Before & After: The Kitchen

Well, you can't get much more of a change than going from white to black! And that's what we did in the kitchen. Looking at the 'before' pictures shows a kitchen that I really don't recognize! I can hardly remember it looking like that!

So, with out further adieu, here is our kitchen...

Before:

White cabinets, brass hardware, green countertops. There was a lot of work to do, but good bones to work with! As you can see above, Don is removing the trim that closed off the space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling so we can continue the cove moulding through the kitchen.

We kept the original doors, but applied beadboard and trim around each door. Then, painted them BLACK! I love it when Don gives me carte blanche and goes along with new ideas!

And our little cutie - Brady - at about 8 months old!

A better look at the trim/beadboard

The next major improvement was the countertop. We replaced and extended the countertop into a peninsula/eating bar. If the truth be told, we eat all of our meals there, and only use our dining table when company comes! We needed to add some lighting over the counter, and had two junction boxes installed.

Wow - this trip down memory lane is going to do one of two things for me. It will either motivate me to find another home that needs a little TLC; or, it will make me want to just stay here and just live a little without any projects on the go!

Hmmm.....I think I need a project!

Before & After: The Living Room

First, I apologize for the zero quality of the before pics....they are pictures of prints that were apparently printed without full ink tanks. But, I suppose the lack of clarity helps protect the original home owner's belongings from being identified!

The Waaay Before:

The After:

Oh, just ignore the functional - but no so pleasing to the eye - recliner in the corner. I'm still working on Don....trying to convince him that the Eames is what we need. After all, how could you go wrong with a piece that's rightfully made it's way into the MoMA in New York!?!?

The biggest improvement is definitely the fireplace. The original brick had already been painted white, but I wasn't going for that look in this particular room.

First, I painted the (nasty) brass surround with a black high heat paint. Almost could have stopped there...(almost!).

Next we built up and covered up the brick (thank you MDF!) and beefed up the mantle with trim. The hearth was green tile, which I painted again with the high heat black paint, and again built up the lower part of the hearth with MDF and trimmed it up with baseboard.

More to come!

Seven Years

It was exactly 7 years ago that we signed the deal for our Maple Drive house. Maybe it's just me getting nostalgic - or the focus on getting the house ready to 'show' - that made me peek into the old folder with all of the paperwork from the deal. In there, I also found the pictures I'd taken when the realtor showed us the house, before the 'for sale' sign had been put up (yes, I'm a keener that way!).

Looking at those pics showed me how far we'd come with this house. Many, many hours of sweat equity, but also some pretty fun (not always in the moment, I suppose) adventures along the way.

I thought it would be fun to do a Before & After party and show some pictures.

The first one isn't the most complex or dramat

ic, but it completely changed the feel of the house (in my humble opinion!). We got rid of all the white! Painted the window trims, pillars, garage and entrance doors and removed some lattice

Oooh! Here's a good one that really 'shows off' the white!!

And the After:

More Before & After's of the inside to come....gotta get some pictures taken!

Work Holidays!

Well, the Hiebert boys are having a camp-out in the trailer on the driveway..... that leaves me alone in a very quiet house! And it gives me a moment to do this!

We've been going non-stop this week. Don took a week of holidays - but we haven't been doing too much relaxing! It's been a work week. We picked the 2 hottest and humid days of the year to tackle a shingling project on the house. We worked HARD! And I developed a new respect for roofers! Which reminds me - I should submit my hours to Don....wonder how well he pays! We've been finishing up a few other projects, and purging a lot of 'stuff'..... a load of 'donations' to MCC, a load to the e-waste drop-off bin (really....that 486 isn't going to come in handy any time soon!), and another post-renovation load (ie. toilet!) to get taken to the dump. Feels good to do one of these clean sweeps, and is necessary too, as we ready our house for sale (SURPRISE!).

No details to share yet....simply because we don't know them yet, ourselves! But I will say that I'm excited about where this adventure called life will take us....(although I'm pretty sure we'll stay in Winkler.....I think!). And even though right now, we don't know what the next step is, God is so faithful. That's just how he leads us. One step at a time. Through all of our circumstances, I've come to trust and rely on Him like never before. He has been showing us how He clearly cares about this big things, and yet we fully see how He is just as concerned with the little stuff, too. It is SO incredible to have this sense of peace and assurance. When we are quiet, and wait for Him to lead us, He will show us the way we should go. And guaranteed, his plans are so much more beautiful than anything we would have arranged!

And since no post is complete without a picture, here's one to remind me about the other kind of holidays we like to take!

Brady's Day of Adventure

We surprised Brady yesterday with some news that was super thrilling for him! It involved a day away from the campground, a few hours of driving, a train ride to Minneapolis - and most importantly - a very exciting baseball game!

His first words when he woke up this morning were: "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so excited!"

What an unforgettable experience for Brady to enjoy with his dad, uncle, cousin and "buddy".

He also took my old camera along and got some pics of this day of fun.

This pic isn't so much a picture of Don, but a really fun reflection of my photographer extraordinaire!

Apologies to all of the random dudes that got their picture taken and were part of Brady's train videography!

Saturday Smiles

Holidays make me happy!