Blessings and Raindrops

seeking joy in the midst of the ordinary

farmhouse renovation. {the kitchen}.

Alright guys, it’s time to start these renovation posts already. I’ll kick it off with the kitchen since it is the heart of our home and where we spend the majority of our time. 
I wish I had taken more “before” photos. For some reason, I thought I had taken a few before we moved the house, but I can’t find them anywhere. The oldest photos I have are from February of last year, after the big move…
February 2013. 

These photos were taken after we {I always say “we” when I clearly mean “Dave“} removed two layers of ceiling tiles. There were large acoustic ceiling tiles at 7 feet and then another layer of ceiling tiles were removed a foot below the first. Finding the cool beams and wood underneath was like finding a buried treasure.  Don’t you just look at these photos and think, “Score! Buried Treasure!”? Me neither. Dave kept assuring me that it would look great eventually. He clearly has the ability to see the “vision.” Me? Not so much. I just see a big mess. {That’s probably a life lesson of some sort…}
We also changed the layout of the kitchen, removed all of the cabinets, and added windows in the dining nook. 

September 2013.


A lot of progress had been made at this point. We covered all of the walls in wood wainscot with plans to paint it white. We were able to repurpose a few extra cabinets that Dave had to create a large island.  

These windows were all new and added during the renovation.

The entry way in the back of the house. We kept the siding with plans of painting it white, as well. We also kept the original back door.

These cabinets were added along a hallway wall to create pantry space.

November 2013.


Ben and Dave hard at work…



The entry way received a few old lockers for storage {before paint}.

And, after a coat of paint…

The “pantry” cabinets painted.

Also, we were able to keep the original wood floors after we found them underneath the black and white checkered tiles.

Dave also built this new staircase. The original stairs were a rod iron spiral death-trap.

May 2014 {“After”}.

I absolutely love the open shelving. I was worried I wouldn’t like it and would find it hard to keep clean and organized. In reality, it makes my life easier because we use just one set of dishes {instead of a mismatch of several different sets} and they are within easy reach for use and for clean-up.

And, I am officially obsessed with my farm sink. I have wanted one for as long as I can remember but we have never been able to incorporate it into our other houses because of the placement of cabinets. It was worth the wait. 🙂

The floors turned out so amazingly beautiful. I love all of the nicks and dents that have been created over the past one hundred years. I can only imagine how many pairs of feet have walked on these floors. Pretty cool.

Y’all. We splurged on the coffee maker. And, it was completely worth it. In my book: coffee = joy.

We actually “bought” all of the appliances in this home with reward points from a loyalty program that Dave uses for work so we didn’t feel as guilty when we decided to splurge on the greatest invention of all time: a Bosch built-in coffee machine {built into the cabinet pictured on the lower right}. It makes me smile just looking at it. We used to come out here before the house was finished just to drink coffee. Seriously. It is that good.

The “pantry.”

At one point when we first moved in, this was all organized and neat and photo-worthy. That lasted 2.5 seconds. Now it’s messy but I can close the cabinet doors and pretend it’s not. Except that I just shared a photo of the mess…  

I love the natural light in this space. We had considered getting shutters for the windows in here but decided to go with cellular blinds that can be pushed up to let in all of this gorgeous light.

This chalkboard has hung in our laundry room for several years. This verse has been the first thing I’ve seen as I walked in the door for the past two years, ever since Beth Moore read this exact verse after I had been guided to these words in a desperate search for God’s hand in our journey.

The laundry room back entry. {Notice Nathan’s artwork displayed so nicely? He is slightly obsessed with duct tape and hangs random pictures all over the house}. 

That’s it! I wish you all could just come on over for a hot cup of coffee and a chat. Thanks for coming on a little tour. More to come soon. 🙂

You can read more about this old farmhouse HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Paint Colors:
Kitchen cabinets and walls: Benjamin Moore’s White Dove
Kitchen Island: Sherwin Williams Riverway
Staircase railing: Sherwin Williams Porpoise 7047

the farmhouse. {two months in}.

These farmhouse restoration posts have been few and far between. Life just keeps getting in the way. 🙂 Yet, I thought it was time to write down some thoughts on where we are in this new season of life {as we prepare for even more change and fast approaching new seasons}.

So, let’s see. We’ve been in the farmhouse for exactly two months today. Theses past couple of months have been full. {Packing and moving and preparing for a new baby while starting a non-profit and fighting for justice for your daughter stuck on the other side of the world will fill up the hours in a day before you know it}.

Time. 

Our days are a beautiful mix of busy and slow. Busy days of running around {the downside of this move- I feel like I drive a LOT more now that we are no longer right in the heart of our little downtown area} and slow days of staying home and enjoying the extra space. Mornings spent savoring a hot cup of coffee and reading the Word with the boys. Shrieks of joy when the boys run out in the morning to find a warm egg {or two or three} waiting in the henhouse. Evenings spent outside enjoying the gorgeous glow of country sunsets {the sunsets out here are incredible} and slow evenings spent laughing and sharing dinner with a table full of friends.

I absolutely love it when this table is full…and it has been so many times over these past months.
I wish I had photos but I was busy enjoying the moments and didn’t even pick up my camera.

The boys absolutely love it out here. If we are home, there is a 99% chance that they are outside playing. I am so grateful that they are using their imaginations and creating memories together outside. They aren’t stuck in front of a screen indoors. It really has been a breath of fresh air for our family.

Simplicity. 

One thing we had to do when we moved was simplify. ‘Organizing’ and ‘living with less’ are distinct and different tasks. I love THIS post about the powerful difference between organizing and decluttering.

“Living with less trumps organizing because it truly begets freedom. Freedom to live with more clarity, freedom to pursue work and hobbies we truly love, freedom to spend more time with people instead of taking care of our things.
It’s risky, yes. It’s often scary making that first run to the donation station. But you’ll get braver and braver, and nine times out of ten, you’ll never regret parting with those things you stopped loving or finding useful.”  – Tsh Oxenreider

We are in a smaller space now and we made this change deliberately. God has stirred our hearts over the past couple of years in new ways. We have been challenged and convicted about where our treasures lie. Truly, where we invest our time and our resources reflects the state of our heart. Our desire to live with intentionality and freedom from ‘things’ was the catalyst for our move to this home.

Now, please don’t read this and think that we have it all figured out. We don’t. We are fumbling our way through this life just like everyone else. We are simply making a concentrated effort to live in a way that honors the call to live with less in order to have more freedom to give. To give away money and resources and, most importantly, time. We don’t want to be so tied up in the trappings of this life that our time is wasted seeking anything less than God’s best for our little family.

Prayer. 

I have walked through this home many, many times praying for the Holy Spirit to fill this space. For our home to reflect His heart. For His love and peace to be alive within these walls. I’ve prayed over our children’s rooms and prayed my heart out in our daughters’ room, asking the Lord to fill both of their little beds. I’ve prayed scripture over each space in this home and I firmly believe that the serene joy we fill inside of these walls {for the most part – we do have two crazy, rambunctious boys} is credited to the prayers offered up to our Father.

If you’re in the process of moving or painting or restoring a home, I highly recommend spending a day in prayer in each room before you move into the space. Writing scripture on the walls and the floors and the doorways underneath the paint. This will be a precious time with God that you will never regret.

Our prayer for our S. Written above where her bed is now. 

All in all, this move has been so very good for our family. We are incredibly grateful for the good things that we have been blessed with.

Now, don’t me wrong.  There is still so much that needs to be done. Sometimes the never-ending “to-do” list feels daunting. Poor Dave has a list a mile long of projects. And, we haven’t even started to tackle the outdoors. We have big plans for landscaping and outdoor space, yet, it is all a work in progress. We know that it can’t all be done right now and we are constantly seeking to find beauty in the process. My nesting instincts are making that extremely hard to do but I really am trying {Dave may disagree}.

More restoration photos to come soon. 🙂

weekend links.

A couple of links that are too good not to share…  

This post from ‘the Nester’.

Source

She basically went into my head and wrote my thoughts down on her blog. I’m not entirely sure how she managed this but she did it. Practically word for word. This is where we are with this crazy farmhouse renovation and staring imperfection in the face all day, every day. Yet, we are choosing to embrace the beauty and the joy. We are inviting friends over to hunt down the beauty alongside us.

“I have never had to stare imperfection in my home in the face more than I am right now in this mess of a fixer upper that we bought. Apparently, I’m not done learning to live with the imperfect, the undone, the slow change. 

What does being okay with our imperfect, beautiful, potential filled mess look like in real life? 

For me, it looks like inviting people into the midst of the mess.“

Source
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This video I viewed at my recent retreat. Powerful, powerful words by author Brene Brown.

My heart found rest in her words. Particularly as I try to make sense of why we are still separated from our daughter.

The thing is, I believe God turns everything for good. I trust that He is sovereign. I trust that His timing is perfect. Yet, I also know that we live in a fallen, broken world. And, I know that my Jesus is weeping with us. He will take this pain and redeem all that has been lost. Even still, He did not orchestrate or author this pain. In His perfect plan, she would never have been made an orphan in the first place.

“Be assured that God is grieving today. God is weeping too.

…That changes everything.” 

Happy weekend, friends!

the farmhouse restoration. {part 1}.

Y’all may remember that we moved a house. Yes, you read that correctly. We moved a house. 

The restoration has taken a little over a year. It has truly been a labor of love {the line between love and hate is so easily blurred sometimes, isn’t it!?! I’m kidding. We adore this house so much}.

In all seriousness, we have been fortunate to NOT be living in the house while it was being restored. It’s still a construction zone today – there are no front steps… you can’t close the door while you use the guest bathroom because, well, there isn’t a door…the boy’s bathroom is covered in sawdust from endless projects…our shower has a giant hole in the wall where the steamer was just installed {yes. I will take that hole happily because the steamer makes me giddy} – but, the complete overhaul of the interior made it not fit for human inhabitance last year.

I have had so much fun looking back at the old photos of the house throughout the process. I needed a reminder of how far we have come {or I may have tried jumping off the front porch – the one without stairs – haha. I’m kidding}.

I really thought I had taken “before” photos of the interior before we {again, when I say “we”, I mean “Dave”} started working. But I can’t find the photos anywhere. They may have been lost in the great computer crash last year. So, these will have to suffice. 
February 2013.
The kitchen. The ceiling was originally covered in these huge tile thingy’s {technical term} that we tore out to expose a much higher ceiling that we left exposed. And, I think the toilet adds a nice touch of ambiance to the dining area. 
The sitting room. 

The living room.

 The guest bath. {Don’t worry, we kept that tub. And, cleaned it. Many, many times}.

The stairs. These were built after the move. The original stairs were a rod-iron curving staircase similar to something you would see in a Disney movie… Rapunzal, maybe?

Master bedroom. I’ll sell that gold-plated fan to the highest bidder…

The girl’s room. {Yes, we put the boys to work}. Should we repaint that blood red color? Spooky or luxurious? Let’s take a vote…

The boy’s room.

The play room. Be careful not to fall through the holes…

And, most of all, I love looking back on how much the boys have grown throughout this process. They were so little here and, at the time, we didn’t even realize it. Slow down, time, slow down.

 Stay tuned for more. I have a year’s worth of renovation to share! “See you” soon…