Blog Award !

Every time I get a Blog Award or someone decides to feature my work I get such a thrill.  Out of the vastness of Blogland, someone has chosen my humble little blog as something that may have pleased them or inspired them some way.  A big thank you goes out to Heather from Pixie Dust for giving me this award. Head on over there to see what great things Heather has to offer!

So I am to share 10 things I love and then pass this on to 10 Bloggers.

10 Things I Love

1.  A crisp Fall day

2. A good hair day

3.  Nutella on ANYTHING

4.  Having everyone in my family healthy and happy

5.  My Dinner Club buddies that I don't see often enough

6.  A fresh breeze blowing through the curtains at home

7.  My cat when she's sleeping (go to sleep!)

8.  Palm Trees!  (I so rarely get to see one)

9.  My mother's baking

10.  Mr. Charming.  Just because he can do this.

Now for 10 Bloggers I'd like to pass this award on to. Please check them out if you haven't already, they're amazing!

1.  The Painted Hive

2.  Tea Rose Home

3. Tattered Hydrangeas

4. Sawdust and Paper Scraps

5. My Romantic Home

6. Debbiedoos

7. Canadian Cottage

8. Around the House

9. Wildflowers

10. Shopping Candy (an upcoming blog to watch)

Take a Guess – Contest !

Take a look at this very old cabinet.  I got this little archaic relic completely free, and any thriftress worth her salt, never turns anything down that’s free.  I think this is a dry sink, but I could be wrong.  In any case, here it is.  Take a good look at it, it’s about to become something other than what it is.  It will retain its original form, but it will be used for something completely different.

Think outside the box.

Can you guess ??

The handles aren't real metal handles, they’re tin,  and I could bend it in half with one hand, ( I actually did)

The insides were covered in wood mactac.

 

Become a Follower and leave a comment with your guess. 

Try as many times as you like, but one guess per comment. Be concise and descriptive, it just might set you apart from someone else!

The winner will be featured as a guest blogger. We’ll get to know you a little better and  highlight a few of your favorite projects.  

The new item will be revealed this weekend.

UPDATE!!I should add that it appears that this cabinet shows larger in the picture than it really is.
The dimensions are:
30" HIGH x 36" WIDE x 20" DEEP
It's not really tall enough to be a bathroom vanity

Good luck !

Get Your Craft On Thursday @ Life As Lori
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Spotlight Yourself @ Santa's Gift Shoppe

Fleeting Beauty

This is the Cherry tree in my backyard.  This is about as beautiful as the tree ever gets.  By the time the luscious, tiny, red cherries actually appear, the dirty rotten birds swarm it and pick it clean.  I’ve never actually eaten a cherry from the tree.  But at least like this, I’ve captured it’s beauty forever.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming

How I Met My House

This is a wonderful and very original idea of AnNicole at Our Suburban Cottage .

Write up YOUR story and head on over there... sounds like a lot of fun!

How I Met My House

(or 'Sabotage' at it's finest)

When I bought my current house, I was in the market for something very specific.  I wanted to find a home with a completely finished basement, complete with a kitchen and a bedroom. I had my nephew staying with me after my sister passed away and I needed more room

I constantly scouted  homes on the internet. Daily I would drive down the streets where I wanted to live.  I found the perfect house, on the perfect street, with the perfect little apartment in the basement!  Perfect!  Or so I thought.  

I called my agent and told her I wanted to get in there as fast as I could.  This happened to be on the very same day that they had a scheduled open house for later that afternoon.  I wanted my viewing before then.   I got in.. and immediately knew this was the one. 

Perfect? Not so much.  Although this house had great potential, it  was VERY lived in.  The owners had two massive dogs who used the backyard as one big toilet. The parquet wood floors were so scuffed and scratched that there was no finish left on them. The shed roof was falling off. The sprinkler system was leaking. The concrete driveway was cracked, (ok that's still cracked.. hehe) . The kitchen cupboards were  replaced with homemade plywood ones.  I've lived there 3 years and I STILL cant figure out the light switches. It wasn't a show stopper by any means, but I loved it. 

I just had to convince everyone else to hate it.

Thankfully the house was priced accordingly.  Had this house been kept up, it would have been way out of my price range.  Immediately I put in an offer. But I had a plan.  With four offers pending even before the open house, I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to have anymore competition. 

I showed up at the open house, (along with about 50 other people)

I walked around the house with Mr. Charming, and in my best whisper voice, I was heard to say "Wow, these floors are in terrible shape, they'll all have to be replaced"... or how about.."The entire banister is loose"..... or even..."This house needs a LOT of work".  Couple those comments with the odd...  "all the sod needs to be replaced"  and  "This is highly overpriced for all the work it needs"   and mission accomplished. 

In all fairness, I must add that between the original 4 offers and the bidding war that ensued I ultimately did go in a couple of thousand over the asking price so the owners were thrilled and I got the house. 

It all worked out in the end.  Slowly the house is turning into something beautiful.

  ::heavy sigh:::   I just love my money pit!

(For a peek inside, view a couple of pictures here.)

Stenciled Beauty

I seem to come across a lot of Teak furniture. Unfortunately they’re never in good condition at all, (which might be why I get them so cheap!)  The drawers on this one were all in very good working order so she just needed a little makeup.

It took a lot of sanding to mask most of the deep scratches.  Of course I used my favorite Kilz Primer and then a couple of coats of Heirloom White, (which seems to be my color of choice lately).  I decided to lightly distress it, but opted not to glaze it to keep the light, feminine look.

The final touch was the addition of the stencil.  From ordinary to extraordinary!

Linked up to:
Made By You Monday @ Skip to my Lou             Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping it Simple            Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal Family
Tuesday Talent Show @ My House of Giggles        Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm
Toot Your Horn Tuesday @ Silly Little Sparrow     Be Inspired @ Room to Inspire
Creative Share Wednesdays @ Trendy Treehouse  Get Your Craft On Thursday @ Life As Lori
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm                       Creative Cat @ Poppies At Play
Favorite Things Friday @ A Few of My Favorite Things
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home         Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Furniture Feature Friday @ Mustard Seed Creations

the chameleon flower pot

Ok…I’m starting SMALL!  After the kitchen reno, I’m just easing back into things.  For instance… this little arrangement that I had in a bookshelf in my kitchen no longer seems color appropriate.  Cute.. just needs a little chameleon-like makeover.

 

Because I tried like heck to pull those flowers out didn’t want to ruin the arrangement I covered the flowers tightly with a plastic bag.

I’m going to be honest here, I went blindly on this one.  I have a garage filled with paint cans and I just wanted to use what I had.  I wasn’t sure that paint was actually going to adhere to the ceramic. 

I used my favorite primer KILZ and it did the trick!

Then onto the right color for the kitchen, and (insert time lapse here) VIOLA.

Until Next Time !

And as always…. Thanks for Reading!

Linked up to:

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

the kitchen chronicles – The Reveal

Finally!  The Reveal

I had to look back at my very first Kitchen Chronicles post to figure out when it all started…. January 20th. Wow, it really has been a long time.  But it was all worth it.  Brand new everything, including new appliances, but if I needed to fix them, it’s easy to find appliance parts in Canada – and the US!

Before we begin, I have to give my sincerest thanks to Mr. Charming for all his hard work. Day after day, weekend after weekend of hard work and determination.  I can’t thank him enough.

Another very important thank you goes out to my mother, who was here helping out every weekend. From getting down and dirty with the construction to doing laundry and supplying us with muffins and home cooked meals, it was all a huge help and very much appreciated.  Thanks Mom!

So now………………. come on in, and take a closer look.

 

A couple of ‘before’ reminders.

For a look back, follow the Kitchen Chronicles from start to finish starting here!

Oh, and a shout out to my kids who came home when the kitchen looked like this and asked, “hey Mom, what’s for dinner ?”   Thanks kids!  Ya knows I loves ya!

Linking Up to:

The 65th Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Make it for Monday @ Cottage Instincts                 Made By You Mondays @ Skip to my Lou

Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime                          Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping it Simple

Tuesday Talent Show @ My House of Giggles        Be Inspired @ Room to Inspire

Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple      Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors        Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello
Jennifer Rizzo - Painted Kitchen Cabinets

Featured by:  Lindsey on Better After.  Thanks Lindsey!

Thanks for reading !