The Project House...The Kitchen

The kitchen was, by far, the dirtiest room in the entire Project House...

You walk through the living room and dining room into the kitchen.  The open 10-pane glass door leads out to the back porch which will soon have a brand new landry room and half bathroom!

Those air fresheners on the counter weren't doing a THING to help the smell in the house.  Nice try, previous owners.

The kitchen has linoleum floors which will be replaced with tile.  The house had also settled a few inches in the back so there was a pretty steep slope to the kitchen floor.  We have already had a structural engineering company come out and jack up the house with concrete pads and posts which has totally corrected the settling, for a surprisingly small amount of money.  It looks great!

Other than being dirty, the cabinets are in good condition.  A coat of white paint will freshen them right up!  You all know how much I love white kitchens! It's hard to tell from this angle, but the cabinet above the stove is set about 4 inches higher than the rest of the cabinets.  My plan is to move the rest of the cabinets up to give the new owners more space and to make good use of the tall ceilings!

The layout of the kitchen is a little odd right now, with the stove just hanging out in space with only one cabinet flanking it.  I have plans to remove the cabinet from the eat in dining area below and having it retrofitted to the spot next to the stove.  This will allow the kitchen to have a true L-shape of counter space.  I love black counters in a white kitchen, but I might go with something a little lighter in this kitchen.

There is a little bump out next to the fridge which is an old flue that was built around.  We will take those cabinets out and leave the area open.  I can imagine a sweet china cabinet or hutch in that little nook!  Open shelving would also look awesome.

Here are a few inspiration picture for you...

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Next up are the bedrooms...

There are great things happening at The Project House!

The Project House...Living Room and Dining Room

Our Project House was built in the 1920s and is a craftsman-style house.  It has beautiful hardwood floors that will be refinished, original 12-inch baseboard molding and amazing original windows.  You just have to look past the dirt, grime, bugs, and ignore the smell to "see" the beauty...

Scott's parents purchased this house for a STEAL considering the great shape it is in for an old house!  It needs updated (cosmetically) on virtually every surface of the house, but the structure and bones are amazing.  We are totally updating each room with newly refinished floors, paint, and light fixtures.  Most rooms just need some "make up".

You walk into the house into a little entry area that I think would be the perfect place for a china cabinet or other display piece.   The floors are pretty badly stained in here, but a good sanding and fresh coat of stain will bring them back to their original glory.   I am on a search for a new lantern to hang in this space.

The stairs are to your left and to your right is the rest of the house.

The living room has tons of natural light and now has central air!  Bye bye, window unit!  The dusty, non-working fan has also been taken down.

The living room is separated from the dining room by these fantastic columns and molding.  I LOVE that these are still intact in this house!  With a fresh coat of paint, they will be gorgeous.

I will show you the kitchen, master bedroom and master bath early next week!  Such exciting things in store for this sorely neglected house.

Introducing The Project House...

Introducing "The Project House"....

It's a 1920s Craftsman-style house that has the potential to be GORGEOUS...it's just not that gorgeous right now.  It has been neglected for a few years but will be better than ever in no time.  I will  show you more "before" pictures next week but wanted to start with this back porch.

This is the back entry to the house with concrete floors, an old sink, washer and dryer hook ups, a shower (!) and water heater.  We are removing the shower and adding a toilet and vanity, which will be a huge addition to he house. Currently, the only bathroom on the main floor is in the master bedroom, so this will be a great bathroom for guests.  We're adding a wall to actually make a laundry room with an included bathroom.

Here is a "during" picture:

The shower has been removed and sink have been removed and some of the new subfloor has been added!

I will leave you with a few of our inspiration pictures for the back porch/mudroom side.

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Check back next week for all of the "before" photos and the story behind the Project House!

the white lime: a sweet giveaway...

Shannon, of The White Lime, sent me this sweet print to give away this spring...and then life happened in our house!  You moms know how that is, right?

This print is the the perfect addition to your kitchen for the fall and winter months, especially if you love coffee as much as I do.

The print measures 8x10 and is created on Deep Matte Fujicolor Crystal Archive Professional Paper in order to maintain the look of a real chalkboard. They are flat, and there is no sheen, so they truly do mimic the appearance of a real chalkboard drawing, smudge free!
The contest ends next Friday, October 17!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a few favorite things...

I am not ever sure I remembered the password to this blog...but here I am.  I wanted to share a few of my favorite things right now.

1.  This shampoo and conditioner.  It smells SO good, makes my hair super soft, is sulfate-free, and can be found at Walmart or Target for less than $6.

Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo

2. This candle from Walmart.  It smells like fall and is less than $5 for the glass jar.  Awesome.

3.  This paint color.  Sweet Pea by Olympic Paints at Lowes.

It is a beautiful mint green!  I first saw it on this gorgeous nightstand redo.

4.  These sugar cookie bars.  Be warned, they are AMAZING and will require you to have a glass of milk nearby.  I used all butter in the icing (I was out of shortening) and it tasted great!

5.  These 2 faces. :)  Brittney Davis took our family pictures last month and I am IN LOVE with them!  If you are in the Dallas metro area, look her up!

If you want to keep up with more of my faves, be sure to follow me on Instagram!

***I am not being paid for any of this and I'm sure that none of these companies/products knows who I am. :)

valentine's day mantel...

Ya'll, it's been almost 4 months since I blogged.  Where has the time gone?  I am just going to jump back in!

I don't normally decorate for Valentine's Day, but the winter that never ends was calling for a little color and a little change!  I collected things that I had around the house, made a little banner out of old hymns and baker's twine, and had a Valentine's Day mantel.  I can't decide which piece is my favorite - I love the DIY "LOVE" sign that I made last year, with my sweet kiddos' hand and foot prints.  But I also love the heart that Grayson drew on the chalkboard.  It's not over the top or overly decorated...but it's perfect for us.

It's good to be back...

instafriday...

Welcome to instafriday! In an effort to get back to regular blogging, I am going to start linking up my weekly instagram pics with jeannett over at Life Rearranged.  

Grayson was playing around on his Etch-a-Sketch for about 5 minutes and said "Mom, Dad, look at what I made!"  This kid is 5, nearly 6, but has far superior spatial reasoning skills than his mom.  It would have taken me much longer than 5 minutes to "draw" my initials on the Etch-a-Sketch.

This baby's gummy smile is one of my favorite things. Seriously.

I finished up dinner and looked outside to see this...Scott and Grayson practicing passing the football while MK watched from her stroller.  He is the best daddy ever.

This dog is never far from us during the day.  He thinks he is a guard dog.  Love him.

I made Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parm recipe last week and MK could not get enough...neither could Scott and I.  The recipe is delicious and super easy.  Try it.

Scott and I were working on a large magnetic board for our church lobby.  Sheet metal is sharp, y'all. Scott finished the rest of it up by himself while MK and I played in our awesome Wellspring Babies room.

Snuggling with this sweet girl before MOPS the other morning.  Love her!

My fall was made yesterday morning.  We drove through a little donut shop in town for donuts and they had PUMPKIN donuts.  It was seriously fantastic.  I'm ready for another one!

Happy Friday, y'all!

"a beautiful mess" string art cross...

Have you heard of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)?  I have been involved with one group or another since Grayson was born, almost 6 years ago!  I am in charge of the "Creative Activities" for our group and this year's theme is "A Beautiful Mess".  When looking for a craft that would fit the theme and be a little on the frugal side.  I came across this pin for a string art cross on Pinterest and it was perfect!

We have a a friend who has access to free barn wood, so my husband pulled out a bunch of boards and cut them into roughly 5x7 pieces.

I made a little pattern for the nail placement and we hammered in the nails for all 70 boards!

I bought small brad nails from Lowe's and a multi-pack of embroidery floss from Hobby Lobby (with my 40% off coupon!).  The whole project ended up costing a little over $10 for 70 boards!  A great, frugal project that is perfect for our theme and perfect for adding a little fall touch to our house.

Pinterest-tested recipes...

Y'all...how is it already October?  I feel like this year is just absolutely FLYING by.  My little peanut just turned TEN months old, which makes me want to both cheer and weep at the same time.

I promise I will be back to regular blogging this week, but I wanted to share with you a few Pinterest recipes that I have tested and LOVED!

If your family eats chicken as often as ours does, you MUST try this Butter Chicken recipe by Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees! I have made it twice in the last 2 weeks and everyone has loved it.



I made these cheesy potatoes to go along with the Butter Chicken one night...they are delish!



Feeling like baking for fall? This Starbucks Pumpkin Pound Cake recipe is good! I made it in mini-loaf form (I bought a 9-count mini loaf pan at Joann's and LOVE it!) and they were seriously good.



Have you tried any great Pinterest recipes lately? Leave me a comment with the pins!

blueberry buttermilk breakfast cake

Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake by Alexandra Cooks

If you like the combination of blueberries and lemons, you MUST make this cake.  Don't let the name fool you...I also served this for a dessert with vanilla ice cream and it. is. delicious!

A few notes:
- To make a 9x13 pan (I used a 9x13 glass Pyrex baking dish), double the recipe.  It fits in a 9x13 perfectly!
- Don't skip (or skimp on) the lemon zest!  You will never smell anything as good as creaming together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest.  Seriously.  Buy yourself a microplane and zest away!

Find this amazingly delicious recipe here!

5 things on Friday...

Several of the blogs that I read post 5 random things on Friday...I thought that was a great way to share the little things that I've been slacking about posting on all summer!

1. I found this fantastic chevron-trimmed wall calendar at Target, just in time to record all of this year's important dates!  This is going to be the jumping-off point for a little command center wall in our laundry room.

2.  After pinning kitchen ideas, I finally added some glass canisters for flour and sugar to my counters.  I added some sweet antique tea cups as scoops after seeing it on Pinterest.  I love the pop of green it adds to that side of our kitchen!

3. Ya'll, I have a confession to make.  I love Gain detergent and dryer sheets.  I have tried lots and lots of the cheaper store brand detergents, but nothing makes our laundry smell as good as Gain!

4. I painted Grayson's old high chair (that was actually a hand-me-down from my nephews) a few months ago, but needed some kind of cushion for Miss Mollie Kate's behind to sit on.  I finally got my act together this week and whipped up a little top and bottom cushion with some laminated fabric (from Hobby Lobby), a few layers of quilt batting, and some bias tape.

5. I cannot get over the cuteness of these little moccasins I bought for MK at the Old Navy outlet last weekend.  Are they not the cutest shoes you have ever seen?

etsy back to school sale

School is starting all over the place.  Head on over to my Etsy shop and get 15% off until September 8th!  Just use coupon code BACK2SCHOOL at checkout!

back to school...

My baby boy started Kindergarten last Wednesday...and he LOVES it!  We are so thankful for a sweet teacher who loves her job.

Here are a few "back to school" pictures!

 A little heart to remind him throughout the day that his mommy and daddy love him!

where did the summer go?

Y'all...where on earth did the summer go?  In just one week, my baby big boy will start kindergarten. I can hardly believe that my tiny baby boy is old enough to be in KINDERGARTEN.  So, I am going to continue to soak up the last days of summer and enjoy every last second of my boy being at home all day.  I'll be back to all things bloggy soon.

Until then, here is a bit of what we've been up to via Instagram.