January Jam

A cold but sunny winter day means it's a perfect time to nestle in at home.

One of my favourite things to do is make jam.

I know, a funny time of year to be doing that!!  But in the summer it is just too nice to be in the house,

and in the cold of winter I am thinking of summer and the garden.

When you make jam, the whole house smells like berries. In this case it is blackcurrants from my sil and bil in a neighbouring town.

They have an organic berry farm and I  wanted to try the currants.

I'd love to say this is an old family recipe, but really it is just the one from the Certo!!!

Beautiful berries, sugar, pectin and jars. It doesn't take much time, and soon you have  40 jars of wonderful jam.

Red and white baker's twine and colourful lid covers.

You can customize a gift jar to suit any kitchen. For my sister this would mean pink!!  For me it would be white or aqua.

In other news, we finally finished the laundry room project. As is our usual custom, it took longer than we planned.

The countertops were installed just before Christmas, so other than painting my old table  I would consider it done.

I love the look of carrera marble, and I love solid surfacing but neither were in the budget.

We chose a honed finish laminate in a high def. marble. I really like it and more importantly it is family friendly for those messy

painting and craft projects we seem to do.

We have good storage for my fabric and a good work area too. Since this room opens directly into the lower level family room

we have turned the whole space into a hobby room.

There is room for the farmhouse table in the sewing area, the sewing desk, ironing board, and the old dropleaf table for craft projects.

For fun I painted the back of the upper cabinets in a pale robin's egg blue.

The tall cabinet stores fabric, quilt batting is behind the closed door. The tiny half door goes to "my" side of the crawl space where I

keep my paint. The grandkids think the door is perfect for them!!

An ogee edge and curvy taps.  I love the round sink, and it is well priced from Ikea.

The old dropleaf that still needs to be painted. It takes up little space when folded down but is great for projects.

I'm still deciding if I should go the standard white or maybe the aqua colour for fun.

Fabric storage, a few upper shelves and the beadboard ceiling. There isn't anything I would change, I am happy with the results.

The handy hubby did an excellent job on the cabinetry and counter installation.

Now if I can only keep it organized between projects!!

We are still busy painting furniture. Just before Christmas handy hubby surprised me with my birthday gift.......

I've had my eye on this buffet for a while, 2 years to be exact!!

It is true farmhouse style, lots of storage and solid square lines. I love the curvy legs and scalloped detail.

It was dark wood that I did in ASCP Old White. The finish is like satin, it is so smooth and distressed beautifully.

New hardware in old silver give it a bit of bling.

Inside I have extra serving dishes, linens, candles, napkin rings, and all the stuff you don't use daily but still need.

I'm finding the white helps to  lighten up the space.  It might be time to paint the living-dining area.

The current colours are still great but I find I am wanting clear happy colours. Nothing murky.

I am looking at whites and pale greys, but can't decide if I should or not!!

What do you think?

Painted Floors

Today we have been installing the wood floor in the laundry room. I have been pulled in so many directions trying to settle on a finish.

I love a painted floor, and having had them in the past, I know they can be a bit of work to keep up, but so worth it.

My dilema is stripes, diamonds, white or  faded-distressed-chippy-layered-greyed-down-a-bit????

They are all so beautiful, how can a girl choose!!

I love the distressed look that has many layers of faded paint. But, I've done the math....

I won't live that long to see that many times painted over!!!

So I have taken matters into my own hands.

The first layer on the sample board has been done. Hubby has the floor installed, and tomorrow I will add the next layer to the test board.

I can't show you until it is all completed, but so far I love it.

Hubby can't figure it out. I use my Olay faithfully everyday, you know the one that fights 7 signs of aging...

Yet I want an aged, distressed floor!!!

We decided on a six inch wide plank and it came at .48 a foot. Great price and perfect for our purposes.

The laundry room is nine by eleven, and the boards came in fourteen foot lengths. This means minimal waste and fewer cuts.

Enjoy these images and I will post pics of the floor when we are done.

Back to work...........

Abby's Room

A girl can dream....... 

This pic was last spring, a window box waiting to go up on the dining room window.

Oh well, another month and we might be there!!

Meanwhile, indoors where it is nice and warm  it was time to do Abby's room.

I love "interviewing" young clients. They always seem to know exactly what they like.

In this case it was yellow and grey, lots of cushions grandma, and can we please have chippy white furniture?

No problem!! With grandpa's help we built a closet system, mommy painted, grandma painted, mommy painted some more,

grandma sewed, mommy and grandma shopped, mommy painted some more

then we sent the kids skiing for the day with daddy.

Mommy, grandma  and grandpa (me and hubby) spent the day putting the room together for Abby.

This is her first big girl room all to herself, and I think we got all the things she wanted.

A comfy chair to curl up and read in.

Homework and craft area is a must.

A place to do your hair. (bad photography, the mirror really doesn't lean forward!!)

Closets, nightstands and lamps are always handy.

And a comfy bed that is just right. The grey curtains have a blackout liner which helps with room darkening in the summer.

The wall colour I love. It is  Veil, a Behr colour, and all the trim is Simply White.

 Abby loves her new space with lots of room for her stuff.  The funny part is, now that both girls have their own room, they still spend a lot of time "visiting " or having "sleepovers".  I love when sisters do that!

I'm sorry I forgot the before pics.

 Imagine loft bunkbed and shared with her sister.

Now if the weather would only warm up we could get the paint sprayer out and play!!!

Happy Spring!!

Old Bench

Have you ever had something in your home

 for so long that you almost don't "see" it anymore?

This is the case with an old oak bench

we have.

 About a hundred years ago (almost)

 my hubby made this bench for our kids.

 When they were about two, they wanted to join us at the table

instead of the high chair.

 But of course they were still small.

The bench fit them perfectly, and some of them even

had to sit on an ice cream bucket on the bench to reach the table!

I am wanting to paint the bench  a pale aqua, or should I do the reliable white that fits in anywhere?

I love that it is solid, chippy, and probably has some initials carved in it somewhere.

Hopefully there isn't any gum under the edge!!

The best part is that it has family history and was made by my hubby.

Another view just for fun. What do you think aqua or white?