Rustic & Woven

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Archives for January 2017

Back to the Basics

Friday I shared a story from our Michigan house.  We bought it with the intention of spending the rest of our lives there, and we poured our hearts and souls into that house.  For three years, we worked our butts off – with a lot of help from our family and friends – and we really turned it in to the amazing home it was meant to be.

And the crazy thing about it…when I look back now…is I have no idea how we did it.

We didn’t have any money to speak of.  Not that we do now, but we’re certainly a whole lot more comfortable today than we were back then.  We both worked full time – just like we do today – and yet we somehow managed to find the time to transform that house from top to bottom in just three short years.

So basically, we made it really nice for someone else to enjoy. 😉

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A Lesson from an Old House

I thought I’d tell you a little story today.

It’s a story about keeping it simple, and working with what you have, and making the most of what you’ve got.

Once upon a time we had a different house.

A great house.

A house that was supposed to be our “forever house”.

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11 Coffee Tables with Farmhouse Charm

I get lots of requests for where someone might be able to find our coffee table.

Unfortunately, I can never offer a good answer.

You guessed it…

I picked it up at an antiques shop.

I found this cute little table about ten years ago. I paid $45 for it, and at the time it was a huge splurge. I can remember having major buyer’s remorse after leaving the store. Not because I didn’t love it, but because we didn’t really have the extra $45 in the budget to be spending on a coffee table back then.

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New Pages on the Blog

Hello friends!

I just wanted to pop in real quick today and tell you all about a couple of new pages I’ve added to the blog: Paint Colors and Shop Our House.  My hope is that commonly asked questions will be easy for my readers to find the answers to – as opposed to having to wait for me to respond to an email or comment.  I try my hardest to respond quickly, but sometimes it takes me a bit and I know how it is when we want to know something. 🙂

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Winter Dining Room

“So in other words, it looks like winter.”

This was the response I once received after I got done saying that I don’t like to decorate with a lot of color in my home.  I tried to explain that I like neutral colors, wood accents, lots and lots of texture, and that my walls are all shades of white, gray or beige…

White. Gray. Beige.

Wood accents.

I suppose that does sound a bit like winter, doesn’t it? 😀

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The Farmhouse Cabinet

Earlier last fall, Jordan and I made a weekend trip to Michigan for a wedding.

As we pulled off the expressway and began making our way to the hotel, we pulled up to a stoplight and noticed a charming little shop across the street.

He immediately looked over at me, “We should probably stop, right?”

I glanced at the clock and shook my head, “Better not.  I don’t want to be late.”  We still had to get to the hotel, check-in, and get ready for the ceremony which was taking place in just a couple of hours.

So, I sadly watched out the window as we turned away from that charming little store with all the rusty, weathered, and worn treasures literally spilling out onto the sidewalk.

My husband knows me well, and knew I was dying to get inside that shop.  “Are you sure?  We have a little bit of time…”

I wasn’t about to turn that offer down twice, so we turned around and pulled into the driveway.  I was out of the truck in an instant.

The hunt was on.

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Winter Living Room

I’m one of those weird people who actually enjoys winter.

I love the snow, and the cold, and the bundling up, and the quiet.

That quiet calm after a fresh snow is my favorite.

You know the calm I’m talking about, right?

That perfect calm when you wake up the morning after it’s snowed all night, and step outside to a fresh blanket of white snow covering everything, and all around it’s perfect and still and quiet.

It’s just so peaceful.

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Cozy Winter Mantel

Happy Monday!

The Christmas decorations have all been stored away and the house is finally put back together.  Jordan is recovering really well after his surgery and we have more or less returned to our normal routine.

The freezing cold temps have also returned outside, so I am looking forward to evenings spent snuggling in under a heavy blanket to catch up on some reading and maybe watch a movie or two.  Especially now that things are feeling all clean and cozy around the house.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say I like that time right after Christmas when the house feels just a bit empty.  It’s like everything gets a chance to breathe and allows for a new perspective on things.

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Happy 2017 and Favorites from 2016

“A new year.  Three hundred and sixty-five beautiful mornings and starlit evenings, fifty-two promising weeks, and twelve transformative months full of possibilities.” – via The Washington Post, author unknown

Happy New Year friends!

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season and are looking forward to all the great things in store for the year ahead.  I’ll admit, our 2017 is off to a bit of a rough start.  Just after Christmas, Jordan had a long overdue surgery that did not go as smoothly as we hoped.  He has been hit with a few setbacks and one more surgery to face in a few months, but he is home, recovering well, and handling the challenge like a champ.  Just feel sorry for him that he gets me for a nurse – I was not blessed with an abundance of patience.  We’re figuring it out though. 🙂

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