Let There Be Light

We're at the point in our farm house renovation where every time I walk in there I see a change.- Bill has been busy installing the lighting "we" squirreled away.  My last post was about how I reworked two old chandeliers... this blog continues the theme as those two, and others, are put in our forever home.

It's amazing how much light fixtures can change the look of a room.  The instant ambiance... the overall feel - how the correct age appropriate lighting can immediately place you in the era you are striving to achieve.  Our living room, with the vintage sconces and new stained glass ceiling fan has just enough light and a whole lot of personality.  I can't wait to get the mantle and the French doors in... but I SEE the vision and I'm loving it.

The kitchen, dining and breakfast areas are mostly light fixtures we had, but one is new... a housewarming present from one of our favorite people on the planet... Derrick Kicklighter... If you're in the Atlanta area, you should look for his estate sales (Old Mill Antiques).  He's fair in pricing and just a hoot to pick from.  Derrick, this beauty is hanging over our kitchen island.  When we finished installing it we both just stood back and grinned in awe and happiness.  I think you'll love the vintage looking LED globes we found.  Thank you for the thoughtful gift.  I expect years of "where did you get THAT?!?" from friends and family that visit.... and even better, many toasts to friendship under that amber glow...

Our dining room chandelier was moved from our current home to the farm, and will continue to shine in it's place over our dining room table.   I bought it 17 years ago at Bandit's Down Under in Lakewood.  I had Dave, the owner drill holes in the fixture so I could hang crystals from it.  I loved the chandelier but it needed a wee bit of bling... When I got it home I added the vintage purple, gold and clear crystals.  It was the first fixture I blinged out with vintage crystals... when we hung it today I noticed a few things that showed the novice that I was back then... but decided not to fix something that wasn't broken.  It's still one of my favorite lights in our home.

Speaking of favorite lights... I absolutely LOVE the two smaller chandeliers I talked about in my last blog.  They're offically hanging in the hallway.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  Y'all will have to see them in person when we have our housewarming/MoonCrest open house.

When I left Bill today he was hanging the ceiling fan in our master bedroom.  I've got to go back tomorrow afternoon and help him hang the master bathroom chandelier... and maybe just maybe, finish off the job I had today... I'll give you a hint to what I was doing... Roger was very happy to supervise me while I performed my duties... Watching me and listening to Bill curse out every light fixture was much better than being out in the pouring rain... or should I go southern and say pissin rain?  I don't know... is it lady like to say that?  Would Scarlet O'Hara have called it that?  Oh hell, neither of us would be considered lady like lol....

Hang tight... the next blog shouldn't be far behind... I've got the title in my mind already... I just need the tiles and tub installed in my master bathroom to put my concept to words.

For now, in case I don't write a blog this week I'd like to end this one with two thoughts...

1)  I lost a friend yesterday to cancer.... way too young and way too quick.  Hug someone close to you.  Tell everyone that you love them.  Each day is a gift. 

and

2)  May you have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.  From our home to yours... May peace be with you.

Putting on the Bling... Because Crows Like Sparkly Things

Before

Y'all have been faithfully watching our miscellaneous posts on Facebook and Instagram - cheering us along with each new step of the transformation of our farmhouse... This crazy renovation journey we've been on is running into our 21st month soon... we're 5 months over our initial plan to move but we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.... We should start the roaring '20s in our new old home.

The last two weeks have been about drywall going in throughout the house and the installation of the kitchen cabinets, counters and garden window.  This upcoming week the interior gets painted, the dishwasher and refrigerator will be delivered and the bathrooms will be tiled.  Which means it's almost time for toilets... and for our claw-foot tub to be set up in the master bathroom... and almost as exciting for me as I look around this cramped very full home around me - very soon I'll be renting a sprinter van to deliver the doors and fireplace mantles that have been sitting in my living/storage room.

Before

This also means the lighting can finally be installed... old chandeliers that have been hanging in our home for the past decade are coming down, being replaced with modern light fixtures for the upcoming staging of this place for sale.  Boxes of light fixtures I've squirreled away are being pulled out of storage and being glammed up for the farm.

Before

The farmhouse had a purple and green chandelier in the hall that the owner left behind... it was missing some crystals but that's my THANG... I'm forever hording interesting crystals... I have two plastic bins full of them... it may be an addiction.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  Anyway, we needed a second small chandelier... I knew we'd never find one like the one left behind, so I searched for one that could compliment it.  I found it in California junking last year with my mom and bestie in San Carlos.

After - the CA light

Two weeks ago I started the transformations.  Bill had taken the California chandelier and covered the brass.  I spent a night pulling crystals out that would make it more artsy.  I figured this light had a clear crystal base, thus needed colored crystals, where the one that we got with the house had the purple/green base and needed clear crystals...  So for the first chandelier I pulled blue and purple (to keep one color in common) crystals and completely changed up how things hung on the fixture.  It's slimmer looking and by the time I was done I was thinking how well this will compliment the stained glass transom windows we are hanging down the hallway.

After - Original

Bill is very good at putting things in safe places... and finally found the original light in a drawer in our barn this week.  I brought it home tonight and brought it back to life while watching college football (Geaux Tigers and DAWWWWGGGSSS!)...  I decided to keep the majority of it original except for the bobeches.  I pulled the original purple crystals down the center bottom of those bobeches for the continuity from top to bottom.  I think (along with the cleaning of the whole fixture) that the clear crystals really brighten up what was kind of a dark chandelier...  I'm pretty happy with the finished look.

I'm really excited to see how all of these visions pull together.  We're changing some of the vision as we go - such as last week when we had some issues with our tile... I rectified it with some new tiles but I'll do a blog on that next week after these tiles are installed.  I'm actually thrilled to finally have stuff I can do to pitch in.  Bill has been working til he's about to drop daily.  He never ceases to amaze me with what he can do.  This house will be beautiful when done because Bill see's the visions I talk about and then, as always, he knocks the implementation of my dreams out of the park.

I'll end this with a quote... I almost bought this today... but when I went back it was gone.  It captures what this downsize means to me perfectly...

What Do You Get When You Cross a Mudgie and a Squirrel???

Before

During...

When I last wrote in May, I was still looking for pretty baubles for Penny as Bill was busy bringing her up to code.  In July, as many of you know, Bill and Penny had an argument about ladders on her walls and he lost... falling somewhere between 16-18 feet.  He dislocated and broke his hip.  We're lucky he survived that fall.  Prior to that moment, there'd been a lot of arguments between us due to exhaustion and stress... deadlines were happening, work was happening and we just weren't getting much time together.  God works in mysterious ways... this brought our summer plans to a halt.  We found someone to complete the fascia work Bill had been working on... Penny got the pretty red hat we'd planned for her... and Bill got 8 - 10 weeks of much needed rest with me nagging over his every move.

Before Pantry

After Pantry

I've told everyone my hub is a HORRIBLE patient.  He can't stay still.  We found a happy medium where he could do small stints of working in the garage for 30 minutes at a time... working on pieces that needed to be done to have ready when Penny starts to get her interior walls...  He finished a BUNCH of projects that kept his stir crazy at bay.

Let's revisit a few of the "honey do items" I mentioned in May... Remember us wanting to combine this gorgeous old door with some stained glass I'd found?  Bill cut out the top panels.. scraped the years of grime away...  and we now have a BEAUTIFUL pantry door which will be hung on barn door type rollers that we purchased off Amazon last month.

Before Mantle

After Bathroom Mantle

Two of our three fireplace mantles were finished.  The master bath mantle had extra wood and way too many layers of wax and bad orange stain.  He stripped, cut and then did a grey wash... which will go beautifully with the charcoal grey tile floors that will be installed for the bathroom flooring.  The new color is gorgeous and it's shape is sooo much more defined.

Before Living Room Mantle

After Living Room Mantle

The mantle we purchased to replace the 80's waterbed headboard over the living room fireplace... we decided to not remove the mirror, but to keep it and use it as a matting/backing, like you'd see with mounted prints.  It makes the carved German door panel pop!  I can't tell you how much I LOVE the finished project.  Bill took that mantel apart, again took off years of grime, and put it back together, ensuring it was sturdy - not flimsy in any way shape or form.  This, and the original mantel in our bedroom, will be reworked exactly the same way.  It makes my heart sing.  It's truly a statement piece.

Inspiration...

Before

After

In the mean time he also took a boring white door we found at Habitat for Humanity Restore in downtown Atlanta, stripped it, stained and painted it... and made it look more like the antique Indian doors (above) that we found for our master bathroom... This door is for our utility closet in our spare bathroom.  The fine details will be in EVERY room if we both have our say.  I can't love each piece enough.  My hub is truly a master craftsman.  He missed his calling in his day job...  this is what he should be doing for a living.

In the few moments we were able to spend away from the house we managed to order our kitchen, which, if everything goes smoothly over the next four weeks, will be installed mid to late October... I can SEE THE LIGHT.  Light grey cabinets, farmhouse sink, gorgeous marble looking granite counter-tops, black stainless refrigerator...  and yes... we found the tile for our back-splash on clearance at Lowe's... I had to run to 3 different Lowe's stores to get the quantity we need... but it's perfect and will beautifully pull in the yellow of my grandfather's banquette table from the late 40's.

Let me do a sidebar here and talk about my grandfather.  I mentioned him last year when we found the blackberries in our garden.  My mother had told me that morning that she felt I was following in her father's footsteps by moving out of the city and into the country... the only difference is he built his home from scratch.... we tore it down to near scratch... but we had bones to start with...  anyway... she said that in the morning and I found the blackberries he was always picking that afternoon... I felt he was screaming YES to me...  this feeling has continued over the year... most recently the back-splash tile color... and when I went to meet with the kitchen designer I was referred to.  I almost fell over when I saw the name of the business.  "Frugal Kitchens"  You see my Gramps was TOTALLY a penny pincher.  The family was always calling him "cheap" or "tight wad"... at which he would calmly say "I prefer the term Frugal".  I saw that business sign and started guffawing.  Thanks Gramps, yes I will definitely work with this woman at your guidance.  Serendipity baby.

My last post I mentioned that we were still looking for an age appropriate front door for the farm... I found it at 7th Street Salvage in Macon, GA.  It's a heavy craftsman beauty... that will be sanded and stained... the windows will be taken out and replaced with stained glass that Bill and I are going to make.

We also found the sinks for our master bath vanities.  It's funny, the tiles we purchased in Italy are providing the basis for color pop throughout the house.  You can see how everything is blending with that design.  The sinks are Mexican made, purchased online at La Fuente Imports.  They're even more stunning in person.

To end today's blog, let me say that I'm still squirreling away things I find that I just KNOW will work.  It seems I carry things home from every state I visit...  Just this past weekend I went up to Richmond, VA for two days... and visited Caravati's Architectural Salvage as I always do.  I walked away with three sets of iron shelving brackets for our coffee bar area (Bill will make shelves out of reclaimed wood from the farm to put on top of these gorgeous babies).  I also carried home a 14x32" moving transom window... it doesn't have stained glass but I actually kind of dig the 50's vibe in it...  I know when I am carrying this shizzle through the airport that I'm the person I hate seeing walking onto my plane... but I also truly know what fits and what won't... and it makes me think twice when I see my passengers with stuff... a bit of empathy and patience goes a long way... (and when it's me travelling... chocolate for my flight crew)...

I know I haven't blogged much but this should be changing in the upcoming 2 months.  Our plumbing and electrical have passed inspection.  Our HVAC is being installed next Monday.  We're currently in the process of getting quotes for insulation and drywall... which need to be installed before mid October... and Bill will put the final sub floors in this week.  We'll order the wood we need to finish installing the flooring (not all of it could be salvaged so we're ordering reclaimed wood)...  I can't WAIT to have drywall up and all floors down... I know that's the beginning of the last couple miles of this marathon we've been running.  I'm excited to show you how everything will pull together as it starts to look like home...  Pray for us y'all... things are happening...

My House Overfloweth... aka I Was a Squirrel in a Past Life

Long ago I learned that you have to buy something that intrigues you WHEN you see it.  If you wait until you're ready for that item, you'll go back and it won't be there.  For example, my Christmas shopping is done year round ~ my closet shelves are emptied in November as I look to see what I've already acquired for my family and then figure out what still needs to be purchased.  It's great as you get the perfect gift, and it spreads the cost of Christmas throughout the year.  I'm working this concept with Penny too.  Whenever I find a deal I grab it and shove it in my current garage (much to Bill's chagrin).  Pieces that need a constant controlled climate, such as furniture, go into my sitting room... which is currently overflowing and causes me pain to look at.  My OCD goes into overdrive as I pretend to not see a packed and messy room.  Yet I know that when Penny's floors and walls are complete, each of these pieces will be rapidly removed and put into their new forever homes.

Let's just look at samples of what I have accumulated to date....  antique English and French Transfer-ware tiles that I purchased at Architectural Accents in Atlanta... Everything except for these I have found at crazy steal of a deal prices.  These were the most extravagant purchase I've made in my search for age appropriate items.... I love them... they'll be on our living room fireplace... with the mantle we purchased a few months ago from a Facebook marketplace post... and an old German door panel (I found junking in California) that will replace the mirror in the mantle...  I have a second panel that will go in the original mantle that is similar to this one in the master bedroom.

More tiles were purchased for the fireplace surrounds in Italy when we were there this winter... what better souvenirs are there than ones you can incorporate into your home right???  There's enough tiles to do the surrounds and accents in our master bathroom.  Each purchase is guiding the color schemes we'll have for Penny as we connect the dots.  If you buy what you love, things will just work out... the items blend and merge and begin to tell your story.  Can you see how the Italian tiles will work well with the Indian doors that we bought months before.  Apparently our accent colors for the master bathroom will be creams and teal blues....

Which brings me to the tiles we purchased at Habitat for Humanity Restore in Atlanta.... two different junking outings found us with trim and accent tiles that we bought at one tenth of their original cost... the shower will have box indents to hold our shampoo... with these Moroccan accent tiles... and the room will have trim with the glass tiles found on our last run.

Additionally we found similar tiles at Lowe's on CLEARANCE to use in the spare bathroom... different color but same Moroccan shape to keep the continuity.   I saw the clearance pile... then saw the price and bought everything they had.  Gotta love a score when you find it!!!!  Not pictured here but also a Lowe's score is our bathroom tiles... I knew that we wanted to use a charcoal grey tile on our floors in both bathrooms.  I'd been eyeing one every time we went to Lowe's... and one day a miracle happened.. they went on a deep discount sale... and I grabbed a pallet plus of them... then had my bff come to the store so that I wouldn't blow out my tires on my Jeep.

We have antique transom windows galore stored in our garage...  There'll be three windows down the hall above where the doors used to be and one in our master bathroom.  Three of the windows were purchased at Caravatti's in Richmond, Virginia... to bring a little of Bill's history into our home.

Those window purchases led to the purchase of the old hutch that will go above my grandfathers 40's banquette in our kitchen.  Once we figure out the color scheme of the kitchen, the wood will be painted, lights installed in the cabinet... Again this adds continuity to our house as you walk through and see the similar accents.... the home will have bits of red and yellow splashes throughout because of the items we've purchased and the items we're bringing in that were family pieces.  I can't wait to see how it all pans out.

Our bathroom vanities are also all vintage.  We'll be adding marble tops and stoneware bowls to these pieces... I have four vanities for the three bathrooms.  I'm currently on the hunt for the sink bowls that scream take me.  I'll probably buy those though after I choose the marble that will grace the vanity tops.  I don't want water to touch the wood.

I have lighting for all the rooms... and lighting for the rooms in our current house that we are removing and taking with us.  It's a puzzle this moving process... having everything we need for both homes... one to keep and install... the other to install and prep for the sale...  I'm making mental notes for everything I buy... and where it's going to go.... the lights on the left go in our master bathroom... the lights on the right go into our laundry room...  I just finished painting our current dining room... the light fixture will go in our farm dining room... a light fixture that my bestie took down from her dining room will be going in it's place.  I think all light fixtures have been accounted for, but I'm sure that I've missed one or two... my mind is this big whirl....

Today we added to my squirrel existance by buying the table that will be our dining room table.  I found it on Facebook Marketplace for a steal... It's circa 1920... and has beautiful details... AND 10, yes ten.... leaves... it can stretch out to 14'... I'm in love and it was absolutely worth the four hour drive to get it.  I had already bought a temporary table for next to nothing in case I couldn't find THE table... of course I've found the one now... and I'll need to sell the other round table soon...

I told my hub that we needed to come home via a different direction... and found an architectural salvage place in Otto, NC.  Culpepper's Otto Depot.  Oh my goodness, my jaw dropped when we pulled up... It's a beautiful barn type structure filled to the rim.  We spent an hour there and purchased a few things... the biggest is three of these cute iron pieces that will be painted and added to the farm front porch railing.  Can you just see them painted white... with a little spot of accent color in the circles?  <3

Our last stop today was at the Queen of Hearts in Buford.  We were in search for a front door to put these windows in.  We found this door that is an internal door.  We fell in love with the hardware, the patina and I saw the potential for it's use for our pantry.  Can you imagine the windows replacing the larger panels... the door put on barn tracks... and a light in the pantry?  We're still searching for an exterior door... but now we have less restrictions/expectations of what it needs to look like.

There are a LOT more bits and pieces I've collected since February 2018 when I put an offer on the farm... I know the time is coming soon when all of this will be pulled together like some sort of magic trick.  Until then I'm doing my best to not get stressed when I see the mess.  Soon we'll be down to one house... soon we'll reduce the amount of crap we own as we downsize... until then... I'll probably continue to find acorns to stash in my already overflowing piles... because I can't help myself..... SQUIRREL!!!!