HOUSE TOUR {entry and front room}

It's easier to tour the house a couple rooms at a time. Any advice you have on the decor would be much appreciated. We'll start in the the entry way and front sitting room... 

The last time you saw the entry, it probably looked liked this.

Here's Andrew beginning the wood floor...and kindly flexing his forearms. 

And this is the final result as of a couple days ago.

Since then, I have sold the ugly table and have different plans for the wall.

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We could build a prettier table and display something like this.

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But I will probably end up doing something like that white shelf with hooks for coats. More practical.

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Or a shelf like the white one in this picture (but with no bench), and  I'd have Andrew make it real nice and rustic with a lot of burn through. 

Now moving on to the sitting room...you probably last saw it like this. 

Here is what it looked like on moving day.

Second view.

And this is from today. 

You'd think it would be more put together after a month. But out of necessity, this room has become the gathering/storage room for all things decorative that I have no idea where to put yet. But I'm working on it!

And I'm gathering inspiration. I'd like to hang something big over the couch, get a light colored area rug with some pops of fun color, and maybe some sheer, white drapes. 

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This room conveys the calm, comfortable feel I am hoping for. I like the rug, the wood, the big pillows, and the fun pops of color. 

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From this room, I like the neutral feel: browns, grays, whites, and wood. And the size of the canvas above the couch. That area above my couch is screaming for something similar in size. I can use a mirror, a framed vintage map, or slap some paint on a large, blank  canvas I have stored in the closet.

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This would be an easy DIY painting idea

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Or something like this...in whatever colors I chose.

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This quilty looking canvas is fun. It would be easy too.

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What about a map made from paint splotches? Love this.

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Abstract art with paint and tape. Though I wouldn't make it metallic or quite so bold. 

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Instead I can make use of the pile of pallet wood leftover from the dining room ceiling. I like the painted map but I could also paint words or a deer head silhouette??

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I even have my vintage door propped in the garage waiting for inspiration to strike me as how to use it.

So there you have the entry and front room...with my ideas for the future that I'd love your input on. More tour coming later!

HOUSE TOUR KICK-OFF {exterior}

Last I showed you (in early May?), the house had only a small amount of  stone completed and the OSB sheeting was still visible on the dormer and gable. 

This is what it looks like as of today: with finished stone, stained vertical cedar siding, and blinds. It's not finished yet. But almost!

For the gable and dormer, we kicked around ideas of shake, stucco, or vertical vinyl siding. 

In the end, Andrew found a guy to sell us cedar between 25-95 cents a linear foot, depending on the width. This price is 1/3 of what most people sell the stuff for. So we pounced. All in all, it cost us around $200. 

First, Andrew nailed the 1x10 cedar pieces across the entire front.

Then, he added the 1x4's along the outside edge and the 1x2's along the seams to create a genuine board and batten.

In this picture, you can see he's taped the gable off in preparation for staining. 

Cedar stains really dark, so it took us awhile to find a stain that dried close to the color of our front door.  Here are Andrew and Josh applying it to the dormer with a spray gun and brush. You can see the contrast between the raw wood and what has already been stained. 

The same, but from the street...

When they finished, we all stood back and looked at it in silence. Holy Hannah, was it DaRk! 

But then, in no time at all, the stain sank into the wood, dried, and lightened to the perfect color. I was so relieved. 

From the front...

All that is left now, is the white trim and shutters. I drew them in to help you visualize. 

I'm so thoughtful.

And in case you care, here is what the vinyl on the sides and back of the house looks like. The stucco guys did a great job of matching the colors to it. 

So there you have it. The outside. Next up, I plan to walk you through the inside...despite all of the unfinished details and unpacked boxes. I decided if I wait until it's perfect, you'll never get to see the interior! And I could really use your advice on decorating in here! 

Ta-ta for now,

Rachel

WAITING

I am sitting on a blanket waiting for fireworks to begin. As the show is not scheduled for another 3 hours, I thought I'd take advantage of this rare bit of free time and post something on this blog!

Lately, any documentation of my life has been through the use of instagram and my little phone camera. Here are some of those pics illustrating the last month of our lives.

MY APOLOGIES

During my month's absence, I received a few features and awards that I never responded to or gave thanks for. I thought I'd apologize and (hopefully) gain some forgiveness for my poor bloggy etiquette.

1.) What an honor to be featured twice by this fabulous blog! Once for my paper mache hive and a second time for paper snowflakes. Thanks!

2.) The JS Chronicles blog left a comment about nominating Our Small Town Idaho Life for a Kreativ Blogger Award. Unfortunately, by the time I tried to get back to them, the blog had been made private (oops). So as I'm not sure what the rules are for receiving such an honor, I'll just say thank you, thank you! 

3.) And then The Blissful Bee was kind enough to present my blog with the Liebster Award. From what I understand, "Liebster" is German for dear, beloved, or favorite. They are generally given to younger blogs with fewer than 200 followers. What an honor to be recognized! Now, I am asked to pass on the favor to a few favorites of my own.

These are several favorite blogs I've already mentioned before: 

• The Koivisto Perhe- Documenting the life of an LDS Kansas girl living in Finland with her Finnish husband. 
• Letters from Coco- A blog as lovely and sweet as its writer, Nicole. Her faith in God is refreshing.
• Playing House- A look into the life a mother of three little ones in a way that is poignant, real, and so fun.

And a new one I've been enjoying lately:

• Jenny B- This girl has got such an eye for STYLE. I love her pictures, her crafts, her food, and I want to eat her baby girl's preciousness.

That's all for today, folks. If you haven't already, go check 'em out.

HOW TO BUILD A (cheaper) BOARD & BATTEN WAINSCOT

Wow. It feels like forever since I blogged. Sorry about the long absence, but moving has been--and continues to be--a crazy, all consuming task. I know I owe you a tour, but everything is still a wreck! And posting a tour seems like such a long, daunting task right now. I think I need to ease my way back into this blogging thing.

So, here's a tutorial on the board and batten wainscoting...using old pictures already edited on my computer. 

We always loved this look, but felt it was more costly than we wanted for all that extra wood. Then we found a cheaper way that requires a lot less, but looks just as nice. 

We installed it in the front room, entryway, and the master bedroom. I'll use the front room to demonstrate the process. 

Here is the sitting room with bare drywall and mud. If you notice, there is no texture yet. 

When we did apply the texture, we only hit the areas of the walls above where the wainscot would be. The bottom section was left smooth. This would create a contrast between the two and mimic the look of flat wood panels (after being painted).

1.) Using a nail gun, 1x6 baseboards were installed along the bottom of the walls. 

2.) Next, 1x4 battens were set  vertically on top of the baseboards and nailed into place about 20 inches apart. 

3.) 1x4's were then attached in a horizontal line above, parallel to the baseboards to build shadow boxes.

4.) The shadow boxes were capped with 1x2's that created a shelf-like look at the top.

Here is a closer look at the 1x2 wood at the top.

Finally, a piece of decorative molding was installed just below the "shelf" of 1x2's with a pin nailer. 

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Then there came the exhilarating (not!) task of filling in every blasted nail hole with putty, sanding them down, and caulking every blasted seam in prep for paint. 

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My only advice at this point is to enlist every family member, friend, neighbor, pool guy, mail man, etc., you can find to help with this. If you have as much trim as we do, you'll be glad you did.

Using a sprayer, semi-gloss white paint completely transformed the look. Even without using any flat paneling, the wall in each shadow box appeared smooth and seamless with the battens. 

I wish I had a picture of Andrew when he was finished with this. White brows and lashes just aren't his best look.

If I didn't witness the process myself, I never would have assumed the bottom section was actually the wall rather than wood.

I love the finished, contrast-y look of the painted, textured wall above the clean, white glossiness.

Not using the real wood paneling saved us an estimated $800-$1,000 through the entire house.

Just for fun, here's a before of the entryway...

...and an after! 

You should see it now with the wood floors! Aghhh...and you will! Soon!

Until then,

Rachel

P.S. I was featured by Remodelaholic for this post! I am also linking up here.