Making a house a home

We are now on our 4th house and while I love the process of remodeling and making it ours, I love hate the middle state.  I am impatient to have it done and to sit, drink and enjoy the fruit of the work.  I spend endless hours in my abode homeschooling my children and dreaming about the feeling I want myself, hubby, children, family and visitors to have when they are over.

My husband and I joked about the lack of curb appeal of the house below, when we drove by in our house hunting.  Be careful what you joke about, as it is the house we ended up buying!!

Third photo is with some of the overgrown bushes taken out

A wonderful couple had raised their son here and were moving to be closer to family.  The house was immaculate.  I often cringe about her walking back in here and discovering all the dirt and cobwebs that inhabit the house now.  

My husband is constantly reminding me that I will miss the hand prints and dirt that my kids, as well as the neighborhood posse, drag in my house.  We have a wonderful cherry tree in the front yard that is great for climbing.  Last summer was the meeting spot for the Spirit Club (don't ask, adults were not allowed in)

Kind of like this times 7

In bloom, about the best feature of the yard

So last summer, my husband dusted off his rotor tiller, shovel and power tools.  We add curving flower beds to softern the lines of the long driveway, planted over 10 trees and added round columns to the front porch.  We added a whitewashed beadboard ceiling and fans to keep the southern breeze going and the bugs at bay.

We (hubby) took out ceiling and rebuilt porch for the bigger/wider columns.  We added a bead-board ceiling with fans.  My advice to all is to whitewash before installing boards.

Gotta love the look of construction.  Getting in the front door was an obstacle course for a few weeks, but it was worth it in the end.

Still a construction area, but a major improvement.  Notice the new plantings, that always helps with curb appeal.

Is anyone else impatient?  What are you impatient for?  

Hot or cold ?

Winter is my least favorite season.  I really dislike snow ( disruptive to life, having to get to work regardless, more laundry...) but there is an upside.  37 days left of Winter!!  One of my favorite things happens frequently so I have found a silver lining in this season.  Here is a hint:

source

Thankfully I don't have to cook in it.

The previous owners had never had a fire in the fireplace in the living room.  At 40+ years it seemed almost sacrilegious to scar the firebrick, but the pull of a fire was too much.  Did I also mention that we have countless pieces of wood that are "suppose" to fit in the woodstove but don't?  What is one to do with all that wood?  

Here is what the living room looked like prior to the first fire:

We bought the fireplace screen from Lowe's.  I unfortunately sold the fireplace set as I was going to install a gas insert (and I still might , the lure of flipping a switch is very attractive).  The large pottery crock is from my husbands's great-grandfather who was a fisherman and it was used for salting fish.  It is going to be our kindling holder now.

Then my husband had a few minutes to get it going and this is what we enjoyed with a glass of wine:

  

We sat in the chairs and had our 'adult' time.  We actually had to move back as it was really warm.  As we sat there chatting we realized that out of our 4 houses, each with fireplaces, this was the first one that we had an actual fire in, we usually installed woodstoves.

There are downsides:  ash and wood droppings from carrying in the wood from outside.  The upside is the atmosphere that is created and the warmth...its a tough battle to decide which side wins.  I am a bit of a clean freak although you would never know given the usual condition of my house.  My plan is to curl up tonight and watch another season of Downton Abbey....I am a total addict.

Here is a hint to my next dream project,

source

Dreamy, just dreamy.  Fire and water together!

Be warm,

Kelly