Intermission: Autumn 2013

With the chaos of ripping our house apart & piecing it back together again slower than desired, it's easy to get a little lost, shucked, raw. Then we wake up & see something again as if for the first time, but with the warm comfort of HOME in the mix... and smile. With winter on our coattails, and hunkering down again for the long sleep indoors, there's a few nooks & crannies we want to remember from this dwindling time of season...

Phase II. Kitchen.e. (FINAL)

Kitchen:
(FINAL... for now):
'Twas a long road , folks. Looking at the timeline we get weepy... a year + a bit ago we were far from realization of this bright & cheerful place we share so much family-time.

Progress:
Man-built island in & complete with electrical, doors, and hardware. Drawer interiors organized. The Nelson cigar pendant found a home. Pop-inspired decor complete. Hoorah!

Still to Come:
Island lights:
We are still lukewarm about the brushed-bronze Schoolhaus pendants, finding them in competition with the Nelson (nook) & vintage milk glass (sink) ... keeping an eye out for a handsome vintage pair that will satiate our picky palette & craving for soul pieces.

Nook:
Large incoming Artpiece will inhabit the S wall, which is now occupied by a desk from the waterdamaged Library.

Tweaking:
Smart us made the fixed elements timeless & neutral, not more than changing accessories, fixtures/hardware, some paint/furniture needed to make new design. We love that we could change it up for a few hundred in a weekend... us fickle superficialist!
Currently the decor is period-compatable and fun, but after a year-long journey of renovations we are feeling more grounded & seasoned than fun. Ideas into a second incarnation have been afoot, radiating a bolder more mature-fun personality (like this pretty lil Kitchen here) than the youthful vibe we are emminating now.
But... no need to continue talking about possible-future-tense (accentuating our being crazed from lack of sleep & dwell greedy), though... if we choose to stay here in SK, this will incubate further. We'll pull ourselves into the present & rejoice with the Kitchen final product (for now). Yum yum.

Timeline: Kitchen

Intermission: Winter @ 619

BEFORE

Reflecting upon January 2012... we remember this fun teary-downy stuff just about to commence in the "Kitchen" (BEFORE).

Gnarly, eh?

AFTER

When we make the time to think about it, it's incredible we've turned our neglected pile of house into this (AFTER) by simply focusing our superpowers (and coffee, let us not forget coffee played a starring role... all hail!). This reminds us that we are capable of surviving process, and can do just about anything as the creators of our life experience. We are humbled. 

So... with this re-affirmation in mind (and the daily boost of living in an almost-completely complete Kitchen), we set onwards... well... in a bit we will...

Winter, Phase II is about to kick ass on the prairie, and I missed my method to cope last year during the part where we ripped our house open renovations... craftiness. The teenager and man have their own secret methods of endurance (first-person shooter videogames, rampant witticisms, and capital B Beer).

This house is happily re-charging until February. 

Phase II: Kitchen Island.b.

Kitchen Island:
Phase II complete on the Island... yup yup she's a creamy shade of teal.

Boom.

Doors + hardware still to come...

Here's some more life in the hub:

Phase II: Kitchen Island.a.

Kitchen Island:
Phase I, complete.
The man's craftsmanship is stellar as always. Me adores my carpenter: loaded with love... and patience.
Wood conditioning, paint, doors/hardware, electrical, lights, and install yet to commence. But... hoo damn!

Intermission: In da House!

Projects on the-go:
Master Bedroom:
Remaining decor to resemble a living-space. It's kinda like a beige-tainted carpeted cave with AMAZING luxurious flocked velvet pooling teal curtains right now... difficult to sleep in without personal effects smattered about. There's an echo. Seriously.

South West Bedroom:
As a guest-dwelling for the Holiday influx of jet-setter pals, we are rushing to slap this one together! Giddyup.

Kitchen:
Island construction & lighting on the way! One step closer to completion of our hub. Then, we be done Kitchen construction (but not decor, as we're already craftily brewing "Changes: Phase III").

We're in the kitchen... a lot. With Winter break coming up, this is only to increase with cometh of the foodie.

We're enlightened bah humbug folk, who hate don't like appreciate Christmas et al. Perhaps due to the culture of disposable materialism destroying our planet? Or maybe because our birth-family relationships are annoyingly difficult laden with bullying emotional baggage due to us being so exceptionally different from them awesome. But we LOVE anyway, so embarked upon finding ways in expressing our time-off-work-and-school-in-Winter together that did not involve over-consumption of material goods to express familial guilt love. We settled to run parallel the trend, and initiate over-consumption of perishable goods to fill the emotional hole of not being unconditionally supported by our birth-families. It sounds terribly sad... but shed not a tear for us dear sensitive reader... we eat bacon wrapped lobster and drink Starbucks until we are at the speed of hummingbirds... there is no room for sadness.

My OCD (depicted above) in action, creating digital menu's for the gastronomical festivities. We splurge on local delicacies (wild boar-ham, northern pike, farm-eggs, local wines) in tandum with the exotic (like seafood! we are miles + a mountain range away from the ocean), with Starbucks (ode to the culture gods) at the helm.

This will be our third annual celebration, and FIRST in the Kitchen we built together... with an Island. Exiting!

Dining Room:
Oh yeah bitches. Wallpapered and trimmed and painted... yet. This beauty is supposed to be ready for the festivities. Keep fingers crossed.

Later:
Updates and visuals forthcoming.
Until then... here's some random eye candy.