Howard House hits magazine stands

 The big secret has been revealed!  Our house was featured in the July issue of This Old House magazine.  I begged and pleaded and I am so very grateful to the editors who chose our home!!!

Junk Style

The Settee, coffee table and 1950s metal chair are all trash and treasure finds. The rocking chairs were $5 on clearance, the small table is from Ikea and was painted to match the chair. 

For years I've been scavenging trash and treasure days and have amassed a rag tag collection of benches and various porch worthy pieces. I figured now was a good time to try and pull those items into a cohesive collection.  So I present $15 worth of porch furniture, some paint, an indoor/outdoor rug from Menards, a few cushions and a pallet 13 star flagged by my teenage son who knows my love of Revolutionary War history.

1950's Metal lawn chair that was sanded and painted colonial red.   The Revolutionary War pallet flag was made by son.   

Shabby Chic Find of the Week

On a failed genealogy mission to Redfield, SD we found an old medicine cabinet in a local antique shop.   Now my spice rack.

Replace mirror or leave?

Back to work!

Well after a major push last summer to paint the first floor rooms we lost a bit of steam and are just starting up again.

2014 Rooms Updated

1.  Interior Hallway painted
2.  Kitchen Painted
3.  Breakfast Room "Little Dining Room" Painted, (Oak Floors found!)
4.  Living Room Painted
5. 2nd Floor Bathroom gutted and redone.
6. 3rd floor bathroom, painted.
7. Interior Hallway Painted, railings fixed.

So What's Left?

1. Dining Room
2. Kitchen
3. Rebuild the buffet upper cabinets
4. Send the lead glass windows in to be fixed.
5. Pantry (Current kitchen)
6. 1st Floor Bathroom (I hate vinyl)
7. Open the Stairwell 
8. Fix the 2nd floor maple floors (Thanks grams)
9. Rebuild the linen closet (Have the original doors)
10. Fix the crumbling foundation. (Yikes)
11. Electrical (oh that's a given)
12. New Garage or something!
13. Refinish the oak floors on 1st floor.
14. Gut the Kitchen and Bathroom on 3rd Floor for the master bathroom.
15. Roof & Overhangs
16. Chimney
17. Paint the house.
18. Picket Fence

Our annual family holiday of "Trash and Treasure days" has come and gone and we have found many new Treasures out of the town trash piles.

My favorite is an old metal kitchen cabinet the eldest and I found.   With a lot of scrubbing of some unknown purple substance and a bit of sanding we now have a desperately needed pantry cabinet.  Keep tossing out your antiques people! I'll keep fixing them up.

All Manner of Nasty!

I think I have thing for this color. 

Great Grandma's Iris bed has bloomed! Long Live the Victorian Garden.

Great Grandma's Purple Iris, Robson's lilacs, grandma Dorothy's Lilly's of the Valley and wood violets.

Flowers Flowers Everywhere!

The Snow Balls have been here since the house was built

Bleeding Hearts

I"m obsessed with Peony's

Bleeding hearts everywhere!

Road Trip to SD - Love old Barns

We took a trip out to the farm in SD to see my ill grandmother. It was such a nice day I took the eldest out to the farm I spent a few years on.  The house is sadly gone, but the barns are still standing on the great great grandparents farm.

Not exactly standing, perhaps leaning.

Last Day of 2014, Celebrating 100 Years

Our Rescue Mutt at Howard House

100 years ago my great grandparents built this lovely old home. I'm so pleased with how far we have come and cannot wait to see where we take it in the future.

Raise a toast to: Old Houses, Old Dogs and Old People.

Grandma's Toast to 2015