Blog Fail...but Renovation Win!

So, my grand plans of regular updates got lost in the dust and confusion, but the dust is clearing, the power tools are silent, and the crowd is gone...we still have much work to do, but we have made much progress. So here is a quick tour of how things stand at this moment....

...beginning with the new front door. Primed, but we are planning to paint it a nice barn red. 

Front entry - bathroom and closet doors closed up, drywall done, and just waiting for paint. (This "waiting for paint" is a theme throughout this post. One of our grown & gone sons walked in on Sunday and actually asked, "Mom, what's up with Dad? Why isn't the painting done?" Good thing for him the HS wasn't nearby or he would have found himself with a paintbrush in his hand while the rest of us enjoyed Easter dinner...)

Looking from the front door into the living room. Second disclaimer - pictures and other things have not yet found their true home - lots of things are still just parked where they landed as I unpacked. For this space, I have a few thoughts. I'd like to find a small reading stand to sit on the shelf inside the front door to hold our fabulous dictionary. This also seems to me to be the perfect place to hang the Moravian star I've always wanted. In time.

Also, yes, we plan to do something about the vent...but it has to be cheap, easy, and beautiful. It will come to us. Still looking for ideas. Cheap ideas. Oh yes, I did say that already, didn't I?

My favorite angle. Just pretend the almost-empty orange juice glass isn't there. And I won't tell you how disgusting the contents were. Apparently it had been there (or more likely, hidden someplace else) a while. Hmmmm. Well, it's gone now, anyway.

Floor still needs to be fixed where the wall was removed. We're hoping to make it less noticeable, but refinishing the entire floor is a bit out of reach right now, on many levels.

Bookcases are filled, and it feels more like home. History and biography to the left of the fireplace; theology and poetry to the right - that pairing just seemed fitting.

And front hall bookcases - encyclopedias, literature, and books on education. The small bookcase on the stairs houses the best of the best in children's lit. Ah....books....

And notice the light coming down the stairs - you'll see why in a minute.

Into the dining room - "new" chandelier purchased at auction by my lovely mother-in-law, painted by the HS, and fitted with new globes from the Re-Store. Grand total before light bulbs: $7.

And another angle:

Looking from the living room into the kitchen - obviously still needs work, but the kitchen is fully functional, and I am loving it!

Yep - need to work on what goes on those shelves to the right of the sink. Right now, it's purely what I need to be able to grab quickly (trays) and my sweet little collection of Hadleyware. Those things are there in self-defense because when I left them empty in order to wait for the flash of inspiration, the HS took matters into his own hands and put our two (outside only!) orange 5 gallon drink containers up there just to see how I would react. He pretty much nailed it...

Cabinet doors are actually painted and rehung now, but I haven't taken pics yet.

Looking into the living room. Loving the light from the new kitchen fifteen-pane door.

And just a few more kitchen shots:

 

Upstairs - a view of the window we added on the stairs. It adds tons of light to the upstairs schoolroom and down into the entry and even into the living room. Because there was kind of a double wall there, the frame is deep, and it has quickly become a window seat for the kids to read and/or do their online classes. Needs painting, and we may put some recessed bookshelves below it (aka steps to the window seat), and a big cushion to make it more comfy.

And, my little office cubby - I love this! It was a very nice-sized closet, and we converted it, keeping the top shelf. The sliding doors are still there, and we painted them with white board paint -  love, love, love this! When they are both closed, we have a mega-whiteboard.

 And the view from inside my office cubby - and out through the window. It's perfectly lovely - trees and sky.

New back door to the kitchen from the back porch. Needs painting and scraping.

And just a few lovely yard shots. Every time I go outside, I am grateful to Brian & Susie for the lovely yard we inherited. The maple tree next to the kitchen is budding, and the graceful spirea drapes over the fence. My favorite old-fashioned plants and trees - dogwoods and forsythia bushes, lilacs and lilies, daffodils and peonies, and so much more. It is truly a little bit of heaven.

Finally, our Easter posies - gathered from our bountiful yard (for which I can truly take NO credit!). Cherry blossoms from beside the driveway, azaleas from the south side of the front, periwinkle and wisteria from the north side of the front, and a bit of spirea from the back fence. Perfectly lovely, as long as they remained in one place, undisturbed...

"The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places..." Psalm 16:6