From My Grandmother's House

The newest treasures in our house are very special to me.  The glasses, furniture, and framed prints were all in my grandparents' house when I was a little girl.  I love having things from my grandmother's house in my house.  It makes our house cozier, and I love thinking of her whenever we use the dishes or sit on the sofa.

A picture of my Grandmother and me.

 

These glasses look great with our accent plates in our everyday pattern and our fine china pattern.

 

I added one of her cookbooks to my library... if I only had her roll recipe!  Her rolls would melt in your mouth, but she won't tell a soul the recipe. 

I almost did not get this shelf, but once painted it will be a great addition to our mudroom.

Image via MyHomeIdeas

I used to take afternoon naps on this sofa when I would visit my grandmother.  The fabric screams early 90's right now, but I see potential. See the similar sofa in the photo below.

Image via Domino

 

This table is great for keeping my plants off the floor right not, but once again I see more potential in the future.

  

These prints are great, but the really great part is the convex glass in the frames.  It does not really show up in the photos, but trust me, it is pretty groovy.

And finally one of my aunts gave me these stools.  They fit perfectly under our temporary island table.  That table is a story in itself for another day. 

Before and After: Simplicity

I have always loved "before and after" photos, but since we are in the middle of our own "before and after" project, I am even more inspired by "before and after" pictures than before.   This California cottage not only inspires me to get to the "after" point in our house, but also to simplify our our rooms. 

 

You can see more from the house via Sunset. 

Photography by Lisa Romerein

Valentine's Day Recap

In case you were thinking of asking me how the Valentine's Day movie was, here is your answer...

I don't know!  It snowed last night and is still snowing now.  Last night we had dinner with our friends Mary-Katherine and Lewis.  Bruschetta, salad, shrimp & grits and chocolate sorbet with chocolate covered strawberries were on the menu.

We were planning on going to see the movie, but with a little convincing from the guys, Mary-Katherine and I decided the late night movie was a little too late for us.  We watched a movie at Mary Katherine's house instead, and when we were leaving her house we were surprised by the snow!  It was a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Ode to Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is this Sunday!   I'm planning on cooking for my hubby and maybe convincing him to go see the movie Valentine's Day if it is not snowing.

I'm usually not drawn to shades of pink and red, but even I have been hit by cupid's arrow and I'm seeing pink and red in wonderful ways!

 

 

Images via Sunset & MyHomeIdeas

Kitchen Progress

As I have promised, here are pictures of the kitchen to date.  There are quite a few details to complete before it is finished, but we are so close.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Obviously we have not installed the new flooring, finished all the touch-up painting, built the island, installed the shelves, or finished installing the vent hood, but from the photo below we have come a long way!

What's for Dinner?

Tonight I did something I have not done since the end of May last year;  I cooked dinner at our house.

I got the recipe for Pan-Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri from Cooking Light.  I have a stack of Cooking Light magazines I collected while the kitchen was under construction and I cannot wait to try all the recipes out!

Today the plumber installed the range.

Last weekend Britton and I installed the refrigerator.  It was quite a task.

I love the French doors and the freezer drawer.

Would you believe that the bottom was bolted  to the wood platform?  We had to turn the refrigerator over on its back to unscrew the bolts.  The instructions clearly said to do this, but we pulled and pulled on the platform and it would not budge before reading the instructions.

This is the kitchen with the refrigerator installed from Angie's point of view.

A similar view as this picture taken back in July by my Britton's sister Ashley. 

Back to School

It took us a while to settle on pendant fixtures for over the island in the kitchen.  Knowing my husband I knew he would want to be able to us the screw in fluorescent bulbs in the pendants to save energy.  For me that meant I wanted a pendant where you would not be able to see the bulb.  I love the school house fixture.  It is so simple and classic.  

This house featured in House Beautiful sold me on the school house fixture.

 I ended up deciding on this fixture from Savoy House.