Projects, projects, projects....

I am so glad that the weather is starting to get warm. Around our house that means.... Time to start projects!! First on the agenda is putting hardwood in the living room. We have it in the entire downstairs, only not in the living room. The carpet has become rather nasty. I think it must be the cheapest carpet ever. So, the plan this weekend is to rip out the carpet and the tile around the fireplace (also ugly) and put new tile around the fireplace and put in the hardwood. We are putting in some montauk black slate around the fireplace. We will be honing it ourselves. Once it is honed, it looks alot like soapstone. The original plan was to put up 1x2 honed cararra marble on the face and 3x6 honed cararra on the floor. It was impossible to find. Again, it was just me being picky... Mr. Hughes says "go to le michelle." Anyhow, he found a great deal on the slate and it looks great once we hone it and put a coat of wax over it. It has a great luster, not too shiny.

I also hope to work on a small project myself. I will be keeping baby Hughes out of the way most of the weekend, so Mr. Hughes can do the floors. But, I hope to squeeze in some work just for fun. I ordered some coffee sacks to turn into something fabulous and useful!

I 'll post photos with the finished products of our labor. Here is the before:

THE Cake Pedestal

Everyone in my family collects, but not me. I refuse to admit that I collect. But, I do have quite a few of the items that I like. Such as mercury glass, I have a table covered in it. And, I have a slight problem with black on cream advertising ware, especially Dundee Marmalade jars. I love them, I always buy them when I see them.

They are great, are they not? And useful too. They can be pots, pencil cups, toothbrush holders, etc.
But, one of my favorite things is ironstone. I adore it. Love the color, love the sound, love the feel, love it. It inspired the perfect cream that my cabinets will one day be. I really like the pieces I find that have a wonderful patina. There is one piece that I have coveted for awhile, a cake pedestal. Apparently they are rare and very expensive. I have never even seen one.... until now. That's right, Mr. Hughes brought me a wonderful cake pedestal with a lovely patina. It wasn't very expensive, probably because of the character adding chip on the base. We had a mini photo shoot today with my prize. Enjoy!

Kitchen

This is my second try at the whole blogging thing. I neglected my first blog while I was pregnant. But, I have a handsome, healthy baby boy, that is a direct result of my laziness! Now I am ready to get back in the game with a new blog. And, I am ready to finish what I have started in our kitchen. Our kitchen started out as one with maple cabinets with a honey finish, nickle hardware, stainless steel appliances, wood floors with a nutmeg finish, an awful "bubble" light, and blah Formica counters. My wonderful husband bartered website design for some incredible granite counters. I love them!! I think the name is Star White or Diamond White. They are beautiful! They are creamy white with flecks of warm greys and black. So, I thought, why stop there? Why not redo the whole kitchen in this not even 3 year old house? I then proceeded (with the help of Mr. Hughes) to install a white subway tile back splash. It looks good, especially for our first tiling project. Then, we got rid of the AWFUL bubble light... can you tell I hated that thing? Bugs would fly up there and die. Gross! So, we installed a new large schoolhouse light and installed a coordinating pendant in the breakfast nook. The pendant could be a little larger, but we are living with it for now. Now I am ready to paint the cabinets. Our kitchen is small. So I want to brighten the cabinets with creamy white paint on the uppers and possibly paint the lowers grey like this:


I have been toying with idea for some time. I am concerned how the grey will look next to our floors. I am getting the itch to paint them soon. The real project is going to be keeping the little one out of the way!!