The House In The Woods/Weekend #5 and 6

Hi, Darling Friends, 

How are you? I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. My prayer is that you are staying well and encouraged. 

I thought I'd pop in to share an update on our little house in East Texas. We just finished weekend #6 but I realized that we need to revisit weekend #5 as well. 

I want to let you know how much I appreciate your stopping in to see how we are doing. 

Weekend #5

The property had some enormous junk piles. Bill happened to meet at guy at the dump that is a handy man and a junk hauler. He came out the house on Saturday morning the 20th and started loading up junk. 

There were 7 deer blinds on the property. Bill is not an hunter so five of the dilapidated blinds and some deer feeders were hauled away. These were DIY deer blinds. 

I think the owner's son had intended to come get the one that they had moved next to the guest house. I expected it to be gone the week after we closed but it was still on the property. Bill wanted to dismantle it and get it hauled away but I think it can become a little potting shed with some work. That will be a fun project for late winter/early spring. It's the red and green structure in the image below. 

This is Texas so we can have some wonderful weather on winter weekends. 

The junk man couldn't finish in one weekend so he came back this past Saturday and got the rest. 

It feels so good to have the junk piles hauled away. 

We ordered our flooring on the 13th of November. It arrived and was delivered to the house on the 18th to acclimate. 

It meant that Bill needed to remove the baseboards so that they could be begin installing the floors on Monday the 23rd. The baseboards did not come off easily. Bill spent most of weekend #5 doing that task. 

I wanted to have the interior of the whole house painted by the time we got the floors. Our flooring here in town took about 3.5 weeks to come in. It was another few weeks before we could get on the installer's schedule. Based on that recent experience, I thought I'd have time to finish all the painting. Nope.

I needed to finish the little room at at the front of the house and the hall. The doors and door jambs were also on my list. 
The rest would have to wait. 

A paintbrush was in my hand almost the entire weekend. 

If you have been following, I painted the interior side of the French doors black. They weren't doing it for me. At night they were so dark and the grids seemed to obstruct more of the view. How was I supposed to see if Big Foot was out there?  I was going to wait to see how I liked them with the floors but instead I decided they needed to be repainted. It was a drippy endeavor so it was best done without new floors.  

We were able to get our camper hauled out and parked on the property. 

It's strategically placed to screen the neighbor's place. 

Bill also installed the new dryer outlet so we can wash and dry! If you remember, the utility room had a range outlet instead of a dryer outlet. 

We spent the night on Sunday. I handed the keys to the flooring installers on Monday morning and I headed back to town. Bill left early in the morning. 

Weekend #6. 

The floors were done. We got updates throughout the week about their progress but we were thrilled to see them in person when we arrived on Friday night. These are luxury vinyl planks. I was pleased to see that there is enough variety in the "wood" grain. They look really good and the house feel so much better. There was something unnerving about the concrete floors. 

While Bill unloaded the truck, I put the furniture back into place and made the bed. 

Bill's goal for the weekend was to install the baseboards. 

We also wanted to get to a furniture store in a nearby town. 

Furniture shopping has been frustrating because of the virus. Retailers are having a very hard time receiving stock. This leads me to believe that people in the country of origin are more ill than what is being reported. Numbers are going up again in the DFW area, so we don't want to be out and about in it while we are here during the week.

I'm so over this. 

The furniture store was a win. We found an amazing deal on a recliner for Bill. 

This picture is totally staged but the recliner was $250.00. It's leather. It has a couple of little scuffs but its main flaw is a broken zipper which I can fix. It is good for napping which was the goal. 

We don't have a lot of room in here but the little loveseat which I thrifted and recovered was too small. 

I can take a quick cat nap on the loveseat at home but this one was a little cramped. 

We found a larger scaled loveseat at the shop. They are having a hard time getting furniture but if a sofa sells, they will discount the loveseat. This one was discounted. The sales person said that it is taking 3 -6 months to get furniture in the store. Yikes. 

 

In January, I hope to have full room reveals but for now, you can see the loveseat. 

Furniture is so oversized right now and this room is almost two smaller rooms. Most sofas were too long. I liked the white better but this will be fine. This is where I will snooze after dinner on Saturday nights. It is super comfortable.  

The other loveseat is in the front room. 

We think that this might be a craft room for me at least until we need more beds. 

 I didn't pick up a paint brush the whole weekend and it was heavenly. 

Instead, I decorated the house for Christmas. 

A lot of my farmhouse Christmas decor ended up out here. 

It was a lot of fun and it looks so darling.  

In spite of two trips to town, Bill was able to get almost all of the floor molding installed. 

The bathroom transformation was the most impactful.  I'll talk more about it in a reveal post but this bathroom was a little scary.  

We also got the boat hauled out and parked next to the trailer. 

No more storage fees for the "toys". Yippee. 

You can see that my brick path is almost finished. I brought some bricks from my woodland realm but I still need a few more. It will sink and level into place over time since the soil is so sandy. 

 

Our goals for a long weekend coming up.  Bill is taking another two days off of work. He is going to finish the baseboard molding. He will also repair the lower walls of the screened in porch. I'm going to paint three closets. The vanity in my bathroom may be on that list too. I've collected stuff for my little craft room, so I'll finish decorating that. My crafts won't be out there yet though. 

That is about it for now. 

Some Christmas posts will be coming in addition to more country house updates. 

Thanks for following along. The new house is really coming along. 

Katie 

Late Summer/Early Fall Decorating

Hello, Friends,

I hope you are well.

In the mist of thinking about and bookmarking all things farmhouse, I took some pictures of our early fall or late summer touches. 

I thought I'd show them to you. 

We visited Giverny three years ago in mid September. The late summer flowers were gorgeous. They were tall and almost buoyant with vibrant blooms that thrived with the slight drop in temperature. 

Oh, that my borders would look like this. 

I was captivated. 

We visited Monmartre which is where Sacré-Coure is located. There was a market right outside the church. Bill and I bought some precious little watercolors. 

I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to pop them into a frame. Especially, since I already had frames that would work. Are they the best frames in the world? No, but this is a season of using what we have. I wanted our decor this August to have that feel of a mature garden. 

One of the paintings is on the dish dresser in the garden room. 

I put the other one on the mantel. Don't ask me why they aren't together. 

The artist told us where these were painted but I do not remember. 

They reminded me of that visit three years ago.

 

The mantel is essentially the same. I try to change it up like a good blogger should but I end up putting it back the way it was. For a slight change, it got some old gold candlesticks and a new to me candelabra. 

I found this beauty for $4.75 at the antique store. I'd just seen some @ French Country Cottage but I never dreamed that I'd spy one so soon after noticing hers. 

It needed crystals which we had in my stash. There used to be baggies of crystals at the thrift store for only $2.99. That was before chandeliers became popular again. Those were the days. 

The ticking chair next to the hearth got a darling sunflower pillow with a brown background. 

I've had this one for years and I love pulling it out for late summer. 

The arrangement on the little brass table is comprised of faux black eyed Susans, branches from the woods, and dwarf nandina from the yard. Bill thought it was all real. 

The majolica pitcher is a reproduction but I've had it so long that it is approaching vintage status. 

Unfortunately, grocery store sunflowers do not last very long. 

My first batch for 2020 was pretty with burgundy alstroemeria and branches.  

Another brown needlepoint pillow rests on the couch in the background. 

The yard was slim pickins for flowers since it was unbearably hot so I bought some.  

There are some late summer touches to see in the garden room. 

My red truck from Hobby Lobby got a makeover with some Rust-Oleum Spray Paint in Moss. 

This is my favorite color spray paint. The truck fits into my style better now that it is green. 

A burlap sunflower sits in the bed. The thrifted little corn cob is a tooth pick holder. 

I'm so happy to have the dish dresser back in this room. 

Bill made it for our second house and it is so special to me. 

It calls for more of a casual look than it can get in the entryway. 

The grocery store sunflowers dried which was a surprise. Usually, they don't dry very well. 

The farm stand wall hanging from Raz Imports also got spray painted. It was red as well. 

One coat of hunter green covered the red. Vaseline was dabbed on in spots so that the lighter Moss green would look chippy. 

Late summer flowers spill out of the cart. 

Here is the elusive and rarely seen corner where Bill sits. 

I didn't bother to straighten the books for you. 

If all goes well with the farm, the secretary may end up out there. 

A string of light provides a cozy glow in it. 

A few other farm touches echo a late summer look. 

I pulled all this out before we saw the farmhouse. 

Hopefully, it is a providential foreshadowing. 

The inspector and a foundation guy will be out to look at the property on Monday. 

We have a few concerns. Hopefully, it isn't anything that would be a deal breaker. 

I'd be disappointed but we'd just keep trusting and looking. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Bill is going to add a few details to the arbor. 

I rummaged in the attic for antique beds and chairs to work on. 

I'm a purger so there isn't much left. 

I'll show it all to you. 

Katie 

A New Slipcover For The Sofa

Happy Monday. 

How are you today?
How are you holding up? 

I am a homebody but this staying home all the time has me a little stir crazy at times. 

I don't want to look back at this time and feel that I wasted it. Spring cleaning and organizing have been a big part of my routine but we've tried to tackle a few big projects as well. 

The slipcover on the living room couch was on my "to do" list.

The couch was looking a little too shabby. 

There was a stain that wouldn't come out and the cushions had some serious wear going on. 

Last year once the floors were done, I felt like the living room furniture could use some sprucing up. 

It was almost bonus time so Bill and I went shopping. He was looking for a recliner for the garden room. 

I was looking for living room furniture. 

We looked at IKEA, Haverty's, Wiers, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Outlet, and Living Spaces. 

By the end of the weekend, he was ready to purchase the most comfortable but the ugliest recliner known to man. 

I was unimpressed with anything that I saw but I felt that if we were patient, the PB Outlet would have something eventually. 

Several trips later, I came to a couple of realizations. 

There were stains or wear on a lot of the outlet furniture and the pieces that I liked were slipcovered in a neutral.  I couldn't justify the expense for something similar to what we already had. 

I liked the shape and scale of my furniture and it was still structurally sound. 

Bill doesn't love slipcovers and I wasn't excited about making one of this size. 

 Here is our actual interaction about the couch. 

"What is wrong with the original fabric?"

Me, "It's a dog hair magnet." 

Bill, "How do you know that a new couch isn't going to be a dog hair magnet?" 

"Hmmm. Good point." 

This was the tipping point for me. 

It was time to think about fabric for a slipcover. 

If you have been with me for a while, you know that I like to change my color scheme frequently. 

Therefore all my furniture is in a neutral. A lot of it has been covered in drop cloth material but it was time to upgrade from that. 

Drop cloths were better in 2012. 

Before the shut down, I made it to Joann's to look at Duck Canvas. They had it in a variety of colors. 

Unfortunately, they only had a bright white or an off white that was a little darker than I would have liked. 

White was not going to work with my other furniture. 

I considered the green. 

It didn't recommend washing but ours had to be preshrunk and washable. 

I bought 3 yards of the natural with the intention of seeing how it looked after washing. 

If it didn't work, I'd use the fabric for something else. 

It came out just fine. 

This would have the Farmhouse/Shabby Chic look that I like. 

It took a few weeks to muster up the gumption to get this done but by then the Shelter In Place order took effect in our area. 

I was able to order 20 more yards through my Joann's app. It came pretty quickly. 

 There would be leftovers but I knew they would be used for something. 

I'm not patient or detailed enough to make a box cushions for the seats. 

However, the back cushions and the arms got nice crisp piping. 

It took about 10 hours. 

The black chair in the image below is upholstered in drop cloths. 

It will get an upgrade, eventually but they match well. 

I don't use a pattern. I pin wrong side out and then sew it a section at a time. 

Farmhouse on Boone has a video about slipcovers. 

It's nice to have this project done. I hope they will last for a long time. 

You can see my last slipcover project here.

Since these two pieces are done, the room is looking much less shabby. 

How have you been staying busy? 

Stay safe and well. 

Katie 

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