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I was sitting innocently watching a TV show when suddenly the hubby popped around the corner (he had been downstairs watching a football game) and said:
Hubby: “You have to start planning out the kitchen you want!!”
Me:
Hubby: “I want to move the wall soon and we’ll have to pick up some filler tile until we actually do the kitchen” (he wants to do a bunch of prep work first before the BIG RENO–which is still at least a year out).
Me: “Umm, ok” 🙂 hehe my FUN FUN FUN!!!
2 minutes later I’m on Pinterest (best thing EVVVaaaa!!) showing him a bunch of ideas I’d already pinned based on a fab Style at Home IKEA kitchen. While neither this amount of cabinetry nor the bicycle hanging from the ceiling would work in our space, I loved the vibe.
After looking at a million photos, hubby wanted to see it all together because unfortunately for him, he can’t see “the vision” I have in my head. In there… *gazes inward* …well….the finished kitchen looks AahMazinG!! woot woot!
Soooo….I start a search of websites I could utilize to build a board of ideas so he could see the direction I wanted to go.
Criteria:
I new what I wanted had to be out there. I had seen beautifully laid out mood boards that others had created…..I wanted that too! But where was it?
After a bit of Google, I came across Sampleboard and the fun began!
(see fun below)
How does one prep for a trip to England? Why you blitz thru episodes of Downton Abbey of course! Which is what I did prior to a trip we had taken 2 years ago (late in posting but I’ll get over it)……
My family quickly became familiar with the opening strains of my new found love as I binge watched one after the other after the other after the other…I was hooked! haha 😛
What quickly grabbed my attention was the beautiful and romantic backdrop of Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle), the wonderful story lines, and of course….those AMAZING outfits!
Ok….now I HAD to see it in person! Only they close to the public after the summer season. Not to be put off by this, I emailed them and received information back that Highclere would be putting on a Christmas Fair sometime in early December; but as of yet dates were not firm. So I planned our itinerary in the hopes of being there for the Christmas Fair and stalked the website so I could grab the tickets as soon as they showed up online for purchase. After a few months of waiting……OMG! I got our tickets!
Once we were in England we enjoyed touring London, Bath (“Hello!” Jane Austen fan here!), and the fairytale Cotswolds with its stone cottages and thatched roofs.
When time came for the “Downton” portion of the trip we stopped into a few memorable film locations which was a lot of fun.
OMG! I can’t believe we’re actually HERE!! Happy Happy….and VERY excited!
Unfortunately photos were not allowed inside, but it had a homey feel with photos of the real owners on display which I found nice to see.
For millinery fashion with a Downton Abbey vibe, Peak and Brim designer hats was one of the booths at the Christmas Fair Market. I walked away with 3 🙂
After all the shopping inside, I trekked over to the Highclere Castle gift shop (and came out with a few more things that I had to have) 😉
Here’s a little bit of fun for the Christmas season……Downton Abbey style 😉
Also an ode to another fun period show Mr Selfridge.
Cheers!
Last weekend, hubby is standing at the kitchen counter writing a TO DO list for things he wants to get done around the house. He then made a fatal error…
HIM: “Is there anything you want done around the house?”.
ME: “ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ummmmmm, can we (him haha) change out the mirror in the downstairs bathroom?”
HIM: “Sure”.
ME: “Yayyyyyyyyyy!!”
The mirror in question is situated in the bathroom of the forgotten realm–
The basement.
In order to turn on the bathroom light, you have to stick your hand into a little cave created by a horrid medicine cabinet (we accept no blame! our 1970’s house came like this). In the 3 years we have lived here, and the small number of times I’ve been in this uninspired space-I’ve found it annoying.
So off we went to our local home building supply store to get a few odds and ends….and of course the mirror.
Once inside I quickly found a simple clean lined mirror. Then Mr Handy made another mistake. He asked me “Do you want a new light too?”
(he’s an electrician by trade and Mr Handy to me 🙂 ). Not one to pass up an opportunity, I did a happy dance in the aisle so he knew my answer was a “YES!”
With mirror and light fixture in hand, we somehow found ourselves in front of the vanity cabinets. He turned to me and said “I suppose you want a new vanity too?” ME: “Am I allowed?” (I ask this as he’s the one that will be doing all the work….I’m the creative genius and he’s the one that makes it happen….the Yin to my Yang, the salt to my pepper). Not one to let an opportunity go, I quickly picked out a fairly inexpensive vanity (as per usual the first one I liked was the most expensive so it took another scan to find “the perfect one”). When I turned around, Mr Handy was standing in front of the toilets and said “I never did like the one that’s there, it reminds me of an outhouse hole because it’s so round”. Now that we had a new mirror, light, vanity, toilet….we realized we’d need a faucet to go with our vanity, then might as well get a new toilet paper holder and towel bar….then a new shower curtain bar, and of course a new shower curtain to go in our soon to be refreshed bathroom.
How we came out of the store looking:
It wasn’t until returning home that we realized the base of the old vanity had the flooring cut out around it when originally installed. Our new vanity has legs. Hmmmm…..now we need new flooring.
If we’re changing it out in the bathroom, we might as well change it out in the little kitchen area, and because the stairs to the back door are there……..we might as well change that out too (a hideous green that was the rage 30 years ago). So now “we” (Mr Handy) are ripping out some of the kitchen, putting a new window into the stairwell, and giving the entire area a fresh paint (might as well just get it all done at this point). My job will be to paint the lower cabinets that we are keeping, source out a couple of inexpensive wall sconces, and put in a tile backsplash (I’ve never done this so it should be interesting).
That is how asking for a mirror, turned into a full out basement renovation. 😛 Stay tuned for updates!
Luxe Living for Less
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
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{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
dictator. procrastinator. hoarder
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
Our journeys are as unique as you are.
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{ Inspired by travel, food, & nesting at home.....yes, life IS GOOD! }
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A Fun Place to Get Your House Fix
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