Around the house

A few folks asked me about the new house - so here's a bit about what came with the barn 😀

It's a bit of a fixer upper: a basic, no frills, kinda dated late 80s country place, but has good solid bones, and here's bit of what I'm up to when not playing with ponies! 

I have plans to paint the faded doors and the poo colored trim (to more of an oyster shade) once the weather permits. Changing all the locks to be the same (every door had a separate key O_O) The exterior looks to be fairly recently painted, a spare can in the garage says the colour is "Autumn Gray" - I swear it looks green LOL.  The house kinda just blends into the background in a nice pleasing way - so I'll keep the green for now. It was snowy/rainy and wet the day I took this, so it's harder to see the true state of the door paint (and deck paint too.....adding that to the to-do list)

"Charlottes Locks" is currently in the top running for new door colour.. but it definitely will be some tone in the brick. (Lest you think I splash out for this uber $$ paint brand, Big Box stores will colour match anything ;)

The kitchen has tile countertops in denim blue....yup, def. a late 80s/early 90s child. LOL. I force a lot of scrubbing in my future....

The oak cabinets are super nice quality (and solid wood I think!)  - but the finish/stain has gone the dreaded 90s golden oak orange. I'm loathe to cover all that beautiful grain, so I'm toying around with the idea of Cerusing (white wax) or refinishing them (gonna be a project, but I like having a few pots on the stove at all times ;)

90% of the things for the house I’ve picked up secondhand, and gotten WAY better quality, at way better prices, than if I had bought new (brown furniture pricing is at an all-time LOW): also recycling/upcycling/reducing waste makes me feel like I'm doing my part, and who doesn't like a good cinderella story? LOL! I like to mix up styles and finishes to keep things from looking too cookie cutter.

Like this teak MCM hutch that doesn’t need anything but a cleaning and a bit o polish. It came out of a cabin renovation... and was cheaper than buying something from IKEA.

I found this canvas print at an estate sale for $20, and I liked it, but after I painted the bubblegum detail on it I liked it even better ;)

There is a lot of brick/terra cotta in this house (and missing fireplaces, and weird little built in brick shelves everywhere - bizarre, I know!), so I plan to tone it down a bit with some lime wash..

To something a little more weathered, neutral, and lighter, like this:

I found this blonde art deco armoire for cheap on marketplace - and stripped it, and refinished with Danish Oil. 

I had NO IDEA it was such beautiful dark burled walnut under that heavy lacquer! Also, Armoires are basically giant pretty junk drawers: I can stuff this baby full of pillows/blankets/etc and nobody is the wiser ;) I'm searching for a key that will fit the keyhole - with plans for a pop o' colour tassle to hang from it....

This old wood apple picking ladder ($35 find) is gonna be part of an art installation on a wall - with a flock of block-printed birds flying up and through it....

So everything is a bit of work-in-progress, from the barn to the house - and this spring, the garden beds....

I already have a composter! ($50 at a local thrift shop!) and it matches the house - how could I resist LOL

Plus composted horse manure makes the BEST natural fertilizer :) 

So there you have it, a sneak peek at my home sweet home. I'll have to follow up, when everything is updated ;)