house tour - part 3 (we've had enough just shut up about it already)

i can't stand this subject any more (right now). we need to get on with discussing the boys swimming lessons and marriage plans and whatnot. but if i must...i will show you the last little finishes on the house. did i ever mention that my mom got tears when she saw the finished product?!? she was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

this is the way the front porch looked prior to construction. at one time it was a screened in sleeping porch with a slammin' screen door and tiny wood steps into the yard. i guess the grandparents closed in the porch for convenience and added that wheelchair ramp and deck. the wheelchair ramp...boy was i sorry to see my grandma's motorized wheelchair go (and the ramp). we sure had a lot of fun on that ramp in the motorized wheelchair...hee..hee.

during construction...the porch was the one thing i insisted on having despite the cost. it is still my favorite part of the house. and check out the finished porch below. i have been told countless times that nobody ever uses the front door in this house. i know this. that's why it's my favorite place in the house. i planned it that way. and i decorated it with pumpkins...and a red door. despite the fact that i have been told countless times that no one will ever go trick or treating on our street. noted.

and here, the fireplace, converted into wood burning stove.

we don’t have time to chop wood. and really who does? between potty training, planning next year's garden, and grocery shopping, my wood chopping time has really been cut short - so to speak .

because we need the fireplace to heat our main living space, we chose a gas fireplace.

before the remodel, the living/ dining room was always dark. when i visited i spent much time opening blinds, doors and windows to let the light in. going possibly to the other extreme, i am in desperate need of curtains. this really is a small town. we were able to enlarge two of the windows and keep the look of the old wood windows. we chose energy efficiency for our new home and decided to insulate!?! it as well. because of the structural pitfalls we ran into (read: the factory built houses for employees with lightspeed and although they have lasted 100 years cannot structurally support sweet pea and beans) we were able to add a loft area (play room and office). the boys have doors into their secret hiding places (storage areas on either side of the dormer). the train tracks are in the bench...they've already been assembled once and put away. now we're onto castles and ships and far off lands.supposedly this is our quiet place to work and relax and enjoy the view. perhaps a design flaw for this space to be housed so close to the play area!

check out part 1 and part 2 of the tour.

check out the hooked on houses party.

house tour - part 2 (south si-eee-de)

i mentioned the seafood boil several times....but it was just so nice to have guests. lots of guests. it made me nostalgic. i will say that both brad and i had some trepidation about the end product of this house. aunt bonnie was instrumental in making this happen for us. we wanted to honor her memories, but at the same time make it our own. for the first week or so, it was really hard for me to leave the past behind and accept the changes. she was very supportive of our ideas and never once balked at anything we suggested. so when she walked through the (back) door, i was wondering if she would have the same reaction that i did to the drastic change. she was great. i think she was really happy and although this is just my opinion...i think she felt at home (which is good because it was her childhood home). she said something which i thought was sad but so true, "for the rest of my life i will be able to enjoy this place." aunt bonnie led the tour of the house to everyone who stopped by the party. it was very nice to hear her explanations and excitement. it made me feel like i was home too. no more worrying about living up to the past.so let's get on with the tour, shall we? just off the kitchen is a hallway that leads to our bedrooms and bathroom (single, lonely bathroom, with lots and lots of action. it feels used, it does).you've already taken a peek at this bathroom. i had no idea what flower patch farmgirl was getting at when she commented that the bathroom was so clean. at first i was flattered that she noticed my housekeeping skills. now her words echo through my mind as i shower. you see we've never had white grout before, or tile, or bright shiny fixtures. they are hard to keep white with three boys running around the house. i almost wish somebody would have warned me, but i'm sure i wouldn't have listened. anyway, i can't get enough of the very white doors and trim with the striking bronze doorknobs. sadly, the old doors were not up to code and couldn't be reused, but we salvaged them and are planning to recycle them into headboards, bookcases, and a coat rack. i love the bathroom and especially love the view. it's the same as the one you'll see in beans room. isn't it magical?!?moving on....he wonders what is taking so long and how could we be talking about bathrooms all this time.so here we are sneaking up on him. he does not want that old screen door on his wall. i told him we could hang his artwork there. he took it down. i put it up. he screamed. don't. make. it mad.lots of red in here to offset the baby blues. kind of reminds me of beans. lots of contrast. mad, happy, sad. mad, happy, sad. red, white, blue.

and of course lots of books.down the hall we have a shout out to my dad and the bfrt. sorry, did we wake you from your nap?

everyone wanted to see what could possibly have been done with your lime green room. i mean asparagus green. sweet pea green?

by far, sweet pea's room is the biggest in the house. talk about kitchen envy...i have bedroom envy. and all because i had some "issue" with sleeping in the room that was once my grandfather's and father's. sweet pea's room still needs work. maybe we'll find some more red trucks for his space.

let's chat more tomorrow.

house tour - part 1 (kitchen)

"come in, come in. take off your coat and stay awhile," my grandpa used to say. we always entered the house through the back door, and usually would find someone sitting at the kitchen table.the town we live in was built during the colorado mining boom for the employees of an explosives factory. during the mining days they would load explosives on the trains and send them up the hill. during the wars, the explosives were used for other things...the house we live in was first the plant manager's house, and then a boarding house for visitors to the plant. my grandparents were not the original tenants, but the plant gave them the option to buy the property and they took it. the first and only house they ever owned. crazy aunt bonnie can't believe i still use the original fiestaware that my grandparents served the boarders with.my dad remodeled the kitchen. looks so fancy now with oak wainscoting. and a perfect tile floor. i've always wanted a kitchen with a table right in the middle. and how handy...when i run out of counter space i can work on the table. especially when little hands are helping.we had a seafood boil on saturday night with a house full of people. as you can see from the aftermath...these pictures were taken before i got the house cleaned up. for the life of me i don't know why i didn't clean first. oh who am i kidding...then the pictures never would have been taken!

it's not a perfect life...but it's our life (hee hee.....)