~ Sparkles of JOY ~

Welcome and warm winter wishes!!!

Hope you enjoyed your peek at my winter mantel-scape!
I can't wait to enjoy the flames of HOPE and sparkles of JOY all winter! =)

Joining in the party over at The Lettered Cottage!

~ Long Time, No See ~

Wow, I'm sure all my dear readers thought I had surely forsaken this blog forever! To tell the truth, I have not really been in the mood to blog since I moved! But I thought I'd update with a FEW pictures that are already outdated.... as these were taken within the two weeks we moved in. I'd take some right now, but I am without a camera. =(

Living room (now has 'drop cloth' curtains =)

Living room again (with winter decor still up and that is changed a couple times since!)

Master bedroom (now has curtains and picures)

(and books on the shelves...)

And the totally remodeled bath that you can't see much in! (the sink wasn't in yet so that's why I didn't get a pic of it)

We still have a lot to go.... we actually did end up ripping the whole kitchen out, so that still doesn't have much for cabinets (I'm using my china cabinet and a buffet from my mother-in-law for cupboards =) But I do have a sink and dishwasher at least!! =)

And instead of the huge laundry room, we opted for a smaller one and put in a master bath!! LOVE IT!

And I've not done anything in my son's bedroom yet (no closet, as it was ripped out to make the bathroom bigger since it was hardly usable as it was {how would you like a 14in- yes I said 14 INCH- deep closet that you couldn't put a hanger in straight anyway??}), so there is still a pile of boxes in the corner!

The third bedroom - don't even ask..... it's the big, messy extra storage and tool 'closet' right now!

My parents think we did about a year's worth of remodeling in two months.... =) (I grew up in a house that is still needing to be finished 15 years later, but it was a lot bigger and in lots worse shape than this one!) We worked many long afternoons and terribly late nights, plus my hubby still had to run his business on top of that! He's so glad we're moved and we love it here! =)

Well, thanks for still checking in on me! Hope you enjoyed the mini tour and difference from what it was!!

~ Just Stopping in ~

Just saw this at the Nester's Place and had to have a little fun! =)

~ Sorry for the Silence ~

But we bought a house! And the remodel crunch is on...... So... silence is golden! (If it is, maybe it will help fund the project?? I wish!!)

Here are some pictures!

Just imagine the possibilities.....

......I can, and I can't wait to get them implemented!!! (though some of them may be years before they can be afforded and done!! =)

But for now - just enjoy the 'potential'! =)

the back

living room

living room

the kitchen (it's not in the budget right now, so everything is just going to get a coat of paint!)

dining room

dining room looking into the living room

LOVELY bathroom! it's t.o.t.a.l.l.y. gutted already and we've just owned it a week =) It's now bigger and the layout is going to change slightly...

love the blue tile board... not.

and how the shower is right up in the window.... =)
You will not even recognize it when we're done!Built in dresser/desk/dresser came right out....looking out from the same bedroom at the living room and the other room will be our mudroom/laundry/storage/maybe sewing & computer room too, if we can fit it all in! =) The washer and dryer needs to come out of the already small 'dining room'! (who would put it in there anyway?!?)

There are two more bedrooms that I didn't show pics of, because they are just, empty bedrooms with the same dark trim!

We will be moving closets around (making some bigger ones!) closing up a couple doors, ripping up carpet & putting down new, painting, sanding the living room floor since it is hardwood under there and all the other things that come with remodeling. Fun! =) Want to come help!?

See you around! =)

~ My Cherry Wood Boudoir ~

Our room used to be my son's room and before that it used to be my hubby's home office! So here is the before picture of the office:
Typical, home office and I had some of my sewing stuff and a desk in there too.... Now it looks like this:
I love my romantic room... not too simple and stark, but not too overly done up. The cherry 4 poster bed was a 1st anniversary gift from my sweet hubby - I'd always wanted one and he made my wish come true (that was actually the first piece of furniture we ever bought since we'd been married, we already had or were given everything else we needed!) About five months ago I switched out our son's room to ours (when my hubby moved his office out we just put the baby stuff in there, but then after a year or so, I decided I wanted a change and the bigger room! =) So for something different than in our other room, I decided to put up a little canopy for a more romantic feeling. I used everything I already had, so it cost me nothing! Just some left over tulle from our wedding tacked to the ceiling and a sweet, little heart pinned up in the front middle. Tied to the posts with more strips of tulle and.... wah la!

Sheer elegance in an instant! =)

And since the above pictures were taken, I got a pillow that I was wanting for a while, so it has replaced the burgundy heart pillow on the bed and changed to this:

Ah... gotta love it.And from the other direction...

And for a pretty, quick, inexpensive, DIY project (you can see mine in the above picture, on the shelf):

All you need are some goblet(s) (I got mine for 25 cents apiece at Goodwill! =) and tealights of the same amount. Just set a tealight on top of an upside down goblet and you have a lovely candle holder! You can also add ribbons tied around the stem or little trinkets inside the glass ...Line them up in a row on a platter for a centerpiece or on a mantle, put ribbons and booties under the glass for a baby shower decoration, the list goes on.... The possibilities are limited only to your imagination.... Have fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And since I wrote this post quite awhile back, but never got it posted until I decided to have my home tour..... For winter and since I painted the living room and moved the quilt rack in there, got a new floor lamp (it was a set and the matching table ones are in the living room), redid the little chair for our room, flipped our quilt back over for the winter colors and found some beautiful, thrifted Battenburg lace curtains - it now looks like this! (If you can't you tell already, it never stays the same for long! =)

Now it's time for a cozy, warm nap!

Thanks for touring my Sweet Willow Cottage with me!!! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing!

Now since we'll be starting all over - stay tuned for the next 15 years!!!!!!!!!!! =)))

Blessings!

~ The 'Hall' and Bathroom ~

Since we don't have but three, small closets for this house, we needed to come up with a different idea for storing coats and shoes since there is NO place near the doors to enter in that it would work! Here is our solution - the little space in the 'hall'! And it can't be seen from the main part of the house either! =)

So just turn to your right and open the door..... to the smallest bathroom you've ever seen!

No storage in the bathroom either (except under the sink and that's for cleaning supplies and extra TP!), so had to come up with a cute idea for that. =)
And since I got a pretty shower curtain and darling shower curtain hangers for a wedding gift, but there was a glass door on the shower (that is just to the right), I dressed up the window instead!!!!

Just love how you can't even fit in to wash your hands while your husband is brushing his teeth at the sink. *wink* Not. =) But it's been livable and is better than an outhouse or something! I think our new bathroom is a step up, though not much bigger, it will have a tub at least! =)

For my son's bedroom, see this post here - It has been changed up a little bit since, but I don't feel like making a new post, since I already have one done! =) Maybe when I get moved, settled and I finish up the sailboat theme I'm planning on doing for him, I'll let you all see!!!!

See you tomorrow for the final installment! =)

~ The Living Room ~

Hey again! (If you are just arriving, I'm giving a home tour this week- a room everyday! Check out my other posts if you want to see what you've missed! =)

Here are 5 before pics and 5 after pics....

We have wanted to paint for a LONG time and just got it done about a month ago and now we are planning to move! ...sniffle... BUT we have SO enjoyed spending time in there since it has been done!!!!!!

....dark...

....dark...

....dark...

....dark...

....dark!...And now......................


LIGHT!!!!!!

(to see what's behind the couch, click here!)

BRIGHT!!!!!

CLEAN!!!!!!!!

WHITE!!!!!! (the paint color is called 'Cream in my Coffee' by Valspar, which I thought fitting since my hubby loves coffee with cream! =)

DELIGHT!!!!!!!!

(Have been planning on painting that little table with the Battenburg lace cloth on it... when life slows down and the outside is warm and I feel like it.....! It will be white! Someday... =)

Also, if you want, you can step out through our slider door onto the patio here! (Right now the plants are taken in for the winter and the pillows are put away, so I didn't take new pics for the tour! =)

See you tomorrow for the 'hallway' and bathroom!

Linked up with The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday! Check out all the other great DIY projects over there!