Living Room

Before

Exact same view as above - After

The living room probably had less work done than any other room in the house.  We used the golden American Clay product on the walls and sanded and coated the floors but we didn't do anything structural. However, you can see by the pictures that the difference in style makes it look quite a bit different!  This is sweet older lady style vs. craftsman art deco navajo vintage.....let's just say eclectic.

Other side of the room (TV in top of armoire)

Our Bedroom

 

I hesitate to call it a "Master" Bedroom because in 1914 I don't think they really embraced that concept.  It is a modest bedroom - most of our rooms are about 12' x 12' and our bedroom has an additional little bump out facing the backyard and containing my closet.  The closet was long and narrow as you see in this picture (see separate blog on the closet).  First steps in this room were to remove the carpet and then sheetrock over the popcorn ceiling.  Then it was time to pick the colors and some blinds.  We don't really like curtains.

For the color we wanted something in the teal family but not too green or too blue.  I always test the choices on a few different places in the room to see how it looks with the lighting. For the accent wall I used a Martha Stewart Potter's Clay in Agave that I sponged over the color I used on the other walls which was Martha Stewart Milk Pail.  For the ceiling we used a very pale green.  We added sconces on either side of the bed because there is only room for small side tables and the lamps can take up a lot of space.  We also added a chandelier from West Elm.  Other than that we just moved in our old furniture.

Diana's beautiful quilt looks amazing on our bed!  And we have the photo of the beach at Martha's Vineyard where we got engaged and married!

The Fireplace and Mantel

Before

Interim 

Now

I received a lot of comments about the fireplace when I originally posted a picture.  It appears many people have faced this project!  My original thought was that the existing brick was weird and dated and I planned to paint it.  However, I did get some timely advise to "live with it for a while".  So, after "painting" the dining room with the American Clay, pulling up the carpet and installing sconces we have decided to stick with the original color of the bricks.  Currently the fireplace is not set up for wood or gas so we kept this little fake electric set of birch logs - haha.

Repurpose - Bathroom Vanity

As all of the DIY'ers, home remodelers, etc. know, the budget that you start with just does not withstand the test of time.  This is how my original idea of using a section of the old kitchen cabinets as our bathroom vanity came to pass!!!  Initially my husband was reluctant.  I am not really sure why since he is able to create ANYTHING - he is completely undaunted when it comes to these things.  So, after he realized that if he wanted the "Warmwire" in the floor something else would have to give, he undertook the challenge.  We sanded off the old paint, measured, built a base and bought a pre-fab top all for about $500.  I put about three coats of Benjamin Hearthstone Grey and then covered that with about three coats of shiny cabinet sealer.  We found hardware at Home Depot that is similar to the original.  The only structural change we made was to cut back the center drawer to fit the sink and build the three open shelves on the end - everything else is exactly the same as it was in the kitchen in 1914 including the flour bin!

Bathroom - Grey on Grey

I love these little cut-outs we created

We have great light from one added window and one enlarged

Not surprisingly it was really hard to pick the colors!  I tried three whites before I decided it had to just be SUPER white.  There is so much light in this room that if the paint had any yellow or lavender tint it would really pick that color up and not look white at all.  For the grey I tried a few options and was trying to land on something that was not too blue or purple.  The final color is Benjamin Moore Silver Half Dollar.

We put this WarmWire system under our slate floor - it's a little tricky because you have to insure that the space between the wires is equidistant - we had to start over at least once but it came out great.  We have a thermometer to set the temp; can't wait to try it this winter.We picked porcelain tile for the shower which has the same dark browns and blacks of the slate floor but also has a metallic sheen which makes it a little more interesting and goes well with the polished nickel fixtures.  We wanted to simplify the tiling of the shower as much as possible so we picked BIG tiles (26" x 13") which allow for less grouting and a cleaner look. We worked hard to fit all the tiles in and then George created a nice ledge that goes all the way around for shampoo, etc.

First Guests & Lamar Rodeo

Apple crumb pie + Caramel Moonshine + 4 tickets to the Crow's Nest at the Rodeo!

Some fancy sawing

Yay Wynter!

This is the foal following it's mama - so cute

The Parade

This is looking at the Crow's Nest from the other side

This weekend we had our first guests to our little bungalow!  We specifically planned the visit of my brother Matt and wife Julie to coincide with the Lamar Sand & Sage Rodeo.  Since we had never been we had modest expectations for the rodeo but HIGH expectations for ourselves to get our bungalow "guest ready" (I think we did it).  The weather cooperated with a very unexpected cool weekend - highs were in the eighties.  The rodeo was amazing - we got to sit in the box seating right over the staging area for the calves, broncos and bulls!  (We were just hoping that none of us dropped our cell phone or sunglasses because it would have been dust.)      The bulls were the stars as none of the riders get beyond the minimum 8 second ride but we did see some very impressive riding and the cowgirls were awesome in the barrel racing! On Saturday morning we walked the dogs out on the Prairie before catching the parade.  A very nice small town vibe!

Enjoying the outdoors!

We have been enjoying the outdoors here in Lamar albeit we have to do so between 7-9 in the morning or after 8 at night because other than that it is usually over 90 degrees.  We have had a few rainstorms in the last 3 weeks so there is a little bit of green showing through although nearly not enough rain for the farmers to grow anything yet.  The wind is very powerful during the storms and the next morning there are tree branches everywhere.  Lamar is pretty much known for WIND WIND WIND (perfect for our windmill "farm"). Oh, and of course DUST.

On our morning walks we see deer and turtles (ornate box turtle in pic) and there is a mockingbird that hangs out right where we start our walk at the Sand and Sage Rodeo.  The dogs got in a fight with a skunk this week and the skunk definitely won - poor Red. 

One lone black eyed Susan