So as some of you already know, we have moved and are in the middle of a renovation. It’s funny to see comments (after I have posted something on social media) from friends saying things like, “I can’t wait to come over”. Or, “how exciting, I bet that’s so much fun!”. Friends, family, strangers that follow me, …. this is not exactly what you call “fun“. Here are some shots inside my construction zone that are carefully and masterfully staged. I am going to give you what I’m calling the “Pull back, home tour”. I am sharing some of those pretty pictures… again. Then I am going to pull the camera lens back and let you see what it actually looks like. Stay with me.
This little shot is next to my bedside, I had some left over florals from my most recent workshop. I love fresh flowers and in the midst of my madness of a home, some fresh cuts make waking up a little easier.
This dreamy little shot was taken after an early morning job at the farmers market, peddling coffee for a local coffee company. I bought these gems, because… well I love me some flowers, and this was far too cute to pass up. This picture is one of the first, I believe, I had taken with my handmade farm style table. I had posted a few pics of it in the making on my Instagram account.
This next shot was after a very stressful week. I think I just may have actually cried a river. Oh JT was singing to my soul that week. And that song was on repeat. (Disclaimer: I may have only gotten teary eyed, and the part about Justin Timberlake singing to me, well that’s just made up.) Back to the photo, I was just so excited to see that my little tomato plant finally had a tiny ripe tomato on it. Of all my years of gardening, I haven’t had much success with tomatoes. Go ahead and give me all that advice you’ve got on the topic. But folks, tomato plants come to my house to die. And that sweet little red was all that made it. My plant is still hanging on, but by mere threads.
Here is a nice bounty of garden pickin’s. BUUUUUUTTTT, I went to my old house to pick them. The house hadn’t yet sold, and we kept the drips on through the fall so I could enjoy the fruits of my spring and summer labor. This shot was taken on my kitchen floor next to a window.
These last two photos are in the same area/lighting set up. Farm table, near the window. The first is my efforts in botany. The last one is a shot of some pomegranates a strange man near the park gave my kids, that we never did eat. I needed a simple shot to use for some marketing, and this worked well. The space looks pretty clutter free and the lighting is just bright and airy. We will touch on that when the real home tour begins.
So lets see what my home really looks like. And before I go on, I’d like to add that this space is completely livable. I am not complaining, although I do have days where I do plenty of that. This is just to remind you all that things aren’t always what they seem. People and places can look happy and magical, but sometimes there are greater things going on that you don’t see. Sometimes those things are great, and sometimes they are less great. In my case, things are really great, they are just a little more challenging. But we are making do with what we’ve got. And that’s really all that matters.
Let’s get the pull back, home tour started! Here is the entry room. As you can see, I gave up on painting. And with my t-rex arms and that beast of a wall, who can really blame me?? Concrete floor throughout, and a staircase that’s missing a stair rail. I often refer to the comings and goings of the upstairs tenants as “walking the plank”. Its like a pirate ship, except there’s like at least five good planks.
Here we have the master bedroom fully equipped with gansta graffiti on the floor, we had the OG’s tag it real special like. Cause that’s how we roll. (Throws up gang signs, sporting bandana) Also, I got rid of a lot of furniture before the move because this is a significant downsize. We don’t have an dressers, but who needs em when you’ve got a brand new home depot box!! They double as storage and fan or printer tables. SCORE!
On to the main living space, I don’t mind this corner of the house. We had the French doors put in before we moved in. We installed the few paper blinds up ourselves. I had to make a few adjustments because we didn’t measure the paper well when bought the only large size available. No big deal, me and my handy dandy paper cutter got that task done! And I picked out this fan, I’m pretty pleased with it. My hubs did that one. We keep the duties pretty equal, obviously. I handled half the paper blinds, he handled the ceiling fan.
Moving right along, here’s the money shots. Where the true magic of photography happens. The dining room table and kitchen space. Pretty crazy huh? Note that I do not have any major appliances. I do have appliances, and I do cook. Just not quite on the scale that I have been used to. What once took me 5-10 minutes to boil a pot of water, now takes me anywhere from 20-40 minutes.
This window right here is one I use a lot for lighting in the kitchen.
This is my farm style table that is currently being held hostage in my kitchen as counter space. It’s not as quaint in the pull back as it is close up. But it hold sentimental value because my son and I built this from my old garden beds. That’s my oven and microwave, the lack of cabinet space has proven to be annoying as all heck, but I’m getting by. We keep out what we need.
Here is the fridge space. You can see we use a very modern water cooler. Its electric blue and has great insulation, keeps our water cold for exactly 24 hours. Hold up to five gallons, when we don’t mess up at the water filling stations that is. I’ll save those stories for another time, they’re pretty hilarious. Next is my main kitchen/cooking space. I have a griddle/grill, a large skillet, and a two burner table top appliance. The table top burner is what has slowed me down, but I have to remember, the cave woman probably ate most of their food raw and bloody. I’ll wait it out thank you. Then finally we have the one cabinet in the corner next to our utitility sink. It’s been an adjustment working with counter tops that are lower than standard. It has given my aging back some grief, but again, I am lucky to have running water and electricity. So yea, it could be worse for sure.
And last but by far not the least, here is the “pantry”. We had a couple of book shelves, you may have noticed one near the dining room table, and the other is here. Acting as a cabinet. I also picked up this little shelf years ago at Good Will, and its holding up nicely as a pantry shelf. Then I have this cute cabinet thing next to the fridge. I bought that one at an antique store a long time ago, its my spice cabinet. And I really have that many spices.
And that folks, is the end of the tour. I will be adding some other home renovations to the blog in the coming weeks. We just bought our new appliances, and have started the process for the stair case. Next on the agenda will be cabinets, then flooring! Hopefully in the process of those things we can get the rest of the painting done. Sigh….
Floral arrangements by: The Florette
Doesn’t matter how much stuff you fill that house with….. The beauty of your home comes from the love and laughter that is so apparent already. Happy new years!!