Busy Days

Hello! Thank you so much for your helpful suggestions on our wet bar area! We are still going over some options and can hopefully try out a few things during Phillip's Thanksgiving vacation.
I can't believe it's only two weeks away. I haven't been blogging as much, because things are so busy around here...

Thanks to insurance, we are getting a new roof this week. The hail storm that knocked down our tree did quite a bit of damage to the roof, as well.


This is an older picture of the garage conversion project. The work team has already begun putting up drywall.


The carpet has been ordered and we are finalizing wall colors. I think I will paint the kitchen a shade lighter and start working on that next week.


I've also been trying out a few new recipes, including Jaden's Beef with Broccoli. It was delicious!


This is my favorite time of year for baking with banana and pumpkin. This week I made mini banana loaves with a streusel topping.


I'm sure we will still be in the middle of our house projects once Thanksgiving arrives, but we will take some time to relax, get together with family and friends, and give thanks for our many blessings.


I will be back in a few weeks with hopefully some news of finished projects. Talk to you then!

Creative Help Needed!

Hello! We've had a busy week here as you can probably tell by the lack of posts. :0) I had a few questions about what will our current living room will be used for once our garage is finished being converted into a family room. The TV won't be in the room anymore, so the focal point will be the fireplace, along with some comfy chairs (where the TV is now) and lots of books. So, it won't be a formal living room, just a nice room to sit and relax in and the extra space will be great for entertaining.

I'd love some help about another spot in the living room though. The picture shows our 1980's style wet bar that is being used to store DVD's. They will be moved to the new family room and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the space. I really don't want to put glasses or knick-knacks up there because it gets so dusty. Here are some other options:

1. Put a bookshelf in front of the whole thing and nail it completely flush against the wall.

2. Have bookshelves custom built inside the opening.

We had a quote of $2,000+ for the custom built shelves and I'm guessing since it's such a large area we'd have to get a bookshelf custom built, as well.

These options are way too expensive, so now I'm thinking of staining the wood shelves holding the DVD's to match the walls as closely as possible, and space them out better. Display books and greenery. Take out the sink and lay another stained board on top of the marble counter. Add a basket for mail, a small lamp, and a few knick-knacks.

Phillip's idea is for him to build a simple bookshelf on top of the marble, close to the front and stain it to match the wood.

Help! What would you do?

Monday, November 2, 09

Good morning! We managed to get our garage completely cleaned out and in 4-6 weeks this will be our new family room. Construction started this morning and the same company that built our shed is also doing the conversion work.  I will share progress pictures as they go along.


These shelves are on the opposite garage wall, so I took all of my tea things down since there will be a lot of banging around. I've also decided to paint the kitchen the same color as the new room, which will be a creamy beige. The walls look harsh yellow in pictures, but it's not so bad in person.


Either way, Phillip isn't a fan, so he will be very happy to see a different color, and I think the two rooms will flow together better. It's my goal to have the kitchen painted by Thanksgiving, but the work crew won't have the family room finished until early December.


Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are hoping to have dinner at our house, but it will depend on whether our new table and chairs are ready. We ordered them from the Amish Furniture Warehouse and chose a stain to match our current hutch. My parents gave us their dining room table when we got married and Phillip's parents gave us one a few years ago, so this will be our first new set. We have many blessings to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Well, that is what is going on at our house. I hope you have a wonderful first week of November!