Breakfast Nook

This is how I want the breakfast area in the kitchen to look. I love all the windows!!

Not only will it bring in lots of light, I can also watch the kids outside and enjoy the beautiful view of our land.

Living Room Ideas

I love the warm cozy feel that these pictures portray of a family room.

I want to have lots of windows in the living room so we can enjoy the fantastic view of our land.

These dark matchstick roman shades really warm up the windows, don't they? I think I would just have to try it out in our house to see how I would like it in my own home, but in this picture I love it! I also love the Carmel color couch!

Scot loves the exposed beams. I am not sure if we will do it or not, but I like the look in this room.

In this picture, I love the arched doorway that leads to the kitchen.

Note: I have lots of pictures like these that I have saved over the years. I am not sure where I got all of them, but the one above comes from Southern Living's website. They have such great style ideas!

Back Porch Ideas

Doesn't this porch look so cozy and inviting?

I especially love the sitting area by the fireplace. So what do you think? What would be a part of your dream back porch?

First Meeting with the Builder

We met with the builder today. It was so much fun!

This is something that we have dreamed of for a while now and I have been saving ideas just waiting for the time to come...and now it has!!!

I am not sure he was expecting me to bring so many pictures and files and plans, but he was gracious and patiently listened.

We will be meeting with him again after Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see what he has come up with for our dream house!

Another Homeschool Room Idea

I am loving these book shelves!

Photo Courtesy of Design Dazzle


Can you believe that they are made out of rain gutters? I saw the picture above and knew this was something I want to incorporate in our new homeschool room. I know they will not hold a lot of books, but I think it is a great way to display their favorites or ones they are currently reading.

Raising Olives gives a great tutorial on how to make these cool shelves.

Check it out by clicking on her name.

Photo courtesy of Raising Olive

I love her philosophy she says "that they encourage children to read more because they can see the fronts of the books and are intrigued, rather than just seeing the edge of the book and not being able to tell what it is about." I can see so many benefits having some of our many books displayed in this manner - I think clean up may be easier too!

So what do you think? Do you see a benefit in having books displayed in this manner? Do you have a unique way of shelving your books? Would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Mud Room Ideas

Here are a few ideas that I have regarding our mud/laundry room.

I love this wall with the sink and open shelves. It has such a nice airy, happy feel to it which is important when you are doing the dreaded laundry task!

I love this shelving unit for shoes, coats, etc.


The other wall would house the washer and dryer with a tall unit for our individual laundry baskets. I am still looking for a picture for that one!

The Offer

We got an offer on our house today. I cannot tell you how excited we have been. I know God's timing is perfect, but it has been a long year!

We have started negations.....I will let you know as soon as we get the official word!

I still can't believe that we may be about 30 days away from starting construction of our dream house!!!!

Dish Cabinet

I LOVE this cabinet. I am seriously thinking of doing away with some upper cabinets just to have this for my dishes!



Isn't it gorgeous!

Ideas for the Foyer

I finally found a picture of the way I want our foyer to be. I love the dark hardwood floors and the shape of the staircase.



In the picture below, I love the black banisters! Not sure if I can convince Scot though....It is different and makes a statement.



I also love this double chair. I hope I can find one for our foyer too!

The Pipes

Just to give you an idea of how much pipe had to be laid, I found out that the shed is around 420' feet from the road.

On Monday, Scot was able to glue together all the pipes and lay them in the trench.

He then was able to connect them to the main water line at the road.

Once he tested it and the pressure was good, he was able to back fill the trench. He first did it with the trencher ......

then, it was manual labor to pack it in. He still has a lot of packing to do. Hopefully, by the weekend it will be how he wants it!

It is so awesome that he was able to put faucets where ever we wanted them. Knowing where there would be flower beds, he was able to add a connector for water hoses which will be so nice!

He had planned from the beginning to have a utility sink in his shed. You may remember the pipes sticking up out of the slab. (For fun, I thought I would share the pic with you :)

He was finally able to connect it and now it just needs the sink!

This is the pipe going up through the foundation....

and the pipes inside the shed where the sink will be.

He is also put a faucet in the back of the shed and one on the side.

No, this is not how he is going to leave it. He did not have enough connectors (or whatever they are called) to get it installed the way it should be. He will fix it this weekend.

We are both so excited to get this project done! Now that we have water up at the shed, we will be able to plant some things and keep them watered a lot easier!!!

The Trench

Today, Scot is working out at the land digging a trench for the water lines to be ran from the road to the shed. I am not sure how far away that is, but as you can tell from the picture, it is set quite a bit from the road.
Thankfully, it does not have to be done by hand! Larry has a trencher and he was able to borrow it for this task.

More to come in the days ahead.....

Bathroom Cabinet

I went to an Estate Auction over the weekend and had a BLAST! I got SO much stuff for so little money. (It really pays to stick around to the end of the sale! There are not as many people and they are putting things together to be sold as lots.)


To see more of my goodies, visit here.

When I first arrived, this bathroom cabinet caught my eye. It was in perfect condition. Not only is it a practically brand new cabinet, it is very well built and super heavy. Another words, not a cheap cabinet!

Can you believe that I paid $40 for it!!!!

My cousin, who was with me at the sale, said he recently remodeled his bathroom and bought a cabinet much smaller than this one and paid way more than $40...score!!!!! I did look on the home improvement stores websites to find one similar to see how much it would have cost new. I couldn't find the exact one, but similar ones this size WITHOUT the faucet was in the $300 -$500 range.

Not sure yet which bathroom I will use it in at the new house, but I know I saved A LOT of money and THAT makes me sooo happy!

Sea Glass Tiles

I love this kitchen! Aren't the sea glass tiles GORGEOUS?!??!

photo by Delight by Design

The Roof is Finished!

Scot is doing the happy dance because the roof is finally finished! I will go take pictures of the roof soon to show you!

The Attic

The kids have found a new place to play at the land....

up in the attic of the shed!

They like to play store using all the stuff we have stored up there. They have even played school using their school desks! It is such a fun place to play and let their imaginations go wild!

One Side is Complete!

Scot worked so hard this week trying to finish shingling this side of the shed! All his hard work paid off on Thursday night when he nailed the last shingle up! (well, for this side at least!)

Doesn't it look great? I am so proud of him!!!

Shingles are going up!

Scot is beside himself today...why you ask? because he was finally able to start putting shingles up on the shed!!!!

Thanks to the help of Larry they were able to get a good start some of which he will now be able to do himself.

There are parts that are definitely 2 men jobs - like chalking the lines.

Other things he will be able to handle by himself. I cannot tell you how excited he is about this...and trust me I am too. I am ready for the shed to complete just as much as he is!

Homeschool Room

As most of you know, we are a homeschooling family. In the new house, we are designing a homeschool room big enough for each child to have their own work space. I have been gathering ideas and putting them in my file folder. I thought I would share a few with you today.

This first picture is from Centsational Girl. I love so many things about this room! You will want to go here to check it all out! It is fantastic!

I love the huge map in this picture. She said it could be ordered from National Geographic for around $100. When I checked it out, it was on sale for $79.99!

I think the next picture came from Pottery Barn. I love the large bulletin board over the desk. This will give them each an opportunity to personalize their space. We can use scrapbook pages like they did here or we can cover it with fabric.

I also want to add a ledge to one of the walls. It will make a great way to display the kid's framed art work.

Centsational Girl got these large clothespins from Pottery Barn. I would love to find some for myself! I think they would be a fun way to show off their "good work" papers.

Of course, what class is complete without a chalkboard. The great thing is that with chalkboard paint, you can put one anywhere!


I think this will be a fun room to decorate. I want it to be fun and inviting, creative and functional. A place where the kids can explore the wonderful world of learning!

Isn't it so Inviting?

I love this kitchen. Isn't it so inviting?

The chunky moldings and the double doors...the glass cabinets...the farmhouse table with the elegant wooden chairs....it is just what I dream my own kitchen will someday look like!