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Now for the really fun stuff.

We have already discussed how I have tried to stay with in a country theme and use the resources available with the house instead of just ripping everything out and making it modern. In my opinion modern is not always better. Imagine this little house with brand new cabinets and marble counter tops with the latest appliances. It just would not fit. If I were to do that to my kitchen then I would have to do that to the entire house. And, the finished result would still, in my opinion, look out of place.

So I stayed with a country theme, took my modern style and created a perfectly delightful living space. As frugal homemakers we should always look for areas to save money for our household. To do this I opted to make my own curtains. By making my own curtains, I not only save money, but I can design and create exactly what I want. Because face it, there are only a few styles of curtains and items of this type available out there. We are confined to the styles which the manufacturers give us. Unless you can create your own. So this is what I did. I took a few days to look in MANY magazines at many curtain styles. I took note of what I liked and didn’t like and what fabrics that I liked and which fabrics that I thought would go well in this home environment. Then I spent the day browsing the fabric store looking for just the right fabrics. I knew that I wanted my kitchen/breakfast and laundry areas to all go together, but not all be exactly the same. So I picked a few corresponding fabrics and incorporated into the design small things that would connect them all together. Below is the finished product in which I am very pleased.

I used a red toile print with a deep red corduroy fabric for the dinning room and kitchen windows. I originally made these curtains with just the four center panels that you see here. But I felt like it was too stiff and straight which made the room feel more formal. So I added an extra panel to each end which brought fullness and softness that I like.

When making our own curtains we can decide just how many pleats and bows that we want or don’t want. The small kitchen window did not need all the folds and pleats so I created it simple with just the one in the middle.

For the laundry area including both the doors. I used a green and cream gingham. I used the same red corduroy fabric for the straps of these curtains to add continuity between them and the curtains in the kitchen area. If you notice we painted the wood paneling the same rich green and painted our blue wooden shelf in a two tone of white and green. This shelf is destined to be my herb shelf. Very soon I plan to have it adorned with bright red pots full of fabulous herbs that I am sure you will get to hear all about in another post.

And last but not least here is our side view of the kitchen once again. No curtains here. but you can see where I took just wooden place mates of matching colors to add a touch of texture to the walls. I have thought about attaching them permanently but like the idea that they can be used as a trivet if the need arises.

That is it. We hope that you have enjoyed walking through this process with us. We are currently working on the bathroom and hope to have this project finished soon. So stayed tuned, and let us know what you think.

Now for the fun stuff. In this post you will see what a difference just a little bit of paint makes. Painting is one way of totally changing a room. A gallon of paint doesn’t cost much and just about anybody can do it. I know many who are intimidated by the idea of painting their home, but it is a very frugal thing if you can do it yourself.

I am not the kind of person who uses drop clothes and painters tape, but it is very handy to have a wet soapy rag handy. It I happen to drip, and I do, then just a quick swipe while the paint is wet is all you need for clean up. I do recommend using a water base paint. Clean up is easier and spill clean up is too.

As you can see the original curtains are still up. But just adding this rich color brings out the green tones of the paneling. The color I chose here is a deep olive green. Very popular right now but still fits into a country house with out looking out of place.

This is a different view of my kitchen. It was not pictured earlier but is just to the left of the sink area. You may notice the vintage counter tops. I wanted to leave these in the house and work my style into their classic touch. Red (counters tops) is not a color that a generally use in decorating. Lucky for me I have a mother with a flare for decorating. She helped me greatly in finding my “modern” style and incorporating it into the “vintage” house that I have to work with.

These are the only “paint” only pictures that I got. So stay tuned for the next post to see the finished projects.

Well, I finally found my camera cable so I thought I would share a few pictures of our house before the remodeling began. The house we bought is a small country home build about 50 years ago by the older couple that lived here. Their family is still on property adjoining ours which I think is a great opportunity to learn about the history of our new area.

Here in the first two pictures you see our little dinning/breakfast area. Complete with the old time cafe curtains that had been hand stenciled. This picture was taken after the wall paper was stripped off, but if you check out the picture in the strawberry post you can see that it was your typical country print with border.

This is the sink area of our little kitchen. This door leads to a laundry room that was an addition to the houses original structure. So it is like having two exits to our home. I have incorporated this space more into our daily living and keep this door open most of the time.

This is the main view from the kitchen door leading into the laundry room, this door actually opens to the outside.

Second view of laundry. As you can tell we are still in the unpacking and finding a place for everything mode. But this is life and this house is lived in. So feel privileged that I did not clean it special to put on heirs that I live in a perfect world.

Ok well that is it for the kitchen/dinning area of our tour. Stay tuned for the next post that will begin to unfold the work that we are doing.

Well, I had hoped to announce the new blog catagories with a couple of great post for each. But for the moment I am having trouble finding my usb cable to download pictures from my camera to list in the post. So I guess you will just have to hear about what is coming soon for today.

Before I deleted my blog, by accident, I started a new catagory called in the kitchen. My hopes are to post here all the wonderful goodies that my daughter and I make in our new kitchen. I have pictures of us putting up strawberries along with squash and zuccini. So pictures and info to come on that soon.

I also just added, Around the House. I have been working on some projects to make our new house a home and will be posting before and after pitures of the remodeling that we have done so far. Pictures to come will show painting that took place alone with curtains and decorations that were all made by hand. Around the house will also include other changes that we make or projects that we do to help others see a finished work to gain inspiration that may be needed for your own homes.

And last we are adding In the garden Where I hope to show bounty from our garden, when we get it planted, and to share wonderful recipes from farm fresh veggies.

So we have great plans to bring more information to the site for you that will not only be encouraging but will also bring ideas and helpful information as well.