Board and Batten Entry....

The entry…the one place in your home EVERY guest will see. They may not see your awesome pantry…or even your darling guest bath or amazing kitchen, but when you open the door they will see your entry.

It is one reason I really stressed about what to do with this space. I wanted it to be warm and welcoming, and while it is a big space, there is very little “wall space” to allow for big credenzas or entry storage. I really don’t need either since we usually enter from the garage into the laundry room…great “drop zone” for our packages, coats, purses, shoes, etc….but I like the look of both in entry spaces!

Of course the first course of business was replacing the dated door, window and light fixture….relatively easy fixes and something I did before we moved in!

This was after the window was replaced but before the door, light fixture and flooring!

I debated on the board and batten for some time…

I just felt it needed a little “something.”

It only took me 16 years to get the entry in my last house the way I wanted it…I feel like I am moving at warp speed on this one…lol!

At one point I tried a larger rug…but I didn’t like it…I honestly like the little dinky rug that is probably too small for the space. This is a prime example of doing what I LOVE vs. doing what the “design experts” tell me I am suppose to do.

A hint of trouble came when winter hit and we needed a place for visitors coats…other than putting them in the closet in the office, there really was no place to hang them.

Coat racks are a bit out dated and just hanging a wall mount coat rack didn’t trip my trigger.

Board and batten allowed me to put a few hooks on the wall.

But that led to a little problem with the table. I LOVED the little walnut table, but you can’t hang coats above a table.

Again, it is NOT my style HOWEVER it was my grandparent’s and it is walnut…heirloom and walnut…my two favorite elements.

Truthfully I like the look of an entry table…but I really need the hanging space so I went looking for a simple bench.

And I found it….

I LOVE this bench I found on Etsy. Not the least expensive bench out there (and I paid a tad more for walnut) but the quality and craftsmanship made it worth the investment.

Since the table is a family heirloom I didn’t want to get rid of it. The little wickerish bedside table in the guest room had no sentimental value so it got hauled to the bunk room and the table is now a bedside table in the guest room…perfect!

I love the look and feel of this entry now…warm, inviting, functional.

I am currently playing around with the dining room table.

When it was set the other way, facing the living room….

….there was no room on the only large wall for a buffet or credenza.

So I have turned the table the “other” way, which gives me room for a buffet or credenza along the wall…

But I am not sure I like it “that way.” So it will sit while I ponder.

That is just how I roll…sometimes I have to sit and ponder, like whether to put up board and batten or whether I should turn my table a different way. Sometimes I know almost immediately I am not going to like it. Prime example, the “river rock” I put in a flower bed for drainage. I knew immediately I did not like the white rock I put down originally!

So out came the white rock and I found some that I liked better…

Sometimes it is okay to sit and “ponder.” I have learned that the more I really think about something, the more I tend to like it long term. When I just jump right in and start on a project without really visualizing it, living with it in my mind for a while, I tend to not like it as well. And that is a waste of time, energy and money!

Until next time….

Downspout river bed...

I am SOOOOO bad at posting “before and afters” let alone tutorials. I see something I want to do, go do it and then think “Wow, that would be cool to share.”

This past week we put down mulch in all the flower beds. Then we had a heavy ran and one of the down spouts washed all the new mulch into the yard.

We tried the little rubber mat diverter thingy and that didn’t work. i don’t like those plastic hose things you attach to the end of the downspout…kind of ugly.

Hum…so I did what I usually do. I searched on Pinterest and found this solution….

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I love river rock and love what Chelsea did with it to prevent washouts in her flower bed.

I dug out the area that was washing about 4” deep.

I bought two bags of smaller rock for a base and 5 bags of large white rocks. I edged the “river bed” with plastic landscaping edging just to keep everything in its place.

Walla…a simple solution for an annoying problem!!!

I’m not sure I am digging the white rock but that is what they had at Lowes….there is a good chance I will eventually replace it with something a little lest stark. For now I hope it resolves the problem.

The rocks on the left may seem a little out of place but those are my Colorado rocks…every time we drive out there I bring back a rock…one year it was a brick. (It just so happens the story of the brick is on the same post as a tutorial for making cedar planter boxes…perfect project for early spring!)

You may notice too that the daffodils seem a little, well, pathetic. That is because they are ones I just dug up and transplanted. Usually you plant spring bulbs in the fall…but every few years I go out into highway easements or the woods and dig up blooming daffodils in the spring. This year I brought home 3 HUGE buckets of FREE daffodils to fill the new beds…not so hot now, but next year they will be glorious!

One more month until our freeze date…can’t wait!!!!

Finding the perfect display shelf (hopefully)....

I haven’t really been MIA…I’ve been here. My computer however has been with my accountant for two weeks while she did my taxes. AAUUUGGGGHHHH! I seriously dislike taxes. Which is why I pay an unGodly amount to have someone else do them.

Last year was a nightmare….first year I didn’t have a “kid deduction” and I sold the apartments and bought rent houses through a tax exchange.

Nightmare I tell ya.

But it is done and life goes on. Just one of those annual unpleasantries in life like mammograms and having your teeth cleaned…painful but necessary.

When last we spoke I promised to share the board and batten in my entry. I think I will wait for a full reveal until the custom bench I ordered comes in. The problem is I have put the walnut table back and I am really digging the “entry table” look. But I put hooks on the wall specifically for guests to have a place to hang coats so I HOPE I love the bench look!

Sooooo….what have I been up too. Well, nothing of any great consequence. The past two weeks have been typical winter weather so I have had to limit myself to “inside work” and since many of my inside projects entail some outdoor time, I haven’t accomplished much. It has warmed a bit this week so I am hoping to start getting more done!

I did get my Easter decor up. I have decided that rather than just decorate for fall and Christmas, I am going to do something for each season that will carry me through the entire year. So after Christmas came down, I did a little for Valentine’s Day…after that a little Easter…after Easter I will do Spring, then Memorial Day/ 4th of July, then Summer, Fall and finally Christmas.

Nothing HUGE like fall and Christmas but table decor on the dining room table (since we rarely use it)…

A wreath on the front porch…

Seasonal pillows on the porch chairs…

A little kitchen froo-froo…

And a few knick knacks and pillows here and there.

Simple but fun!

I love this little sign.

I bought two, not knowing whether I want to go with white or black.

I love the black by the front door. They each have a simple bow on the top (like the white one) and I discovered you can take the bows off…the little wire that holds the bow and greenery is fed through a little hole in the sign. At Christmas I made a Christmas bow and it was so cute I decided to make one for each season…a little seasonal ribbon and a little bit of greenery. Cute as a bugs ear and super simple!

I have spent YEARS propagating my fall and Christmas decor, and I REALLY don’t need to add to those collections. I have decided that every year I will start adding to my other “seasonal” collections….I so dislike how “bare” the house looks after the Christmas comes down and it will be nice to look forward to keeping the house festive year round. Again it will all be much more scaled down than fall and Christmas, but fun all the same!

My next big project will be shelving for my living room. I want to put a display shelf/bookcase to the right of the fireplace.

I thought seriously about doing a credenza type look with tall art or some such but I feel like I need something with more height since the shelving on the left is “low.”

I have to keep in mind too that eventually I want to reface the fireplace…I have NO idea what I want to do, but eventually that may impact this area.

I think I went into EVERY furniture store in NWArkansas looking for the perfect shelving. Nothing.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted, but I knew when I saw it I would know.

When I saw this “industrial” style unit in the store where we purchased our dining room table, I loved it.

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Now, I didn’t think I wanted “industrial” style shelving but again, that is the great thing about being somewhat “eclectic” in my design choices…I can add just about any style and it will work.

The bad news was the price….waaaay more than I really wanted to spend on a bookcase. Not that their furniture isn’t worth it, I just know me well enough to know that this is a “design choice” that may not be one of those “heirloom” pieces like our dining room table was.

So I kept looking and found this….

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Waaaay less expensive…and for obvious reasons. The frame is metal vs welded steel and the shelving material is MDF vs. beefy solid wood.

But here is my thought process. The look and style is very similar…almost identical sizing…and I can replace the MDF shelves with beefy wood shelving. It won’t be one of those “heirloom” pieces like the walnut shelves that were my grandmother’s (left of the fireplace) but they will serve their purpose and HOPEFULLY give me the look I THINK I want. Considering the savings, if I don’t like it, I can relegate it to a spare room with out feeling bad! And I won’t feel like I have to factor it into any decisions about the fireplace because if it won’t work, the “cost” won’t be a big factor.

The shelves arrived yesterday so we will see how my “best laid plans” work out. Hopeful they will turn out to be exactly what I want and I can share them next week!

Hopefully….

Until then….