beautiful – Barnwood and Baked Goods

Kitchen reveal!

So…it’s been awhile sorry about that. We have been rushing to finish all of the details on the kitchen remodel that we have been doing on a budget and all on our own! I can’t wait for you all to see the transformation it’s amazing!

Our kitchen was original to the house built in the 1950’s by my husbands grandfather. Needless to say all of the changes have been made with a lot of thought and respect for this family home. It means a lot to us to be able to update the home that his family gathered in for so many wonderful years. I didn’t get a true before…my husband jumps right in! Lol but here is a before that shows a bit of the layout.

Once cabinets were removed and we started measuring for stock cabintry we realized the windows are oddly offset, and the previous cupboards had been built very big to fill that space. Our budget wasn’t flexible enough for custom cabinets so we opted for a trendy look without any upper cabinetry! Risky but worth it you guys I love the look and feel of the new kitchen!

We added a new peninsula workspace, a soffet for additional lighting, and corner shelving.

There are a few details left to tend to they include drawer pulls, roman shades on the windows and the microwave hood vent has to be installed over the stove, but with the holidays creeping up fast we’re choosing our battles. Lol!

I’d love to know your thoughts on our project! Thanks for following along!

Bright Walls Jackson

This past weekend my sister came into to town for a visit, and while she was here she and my Mom, and our Aunt decided to visit the Bright Walls Festival taking place in downtown Jackson MI.

Bright walls is an art festival that brings muralist from all over the world together into one place where they paint buildings for a week. The Jackson Young Professionals group got involved in a downtown beautification effort, and bright walls was born.

I have to say I didn’t know exactly what to expect but this was a fantastic festival to visit. They had live music, food vendors, and all of the art was in walking distance making it easy to take it all in. I especially love the giant black pigeon it’s very striking! Here are some pictures from when we visited and then a few from yesterday as things are wrapping up this week! Enjoy!

Saturday….

In addition to the featured artiat displays there was also a local artist mini mural contest,it was awesome to see everyone working on their projects.

Today…

Fall Inspiration

I love this time of year, although… Michigan is having a very summer-y fall so far. Today is over 80F!! But, the leaves are turning, the fall decorating has started, and I’m starting to prepare for our annual Halloween party (one of my favorite parties of the year).

I’ve been wading through my instagram pages lately admiring all of the fabulous fall decor projects. The trend this year definitely leans toward the softer colors, mauvy pinks, deep purples, and white are making regular appearances on the front porches of the seasons style-makers. Here are some of my faves, enjoy!

This pic is just gorgeous and so much like Fall in Michigan just gorgeous colors everywhere you look.

This was the first pic I found with the pink, purple combo that I used on my own front yard this season. I just love how pretty it is feminine fall.

The blues and greens are pretty too and such a compliment to the front door!

Again these colors were really calling me this year and look at the dainty candle lanterns. The hint of gold is perfect!

All and all I’d say everyone is having a lot of fun being creative this Fall. I’m going to keep working on the party prep. More to come on that soon! Thanks for reading!

Slow Blogger Here…

It has been a whirlwind year. I feel like 2018 now way more than half finished has seriously blown past me.

The garden center attempted to stay open all year for the first time in our history and although we saw a few familiar faces now and again, we have decided that for January and Early February in the future we will likely be closed. This gives Andy and I a much needed mental and physical break before hitting the busy stride of the Spring/Summer Season.

I have done a little cooking and baking but really not much. I’m thinking about working through a couple of cooking or baking series for you all… maybe a fall cookie week, or eggs many ways ( I love eggs)… I’m still kicking around some ideas, and am open to suggestions if you have any. Otherwise my poor kitchen has been a revolving door of the plain old usual, nothing fun to report for now.

This Wednesday my husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. We made our annual trip to Las Vegas for some fun. I’ll put together a separate trip post to share with you. I also have a couple of reviews on some of the places we visited while we were there that I’ll share too.

This past weekend was the annual Jackson County Relay For Life. Our team met our $1000 goal, and I am anxious for the final team meeting to see where the final tally lands for the event overall. It’s always a fun and inspiring time, and we really enjoy participating.

And, finally it’s PAGEANT WEEK! Our daughter Brianna is competing as a top ten finalist in the Jackson County Teen USA pageant and I could not be more excited for her! I love pageant week! She has rehearsal daily this week, and Friday night is the big night to cheer her on! She’s a bright beautiful girl and I’m sure she will do great!

My New Year’s resolutions are doing ok…. lol. I think I might actually be turning into a morning person believe it or not, I continue to work out fairly regularly, and now if I could jut make some time for some of my hobbies I’ll be a happy camper. I think that is all I have to report on for now. Let me know your thoughts about a cooking/ baking series for this fall I think if I provide myself with a specific thing to do it will force me to actually do it lol. I’ll post a vacay update, and those reviews soon. Thanks for continuing to support my blogging adventure! Bye for now!

Mantles with Mirrors Oh MY!!

Strolling through Instagram recently I’m seeing this fabulous trend of mirrors on mantles. I love the added architecture, and open feel it gives each room. Here are a few of my favorites, however the geometric mirror shared by @zevyjoy is to die for!! What do you think? Which is your fave?

My blog in update format…

I hate when I fall behind and have to blog in updates… I haven’t posted in a couple months as things have been crazy as usual so here it is the big update.

We hosted our annual Halloween party and it was a blast! We had a steampunk carnival theme and I was the ring master. A lot of fun was had by all and next year’s theme…drumroll…masquerade! I can’t wait! Here are a few pics from this year’s party!

Once past Halloween, my bff Amber and I had a couple of bff craft nights, we made college football themed door wreaths and in gearing up for Christmas we made gingerbread houses!

The garden center has been busy too! We hand make a huge selection of holiday wreaths and decorations! It’s my favorite season because the creative limitations are lifted!

I’m now in full blown Christmas panic trying to get everything finished before Christmas next Monday! Hope you’ve all had a fantastic holiday season! Here is a picture of the front porch decor, our visit to the community Christmas tree lighting, Nite Lights, and of course my Christmas tree. I’ll be posting more over the next several months! Happy Holidays everyone!