Sky in the country

I live in the country and I grew up in the country....and I mean really rural farm country.  I am drawn to open space like a moth is drawn to a flame.  I have lived in the city and the suburbs, and they too have their advantages.  However, there is some kind of mysterious quiet history in the air and soil of the open land that seems to call to me with unspoken words.  I have never been one to like living too close to anyone else.  I guess it's like being a hermit in some ways, because open space affords a sense of privacy and quietude.

Besides if I didn't live in the rural country I would never be able to see these beautiful views:

Late winter sunset.

Migration.

Fog and the old Oak across from my house.

Spring rainbow.

This was the field across the road.  It was wheat and corn with a trail in between.  It made a wonderful place to take a walk in the summer.

This photo shows our farmhouse from the middle of the corn field across the road.

Moon rise from my porch.

This is a photo of Lake Ontario from the road around the corner.  I love how the lake in the background looks higher than the street and the bridge.

Looking out from my driveway this fall...there was a double rainbow, although it was gone by the time I took this photo.

Sunset from my back yard.

DIY chalkboard labels from Mason jar lids

I have tons of mason jar lids laying around here from food that we canned and I am always trying to think of ways to reuse them instead of just throwing them in the recycling bin (since the lids are a one time use thing).  One of the ideas I came up with recently was to use them for basket labels.

Here's what I did:

I gathered a few used lids.  Then, with a large nail and hammer I put a hole in each side (like East and West if the lid were a compass).

Next, I used Rustoleum chalkboard spray paint and sprayed a coat on all of the lids.  I probably should have used primer or sprayed a second coat, because some of them ended up chipping a bit on the edges but I didn't (next time I will!)

Here's what they looked like after one coat of paint:

I wanted to use a water clean up Bistro Chalk marker instead of regular chalk because I didn't want it to rub off too easily, but I am sure you could use plain old chalk too.  You can find these markers at any craft store.

I found some brass fasteners (sometimes called "brads") in the office supply section of Walmart and I thought they would be great to hold the labels onto the baskets I had. 

So, I just pushed a fastener through each hole in the lid and into the space between the strips of the basket.  It worked pretty well because the baskets I chose were woven with sort of a paper strip material.  I do think it might work for a wicker basket too, or you could use string to attach it instead.  This is what they looked like from the inside of the basket.

And here's what the finished lid label looked like:

This was a pretty quick project and I liked that I was using something that would otherwise end up in the bin!

Sitting room update

I was just looking back on posts and realized this sitting room project has taken a really long time! I am down to the last few projects so hopefully it will be done in the very near future.

Here's what it looked like:

Here's a peek at what it looks like now:

I still need to:
 - Paint the walls a neutral white
 - Remove or paint some of the paneling (on the opposite wall)
 - finish the crown moulding (on the opposite wall)
 - make a slip cover for the wing chair (we decided to get a wicker chair instead)
 - new window treatments
 - paint (or somehow refinish) the tall jelly cabinet (did this, but I took this photo first)
 - new artwork
 - new light fixture
 - replace the formal rocking chair with a shaker one (like this one) (it's almost done!)
 - brighten and simplify everything else and remove clutter!
 - rearrange furniture (tried this a few times, but totally failed because of the way the room is, so it just has to stay sort of how it was).

I need to motivate myself to get these final projects done and I will share the whole room soon!

Milk paint trial

I have known about milk paint for a long time, but I never thought to try it because I guess I thought it would be tricky to mix and use, but boy was I wrong.  It was so easy!

In my plans for redoing our sitting room I really wanted to paint this tall jelly cabinet that we bought unfinished many years ago.  I had always wanted to paint it, but just never got around to it.

So here is what it looked like before:

I decided on Miss Mustard Seed's Tricycle for the color.  It is a nice bold red and since I have a lot of red accents in my house it seemed the best choice (even though there were so many pretty colors to choose from).

This is what it looked like when I mixed it up - 1:1 paint powder to water.  I didn't have a good wire whisk to use to mix (like they recommend) but I put it in a mason jar and shook it really well, and then let it sit ten minutes.

It seemed really bright when I first mixed it, but went on darker.

It went on pretty smooth although there were a few bubbles (probably from my shaking) and it only took one coat to get the look I wanted.  I wanted the wood grain to show through.  If I had done a second coat it probably would have been more opaque.

It only took about 30 minutes to dry and start looking "chippy."  So, I scraped the chippy spots lightly with a plastic scraper.  

Once I had all the chippy spots off I used Miss Mustard Seed's antiquing wax to darker the whole thing up.  I really feel like this gave the cabinet that aged look that I was going for.  It went from looking new to looking like it really could have been in an old farmhouse.

So here is what the cabinet looked like after:

It was a simple, easy transformation and it only took me about an hour total.  Now, that's my kind of project!

Here's a side by side before and after:

After this project I was looking around thinking "what else can I paint with milk paint?!"  It was really easy and fun.

Our mudroom and a plan

Well, it's been a little while since I posted.  I get into these moods where I just sit and obsess over an idea and look at tons of inspiration, but never get anything done.  It has been a week like that.  

I wanted to share some photos of our mudroom.  We are really lucky to have a big mudroom, but it has its challenges too.  The room has three windows and three doors (on three different walls) and also a "trap door" that is the only door that leads down into our basement.  So, we aren't left with a lot of usable wall space.  

The photos below show how the room looks now, but I am planning on changing it up a bit to better utilize the space.  We originally had our treadmill in there when we first moved here, but we got rid of it and didn't get a new one. Well, we hope to get a new treadmill soon (to help me with my goal).  So, we need to make room for it.  

This room is just one of those rooms that has to be our "catch all" room since we don't have any attic or basement storage space that's usable and our garage is not heated. Our mudroom is our coat closet, dog house, sports equipment room, basement access, and storage for stuff that is on its way to another place, among other things.  Because of all of its duties, we really need to be more efficient with our  use of space in this room.  I have been planning and brainstorming and hopefully we will be taking action soon and doing some projects to create some extra space.  I will share them as we go.

Shoe storage bench from Ikea and DIY wall coat hooks

The vintage cabinet holds shoes

The antique dresser holds hats and mittens

These old lockers were here when we moved in.  I painted them with chalkboard paint.  They hold lots of sports and workout stuff.

The old pickle can holds our dog food.  It was $2 at an estate sale.

Previous owners built the "shelf" so that lights could be placed inside the bricks.  It looks SO cool at night time.

The vintage lantern was the first thing I saw when we looked at the house and we knew this was "the one".