I was in my bedroom the other night staring at an empty corner and I had a thought…I need some mood lighting. For some reason, this idea just popped into my head so I ran to my garage and grabbed an old lampshade frame (I just happen to have lots of these, collected from sales & flea markets over the years). I didn’t have any ‘fancy’ fabric so I decided that burlap would give it an interesting  look.

I took one long piece of burlap and quickly covered the frame; hand  stitching it around the top and bottom.

It wasn’t the finest job, but I wanted something quick, because that’s how I am. Plus, my free time is so rare these days I wanted to move on to the next project!

If I had been more patient I would have cut individual pieces to fit each side. I tied pieces of jute around the frame corners to tighten the burlap. And into the bedroom it went…where I filled it with tiny white Christmas lights.

It looks great at night. The perfect mood lighting!

I love this piece so much that I’m going to work on a hanging version for the corner of my living room. Stay tuned!

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I’ve been working fast and furiously to get some cute new summer items into the shop and here is a sampling…

Click on the “SHOP” tab at the upper right to see all the new items. Hurry and get your’s now before they’re sold out!





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We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you some shots of Spring!

Even the moss looks lush after the winter drab.

Lots o’ blossoms!

Even Gus loves the sunshine.

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Yes, the kitchen is finally completed. Hurrah! I’m tired, seeing as I just spent hours drilling holes for the cabinet hardware, my cordless screwdriver bit the dust and I had to use a regular screwdriver to install all 23 handles. After searching high and low for the perfect handles I was so happy to find them at Target. Here are some before and after pictures to show the progress…and the final outcome. Enjoy!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Next on the to-do list: painting the floor. That will have to wait for warmer weather as the backyard is a muddy mess and I have a daily routine of cleaning puppy paw prints off the floors.

So glad the kitchen is completed. Now, time for bed. Good night!

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It’s been a long 7 weeks here at my house - what with having the kitchen all torn up and in various stages of remodel. It’s almost through so I thought I’d share a bit of the before/after process with you.

I had lived with my outdated kitchen for the past 12 years so it was time for a change. The kitchen lacked counter space and storage so I took the one available wall (where we used to have our kitchen table and stove) and made use of that by adding base cabinets, a new stove and open shelving above.

Here is what the kitchen looked like BEFORE:

West wall with sink

Not terrible, by any means, but the green flecked laminate countertops were a bit outdated and stained…

East wall with original cabinets and red counter

And then we have one red counter top. Not sure why…seeing as the rest was white/green. I love the old, original cabinets - they are staying.

Crowded countertop soon to become breakfast bar

No room for anything…

South wall with table and stove

Our kitchen table which we rarely ate at. Full of crafts and miscellaneous overflow. I love the table - not only because it has an enamel top but because it was my grandparents. Now I have to find a place for it elsewhere in the house.

This area was just a massive waste of space. I loved that I had the long open shelf for my Ironstone but it will look better on the new shelving…just wait and see!

The first project was taking the doors off the two upper cupboards and adding crown molding:

BEFORE

AFTER:

Open cupboard. I was so anxious to get it filled I didn't patch the holes where the door was!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

That was the easy part.

Next step, adding the upper shelving on the south wall:

Much better!

And AFTER:

I’m thrilled with the results!

Stay tuned for more kitchen remodel updates.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.