Before and after...

My kitchen today...

Before I moved in the soap biz...5 years ago...
see TOT...I had a chair!!!
My walls were still under excavation,
as was my floor.

This was the first of the vintage wallpaper to be
discovered, cool, but just not my color palette...
sooooo...

Someday I would love to strip off the paneling
behind my frig to see what lies beneath...
yes, this is the truth behind "where woman create",
the ugly truth...

I never shut this cupboard door because I'm
always making soap...
and your point would be...

When the realtor first took me in for a viewing,
this is the first thing I saw...
the crackled ceiling!
OMG...the first word out of my mouth was...
MINE!!!
AND, I didn't have to do a thing to it...

As the excavating on the walls continued,
this is the wallpaper that I finally uncovered.
I sprayed and scraped
and sprayed and scraped
and re-glued some pieces back on and some not,
but the look of ancient farmhouse was coming to life.

This wall I would eventually like to rip off the paneling
as well, but that's another day...

The walls were painted a creamy yellow, then grunged
using a dark brown water wash. It was wiped off
with a wet towel when nearly dry, wood work
is a sage green.

Can you tell I love fruit pictures...

Yup, this is where it all happens...
the sweat shop...
my kitchen!

Up next...the bath...

To plaster or not to plaster...

I bought this house with the intention of putting a 2nd
shop in it, we already had one in the city, so a country
local would be fun...right...
but the ol' gal had issues...like wiring...
city inspectors told me to rewire, unfortunately
it had to be run through conduit on the
outside of the walls...ewwww...
but I've learned to love it, kinda looks like
old gas lines for lighting back in the day...

Little did I know that the upstairs window was left open
a lot when there were migrant workers living
in the house and repairs were never made...
like caulking the windows...
when you see repaired plaster on the ceiling,
it usually means past problems, but it adds to the
decrepit state of my kitchen...and besides,
don't you just love those pictures of the old mansions
with crumbling plaster...me too!
More on my kitchen in another post...

Random chunks in the upstairs plaster, there is
also evidence of a leaky roof from the stains visible...
that was my next major expense,
a new metal roof...
PS...I collect oil paintings of the ocean,
it's my Florida getaway in my bedroom.

My front room had that cheesy ceiling tile, ewwww...
so my daughter and I ripped it all off
and the ceiling didn't fall on us...
so, all I had to do was fill a gazillion nail holes!
So, as you can see, there's a pattern forming here,
very unlikely that repairs will be made,
agree...

Where shall we explore next...heehee...!

Define me...

The front room...
I love this room, it just has the best light
most of the day, it's original raw plaster walls
define the room and my style.
I love Victorian, but I also love the look of decay,
once beautiful pieces worn to perfection...
when I bought the house this room had
falling down wallpaper that I struggled
in my mind, to keep or not to keep,
but the lure of the plaster underneath
won out and I love my choice!

Once beautiful refinished oak pieces
graced this space, but I had a yearning
for something beyond,
something to fit the room
and my style...sooo...
I painted the cupboard and the table white,
and glazed the cupboard with a wash of
brown paint giving it a grungy stored in the
attic look, haven't grunged the table yet.

The tall cupboard is painted grey, it pulls
the different shades of grey out of the plaster
and holds all of my books...
love it!!!

The well-worn fabric on the two parlor chairs
and the dark walnut of the wood adds
contrast and a focal point against all the white.
Lace curtains fulfill another element,
Granny's house, I love my house to have that look,
like Granny just left...now how do you define
this style...eclectic perhaps...

Whatever it may be, the saying I wrote on the arch
says it all to me...
"For all my days, seasons shall bloom in memories."

Pink...

Never a favorite color of mine,
however, when the lil' shack was a shop,
it was perfect...and I've grown to love it,
warts and all!

But I loved it so much as a shop, I just
couldn't stand going home...
I wanted to stay here forever in this rickety
lil' play house on 6 acres at the edge of the city...
and who wouldn't, so I kicked out the shop
and me n Scratchy moved in
and it's fondly referred to as "the pink house".

Now with the newly built studio slash garage,
I have more places to play...
and drag in new toys and create!

A lil' screened in back porch allows
for a skeeter free evening to sit with
a good book and a glass of "whatever"...
even as the 4-lane is not so far away,
some day all the trees and bushes I planted
will hide me away like it was when I bought
the place and my back yard was a corn field...
sigh...progress!

The highway with it's truck traffic
rattles away at her old bones, leaving cracks in the
cement floor, the wainscoting walls need
constant caulking and mouse-proofing,
but she is my sanctuary,the reason
I work 3 jobs and never want to leave her...
she's an oddity, like me,
we were meant to share our old age together,
this lil' rickety pink shack and me...

'long side the Buddha
and the lilies,
we bloom where we are planted...
NAMASTE...