that lets in lots of light and I can look out and watch the cattle grazing up on the hill.

#3 - I love the simple things like my handmade soap - ready to work as many hands are washed in there.

 #4 - Oh how I love this painting - lovingly given to us by my friend Becky, of one of our barns with the quilt squares.

 #5 - I'm still loving my front load washer and dryer - it is about 3 years old now - and farm clothes really give them a workout.

 #6 - I love my faucet - purchased from Overstock.com

 #7 - I love this painting - also gifted to us by a talented artist, Mary Lou - of a lady hanging her clothes on the line.  I want a clothesline - that'll be a summer project.

 #8 - I love my cabinets - lots of places to put cleaning supplies and such.

 #9 - Of course, you gotta have a place to sit down and take your boots off - and this is why I love my lil' chair.

 #10 - I love my kettle - a gift from mom and of course, I love that lil' boy in that picture.

 #11 - I love my cabinet with pretty baskets.

 #12 - I love my bead board and all my molding - thanks Andy.

 #13 - and lastly, I LOVE the fact that all the ugliness - like all my dirty clothes and hampers and shoes and my brooms and you know - all that stuff you gotta have to live each day - well, it is hidden nicely behind this door and I love that ;-)

I say you can make any space - no matter how big or small - a happy place when it is filled with things that make you smile.  I'm grateful for this space to do something for my family and I'm thankful for the lil' things more and more each day.

May your day be a happy and blessed one.

The Fireplace...

Hello friends - hope your new year is off to a fantastic start.  First, I want to say thank you to all of you who have had such nice things to say as I've shown you around some of our new home.  I'm finding out that getting this house all put together - is gonna take a long time - so I appreciate your forgiveness and oversight of the many things that are yet to be done.  There are curtains to be sewn, lots of furniture to be found, things to be painted - but that is all a part of the process - and I'm enjoying it more all of the time. 

But today, I thought I'd let you look in on the fireplace.  I must admit - I did not necessarily want a fireplace - I was afraid it would make things really dark in the den but after the mantle was given to us as a gift from Shaun's late father, I couldn't say no nor did I not want to incorporate such a neat piece of family history into our new farmhouse.

 You may recall me posting this picture nearly a year ago - showing you the condition of the mantle.  It had been stored overhead in the barn for nearly 50 years.  Shaun's dad had rescued it from his grandparents home before it had been tore down.  After some research - we figured out that it was 150+ years old and made of chestnut.  Chestnut trees were wiped out in our part of the country I believe back in the 40's due to a disease.  So with that being said - we knew we could not paint it.  I wanted to paint it white - but I was threatened - hehe - by many people, like my cabinet man, my dad and my hubby - that I just couldn't paint such a great piece.  I suppose I lost that battle - but that is o.k. - there are many reasons why it was so special just the way it was.

 Our "stone" guy, David, used the same stone that we used on the outside of the house around the fireplace.  It kind of ties the two together.

 Here is one of the few imperfections in the wood - we figure it is a water stain from being stored next to the roof in the barn.  After a lot of sanding  - it still wanted to stick around - so we just left it - it really doesn't bother us a bit - just adds more character.

 Here you can see the wide width of the boards on the base - the boards measure a foot wide.

 So there it is - a great gift from our beloved Poppa - whom we miss so much.  He would have so loved to have seen this in our new home.  

But each time we see it - we think of Glen and the many gifts he gave us.  What a great piece of family history to incorporate into our home.  Thanks Poppa.