not very interesting

Allow me to show you some not so very interesting scenes.

All white walls.

Ladders. Scaffolding.

Taped-over doors & windows.

Ladies & Gentlemen, this is our back wing. And someday soon, it will be very very beautiful.

moving along in the back wing

Here is the view from the outside of the back wing. Please excuse the wheelbarrow. Also, the blue cooler.

(Obviously, we are not quite ready for the Home & Garden shoot.)

From inside the kitchen, the view is a bit more obscured. We taped a plastic wall up between the kitchen and the back wing in order to keep the dust out of the house until the taping, mudding, and sanding is completed.

We hope to spray a coat of primer paint early next week.
The windows are getting a beauty treatment; each one meticulously trimmed with molding and a 7 inch shelf at the base of the sill.

Might I inform the general public that a sheet of plastic does keep out the dust, but not the decibels of a table saw?

vacation inspiration

Even while on vacation, my thoughts are always close to our old stone home. One of my favorite traveling past-times is oohing and ahhhing out the window of the car as we pass through little villages. Main Street of any New England town is of special interest.

I love it even better when on foot, where I can scrutinize the details up close. This house was in the wharf district of Salem, Mass. Some might say that it needed quite a bit of TLC, but I was very drawn to its weather-worn appearance. What a perfect example of a Greek Revival entryway!

I wanted to knock on this door just to tell them so.

Also in the wharf district of Salem was this gorgeous historic colonial. I swooned on the sidewalk and my kids had to use smelling salts to bring me around, the old-fashioned way.

Kidding, mostly. Although, ladies back then often got what they called "the vapors", far be it from me to lay claim to such nonsense.

This amazing pagoda was in a park in the heart of Boston asked Hubby to replicate it in our backyard.

He said it was within the realm of possibility. Those were his EXACT WORDS.
Vacation brightens the horizon, I always say.

I leave you with a photo of this absolutely perfect door. The color must have been inspired by the sea. Or the sky after a storm.

Who knows if any of these inspirations will end up making the "final cut" of what we add to our endless remodeling around here? But one can certainly dream!

bedroom make-over

Last week, there was stuff going on upstairs in Ben's room.

He attempted to explain the changes to the bedroom decor, but I needed to see it on paper in order to grasp the whole plan:

Luckily, he already had this master blueprint taped to the wall. It illumined me completely. The new wall unit will accommodate shelves for books, floating speakers, and two computer screens for film editing.

Somehow I got sucked into the vortex of helping the project along.

Within a few days, things began to take shape!

Here is the desktop before the custom-cut glass top was installed.

The shelves are multi-purpose.
I like the floating rectangular shelving. They were a last-minute idea.

This project is not finished quite yet, but it's come a long way. Next week when we are back from vacation, I will post pics of the final make-over!

bent willow furniture make-over

I purchased these three bent willow pieces at an auction recently. They came with cushions which were in excellent shape, but I didn't like the print (too country-cute) .

So I painted the seats pure white. Please don't ask me how many cans of spay paint I emptied. I promised Mother Nature I would never do such a nasty thing again. Plus, I got some on my tongue. But you didn't need to know that.

After spray painting and then using a paintbrush (and a bucket of exterior white paint) for many hours, I began to wonder if my auction "bargain" was such a deal!

But then I scooped up some awesome fabric ( especially for outdoor use!) on the clearance table at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Friend #12 is working on making slipcovers for me.

Don't I have all the luck?

Here is the finished couch. It's quite comfy! The view from the side porch is so perfect, too. Tonight we spotted an osprey dipping & diving over the falls.

Life is good.

spiral staircase

This came via truck to our old stone home the other morning!

-and the results are in....

Ta-dah! The thrifted light fixture is now a crown jewel to me.

It is wired to a dimmer switch with very amazing results. We all love it.

What do you think?