the blog world

So part of the fun of blogging, is of course, reading other people's blogs.  One of my new favorites is http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com/

Joan and her husband packed up, left  Dallas and moved to New Hampshire.  That is a huge change- and I can say that because Joe and I lived in New Hampshire for 2 years. We brought our daughter Colette home to our house in NH almost 13 yeas ago- time flies.  Joan and Dan took a leap of faith and bought a farmhouse circa 1850 on 4 beautiful acres. Their blog details their renovation journey. I love the  adventure of moving, so their story is so inspiring to me.  Check it out- their farmhouse is beautiful and the decor is to die for- the perfect mix of antiques and fresh design.  

                                      

this photo is soooo new england isn't it?

A classic white kitchen- can go with beach house or farmhouse....

Enjoy!

I see cabinet doors.....

I received a lovely email today- kitchen progress from the cabinet maker. The cabinets will be sprayed in "Chantilly Lace" by Benjamin Moore- a very clean, crisp white.  Below you will see  cabinet doors and island posts- Dave told me he was inspired by lighthouses when creating the posts. Perfect!   I am dying to see the finished product...since I have a cherry kitchen in my home, the white will be such a great change in the beach house :)

island legs- love!

and on a different note-I was in Crate & Barrel today and fell in love with the  Carly chair - need to find  a spot for  it- navy is so hot right now...trying to get a friend to paint her dining room in a gorgeous deep navy......

Sheetrock!

We are moving along.....here are the latest photos.....exterior being stained and we have serious progress on the inside...SHEETROCK......almost there.

the fun part

The kitchen is the best part about building a house- and we are lucky to have Dave Melancon of Sundance Woodworking making our cabinets.  It is amazing to see how pieces of wood become beautiful pieces of furniture- talk about a true talent.   He has been a huge help and even drew the entire kitchen out on the floor of our "beach house in progress" so we could get a feel for space and scale.  Stay tuned for more photos as the kitchen takes shape.

these are called cut sheets...... looks like there is some math involved here- not a good place to be off on calculations :)

paint progress

The painting has begun......did I mention that it is supposed to rain tomorrow :(

paint problem solved

I found it- a couple more trips to the paint store and success.  I found this picture on the web..... Cliffside Gray by Benjamin Moore- I love it with crisp white trim.......can't wait to see it on our house...

exterior stain chaos

Its time to pick a stain for the outside......help! Apparently there are a few ways to go.  Bleaching stain which gives the house a "weathered" look- I was all over it at first. It looks great when it first goes on, but as time passes, it just looks old- too weathered......not for me.  That leaves me with semi-solid stain and solid stain.  The brand that is most commonly used is Cabot.  I have gotten to know the guys at the paint store really well this week.  To get a sample, you need to buy a gallon of the semi-solid stain.  Lets just say, I have built up a small collection.  I want a soft, silvery, gray-blue.  Seems easy right? Wrong.  Some of the blue samples look purple in the bright sunlight- others look too drab. I have narrowed it down to two- seacoast gray and sky gray- liking sky gray the best.....take a look...

the color changes a lot once you see it in the sunlight. .  Looks like a trip down to the Cape to paint a sample on the house.....

On a brighter note, the color scheme for inside is coming along nicely- I found this picture which is exactly what I am going for:

Making progress....