lighting

So, we got one of the those huge Ikea lampshades off ebay, since they only seem to have the small ones in our closest stores (Boston and Montreal).  The plan was (still is, since we can't afford to replace it) to paint it a bright red-orange, like this.  But we didn't realize quite how big it was until it arrived...

It's goofy but I actually love it, despite the fact that (forgive me, Grampa) it looks like a giant wicker cervical cap.

So, that's for over the dining room table, and then I'm hoping to eventually get a beautiful, big Noguchi for over the tv area, although I might switch them around.  Bobo's never liked the Noguchis, but I will always  love them...

What do you think?

xoxo

the kitchen drawers...

... are in!

Facing east...

... and west (with the 1700s barn and a peek of the view beyond :)  The sink will be on the left, the dishwasher in the middle and the range on the right.

These are the cabinet pulls we'll be putting in, courtesy of Ikea:

Which will match the (Ikea) stove and (Ikea) fridge, in the hopes that none of them will stand out much :)

I really wanted these pulls (click the link and swoon), but they're twice as much as the Ikea ones, and since we'll need 28 for the kitchen alone, I ordered them for the bedroom closet, instead -- much more reasonable!

There's so much to do this week; the plan is for everything but the floors to be done by the end of the day Friday (!).  I can't wait to see it all painted, so we have a sense of the space without all of the gray drywall.  And tomorrow morning we're going to talk to the floor expert at the local paint store so we can make a real plan for finishing them.  Can you believe we're almost there?  I can't!

xoxo

** Edited to add:  all the latest posts (and the interior) are so gray, aren't they?  I hope it will be different -- warmer -- with a coat of paint!  xx

firsts

The first snow and my first piece of mail at the barn, a magazine whose colors echo the landscape right now: blue-gray, mushroom-brown, white and a bit of gold.  I love the winter here. 

Stockholm/Vermont

 The cabinets are installed, although the drawers still need to go in.  But now you can see what the kitchen will look like -- we're so close!

Those are the kitchen and bedroom closet drawers in the foreground.

Here's a view into the pantry, with our kitchen sink on the floor there -- it got broken, so we'll need to make another trip down to Ikea -- probably next weekend.

Looking down the hall into our bedroom (that's the door to the mechanical room down at the end).

We hope to have everything but the floors done by the end of next weekend... sooooon!

xoxo

two things

Bobo and Renee

 1)  Front door!  Not sure what color it will be yet, but still, front door!  With glass!

 2)  CABINETS!!!  No drawers yet (they come tomorrow), but cabinets!  Eeeeeeek!  That's the bathroom cabinet on top there...  so excited!

2.5)  !!!!!!!

xoxo

upstairs

The spare room's coming along...!

I love it that we were able to keep the beams and the metal-thingies-can't-remember-what-they're-called-but-old-versions-of-cables  :)

And no need to worry about floors here -- luckily, the previous owner saved the old barn boards.

xx

floors

What I'd like to do:

From Living Etc, October 2011

Would love to have that muted tone -- a little brown, a little gray, but no orange or yellow.  I fool myself into thinking that it might actually be pretty practical, especially with our light-colored dogs and their endless shedding... what do you think?

Living Etc, November 2011

This one is similar but definitely has a little more warmth.  I'd really prefer something like the first picture, but I suspect that if we can get the floors to look like this (above) we'll be lucky.

And so then I think, should we just go with a dark walnut stain?  Warm but with black undertones, instead of orange or red...

Living Etc, November 2011

Help!

ps.  I've I mentioned before how much I love Living Etc?  Hands down my favorite design magazine...

wood

The floors are in, though they're covered now so we can finish everything else up before they're treated.  We're still trying to decide what to do, exactly -- torn between keeping them very natural and warm, staining them a darker color, or pickling them for a white-washed effect.  They're Southern Yellow Pine with a gorgeous grain... what should we do with them?

above the roof

On Saturday Tai took us up in the cherry picker so we could see the view from up there.  It's 'stick season' now -- the time between the bright colors of changing leaves and the quiet beauty of snow -- and though it can be gloomy on a gray day, when the sun is shining the varying layers of brown are nothing but beautiful.

Luther and Tai were finishing up some repairs when we got there.  You can see where the rotting woodshed once stood and where we need to do a lot of patching!

From across the road, looking north to east.

 On the way up.

We may put glass in the cupola one day, but for now the windows stay boarded up.  I'm glad about this because I hate the thought of birds trying to fly through.

The courtyard (left to right:  milk house, the former cow barn and the 1700's barn) and the Adirondacks beyond.

 120 year old slate.

It was so cool up there!

Pigeons :)

More tomorrow!

xoxo