Monday, December 5, 2016

Christmas House Tour in the New House, Part 1

We're finally settling into our new home and I have it pretty well decorated for the Christmas season.  I know it's been awhile since I last posted but we've done the moving and most of the finish work ourselves so it's just started to look complete.

I'll start with the kitchen/dining/great room area as this is where most of our holiday entertaining will take place.  I'm so pleased with the openness of the areas and how each room flows into the next.  I'm also very happy with my decorating choices.  This is not my area of expertise but I did take ideas and trends from my blogging buddies and could not be any happier with the results!

Welcome to our front door!  I decided on a light greige color for the door.  It blends with the garage door which is a bit more beige.  
I picked this wreath up at Kirkland's.   
This cute rug is a housewarming gift from my sister-in-law.  Isn't it cute?!
Come on in!
This is our great room  I love the tall ceilings, they give the room so much space!  And I've had a lot of fun decorating my shelves!
We will be adding a rug and replacing the lamp soon.  
I just haven't found what I'm looking for yet.
We had this antique buffet in our bedroom of the old house and used it as a dresser.  The beautiful red marble top seemed too pretty to hide in this house so we decided to show it off in the great room, flanked by the china cabinets.  The painting hung over our old fireplace.
I'm trying to go with a 'less is more' decor this year.  I want the house itself to show (and I've run out of time!  We're ready to start entertaining.)
The great room flows into the Dining Room / Kitchen area.
One thing I wanted our architect to design was a space for our dining room furniture. We've loved this oak set and wanted to be sure it fit comfortable when the table is fully extended.  
It has one more leaf so it will work perfectly!
I bought the rug from Lowe's.  
 J made the buffet in this picture to match the one we bought.  He did a wonderful job!  The wood mirror is from Troy Furniture Company.  
I'm looking for some seat cushions with black in them.  

The Dollar Tree Christmas Village made the move and looks pretty on top of the hutch.
This antique coffee grinder was in J's mother's kitchen for many years. 
It's now in our home.
The kitchen is on the other side of this large room.  
Here, you can see how each area flows into another.
The large island has a single sink on the end.  This gives me a lot of work space for making cookies or canning/freezing things from the garden.  
My baking station is between the ovens and refrigerator.
I've tried to keep the color palet red, black, white and metallic for the Christmas season.  There was just enough space on top of the refrigerator for a little garland.
I also use the same ribbon in a few other places around the kitchen
and even on the back porch.
Thanks for stopping by!  J just put the mantel on the outdoor fireplace this afternoon so I'll share the grilling porch and the rest of the house next time.  Building this house has been a LONG process but we are so glad to finally be settled and spend our first Christmas in our new home!

Zenda


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Friday, November 11, 2016

A Long and Blessed Month

What a whirlwind this past month has been for our family!  We celebrated a wedding, moved into our new home and have been preparing for our son to move to Montana!

Our Precious Daughter married her Handsome Beau October 15th in a beautiful wedding!  I didn't take any pictures but had several others who did and shared.  Here are just a few from that wonderful weekend.  

The rehearsal and dinner on the wedding eve was so enjoyable!
Dad practices escorting the bride down the aisle.
Our table at the rehearsal included the bride and groom, the groom's mother and her friend, the bride's grandmother and her parents (us!)


The chapel was a gorgeous intimate setting with a huge pipe organ behind the altar.  J built this six foot cross to set on the altar and our daughter decorated it with a spray of flowers.
Our niece, serving as the wedding coordinator, took these pictures through the brick latticework.  Wasn't it a lovely wedding?!

After a honeymoon to San Francisco and the Napa Valley, the happy couple has moved into their new home a few miles down the road!  

Right after the wedding, Favorite Son was offered and accepted an agriculture sales position in the Northwest.  He will be working in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana.  We are so happy for him, as this is a great opportunity for him and he loves this area of the country.  It's been a little hard on me, though, because he will be living so far away.  (Moms will be moms!)  

At this same time, we started moving into our new home!  It's been a bit emotional as we divide up our belongings.  I thought I had purged a lot of my things but oh my, I still have too much stuff!  The kids are taking a some things, including their special memories and I'm continuing to make decisions on what to keep but I am making progress.  We still haven't sold our first home but do have an interested party, if they can sell their home.  This has been a blessing so that I'm not having to rush moving.

We plan to head out to Montana next week to get Favorite Son settled before Thanksgiving.  (He is planning to come home for Christmas!!)  Then I'll give the old house a good cleaning and hopefully hear some positive news before the end of the year.  

Here are a couple of photos of my kitchen.  I just love it!!
I'll be adding a white subway tile back splash soon.  The dining area is on the opposite end of the room.  You can see a dining chair in the lower right corner.  

The first weekend we were living here, Fav Son had two fraternity brothers stop by for a visit and we dined outside on the grilling porch.  We didn't have all of our furniture set up yet but we made do.  Precious Daughter and our new son-in-love were there, as well. 

We've enjoyed some unseasonably warm November evenings lately here in Missouri and have taken the opportunity to sit by our new outdoor fireplace.  It's been so enjoyable to sit out by the fire in the evenings after hectic days.  I'm so glad J added this particular item to his new-house wish list!
I hope to have some more pictures of our new home soon. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! 

                                                                                  Zenda




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Sweet Inspirations
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Home Matters
Share Your Cup Thursday
Thought of Home On Thursday

Home Sweet Home

Friday, October 7, 2016

The Countertops Are In!


They finally arrived!!  Our Silestone quartz countertops have been installed in our new kitchen and I couldn't be more pleased with them!  

The perimeter is a marble-looking 'Alabaster' and the island is a dark gray with veining 'Calypso'.
The workmen arrived early Wednesday morning and had the whole job completed in less than two hours.  There was only one seam and they used this contraption to seal it together.
Here are several shots I took tonight.  I've already started filling some of the cabinets.  :)
The great room is off one side of the kitchen/dining area.
You can see the grilling patio through the doorway.  J will be doing a lot of cooking out there so I need easy access for him!

Now if I can just get the washer and dryer out of the dining room!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  It's been a long process but each day we're getting a bit closer.  


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Saturday, October 1, 2016

Slow and Steady!

We've been making slow and steady progress on the new house.  I've been lax on posting these updates but I've been a bit busy trying to sell our current home, packing, moving boxes, attending Precious Daughter's showers and keeping up with the rest of our lives.  

Truth be told, the adding of trim and baseboard wasn't too exciting.

Now that those are finished, the last coats of paint are being added and we are expecting the counter tops to be installed 
the middle of this next week!

I do have some photos to share.

The concrete flat work for the patio and grilling porch was finished.
We chose to 'stamp' it in a stone pattern for texture.  
We are pleased with the look.

So is Sallie!
The hearth for the exterior fireplace was completed.  Our bricklayers were wonderful to work with!
J will add a pine mantle for now.  We may add a stone mantle later that matches the stone on the house.  For now though, he would like to use an old pine beam he found in one of the barns on his grandfather's farm.  


A side from all of the trim work, our carpenters finished the huge wall unit in the great room.  This was quite an undertaking but I love it!
The doors to the bottom cabinets are sitting on the box and the whole thing will be painted white.  The television will go in the center.  It really turned out larger than I had imagined but is in proportion to the room 
and will give me so much storage!!

The plantation shutters for the front windows and furniture for the great room have been ordered.  They should all be here by the end of October.

We plan to work slowly and carefully the week of Precious Daughter's wedding as to not be too sore to enjoy this special event.

But after that, it will be full cleaning mode for me!  
I would like for us to be all settled before Thanksgiving.

Thanks for visiting!  

Zenda

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Friday, September 30, 2016

Late Summer Showers

Our Precious Daughter will be marrying her Handsome Beau in just a few short weeks!  We are so excited for the both of them!!
This summer has been very busy for them and especially for our daughter.  She finished up her doctoral program in Plant Science and defended her dissertation the first of July.  By the end of that month, she was offered a position as a scientist at an agriculture company in our area.  She's been finishing up wedding plans, preparing her house to sell, starting her new job and looking for a new home.  Her hubby-to-be has been wonderfully supportive and helpful and quite busy himself.  They will be married in the same city where she attended college.  He continues to live there for now.  He is in agriculture chemical sales and his area encompasses both the city in which he lives and our area. 


Even though she's been extremely busy, she has taken a few moments to celebrate.  She's been the guest of honor at two wedding showers.  One in St. Louis, MO. and one in Collierville, TN.  I wanted to share some photos from each.
The STL shower was hosted by my sister and cousin at a beautiful country club.  
It was just family and the bridesmaids who were in town.  (She will be having 6 attendants!)
     

The second shower was in Collierville, TN this past weekend.  There were many friends and relatives in attendance and was hosted in the lovely home of a good friend of the Mother-in-Law-To-Be.  We were glad that Grandma could make the trip with us!
Precious Daughter with her MIL-to-be and Almost Aunt
A quick selfie with Mom.

The Bride with both of her moms!
I think this lady feels pretty special after being SHOWERED with so much love and 
so many lovely gifts.
  We are all wishing these two MANY years of happiness!

Thanks for visiting!

Zenda