welcome to the walk-through (after edition)

Hey folks, sorry about that little delay in posting... I decided on a pretty exciting post to get things going again =)  As a side note, you know when that point come around the end of November when you know that Christmas is just around the corner, when all the stores are playing Christmas music, the halls are decked out, and you’re counting down the days on your paper chain? (What? One can never be too old for paper chains!)  Well, that is how most of us teacher folk start feeling around this time of the year. Not that I don’t love my first graders... boy do I love them, but I have a fabulously long laundry list of project  (and real laundry too come to think of it) that’s been waiting in the wings. How many links are left in my chain? Just 10 more to go... that’s right... Summer come soon!

In the mean time, I hope enjoy - welcome to our humble abode...

{When you walk through the front door... that’s the staircase to the left (still a work in progress) and the hearth room straight ahead. Please overlook that brass ceiling fan... I’ve been trying to ignore it hoping it will go away. One of these days. By the way has anyone priced ceiling fans lately? Those jokers are highly valued items apparently. We’re saving our cash for now.}

{a little nook to the left in the entry... I have a fabulous vision for this space that I’ll be sharing soon}

{Dining room to the left as soon as you walk in... we’re not much for formal dining so we turned this into our “everyday” eating area... and what happened to that breakfast nook in the kitchen? You’ll just have to wait and see!)

{Looking into the kitchen from the dining room... that’s the hearth room across the way. We’re so happy that we decided to level the counters too. It makes the two spaces more cohesive and entertaining-friendly}

{Detail: The spoon and fork on the left are from my great grandmother, “grahams”... My grandmother said that she can remember then hanging in the kitchen when she was little girl.}

{Standing in the breakfast nook looking into the kitchen... fridge on the left. Can you not just picture some stainless appliances? I’m trying to be extremely patient. You can see more on the kitchen overhaul here.}

{Standing in the kitchen looking into the breakfast nook... the stories behind all the pictures are here. We decided to turn this space into a cozy sitting area so people can hang out here and still be in on the kitchen conversation. We found the furniture on the curb and it used to be on our patio in the apartment... Because we have no covered patio here (yet!) this setup works swell.}

{Looking into the breakfast nook from the hearth room... the “welcome” chalkboard sign in the background in one of my most treasured thrift store finds.}

{Hearth room = small... but we like to call that “cozy.” We deliberately left the TV out of this room and stashed it upstairs for movies only. Though it’s been different we’re loving how leaving the TV out seems to slow down the pace give us more time to be productive - even just talking.}

{Above the mantle... remember this thrift store find?

{Standing in the hearth room looking down the hall the frond door... that’s the half bath on the right.)

{And we’re right back where we started! ... Yes, it was an incomplete tour, but I’ll be adding to the post as we make more improvements. As you well know, it’s always a work in progress...}