MCFH: Wall Art... and Black & White

My Cozy Fall Home, days 12 (Wall Art) and 20 (Black & White). 


I’m running behind, so am combining! A few years ago I bought these big, poster frames and created some art pieces of burlap and calligraphy that felt a little forced and not like ‘us.’ 

All the kids wore Chucks at some point.  I think my favorites
were Prince Stoic's stars & stripes.  This particular pair
were Princess Eager's signature fashion statement when
she was 5.  With dresses or jeans, these were her choice.

I decided to embrace the ‘beautiful mess’ of family life as art instead. With 8 kids there are always shoes scattered around, just bigger through the years...and from the time I looked at toddler shoes abandoned on the floor, I knew one day I’d miss it. - 

Prince CuddleBunny's little suede boots after stomping
through the building site when our house was under construction.

For some reason, the kids have always been crazy about taking pictures of their siblings' shoes, so I had plenty to choose from in various ages/stage, shapes, and sizes.  It makes these photos, double, about family, and they have since adorned our living room walls.  

These were favorites worn by 3 of the princesses before
one of the dogs did them in.  They bring back lots of
memories of their teen years.

Very much more ‘us.’

Silent Night

Silent Night... All is calm, all is bright... 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

We’ve been without internet for days, so I’ve missed several themes in My Cozy Winter Home. 

Today we’ll just go ahead and wrap up with 
‘Sparkle,’ 

...some ‘Tradition,’ 

...‘Nativity,’ 

and ‘Stockings’ all at once!

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas with your loved ones!

Make This

Day 17 of My Cozy Winter Home: Make This.

I made these holiday pillow covers (and the table runner you can see in posts on Day 3 and Day 9) using kitchen towels and tablecloths I found at a discount department store, and cut into pieces, as needed. 

This gave me more yardage and in a good variety for less money than I would’ve spent at the fabric store, and included some embellishments, like embroidery and appliqué I would’ve had to add myself. 

If you’re at all hesitant about combining prints, using an already-coordinated set, like the towels, can give you a good start. I’ve sewn for years, but the runner and these pillows would be very beginner friendly with their straight seams and quick result. 


My favorite pillow is the one with the lettering. I closed that one with a zipper partly camouflaged in the plaid on the back. For others I used an even easier method... The backs are in 2 pieces, each about 2/3 the size of the back, set so they overlap. The pillow slips in, then the overlap keeps the pillow inside with no extra closure necessary.

How Quickly They Forget!

Of course, having the party in the new space above the garage spurred some progress, ahead of time, on yet to be finished tasks.  (To this day, there are still plenty)

One evening, Hubby was working away on the kitchen area island, and, of course, the GrandPrince was interested in what he was doing, and in the tools and hardware.  "Pop" (what Hubby prefers to be called, since that's what he called his own, beloved grandfather), always the shop teacher, saw an opportunity to share his passion for woodworking and construction with the little guy.  He was apparently forgetting, perhaps, after the years since our kiddos' toddler years, that babies have a couple of instant reactions to getting their hands on new things...

...into the mouth, or see how they fly!

Princess Sassy caught the priceless exchange.  She was only sorry she missed taking a photo of the driver bit sticking straight up out of the impaled vinyl floor.  She was glad her sometimes finicky dad had been the cause of the first 'owie' in the new place.  :-)  Phew!  Pressure's off.  haha

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Garage Addition Update - Paint and Flooring

Breezeway/mud room area.
Right side: Seeding counter under the window, and
we moved the main floor laundry to the walled
off space behind.
Left side, from front: Half bath, utility storage (hot water
heater), and additional pantry storage

Did you imagine that the little family has been tucked up in their special space for awhile now?  Nope.  But there is substantial progress inside, and a light at the end of the tunnel.  Just how long is that tunnel?  That's always the question.  Hopefully, not too long now.

Garage exit, stairway, and "Mini Split"
heating unit

Princess Sassy and I decided on the set of paint colors: walls, millwork, and cabinets.  We LOVE the wall color, Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray.  Just in the center of taupe and gray.

We had SW Nuance chosen for the trim, and SW Gray Matters picked out for the cabinets.  The island will be a somewhat bright, deep color for fun and contrast (keeping that to myself for now).  But I went upstairs today to double-check the color swatches with the wall color in natural lighting, and I'm second-guessing both the trim and the cabinet colors.  The trim looks like it might be too dreary, and maybe a touch green, which I sure don't want.  The cabinets might be too dark, forcing the island darker or much brighter than we want to get the desired contrast.


So anyway, the walls and ceilings are painted, and as of this week, the vinyl flooring is in upstairs and in the breezeway. 

Bathroom.  Princess Sassy wanted to change up the paint
in here for a little more freshness and fun

 We chose a medium shade of wood-look vinyl for the kitchenette area, bathroom, and hallways in the upper level, and a gray, tile look vinyl for the breezeway.  They look great.







The princess and I thought the carpet would go in immediately after the vinyl, and we could start moving things in.  Boy, we were wrong.  

Kitchen area with shallow pantry on the right, opening to the hall

 - Before the carpet, we need baseboard, which needs to be carefully installed, then have the nail holes filled, sanded, and the woodwork painted in place.

 - Before that, the interior doors need to be hung and cased.

 - Before THAT, the interior doors need to be painted.

Full circle... we're back to me, and the trim color choice!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We're having some dishwasher leaking trouble again... times 2!  The one on the right has been sitting out like that since December, and the left one joined it last week.  Aargh!!!

More on that, and getting to that light at the end of the garage addition tunnel, as things develop.

My "Forever Kitchen" at 5 Years

5 years ago yesterday, after 18 months of DIY building, and almost 2 years with the 10 of us squeezed housed in a 30-year old, 900 square foot, single-wide mobile home, we got our long-awaited Certificate of Occupancy.

We're still not finished with all the details, as you probably know, but at that point not all the cabinet doors were finished, the wood for the island top was piled on the island, dishwasher panels were yet to be made, carpentry tools sat amongst our cooking tools, etc., etc.  

 

But we were thrilled to have a working stove and running water, and permission to turn them on!  We had stir-fry that night,  having long wondered how it would be to actually stir-fry over a gas flame, as opposed to pretty much steaming a similar dinner on an electric range.

It was a welcome sight to see this go away!!!!!  It did it's job for us,
and we'd been thankful it existed... But we were more than finished with it.

I plan to follow up with how our choices have endured the last 5 years.  Most things I'm very happy about.  Some things I would've done differently.  More of that ahead.