Saturday, March 30, 2019

More House

Boxes and more boxes.  We gave these to friends who are also moving.  Most were given to us by friends who moved. 

 I'm a big fan of command hooks.  These work great on the inside of cabinets to hold dish towels.
 And these, perfect for things we like to hang in our shower.
We did frosted panels in our master bath doors. We both love the look, although I will probably end up putting some shades, or fabric panels on the bathroom side, to block the light.  The hubby doesn't like to see the light coming in at 5 am, on my work days.  Imagine that?
Our realtor is amazing.  She bakes home made cookies for the closing and also gives some fantastic gift cards in appreciation for using her and her firm.  So thankful our old home sold, and we closed on it last week.
Here's a view of the cool ramp they built my husband.  It makes it really easy for him to move around to the outside.  He loves no steps!
The cat has had a hard time adjusting.  He seems afraid to venture out in the daylight, but once it gets dark he often wants to go outside.  We don't want him out at night - coyotes!
 The front yard dirt pile......
Today was a great day for yard work. Well, actually it was way too windy.  Hope our grass seed doesn't all blow away.  
Installed one of these yesterday.  Someone in our house....loves a bidet.  :)  Did you know you can get these from Amazon, and only $21.99!  Super easy to install.  Low profile.  You'd hardly know it's there. I am not sure Americans are as into these as the folks in European countries. We'll do our part to spread the word.....lol

And before I close for the night, go check out my quilting website at www.rachelmhayes.com if you'd like to see what quilting project I just started.  It feels good to be back at my sewing, after a long time off.





Monday, March 25, 2019

And more house pictures

Just some more random house pictures  :)

I found a black piano on Facebook Marketplace for a great price.  It's been on my bucket list for several years to relearn how to play.  I took lessons as a kid for a couple of years but did band through high school.  I am enjoying the piano so much!  I pulled out my hymnal and found a few songs that have only one flat or one sharp, you know, not too difficult.  I am practicing! I created this gallery wall by laying out parchment paper and tracing around where I wanted the photos to go. I taped the paper on the wall, with a level, then put in the hangers (push pins), pulled the paper away and hung the frames.  They are all black and whites of my son, his family, and their UK adventures in various black frames (Hobby Lobby, 50% off!)

 I have great plans for this room.  Imagine two twin beds with a small dresser between.  The beds will be for the grands, guests, or just to display more quilts.
 I hung these family photos in the hallway leading to the quilt studio.  My mom and dad, the four of us kids, and a collage I made for my parents several years ago.
 The quilting studio!!  I put up the design wall last weekend.  I bought two 4x8 sheets of insulation board. I had to get Lowe's to cut them in half so I could get them in my car.  Then once taped back together they were still just too large for me to handle by myself, so I cut a foot off the top and one of the sides.
 I just hung it with monkey hooks into the insulation backing, so I am not sure how it will hold up with a full quilt top on it.  I was trying to avoid screwing it into the wall, but that may be on the horizon. I plan to put a desk under the "Around the Blocks" quilt.
I think it's all ready to get back to sewing.  Yay.  We are scheduled to get our AT&T internet tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it will actually happen and will work well.



After I get some good outside shots, I'll be posting them.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

House - more pics

Dining room which is also part of the great room.  I like how the one big room moves from kitchen, living room, to dining room.


I haven't done much in the master bedroom but hang my round mirror. Nothing else on the walls, but I'll figure that out later.  :)
ahhh, this room......the heart of a quilter. I'll be posting better pictures later.  The size is awesome and I can't wait to get back to sewing in this great space.  I recently put a design board up. It is on the wall facing the hanging quilt. I thought it would be neat to hang "my" magazines up across the top of the far wall.  I made the cover of two, but have quilts in the rest.

Stay tuned.  There will be more!

Saturday, March 23, 2019

New Home (Continued)

We put a laundry room that opens to the hallway near the kitchen and also opens to my master closet. This is a brilliant idea, and one stolen from a friend who built a new home a couple of years ago.  We bought the tile for cheap at Floor and Decor (0.99 per square foot!), the cabinets are pre-fab, and the counters are a marble look laminate.
 All of our tile came from Floor and Decor.  The new design is much like our older master bath.  The new shower is a little bigger, with no threshold (thinking of our older years) and his tub is without jets (rarely used them in the old house). We each have our own vanities and closets.  Works well for these two independent people :)
 I loved my seat in my old shower but felt like if either of us ended up in a wheel chair we might need the extra room in the shower.  The teak bench was purchased at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and I am very happy with it. I like being able to pull it closer to the water. I asked the tile guy to put the nook in the half wall so it is mostly hid from view.
We used the knotty hickory for our vanities.  Mirrors purchased at Kirklands. Minute Quartz on the vanities. Basic white large subway tile for the shower, metallic penny tile for the shower floor, board and batting for the tub surround, and a grey/greige wood-look tile for the floors.
More pics coming soon!

New Home

It's been a crazy few weeks.  We moved into our new home a month ago, but still don't have cable/wifi/internet. Imagine how difficult that is in our busy lives?  I wanted to share pictures of our home.  We are so very pleased with how it turned out and so thankful we were able to build it.

First up is our kitchen.  Our cabinets are Benjamin Moore Simply White.  All the trim in the house is also this color, and all the walls are Benjamin Moore White Dove.  Most of the windows are shielded by porches so this paint color is perfect to brighten up the rooms.
 The island is knotty hickory.  Counters are Minute Quartz.  Lantern pendants are Kirshler (not sure on the spelling). I had a hard time finding these.  I really like them.  No glass to clean.
 Our floors are 3/4" hand scraped white oak hardwood with a medium brown stain.  Although they do show more dirt than our previous floors I still adore them.  So earthy and natural looking.
The hood was custom made out of hickory.  Our trim guy was great.  He made the hood, as well as the mantle, the beams, and all the custom shelving in our closets.

Ill post more pictures when I have a little more reliable wifi. Borrowing the neighbors and it isn't strong enough for a lot of pictures.