GASP!! What would the French say?!

 I'm home alone. Not enjoying it because it's been happening way too much lately.  The Cowboy is of course gone away to work, bless is hard workin' heart, and the girls are gone with my brother and friends on a snowboarding trip.  So here I am alone and hungry. 

I head for the kitchen and decide a glass of wine would be nice.  I'm tired of drinking wine out of coffee mugs and plastic cups so I decide I'm going to find a glass.  I dig around, not in this box, not in that box, must still all be out in storage at the ranch.  But then I see it.......glass......a little sparkle, oh this will do!  A tiny Mason jam jar.  It's cute. I pour, I sip, I set it down on the counter and think......good grief I'm now drinking wine out of a Mason jar, will this madness ever end?

Although it is only 2 buck Chuck.

The Office

It's official, I am moving into the office, setting it up and getting back to being the organized, efficient person I used to be.  First order of business.....hang up the sign.

No door yet but at least I know where I'm headed.

I am done working out of boxes, setting up where ever construction will allow me to be for the moment.  I woke up excited, energized, ready to begin the process.  An hour into it I could feel the wheels of efficiency slowly grinding to a stall, I could hear the sound of metal on metal, at one point I smelled smoke.  I stopped.

 In the immortal words of Pooh all I could think was "Oh bother".  Maybe a break would help. I checked my email. I checked my blog. I brushed my teeth. I got a drink of water. Took another look to regroup and realized it looked like Office Max walked in and threw up on my desk.

 

Ok, so took my sweater off, moved a couple of things got chilly so sweater back on. Ok, Music!

 

Yes, music is helpful.  

 

Sigh, I'm hungry. Maybe I'll be more productive after a tuna sandwich. 

Oh bother.

The whole kitchen sink

Well the kitchen sink is in and it's a beauty.  This is the sink I found on our local version of "Craigslist" for $150.00 bucks, can you believe it?! 

It weighs a ton!! It's in beautiful shape and I just love it.  There's a manufacture date stamp on the bottom of 1953.  I would have loved a deep farm apron front sink but the reality is they're expensive, so when I saw this I knew it was perfect for us.  A single sink is ok by me, it turned out to be deeper than I expected and the drainboards will definitely come in handy.  The Cowboy got it set in place, (no easy feat alone, I was trying to help but the truth is I think I was more in the way than helpful) and then he set down plywood and trimmed it with scrap 1x2 pine we had laying around.

 

I quickly got it taped off and decided to put the same "reclaimed wood" finish down that I did on the Island counter top right over the plywood.  

  

Midway through it sort of looks like an ugly cow hide or dalmatian but when I start laying down the color it really takes on a realistic look.

Pictures just don't do it justice.

I top it with a high quality varnish used for floors so it really holds up.

The close ups look a lot lighter than it is.  But in person it has really nice depth of color.

 

It's only temporary until I do the faux marble, but today when I got it done I really liked how everything looks so pulled together, it just may stick around awhile.  I'm really happy with the more neutral tones going on in here.  The cabinets are set in and I just have a few touch ups and then I'll add some cute bun feet to make them look like free standing cabinets.  

I also finished my Goodwill mirror.

Silver leafed with a band of gold leaf in the center with a final coat of glaze to age it.  

It stands about 4 and half feet tall.  I recently saw a picture in a magazine where someone had placed a beautiful Silver and gold Louis XVI mirror on the wall behind the stove.  That inspired me to redo this piece to look similar and hang it above my stove.  I know, it will constantly have to be wiped down but hey, even if it's just for a little while before I move it to another room, it will look unexpected and gorgeous, two of my favorite decorating things.

A cute little room

My half bath is almost done and ready for decorating.

It is actually my favorite room in the house I think. It's broken into two rooms, the entry, aka  the sink room and then the toilet room.  You can see the fabric color much better than in my previous post (I think it looked a little purple).  My Mom bought the tassel for me and it fits perfectly!  I'm going to get more trim and continue it along the bottom, I think it looks a little unfinished the way it is, and then I'll line it to make it pretty on the inside but for now it's up and looks good.  We have the lights on a motion sensor so as soon as walk up to the curtain the room is lit up.  I really like the convenience of that and that way company is never fumbling for a light switch.  The door will be done in a dark wood finish as soon as the trim is on.

 

Kitchen is coming along ever so nicely.  My cabinets are done and I love the final finish. Aged cream, slightly distressed with a little gold wax on the detailing on the door trim. 

I put a little gold on this emblem on the sink front too.  I'm thinking about adding some more little emblems to the drawer fronts.  We found a vintage porcelain sink with drainboards online and will pick it up this weekend.  Can you believe it? I am finally getting a real kitchen again!!  Don't you just love the marble table in the center? I do!  I bought it two years ago to use as the dining table but the Cowboy suggested I use it as a center island instead since we had so much space and I've always wanted a marble top for pastry baking.  So we wheeled it in, (in two pieces with a furniture dolly and it was still a job, it weighs a ton!) put in in place and Voilia a perfect island to work around.  I'd like for him to make a base to raise it up so that it's counter height but until then it works just fine. 

Today's project is this huge mirror.  I started applying silver leaf to it last night.  I'll finish it up, add a little gold to the inside and then glaze it to age it up a bit.  This is going to hang above my stove.  I love, love, love how my kitchen is coming along but I still think my little half bath is my favorite.  What's your favorite room in your house?