Happy Birthday Baby Blue-eyes

 

Fifteen years old for this incredible child of mine!  Natalie is wise beyond her years, competent, kind and and quickly becoming one of my very best friends.  A special birthday for a most remarkable girl! 

Gray Matter

I never thought I'd ever want to live in gray, but here I am living in it and loving it.  The second I got rid of the yellow and blue it was like the fog cleared and I started to see my house for the first time.  I didn't know how powerful the transformation would be for me.  Thanks to Mom for digging in and helping me paint the living room the very second we got the idea.  She's good like that.

another good gray...

and another.

Christmas Eve

Snow made a fast but fleeting appearance!

 Neither Nick or I can stand sun on Christmas day; not one single ray should be seen.  So he now blacks out the dining room windows with black paper and snowflakes (kids job) so breakfast at least feels like it's gloomy outside and pretend snowy.

Somebody's gotta teach the kids to bake!

Traditional nativity play in Meemaw and Dedo's barn.  It's getting more and more shabby looking the older the kids get.  At least Aunt Natalie's costumes keep it real.

Fun Pj's from Meemaw and Dedo!  Every kid wears the # grandchild that they are.

This is my all time favorite night of the year.  Once the kids are in bed, we turn on the pretty music, set the breakfast table, pile up the presents, make it all look loverly and hang out by the fire with our cups of Pero and chocolate.  I literally love this night.  Totally gorgeous mood, clean house and zero chaos. 

I love you, Christmas Eve.

Fab Fall

Notice the vultures?  They will sit there all the live-long day.

Inner Beauty

Organizing my kitchen this past year has, hands down, been one of the best things I've ever done to my house. I told Nick that part of the cost of the redo had to include new stuff. I mean what's so great about pretty skin if your lungs are filled with tar? I'm not kidding when I say I got rid of everything inside my cupboards and drawers except for a few pyrex dishes and two cookie sheets. Everything went.

My hutch is now in order. The kids have a drawer they use to set the table. Tablecloths are folded and put where they should be.

The kitchen aid is no longer on the counter but is still super accessible. This sort of seemed like a waste of space but I wouldn't trade it..

The corner cabinet is the only original piece that remained from our old kitchen. I'm glad we kept it; you should've seen how shameful this cupboard was before. Yikes!

Behind the brooms and mop is the fridge set into the wall. This used to be our pantry closet. It's nice because it still serves a useful purpose. I painted the dry wall with chalkboard paint and found it's the perfect place for this stuff. All our excess food is now down in the basement in a large pantry. It's been so great keeping only what we need in the kitchen.

In the breakfast room I keep most of the baking stuff and extra food. I cannot believe that my cupboards look clean and truly organized for the first time in a million years.

We opted for some split drawers and they have been wonderful. It helps me avoid stacking everything; that was a large part of my last kitchen's dysfunction. Basically an avalanche every time I tried to pull something out.

Another pick me up. It's therapeutic to have only what you use under your sink. Holy cow how did I live before with everything from silver polish to motor oil under there?

What a thrill to get all knew dishes. Martha Stewart from Macy's.. awesome price and a really bright white--not grayish like a lot of other white dishes.

Papin built us this awesome little shelf under the range hood. I love having salt and pepper here and the timer. I swear the little details are the best..

I got new silverware for my birthday from Natalie and I love it. I am so happy she gave it to me because I'm sure this is not something I would've splurged on.

This is my favorite drawer of all. It just makes me feel like I know what I'm doing because it looks so good. I've always wanted to have an organized spice drawer. I got the bottles and all my drawer inserts/organizers from the container store but most of my new kitchen utensils I found at Marshalls and TJMaxx.

I no longer have 75 pointless mixing bowls and mismatched tupperware. I swear I feel like I've been let out of jail when I see this...

...and this. I bought new pans which fit perfectly into this cool pull-out thing. I told Nick I feel like a newlywed again.. ahem, in the kitchen that is. It's so fun to start over in one area of your life. This time around I absolutely know what I need and use and am smart enough to realize the riff-raff just weighs you down. Sadly, I still have three horrendous organizational nightmares left to tackle: the attic, the basement and it who cannot be named it's so evil (garage). At least I have hope and vision now. Progress takes time.. and money; both can be a little hard to come by. So for now I'll try to focus on the good spots.

New Again

Not a day goes by that I don't say, "I love my kitchen!" It's like stepping into a new outfit every single morning; I just feel cute in there. It was worth the wait and certainly worth the effort. We opted for marble countertops and beveled subway tiles which dressed it up just a bit.

After being told by literally every salesperson not to get the marble I went with my heart, yes I did. I have loved marble ever since I was a little and first noticed it on Grandma Katie's coffee table, so I went for it. Although there's already plenty of etching I don't really care. No regrets.

We kept our breakfast nook a breakfast nook but added custom seating and table and cabinets. It's so darling; I love the way it came together. I'm so glad we didn't turn it into a pantry.. I'm crazy about this charming little spot in the sun. We kept our painted floor--sort of my signature.. I've had it in every house so far and I just couldn't part with it. This time around it's more modern and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I think one thing that literally transformed this space is the paneling. One day I was sitting at the table long before it was completed and couldn't wrap my mind around what color I would choose. Now that the rooms were combined it just felt like too much color--floor to ceiling. That's when Jayne piped in about the paneling. The two rooms now have a cohesiveness that wouldn't have existed without it.

Best idea ever was putting the fridge in the wall where the pantry closet used to be. This is what makes our kitchen feel spacious now--that, and of course taking the wall down and moving it two feet into the dining room. Frugal Freddy (nick) found it on ebay and drove to Ohio or somewhere to pick it up. We saved buckets of cash... so you bet it was worth the drive!

I love my apron sink and double dishwasher drawers. I was skeptical of those at first but now think they're brilliant! Unloading's a cinch and you never have to wait long for the dishwasher to fill up. Still searching for the perfect pendant lights.

Nick stained the dining room table dark and I reworked the hutch.. I love the plates that match the floor. All in all we are pleased as punch. One final touch which has changed my life is the overhead speakers in the kitchen. I can play the music as loud as I want.. and I do.

On my Pinterest page I named one of my boards "Funk Shui." I honestly thought I made it up to better define the style I am going for: funky that works. However, I just googled it and apparently someone beat me to it or maybe they got it from me? Anyway, I pinned lots of pages with little offbeat elements and I think I'm on my way to achieving a bit of funk shui in my own home. Of course, you can never say done, but here's what it is so far.

Once the kitchen got underway I literally took everything out of my living room except my green couch, piano and zebra chairs. A clean slate is where it's at.. my brain was on overload.

I love my Atlas Shrugged. Reminds me it could be worse when the day seems heavy.

This picture makes all my colors seem a little more artificial than they are, but you get the idea.

The curtains have cute little gold bees on them. I painted all of my chairs and settee in the library, then had them recovered to get the look I wanted.

This time around I really wanted some blue.. but wasn't totally ready to give up on pink and green. It's been so awesome having the kitchen blue. I've been able to use lots of turquoise and aqua accents throughout the downstairs and I think they work.

After painting the living room a neutral last year.. I realized I just couldn't handle living in no color so I chose a bright yellow and halfed it. It's been a fun change.

The pillows have never worked for me. I have two being made right now in a pretty cool sorta modern floral that incorporates most of my colors plus a titch of purple. We'll see...

I knew I wanted a lot of black and white. The finishing touch for me was the black and white striped rug--it really grounded the look. Also, I've been wanting a gallery wall and I'm happy with the way it turned out.. it looks clean and not overly busy which I like. Plus, it reminds me I have kids.

I'm sure this mantle is too much for some, but I just couldn't take anything down. My house my rules I guess.

I found this settee at Salvation Army and knew it would be perfect right here. It's a happy day when I drop something off to June--a little house-wife high when I get it back!

Ever since we built in the library, I had visions of black and white awnings here.. dream realized! They are definitely my favorite accessory.

Well... next to these guys.