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Friday, March 30, 2018

Easy Front Door Decor

I've been wanting to dress up the front door..and was checking all the usual haunts...craft stores, home good stores & thrift shops.

Not finding anything that caught my eye...price wise or other wise...I decided to put together one of my own,  The price of faux flowers is unreal at craft shops...so I hit the dollar store!   I scored the cute basket at Value Village...it even has a handle for hanging.

I gathered up my supplies..and used Min Wax to stain the basket & let it dry really well for a couple of days.  Everything including the green brick sponge came from the dollar store.  






A couple of years ago, I purchased an E-Z Bow Maker at Michaels...using a 50% coupon it was under $7.00.. as I fail miserably at making bows without some help!   I don't have a tutorial...it was pretty easy to put together...I cut the green foam brick & wedged it into the bottom of the basket and began cutting & poking the faux florals to my liking.  The polka dot ribbon was a 50% off purchase at Michaels.

Can't wait for warmer, spring weather to hang it!  Total cost was under $20!


Thursday, March 29, 2018

And Now...The Rest of the Kitchen...

As I mentioned yesterday...our kitchen is long and narrow...like a bowling alley!!  When doing the design the main issue that needed addressing was storage.  Since the eight feet of previous cabinetry (and I use that term loosely)....provided very little.

Sorry for the "orange glow"....these were taken early morning...with overhead pot lights on.  The downside of the kitchen being on the north side of the house.  When we installed new exterior doors..we made sure they had windows to allow as much light in as possible...yet be weatherproof against the cold, north winds.

Where the pantry sits now...the previous stove & fridge were housed...and the eating area was where the countertop range is now.  (you can see Liesel's crate to the right...just keeping it real)...




There are a couple of windows which provide a little light..(all the windows & siding were replaced a few years back)...my cow canvas was purchased through Wayfair.  






We can still accommodate the dining set at it's largest size..and move around without bumping into things or each other!  Here I use my Pioneer Woman table runner... pretty & bright for spring!!

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

So...Let's Begin in the Heart of the Home

I'll share interior views of our home...although it says spring began March 20th....that is just a day on the calendar here in the Maritimes.  We have had a relatively calm winter...not a lot of snow storms..winters vary here...and thankfully this one has been one with very little snow...mostly rain.  Other maritime provinces have been hit hard with snowfall accumulation...but we have been spared Mother Nature's wrath.  But we still have wintery weather happening.  At a later date, I will share photos of the greatest snowfall...when we received 84 cm of snow in one storm!!

To get back on track, the heart of most homes...is the kitchen.  Sadly, either the builder of our home ran out of money or had no design concept in mind...but the year was 1973 and little thought was given to functionality of rooms.  The kitchen consisted of one eight foot length of cabinets...with a double sink in the middle...for a room that measures 9 ft wide x 22 ft long!  A real bowling alley of a space!!  Cheap vinyl flooring and a variety of paint colours & wall paper covered the walls over the years.

I dug out some old photos of the "kitchen" (since it can hardly be called that)...in it's demolition stage!  Sorry the pics are not great...and in various stages..but you get the idea of the cabinets (or lack thereof)..and the size of the room.  Other than one stretch of cheap, plywood cupboards...the walls were empty!  So...we had a blank slate!  Took all of 30 minutes to knock them down!  We used a patio table & chairs for dining! (we have an eat in kitchen...no dining room sadly).
                                         
Hubby doing the grunt work! And yes, we purchased that laundry tub to do dishes in!  


Loving that cheap laminate counter top!! (not)

                                          




Are you ready for some pretty now?   For a room this size (about 200 sq ft of floor space) we needed to really keep within a budget.  I happened upon floor tile on clearance - (79 cents/sq. ft at Home Depot)...and loaded up our vehicle!  And it has held up perfectly.

Counter top ceramic range & wall oven...both purchased on clearance.  The over the range microwave was a replacement last year...



I didn't capture it in this photo...next to the wall oven is a stainless refrigerator...when the wall oven needs replacing...it will be stainless as well.  Sadly...appliances now last on average about 7 years!


The granite counter & glass backsplash were updated last March!  At the time of our remodel...granite was out of the budget...but I knew someday I wanted it.  I weighed other options, like Corian...but granite was always in my heart.  The previous black splash was black tile...a quick last minute decision, at the time and it really darkened the kitchen (which is on the north side of the house...only sees sun in the mornings).


There is a pantry and dining set on the other end of the kitchen..which I will share next time.  I love my Granitetek sink & my taps were changed out last year with the granite install..I love the high faucet in bronze finish.  The floor tile, as you can see...is a neutral colour with dark grout...(for some reason it looks discoloured in this photo...but it really is not).

As much as I love my kitchen...it is still a "one bum" kitchen!!  Being narrow...it is difficult to get 1-2 people prepping in it.  But compared to what it once was...I'm okay bumping bums!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Hi & welcome to my first blog post!!  Mr. Seventies & I purchased our home, a split entry built in the early 1970's...and we've spent the last number of years updating & making it a warm & cosy home!  We share our life with a little wire hair dachshund..Liesel!

When we first moved in, in the late 1980's the house looked nothing like it looks now!  It had not been touched with any love...just lived in...with wall to wall carpet throughout the whole house!  And lime green shag carpet in the main bath..blech!  The lower level...was nothing but concrete and open air....as back in the day...no one finished their "basement"!

The exterior was covered in white aluminum siding with fake rock on the lower half...a leaking car port in disrepair...windows varathaned shut & a non-existent kitchen of any sort!

So, why you must be asking...did we buy this house??   #1 answer...location..location..location...and #2 we could afford it!!

Hope you will enjoy sharing your time with me...looking forward to sharing lots of great things!!