Master Bath

We kept the same wood look tile throughout the house. Its durable, easy to clean, and so far is working out wonderfully.

We chose not to have medicine cabinets in any of the bathrooms in the house. For us, medicine cabinets screamed tract home, and we had enough drawers and cabinet space that we really didn't think that they were necessary. All of our previous home had medicine cabinets in every bathroom and we found that rarely did the toothbrushes and toothpaste actually get put away in them and yet they somehow always managed to have disgusting fingerprints all over them. We also never gave anyone medicine in the actual bathroom, the medicine was always in the kitchen - so they were just impractical.

I had always wanted a built in vanity. And even included one in the plans. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that with the way I am constantly redecorating, rearranging, and tweaking my style, it would be best to have as few built in, set in stone pieces as possible. Not to mention the fact that even though this is a brand new home, I wanted it to feel comfortable and lived in. So I try to use a lot of previously loved pieces with character. This table was a perfect fit for the space. 

I love the lights that we found at Lowes. I hate the standard vanity strip lights, and these fit perfectly with the style of the house, and break up all the white. We also chose to go with individual, framed mirrors in all of the bathrooms, as opposed to the standard, massive contractor grade mirrors that we were used to. I love that these are easier to clean, and give a more personalized look.

Farmhouse Kitchen

Admittedly, I am not a cook. I am not even a baker. My family has miraculously survived on a diet that has consisted of mainly eggo waffles, corn dogs, and pizza. That being said, I have always postured that if I had the appropriate kitchen, I would be magically imbued with the culinary gifts, bestowed from the gods of fine cuisine. I hoped to take my pie in the sky ambitions and turn them into pie in the oven realities. 

That being said, I built my house around the kitchen. If nothing else, it would be the most functional, beautiful space that anyone ever toasted and microwaved in.

I was aiming for a traditional, farmhouse, country style. A space that was usable and durable. I love the look of wood floors, but the upkeep -with 4 kids and two dogs - made me nervous. We settled on "wood look" tile. It gave me the worn, barn wood, look that I loved, with the durability of tile.

I also love the look of marble for counter tops. My kitchen is north facing, so I had a concern that it may feel slightly dark. I wanted to go with the lightest surfaces possible to reflect and amplify the natural light that comes in. I was initially very drawn to the look of marble, but once again, I had to put practicality ahead of elegance. Marble stains way too easily and does not mesh well with the amount of fruit punch in this house. I found a white quartz with grey veining that mimicked the look I loved and gave me the durability I needed.

The cabinets were all custom made in a shaker style by our amazing carpenter. They are shaker style and finished in white lacquer rather than regular paint. This gave a more reflective surface and allows for easy clean up with just a damp cloth.

From dirt to doorknob!

Our long adventure in building our dream farmhouse has finally come to fruition. It has been indescribably exciting to watch our house come to life before our eyes. From the first piece of dirt that was moved, to the final screw in the last cabinet knob. We had our hand in almost every decision, and although stressful and exhausting, it was also invigorating and rewarding.

We broke ground in mid June, and thanks to a semi-retired contractor, who discovered he wasn't to fond of retirement, and my father - who worked tirelessly and daily on managing every detail (including countless hours dealing with the county, getting permits, and overseeing all aspects of the job-site...even doing much of the work with his own hands), we managed to complete the entire build by October 31st!

Here are just few of the projects highlights over the 4 month build.

Recycled DIY Green House

As fate would have it, every year, for our anniversary, my husband and I inevitably stumble into a project. I love that instead of a ring, or fancy dinner, we do something to commemorate another year that we can look back on for the rest of our lives.

This year, we happened upon a fortuitous Craigslist posting. A gentleman was re-doing an old house and was looking for someone to take all the old windows off of his hands. I had always wanted a greenhouse, but the cost of glass was a major deterrent. I wasn't about to drop thousands of dollars on windows that one of my kids would inevitably hurl a football into, and as thrifty (cheap) as I am, there are some levels that even I wont stoop to. And residing on one of those levels are those cheesy plastic greenhouses from Harbor Freight or Big Lots.

So with no particular plan or elaborate thought process, we swooped on those windows!

We did slightly (by $500) underestimate just how much wood and siding this project would take. But, on the bright side, the labor was free!

We did not use any particular "plan". We kind of winged and customized the frame to fit the windows.


In another happy coincidence, my husband came across a killer deal on used brick. 20 cents per brick, and I would have my greenhouse floor!

A couple gallons of paint and a lot of screws later, we had almost a greenhouse!

I still need to add the vintage door that I picked up at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, but even without the door hung, I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! And my husband loves that he isn't tripping over 15 garden trowels and bags of a spilled birdseed every weekend. Its the perfect place for propagating, storing and just enjoying the view!

DIY 

Wildflowers

We have a distinct advantage in living far enough away from any major city that we can enjoy peace and solitude, but just close enough that we can find some great attractions fairly close by.

We decided to take advantage of our extremely close proximity to Diamond Valley Lake today, as we took a break from yard work. Sometimes, taking a break from perusing pinterest and scouring landscaping books, to take a nice walk in what nature created all on her own, is the best kind of inspiration.

Early Blooms and Sun Hat Birdhouse

One advantage to living in a climate where we hit 80 degrees in February, is that our spring blooms always arrive way ahead of schedule.

Since it gets way to warm out here to grow peonies, which are one of my favorite flowers, I have found a wonderful substitute with ranunculus.

As the blooms start emerging, the influx of birds begins. I have terrible luck with birdhouses being hurled out of trees and smashing, so I decided it was time to apply some ingenuity and  give the birds a home that cost nothing to build and bring a little creativity in the yard. I had old floppy sunhats laying around the house, that my husband has forbidden me to wear (at least in public). They had seen better days, and had become more dress up hats for my daughter than any kind of functional head wear.  I used scissors to cut a hole, and attached some scrap wood to the back.  Seems to be holding up well so far!

Even the fruit trees are being forced into early bloom. 

Garden Patio - an outdoor living space on a budget

With our fire pit transformed, we decided that our next project should be a new designated seating area. Always mindful of a budget, since we end up rearranging and moving things so often, and compounded with the fact that we were essentially putting the cart before the horse (building a yard before we built our house), we knew that we didn't want to set anything in concrete  - literally. We knew we didn't want to use more pea gravel, since our patio chairs would sink right in, so we began exploring options. We settled on simple 12" x 12" pavers from Home Depot. At about $1 a piece, they would give us the coverage we needed and the flexibility to simply move them or remove them completely if we didn't like how they turned out. 

As luck would have it, we were helping out some friends with their own landscaping project when we noticed a discarded, broken metal gazebo frame that they had deemed ready for the dump. They saw a hunk of trash taking up valuable yard space, and I saw the perfect addition to my envisioned, make-shift patio. We rescued the frame, and while there was no canopy, the metal itself was in great condition. We staked the legs into the ground, and used it as a template for our patio space.  With about $100 worth of pavers, a $14 flat of dichondra to grow between them, 4 discounted vines that we scored from Lowes, our old metal patio set, one afternoon, and (once again) one hard working and incredibly loving husband, we had taken one more little chunk out of the flat, hard, ugly, brown dirt that we were surrounded with. 

This became on of my favorite spots to sit and enjoy the amazing view