Do you remember how you felt the last time you walked through your door from a difficult day and were met by an overly exuberant dog?
And in the blink of an eye, all the troubles of your day melted away.
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When Everyone Else was Downsizing…
For those of us between the ages of the empty nest and death, we are faced with the dilemma of “Downsizing”.
Let’s be clear, downsizing and decluttering are two very different things. Decluttering feels good, like detoxing your liver type of good. But, downsizing your home deserves some serious thought.
Our Kitchen Floor Fiasco
Feeling a bit cocky, I strutted into the kitchen & poured my coffee over a splash of half & half – today was the day. I poached 2 eggs instead of 1, I knew I was going to need the extra energy for what was about to take place.
The resurrection of our kitchen floor was happening today.
Blink if you have ever been disappointed with a purchase? I saw you, you blinked…
It’s happened to all of us. It looked absolutely fabulous on the size 2 model. You order it. You get the long-awaited “Your package has been delivered” text – you race to the mailbox through the snow in your house slippers – rip open the box…
wait a minute….
this just ain’t right.
That describes how I felt about our kitchen floor.
In the store it looked great. It was rustic, with all the right colors and a design that would not show dirt.
The perfect floor for our kitchen…. right????
WRONG!!
We have the same flooring in our bathroom
and it looks great…
in there.
But, in our kitchen??
I knew it was wrong before the installation was complete. I wanted to say something but we had 2 pallets of this stuff.
It was awful, it was clashing with my countertop. Two busy patterns in conflict.
This was a bitter pill to swallow.
When you are working on a project of this magnitude, the last thing you want is to redo something you have already spent time and money on.
I tried to find something good. The only good thing about it was that it hid the dirt well… but when I thought about it –
dirt hiding on my kitchen floor did not seem like something I really wanted.
So, after 2 years of witnessing a daily tug of war in my kitchen, I decided today was the day. After my breakfast of caffeine and protein, I marched out to the garage, got the hammer and a chisel, and took it all up.
I hammered and chiseled to “Boom Boom Pow” until every last piece of that tile was out of there.
My version went like this….
tap-tap Popppp……. tap-tap Popppp…..
Thank you to the Black Eyed Peas for keeping my hammer in perfect rhythm.
When all the dust settled from the hammering, chiseling, and sweeping we decided to extend the same living room flooring into the kitchen.
Sir Lots-a-Wit installed the flooring (both times).
I got the honor of trimming the base of the cabinets at the floor.
I used 1×3 oak – mitered the corners and stained them to match the existing cabinets which are knotty alder and nailed in place.
This new floor looks fabulous – it does show dirt… but I am okay with that.
Lesson learned?
When picking flooring or countertops or backsplash, consider the big picture. Make sure it all flows.
Sidenote – through all the hammering and chiseling and shop vac noise, our sweet Bella is always right there, she has no flooring preference.
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All photos, thoughts, experiences, and opinions are my own.
Copyright © Lost Mule Lodge 2018 All Rights Reserved
Simply a Christmas Mantle
I am not a professional decorator kinda gal… for the sake of my self-esteem – try to act surprised. My decorating skills come from more of a trial and error type of experience.
I know what looks good – it just takes a while getting there. Some people can pull together some loose legos and a photo of a gingham rooster and your heart stops at the beauty, I am not that gal.
Alright – perhaps the legos and rooster were a bit of an exaggeration – but we all know people that have a gift for making common everyday items look amazing!
This will be the first Christmas with the fireplaces complete. I was pretty excited about decking them out for the holidays. When I pulled out the boxes of Christmas decorations I tried every combination of every stocking, pine cone, and holly bough available.
Then with garden snips in hand, I wandered our woods gathering the perfect cedar branches. Once they were elegantly displayed on our mantles – I was reminded of just how flammable those once live branches can be. So, after removing my budget outdoor branches, my next jaunt was to our local Hobby Lobby.
I experimented with one display after another and still another – combining this with that and that with this… standing back to admire each new creation, they all shared one problem, none of those creations were that admirable… until I started removing items one by one – it seems the more I took down the better I liked it!
My biggest challenge in decorating is knowing when to leave well enough alone. When it comes to decorating my home – I am learning that less is best.
Like the fireplace in the kitchen… This is the same topiary that is always there – I just added some Christmas pics and a Skinny Santa. Anything else would get roasted on that shelf.
Some extra pine branches on the mantle just under the snowshoes created the look I was after on this mantle in our family room. So simple.
Each of our fireplaces provides the warmth and peaceful spirit of Christmas. Especially when I am sipping a cup of hot cocoa seated on one of the hearths.
Bottom line: Simple can be beautiful.
*****
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All photos, thoughts, experiences, and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated.
My Happy Place – The Sunroom
This is where I read.
This is where I wait.
This is where I sew.
Just kidding…
I can’t sew.
After my morning chores, I was waiting for a phone call from a friend and decided to scroll Facebook.
I loved seeing all the photos of friends traveling near and far for summer vacations.
Everyone was having such a fabulous time. I felt a bit sad… a self-pity kind of sad.
Sad that we weren’t taking a summer vacation.
I topped off my coffee and took my usual seat in the sunroom.
I always sit in what is called “the gunfighter’s seat”. The one in the corner – where I can see the doors and windows.
Not for the same reason as Wyatt Earp, but because of the view.
So I can catch the morning sky turn that glorious shade of red as the sun casts its crown on the trees in the east.
The windows and doors are wide open – bringing the outdoors in.
I scrolled some more and saw where some vacationer got bit by a shark in knee deep water.
I felt myself feeling less sad, actually becoming happier. My pity parties never last long.
I mean, I was sad that someone got bit, he was lucky it was such a small shark.
But now, less sad that we stayed home all summer.
Mother Nature’s symphony was streaming through the open windows like stereo. There is no better music.
The crowing of the neighboring rooster and the cows across the road are the melody to the chorus of the birds, the water and the wind rattling the leaves in the trees.
All in majestic harmony.
Any sadness or anger seems to dissipate through these open windows.
I want to invite you into this room so you could feel it too.
Leave the chaos at the door. Just be in the moment and soak it all in.
The sconce lighting emits a soft glow in the hours before sunrise.
Above me is the car siding the Amish introduced to us. We have since learned that it is also called “Ship Lap” – made famous by Chip and Joanna Gaines on “Fixer Upper”.
The wicker adds to the outdoorsy & relaxed feel.
You can read my post about these wicker chairs going from hot pink to brown here:
You read that right… it is not a typo – go ahead check it out. It is hilarious.
That Sunburst on the wall is a little different than most because it represents my favorite element, the wind.
Not another person, house or yard is in sight.
All we see is nature.
Every window.
Every season.
Nature abounds.
The simplicity of this room is what makes it so easy, so relaxing.
There are so few things.
The clutter in my head clears to make room for the planning of the new day.
The next time you find yourself scrolling Facebook and feeling a bit left out, just look at the wonderful world around you.
The morning sky, a birds song, the smiling face of a loved one.
It’s there, we just need to slow down and let it soak in for a moment.
I feel blessed that we are at a place in our lives were a vacation sounds good – for an instant.
Then I look around and think, I am not sure any vacation would improve on what is right here.
*****
Thank you so much for reading.
I would love for you to leave a comment below.
If you enjoyed this post,
please like us on Facebook,
consider sharing and
please subscribe so you never miss a post.
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Subscribe to get our email posts sent to your inbox so you never miss a post.
All photos, thoughts, experiences, and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated.
Copyright © Lost Mule Lodge 2017 All Rights Reserved