Jam Cupboard Restoration

Final product without curtain in front. Doors are possibly not going back on so I can add a splash of fabric to the mudroom. I'm thinking of adding fabric in front instead of doors. The doors did run into a mishap with a chainsaw. This cupboard has been on this property since well before Terry's parents bought the farm and was left for done until I found it and fell in love.

My mom decided it needed to be burned. I had to strongly disagree. She just wanted to make things tidy and clean up.

Her mess was my treasure.

Really how do you explain to a practical Dutch mother that this really is beautiful and I will be using it. So needless to say I felt it imperitive to get this going immediately in order to show her I was truly serious about this restoration.

So very carefully and with as much muscle as I could muster it was moved from the milkhouse to the porch to get some serious work done on it.

I took all of it apart and had to cut off the bottom that had rotted away but was able to keep the rest of the piece. Altough I'm still not sure about that one door that has a nice cut through it. Maybe it just adds more character or I can use it as an accent on a wall?

As I looked more carefully I saw that is had been lined with paper on the interior. Last spring I had found some very old newspapers from 1948 & 1949 on the property so I covered the shelves and inside sides with the papers. There were some great pictures of tractors, chickens, pigs, old ads etc. It was great. I love the way it looks.

Now once the walls are painted and I get a big mirror print on the wall above it will be perfect.

Morning Rituals

Apparently we all have things we do every day and don't even realize. Bear has figured out that Terry will sit in the same place to put on his work boots and has realized that if he sits right beside him he can be assured of a good belly rub.

This morning I awoke to find Bear lying beside Terry with his tail banging on the floor in great anticipation. Oh the joys of a good belly rub first thing in the moring, if you are a dog that is.

Mudroom Moving Forward

So amazing to finally have a laundry facility working in our house again. So amazing in fact that we needed to take a real close look.  ;)

It has been a long summer of an outdoor laundry facility.

A little red-neck experience can sure make one thankful for the luxury of having an indoor washer and dryer that have been delivered and installed.

and some pallet shelves

I had no idea that I had such a wealth of wood products lying around with these pallets. But after spending some time (okay maybe a lot of time) over at Ana White's site I found some great ideas that I had to try.

I've  been waiting for a long time to get these babies made even though they only take a few minutes to make (for Anna, for me it was a little longer).

And since there are two ends to a pallet, the end result was 2 shelves; one for each boy.

Yup love that site and I'm loving these pallet shelves. Thanks again Ana! :)

From Barn Boards to Crates

Started with a pile of old barn boards.

After a lot of measuring, cutting, nailing, taking apart and redoing; ended up with these crates.

I just need to stencil on each child's name, add a pull rope and  put wheels on the bottom.

These are going to look great under the new lockers and keep everyone's shoes contained. (That is if everyone remembers to throw them in. Can I make it any easier?)

While building these crates I thought of all kinds of other boxes to build for so many other purposes. Too bad I can't work as fast as I can come up with ideas in my head.