Sunday Still Lifes...Cupps Farm, Kansas

My grandma passed away this past week. She lived an amazingly full life. She was 94. She still lived in her 2 story home that my mom grew up in. She drove until she was 88, when she decided it would be better for her not to anymore. She went to church daily, did water aerobics twice a week and quilted until just recently. She was a tough little cookie and hung on for over 10 years after my grandpa passed. She was a very kind soul with a quirky little attitude. She definitely passed that along to my mom & myself.

I am grateful that I was able to visit her last month for a few days. She was doing well and I was able to show her pictures of my husband and our wedding, my vintage rental items (she was a big antiques fan) and chat about life a bit.

I feel fortunate that I was able to have her in my life even if we didn't spend a ton of time together over the years. I see her in my mom often and know she lives on through all of us.

Out of this hardship came a beautiful family reunion of sorts. My husband and I were able to fly back to Kansas, along with my brother, his wife and their two boys. My mom was able to reunite with some high school friends, visit with her brother and sister,  say a final good-bye and show off her side of the family a bit. We all got to go see the Cupps Farm which has been in the family since the late 1800's.

All around it made me appreciate family even more and know that even though I'm part of the crazy California family, I have a little midwest country girl in me as well.

Seasons come and go.

Projects are completed and new ones arrive.

Life continues.

We grow.

Here are some images from the weekend in Wichita, Kansas...

Sunday Still Lifes...Spring is Here!

Spring has definitely Sprung!

The sunshine was a welcome addition to this weekend.

I'm looking forward to a productive week ahead.

Midweek Inspiration...focus

I've been lacking a little inspiration the last few days...

So, I thought I would focus on some little goals that

I hope to accomplish this month.

finish the guest bedroom at The Farmhouse

(or at least lay the floor & put up the curtains)

complete my Illustrator homework on time

start my Spring cleaning

run the NWM DC 1/2 marathon

(or maybe walk most of it...)

juice at least one morning each week

...and a beautiful image to inspire us all...

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

from

Tin Roof Farmhouse

via Pinterest on Tin Roof Farmouse's Farm Inspiration Board

via Pinterest on Tin Roof Farmouse's Farm Inspiration Board

via Pinterest on Tin Roof Farmouse's Farm Inspiration Board

via Pinterest on Tin Roof Farmouse's Inspiration ~ Things I Love Board

via Pinterest on Tin Roof Farmouse's Farm Inspiration Board

Project Inspiration...this is the dream

An amazing new farmhouse built on an

organic farm in Austin, Texas.  This captures much of our vision

for The Farmhouse we are creating in the foothills of California.

I love the add-on style of this new construction home.

The design was developed to imitate the appearance of a generations old farmhouse that had been added onto and remodeled over the years to accommodate a growing and changing family.

I love the siding and tin roof.

The wrap around porch that doubles as a

dining room is perfection. 

That industrial sink is awesome!  We're looking for one for

our breezeway / mudroom.

The light open kitchen works with a mix of new and vintage.

The siding in the kitchen is the perfect backdrop for the

refurbished stove with the sleek new custom hood.

The warmth of the wood floors and linen chairs

plays nicely with the white walls.

The rustic metal bed frame is highlighted by

the gorgeous wall color.

The square claw-foot tub is super cool.

What do you think of this modern farmhouse?

All images and complete story found on Houzz.

Midweek Inspiration...Spring

Happy first day of Spring!

Source anything goes here 

Five Faves for Friday...Antiquing in Wichita

I'm in Wichita, Kansas visiting my 94 year old grandma.  I've taken advantage of the fact that my mom is out here as well. It's been a fabulous few days catching up with my sweet lil grandma & my wonderful mom.

My mom & I spent the last two days scouring her favorite antique shops for some great finds. A couple items I drooled over...

And one I need to go back for tomorrow.

great worn texture

incredible patina

milk glass hobnail on grandma's bedside table

perfect for a table display or buffet

Spring in a glass

What are your favorite antique finds?

10 Simple Ways to Brighten your Home

Fresh Flowers ~ my favorites are tulips & hydrangeas, but always find options that are in season & grown locally. I love tulips on the bedside table to start every day out on a bright note.

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Pillows ~ a new set of pillow covers for your sofa, side chairs or bed will brighten any room.

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Candles ~ candles always bring a smile to my face. I prefer soy candles and make sure to have plenty of scented and unscented options in white and light green.

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Fruit ~ an ironstone bowl full of lemons, a wooden bowl full of fresh green pippin apples, a silver platter displayed with pomegranates or a clear glass vase filled with limes. The best options are seasonally available and locally grown.

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Tea Towels ~ such an inexpensive and functional way to freshen up the kitchen.

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Painted Furniture ~ a great way to freshen your home is to paint a tired furniture piece or a second-hand item. White is always fresh, but a bright green or orange can be just the pop of color to set the mood of a room.

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Doormat ~ the first item that you step across to enter your home can make a big impression. I plan to monogram our IKEA sisal doormats with a large black "H" (I'll post a blog tutorial when I get to this project.) 

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New Lampshade ~ such an easy update that can completely change the look and feel of the room. Painting the interior of an existing lampshade can also give a subtle glow.

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Bird Stencil ~ check out the cute little bird stencil that I definitely want to create once we have switch plates at The Farmhouse. It would definitely brighten my day as I turned on the lights to fresh new day.

New Curtains ~ adding or changing out a set of curtains can refresh an entire room. We are adding curtains to our large living room windows, (mostly for insulation purposes) but it will definitely refresh the space.

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Midweek Inspiration...Spring is near

I feel it in the air...

a sense of re-growth fills my mind

looking forward to new inspirations on the horizon

new dreams just around the corner...

Follow me on Pinterest for more inspiring images.

As I mentioned, I am taking some graphic design courses

this Spring. I just finished up my first class; InDesign. So, I'm having fun playing around with textures, images & fonts.

image source

texture source

Five Faves for Friday...Guest Bedroom

To continue with the Guest Bedroom theme...

A couple necessities that every guest bedroom should have.

a pop of color with a handmade pillow

an old school-style alarm clock

soy candles in recycled wine bottles

recycled water decanter & glass

a functional lamp for reading

Sources: etsy, IKEA, Biome Lifestyle, West Elm, IKEA

Project...Guest Bedroom

We had a long weekend at The Farmhouse and planned to complete the downstairs guest bedroom that we have been working on for sometime now. Every project seems to have 10 steps within each step. Before painting, we have to prime; before the walls we need to paint the ceiling and the trim; before laying the floor we need to finish painting the doors and door jams and before the floor goes in we need to put up the bead board siding. It's exhausting just thinking about it. So we had four days with each day planned out...

Then we realized that we really needed to address the septic system once and for all (which had flooded from the downstairs shower into the bedroom.) Obviously it didn't make sense to start laying Pergo floors if there was a chance this could happen again...

So, we dug up the pipes to the septic tank and replaced them with new pipes and a clean out closer to the tank. The 75' snake we used to clear it the last time didn't quite make it all the way to the tank from the main clean out.

So enough talk of the CRAP that got in the way of our completed guest bedroom and on to some inspiration and what we hope it turns out once we get back up to complete.

This is the basic look we're going for.

simple ~ farmhouse ~ cozy ~ white ~ rustic ~ natural

I have a hand-me-down oak dresser that I plan to paint white & use as a bedside table.

To keep things simple and functional; I like these IKEA task lights. Brings a nice balance to the all white.

We just purchased a nice bed from a friend that has simple lines and dark wood. Also a nice balance to the white.

The room has one big window along the entire side wall. We'll use simple IKEA white cotton duct curtains. I'm hoping my sweetie is up for making some curtain rods out of galvanized pipes...if not, we'll keep it simple with white to disappear into the wall.

Although oak Pergo floors would not be my first choice, we graciously accepted these "extras" from my brother's gorgeous vacation rental remodel (The Pearl in Muir Beach) and I think they'll be just perfect. 

I love maps and think a guest bedroom is the perfect spot to hang one. I'd like one of Nevada County, Baja or the coast - some of our favorite places to be.

And for a little color and farm inspiration what could be better than a watercolor of a cow?

Or a photograph?

Just to give a little context of where we started this journey, here's the BEFORE picture.

 

Sorry for the terrible pictures, but you get the idea...

GROSS (but with big beautiful windows to a view of the forest acre)!!

I'll be back up to The Farmhouse at the end of March

and can hopefully start to decorate the space.

I can't wait to post the AFTER pictures.