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The Quotes at Twice Remembered

"A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation" -Mark Twain

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." -Thomas Moore

"Live a balanced life - learn some, think some, work and play, and sing and dance and draw, and take a nap each day." - Robert Fulghum

Brick Pavers for Cottage , Country, or Old World Backsplash

I found exactly what I was looking for when I revised my beadboard backsplash idea. It's really inexpensive, has lots of character and "old house" appeal, and will be easier to install than tile. What is this miracle material, you might ask? Simple brick pavers. I went to Lowe's the other to see if I could find some that are thin enough to use a backsplash. I checked out the Outdoor/Lawn and Garden area, but nope...not there. The Lowe's associate told me they didn't carry them. Not deterred, I headed inside to the tile department and lo and behold, they had them! Just .52 each, too!

I brought home a few pavers to play around with...I painted one a bisque color that will coordinate nicely with our appliances. Since our cabinets are going to be red (paint swatch in photo below - I decided against Russett as people commnented that it looked "pinkish/fuscia" and instead went with a shade by Waverly called "Cherry") , I thought the backsplash needed to be nice and bright. I next painted a brick the same color as the cabinets. I tried to white wash it but the result was very pink. What worked really well was to just apply a white glaze and then wipe it off, which left glaze down in the pits and crevices...a very nice look. So I know for sure that I'll use bisque paint for most, if not all, the pavers - but I may decide to throw a few of the red ones in there for a little more punch. I'll just have to see.





UPDATE: Read more posts about our brick paver backsplash (progress and completion photos) here.

Reconsidering the Beadboard Backsplash Idea

All this time, I *knew* that we would install a beadboard backsplash in the kitchen. I mean, what says cottage like beadboard? But as of late, I'm thinking I want something altogether different. We're going to be putting beadboard in our hallway and bathroom, so I don't mind not having it in the kitchen. I really love how the fireplace "aged" tile came out...the texture and feel it adds to the room is amazing. I've decided that I want the same kind of look and texture for the kitchen backsplash. I don't want to use the same technique (there was lots of grout and limestone wash involved...I'm afraid that I might over time scrub it off if it were a backsplash - even with a sealer). So now I'm trying to come up with something different that might give me a similar look. I'm even thinking about looking for old looking cobblestone, painted/whitewashed brick (like the photo on left) or another natural element like tumbled travertine. My cabinets are going to be red...so an offwhite backsplash would look nice, I think.

Just a sidenote, like Greg over at the Petch House, hubs is going to hardwire some undercabinet lighting. We really need the extra light and I hate seeing cords. It should make a big difference.

Today, I'm pulling out my handy dandy electric screwdriver hubs bought for me a few months back to take down our kitchen cabinet doors. It's time to for the cabinet makeover to begin:)

UPDATE: Read more posts about our brick paver backsplash (progress and completion photos) here.

Fireplace Makeover Part Deux & "In Other Matters"

I've been pretty much taking it easy the last couple of days since last week proved to be rather exhausting. We're really enjoying the cleaned up and reorganized playroom/office/sunroom (pictures below). It will probably be quite a while before we get around to remodeling this space, so for now I'm content with just "fixing it up" as best I can. For now, we're having to store some of the "treasures" that I've lugged home in here as well, but they seem to fit in ok and it doesn't look so much like a used furniture store like it did when we stored them in our kitchen/dining area.

For some reason that I'm sure we'll discover in the future when we work on this room, it doesn't heat and cool well at all. It's probably a combination of all the windows, the high ceiling, the probable lack of adequate insulation, and the way the heating and air system is laid out in this house. I brought in a rug that I had been storing in the garage to put down over the cold tile floor. All the girls' toy baskets are in here and they love sprawling out on the rug and playing. When I took this photo, the room was kind of a mess, but my little Z had her friend over and they had spent forever setting up their Barbie things. I wanted to leave everything "just so" for when they resumed playing after their naps:) The old fixer-upper dresser is another item we're storing in here for now. It actually provides a nice 'drywall dust free' surface for me to display some photos:)




We have an oversized chair in the corner and this week we brought in a tall, farmhouse style bookshelf to house the girls' books. We placed it right next to the chair, and behind the chair, we added a reading light. It's a nice, cozy corner now. I have to keep plenty of snuggly blankets handy on extra cold days.



Our computer area is small...just a tiny oak desk and a couple of ladderback chairs. We figured that if they had computers in the olden days, they probably sat in a good old fashioned chairs:) I have two in here because often the girls use the computer in pairs. One to play the games, one to watch while eagerly waiting for her turn. A couple of months ago, I found an antique, padded headboard at a junkstore. It has beautiful carved wooden legs and all. The upholstery needs to be redone, but that is yet another future project. I decided to just stick it behind our desk until we can move it into our garage. For now, it kind of makes a neat place to thumbtack the children's artwork:)



On to the fireplace, you may remember that several weeks ago, I replaced the old tiles with new. They looked much better, but they almost looked *too* new and too contemporary. Also, the new tiles are a very light shade of beige and I was beginning to worry that once we put the nice, cheerful yellow on the walls, the fireplace in it's new light beigeness would still look too beige, out of place and flat. I really wanted the firplace to pop since it's such a big visial part of our small living room.

I noticed that there was still quite a bit of white grout film left on the hearth. But I really liked the way it looked! It lightened the tiles and gave them a limewashed effect. So I decided to apply another thin layer of grout over the entire tiled surfaced. Once dried, this gave the somewhat smooth, beige, pitted tiles a whiter, rougher surface. The next day, I mixed white limestone wash (it has a slightly sandy texture) with some white glaze. In a random motion, I applied it to the tiles. When it dried, I had the look that I was after! It reminds me of old whitewashed bricks...perfect for a cottage environment:) Btw, I still need to seal the tile with some matte sealer. That will be the final step.





Now, time will tell if our fireplace will have a Makeover Part Trois. I still haven't been able to find out if it is safe to use high heat paint oil based paint on the brass insert. If it is ok to use, I would love to cover over the brass with a black or dark bronze paint. (Edited on 3/6/06 to say that the brass insert has been painted...go here to see photos!)

Ahh, The Melodious Sound of a Flushing Toilet

I am pleased to announce that our plumbing system is back on track. After spending *a l l d a y* working on the lines, Jeff and his dad got things straightened out. As of this morning, and even with some very heavy duty drain opening chemicals poured in last night, the clog in one of our plumbing lines wouldn't budge. It was somewhere near our septic tank but they couldn't get to it with the snake. They discovered that the PO had built the sunroom on top of part of the septic tank (I know...unbelievable) which makes it extremely difficult to access all of the line. (Grrrr!) I didn't retain all the details hubs relayed to me about the problem and how they fixed it, but basically, they laid a new line that is much more accessible and easier to snake if need be in the future. So all seems to be fine now. He forgot one plumbing part at Home Depot so we can't use the kitchen sink or dishwasher tonight, but I don't feel like doing those mountains of dishes now anyway.

Today I worked really hard on our office/playroom/sunroom, scrubbing the tile and doing a quasi 'spring cleaning' of sorts. I still have a few toys to sort and we have a couple pieces of furniture to bring in, but hopefully that will get done tomorrow. Our place is still pretty much upside down. I basically purposely turned our (already upside down) house inside out to give it a good decluttering and cleaning (the house looked/looks like it threw up) - and in the midst of it all, we had the plumbing emergency which added to the chaos. Oy. The chaos just overwhelmed me today and I would have cried, too, had I not been so busy trying to get control of it. I finally made it over to Eese's house to take a nice,long, wonderful bath. I felt so much better afterwards. The girls all had a bath, too, but I'm sure they didn't appreciate theirs half as much as I appreciated mine! Thanks, Eese!

I think I'll go flush the toilet now, just because I can.

Plumbing Woes

Since our bathroom demolition, the five of us have been reduced to using one tiny half bathroom. As if that isn't challenging enough, last night our one and only toilet rebelled against us and refused to flush. We're not quite sure what the problem was, but we figure it has something to do with the fact that we have three girls who love to use toilet paper. They go through it like air here. Anyway, the toilet filled up with water to the point of almost overflowing, but fortunately it didn't. Jeff plunged and plunged to no avail. By this morning, the toilet water had gone down and he was able to flush. All seemed fine until a couple of hours later when the bowl filled up again. Did I mention that our washing machine water backed up into our tub last night as well? So something is definitely wonky with our plumbing system. Jeff crawled up under the house last night to inspect and he says that it seems that there is a clog in an elbow shaped pipe. So he's on his way home now with a 50 ft long snake to try to unplug it.

Forgetting all of these plumbing woes, this morning I made myself a delicious cup of coffee flavored with Hazelnut creamer and whipped cream on top. Normally, this would be a perfect way to get my day started. However today - I'm afraid it was a mistake.

I could really use a bathroom right now.