♥ It's Finished! ♥

The staircase is {finally} finished…..and decorated for Christmas!

We just love it! It definitely has the cabin feel that we hoped to achieve!

And it was definitely worth the wait and the mess for the last three months!

Before & After:  What a difference.....I can't believe I ever liked that wallpaper!  Wow! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll stop in for the Sunporch Chat tomorrow!

Have a great Tuesday!  :)

♥ Sneak Peek ♥

Jason has been a busy bee working on the staircase. He worked all weekend, minus the time we were in church.  He's made great progress in the past few days!

I thought I’d tease you a little bit with a sneak peek. Please excuse the dust.

Oh what a difference it is! I can’t wait to show you the rest of it. Of course, I want to wait until it’s all done though! 

Jason is working on the trim work now and I’ve still got to tear down wallpaper and extend the red paint on the living room side wall. 

It’s got to be done in time for Christmas decorating, which for us is the first week of November!  :)

Enjoy your day! :)

Fresh From the Workshop (to The Cedar Loft)

If you heard squealing Monday evening, that was probably me! I knew my carpenter was working on a carpentry project that I requested of him (a TV cabinet for the loft), but without my knowledge, Jason finished it and snuck it up to The Cedar Loft. He summoned me up to the loft, and there it sat…..in all its glory! And it looks so perfect there. It was one of those pieces that was just meant to be, so in character for that space. You know how you envision a piece of furniture in a spot? Well this went far beyond my expectations! Can you tell I love it? :)

I had shown Jason a few cabinet ideas that I found online and in Country Sampler magazines, and told him I would like a “sort of mix” of those. I “turned him loose” on it. I so trust his judgement, because he knows me now. I say now when it comes to building furniture for me because it did take awhile to get the distressed idea through to him, but once he got it, he really got it! He even added some of his own creative touches that I didn’t show him!

The panels on the front of the door were his idea! I love that!

Instead of using antique glazing on the green (it's actually called Brown Moss), we had agreed upon sanding and rubbing on stain. We decided on red oak stain.

The ends being "paneled" was his little addition and I love it!

Monday night, after calling us up to the loft, after a while the kids fell asleep on the couch. Jason and I just sat there staring at it. Is that silly or what? Do you do that? I do that with my Christmas lights and décor. I like to turn off the lights and just sit back and enjoy it. And that’s exactly what we did with that cabinet. We didn’t even have the TV on. We just snuggled up on the couch and admired his handiwork. :) And it’s all his handiwork. I didn’t have one hand in the building of it. I just told him what I wanted, and he built it. I’m so grateful that he enjoys building what I dream up!

I just love that little indention of the wood near the left knob!

We just got the 40" flat screen LCD TV a couple of weeks ago. Jason started on the TV cabinet right about then, but has only been able to work here and there after work and a little on the weekends.

 I’m really thrilled because now we can enjoy our Christmas movies in The Cedar Loft if we want! I’m still working on adding some Christmas decorations up there. Hopefully in a week or so, I will have it to the point of sharing more pictures of the loft decorated for Christmas.

He made sure I had a shelf to display rustic/prim decor....even though it's on a very low wall!

This is absolutely one of my very favorite pieces Jason had made for me. I really love my red stepback cupboard in the kitchen and the navy blue sideboard/buffet in the dining, room, but this definitely rates right there with those.

Now for the next projects……….pegboards and a cupboard for the kitchen in The Cedar Loft. That would make a great Christmas gift, don’t you think?  :)

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**Dianne (a reader of my blog) left a comment asking if I could recommend more movies, possibly from instant streaming Netflix that were family friendly. I didn't have a way to contact you, Dianne, so I decided to post it here. I would love to do that. I will try to put together some sort of list and post that as soon as I can get it all together. I am not sure if you were speaking of movies in general, or just Christmas ones. I am assuming movies in general. If you would let me know for sure, that would be helpful! Thank you for your comment! I love hearing from you! **

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Thank you for stopping by today! I don't know if I can hold out to 500 followers for a giveaway.....I want to do a Christmas one, so I might just have to do that real soon! :)

From the Workshop: A New TV Cabinet for the Big Black Blob!

Last winter, we did something we've not ever done in our (now) 28 years of marriage......added a TV in our bedroom!  I really don't know why....we had no particular conviction or thoughts on it; we just never did.  But you know men and their power tools and their electronic equipment!  Jason decided we needed a TV for our bedroom and when he decided, he decided BIG!  We went shopping and came home with a LCD 42" flat screen TV.

Now you can imagine how that massive black thing with a mounted Blue-Ray DVD player under it, with cords hanging down, looked on our bedroom wall.....nothing really decorative or romantic at all about it.  But, I'll have to admit, we've enjoyed having it....whether it's just us or with the kids piled up in the bed with us watching movies together.  There's just something cozy about it!  (And we don't have cable or satellite or anything, only movies we decide we want to watch.  That keep us in control of the TV, instead of the TV controlling us). 


I've envisioned a cabinet for it since I first saw it hanging on that wall last January, but being knee deep in adoption paperwork last year and saving every penny we could for it, the building of the cabinet was pushed to the back burner.

However, I can tell you it was worth the wait.  Jason just decided a few weeks ago that it was time to build it; he had a little time off and got super busy!  

Here's a (before) pic of the big black blob on our bedroom wall! 

Here's the cabinet freshly built.

After paint.....a color called summer tan, and a little distressing with mocha glaze.

And the new cabinet on our bedroom wall.

Quite an improvement from the ugly massive piece of electronic equipment on the wall, huh?  I chose this color because although we're not even close to redoing our bedroom, I have a vision for it including a different paint color for the walls (than I would normally choose) and I wanted this cabinet to have a country/primitive flavor but a lighter look.  And it blends fairly well with what's in there now.

Needless to say, my favorite carpenter got a big hug and kiss for that one!  I love it!  And...he's even got a couple other little projects in progress in the workshop for the kitchen too....and the weekend is here again!  But more on that later....

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)    

From the Workshop (Custom Order)

We finally finished up a custom order for primitive shutters. Well I should say Jason finished up an order. I really just helped him with whatever he needed me for at that time and with overseeing distressing! :)

These are working windowsill shutters for a home remodel project. The customer wanted them painted black and distressed with red.



I love the way they turned out!



Poor Jason. Anytime he gets a custom order, it usually turns into something that I want him to make for me! After sitting these in our windowsill and me seeing how wonderful and primitive they look in my house, I want some!



When we get back from China, we'll be putting a button on my sidebar for custom shutter orders, if anyone is interested.

I sure hope the customer (Ms. Darlene) likes them as much as I do! Jason enjoys creating and it's very gratifying to him to know a customer is happy with the order too! Glad we could get them all done and out before we left for China too!

Oh, and I'll try to get a post out soon on our China plans and schedule! Needless to say, it's been a busy week! And getting even busier.....

Thanks for stopping by! And thank you for all the comments on our "We're Going to China" post! Wow! I was overwhelmed by the kindness and the prayers! We appreciate it all so much, more than you'll ever know! Thank you all so much!

God bless,
Tammy

My Carpenter's Been Busy....

This weekend we had a fairly productive weekend as we spent most of it at home trying to accomplish some things around here. Joy hasn't been feeling well, so we just didn't get out much at all.

The plus side to that.....my carpenter's been busy out in the workshop working on Luke's bed.......and I've been working on closet organization and cleaning out old toys and all the stuff we've somehow managed to accumulate. How can 4 people have that much stuff stashed away? I figure adding a 2 year old little boy and all his stuff to what we have would be overload! Besides that, we were looking at all the dolls and girl toys upstairs and thinking it might be a good idea to box up some of the stuff that Joy's outgrown and donate some of it and put some of it away for safe keeping for her one day.....and make room for a few boy toys.

Anyway, back to the title of this post, I slipped out to the workshop yesterday afternoon and snapped a picture of Luke's bed. Jason's really been working hard and doing a great job...I love it! I found a picture of a bed that I liked and we made some adjustments to fit Luke's room better...and he went at it! I don't want to ever take for granted that my husband can do these things and that he's willing to do so! (I sent him a little note in his lunch today telling him how blessed Luke is to have a daddy that is making him his own special bed).



Since this picture, he and I stained it. Maybe by this weekend, I'll have more pics to share.

The walls and trim are painted in Luke's room and I HAD to hang the valance to see how it was going to look against the green. Now I can't stop walking by and gazing at his room! :)



And the weekend of Easter, we laid the laminate flooring in Luke's room.



We've also been painting some accents for his room (red). And you know adding the little finishing details is really my favorite part in completing a room!

Maybe with another productive weekend, we can pull it all together. I hope so! I'm ready for these redos to be over for awhile. We need to focus on gathering everything we'll need for travel to China! (That will be fun too)!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Monday! :)

From the Workshop.....

While I was working on fall decorating inside our house this past Sunday afternoon, Jason was working out in the workshop! I do get excited when I know he's working out there because he comes out with such goodies and I love the sounds coming from there and the smell of freshly cut wood! That usually means something "new" for my home! However, this time, it wasn't for me, but that's okay! I get excited for other folks too.....just thinking as we packed the order, that it will have a special place in someone else's home is very gratifying!

The customer (who has already seen pictures of them, by the way, before they were shipped to her), is painting them herself to match colors she already has in the room, so they were left unfinished for her special touch.



They are actually reversible. Turned one way, the hinges are visible, if you like that look...(like this one below).



Turned the other way, the hinges are hidden, if you prefer that look.



Of course, everything Jason whips out for somebody else, I want one of also (or two or three or four)! :) After seeing these sitting in my living room window, I decided they looked great there and I bet they would look just as good in those bay windows in the dining room! Yes, poor Jason....my honey-do-workshop-list just keeps growing and growing! My Carpenter better get busy.....Christmas is quickly approaching, right?

Anyway, I just had to show you his latest workshop project. I am going to put a picture on my sidebar after this post, so if you would like to have custom window sill shutters for your home too, just contact us with your window measurements and we can quote you a price, He really enjoyed making these!

And by the way, we still have a couple of sets of the "regular" shutters for sale at a special price. The prices shown include shipping to the lower 48 continental states. For shipping to other places, please email me for shipping costs to your area. If you're interested in any of these, just drop me an email. We'd love to ship these out to your home! (Custom sized shutters can be made like these too...just let us know your size and we can quote you a price on those).

This set is unfinished, ready for your special touch. The size of this set is 7" wide x 35 1/2" long.
$39 (includes shipping).



Here are a couple of smaller sets......each being 7" wide x 24" long. They look shinier than they really are in person....guess it was the flash. They do have a coat of a satin polyurethane, but still very prim looking, not much shine at all.

This one is black distressed with barn red. $36 (includes shipping)



And a barn red set distressed with black.... $36 (includes shipping)



They are really so versatile, for indoor use! I have a set flanking the opening of my fireplace. It was just the splash of color I needed there for all seasons!

And that, my friends, is what My Carpenter has been up to......out in the workshop!

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As I was finishing up this post today, our mail lady honked. That sound means one thing.....a package too big to fit into our mailbox! And sure enough....it was...a belated birthday gift. It was from Donna of Never-So-Simple. In the package was a very sweet birthday card, a package of yummy smelling crispy cinnamon cookie tarts and an autumn wreath Yankee Candle!



Now this just shows what kind of person Donna really is....with all she and her family have experienced lately and waiting to be back in her own home, and she sends me this! Donna, thank you so much! You're a sweetheart! You really had no idea how much I love the scent of cinnamon! Really! My house smells wonderful right now from your box of goodies! I hope you're blessed ten times over! You are so kind hearted!

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I really do enjoy and appreciate every comment!

Blessings,
Tammy

Watcha Workin' On Wednesday - "The Blue Cupboard"

I intended on sharing a couple of my Goodwill makeovers with you, but I have something even better to share that was basically the work of my hubby!

I came home last night and Jason had the final touches on my mom's little cupboard. He had brought it into our dining room and even had put the little prim bowl and basket on top (he's really trained well now isn't he)? She really loves the color blue and I have to say that I do love how it turned out. I know blue is making a come-back, but even if it wasn't, I would still just love this cabinet.



You know how photos don't exactly capture the exact tone...this picture seems to show it a little brighter than it really is. The color is called Antique Blue and it is distressed with antique glaze.



The knobs were done with just the antique glaze as well as the glaze rubbed over the chicken wire screen in the door.



My mom has problems with chemical smells such as the finish on this cabinet, so Jason brought it in here. He called my mom this evening for her to come over and take a look at it (and to see how much of a smell it was to her). I kept telling her that it smelled way too strong and probably never would have the smell gone for good......she'd just have to leave it over here, but she just doesn't believe me! :)



She loved it and I knew she would. It wasn't a surprise to her that he was making it, but she didn't know exactly how. We started with a picture that she sort of liked and made changes, then she left it to Jason and me to find the blue, distress, and just do what we wanted.



And here's the table bench he made her for Christmas. We hadn't painted it yet, until we knew for sure whether she wanted her cupboard stained or painted, so her table bench could be the same. (That's the way she wanted it).



Poor Jason doesn't realize just how long my wish list is growing for his workshop! Well I think he's just been briefed on it now! I'm so glad he's talented in this area, because otherwise I just wouldn't have all these prim goodies! I asked him to keep that hammer handy! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Thank you for the kind comments about our Geography Fair in yesterday's post!

To see what everyone else has been up to for Watcha Workin' on Wednesdays, click over to Leslie's blog!

Have a great day! :)

Hubby's Surprise

Okay, before you get too excited, he hasn't planned a big romantic trip to one of my dream spots (maybe someday)....But, he sure did make me happy with his little surprise! I love "little" surprises...especially when they're so sweet and thoughtful.

A few days ago, I showed Jason a picture of a primitive bowl rack that I would love to have for my kitchen. Now it's been enough that he made my cupboard, which I'm so proud of, so I didn't expect him to make this for awhile. Well, Thursday night when Joy and I came in from dance...as I walked down the sidewalk toward the sunporch door, I could see something wooden sitting on the loveseat. As I got closer, I could see it was the very bowl rack I asked for...completely constructed (but unfinished because he didn't know what color I wanted). He had the picture (that I showed him) leaning in front of it. I was SO excited to say the least! Joy was laughing at me! I was exclaiming (in a very high pitched voice, I might add), "Oh, he's the best!"



When we went inside, Joy marched upstairs where her dad was and said, "Introducing your lovely, beautiful, HAPPY, wife!" Needless to say, he got a bunch of hugs and kisses!

I am very happy and blessed to have a husband that can no only create these goodies for me, but is willing and happy to do it. Actually, he loves building with wood. He learned it from his dad, who was a carpenter. I think he'd really rather do this than what he does for a living! (That is if he knew he could make a good living at it).

Jason knows I have a wish list (kind of long) of prim goodies for him to make for me and he doesn't mind...I just have to be patient. Next on the list is a desk that Joy has asked him to make (and you know how little girls have their daddies wrapped around their little finger). Then my mom wants a cupboard like mine! (And he's a good son-in-law too)!

I sure do love my hubby! :)



And there's a giveaway to check out....Terri of Thistle House Primitives is having a wonderful fall giveaway. Stop by and check out the details. She will draw a winner next week, so hurry on over!