Sunday, December 25, 2011

~ Merry Christmas & Home Tour~

 

 

Hi y’all…..just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas….

Here are a few pictures from inside our home….

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close up of the topiary~

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Our teeny tiny living room tree…..we love it and think it’s the right size for us….

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Top of mantle….

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Dining table arrangement330

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A peek in the kitchen~

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Lots of goodies in here ~

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Christmas in the office

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{I think this one ended up being my favorite tree }

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Living room tree…once more. 

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Our Christmas mantle…..

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That concludes the tour…

WISHING ALL OF YOU…..

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A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

{ us trying to get the dogs to smile, while Mister snaps the picture…ha-ha….  }

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♥ Mister, Me, Cooper & Emma

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Monday, November 28, 2011

~ Back for the Holidays ~

 

Howdy!

I can’t believe it’s been over 3 months since my last post.  How is everyone?  I hope y’all had a nice Thanksgiving.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with our friends and family.  There has been so much going on here, I don’t know where to start so…..let’s just peek inside and see a little Christmas décor. 

Our front door wreath….this is my first time working with mesh….it needs a little tweaking but I wanted something that would withstand the weather.   This also reflects what's in store inside.  Loving fresh greenery & red polka dots this year.  =)

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Our living room…..so far.  I removed our hounds tooth pillows, added polka dot ribbon to 2 Target pillows and made a swag to hang above the sofa.

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Another view and you may notice the pretty lady in this photo….her name is Emma and I will introduce you to her soon.   You can also see our new rug. 

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A cozy chair~

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Have y’all started decorating? I know people who are done…completely finished decorating and shopping.  I have not done any shopping and I will be decorating all the way up to Christmas Eve.  =)  So, what do y’all think? 

More coming soon!

Have a beautiful day~  Jessica

Monday, August 22, 2011

~ Living Room Reveal ~

 

Well…..our living room furniture finally arrived!   I’ve been working to try and freshen up our space.

Here is how our living room before…..

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We installed the wood floors and built the fireplace surround last year. 

You can read about it here

This is what our living room looks like today~

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Another view…

I’m currently looking for a small table to put between the chair and sofa…

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The fireplace surround…I still love it.  ♥

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This large chair now sits in the left corner of our living room.  I put an old Singer sewing machine behind to act as a sofa table. 

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The plan was to make our living space feel more open…..I think we accomplished that…..the view outside to the deck and gardens is no longer blocked by a love seat…..by choosing the chair & ottoman….we didn’t loose any seating. 

{ That’s Cooper, peeking in….he is very much an inside dog. I hid his bed for this photo shoot } 

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I plan on building a new coffee table and adding a rug, very soon….I’m thinking sea grass or something along that family….I think we need some texture in here.  I would also love to add some add some curtains….maybe?  But I’m not sure. Any opinions? =)

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I’m linking to

BNOTP for Met Monday

&

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday

Please let me know what y’all think.  =) 

Thanks so much for coming by!

Have a beautiful day~  Jessica

Friday, August 5, 2011

Fertilizer Friday 8.5.11

 

Happy Friday…it’s time to flaunt our gardens Tootsie style.  =)

Tootsie Time

Our garden is holding up pretty well despite our drought.  It’s alive at least…but not blooming like usual. 

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Our pathway is starting to fill in nicely~

This photo was taken @ sunrise 7.23.11

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The lantana and verbena love the heat

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This photo was taken at dusk, last night…..I love our little windmill~

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Our wisteria is in need of a trim….it looks like it is going eat our house.  =)

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Hope you enjoyed your visit @ The Cozy Kettle!  Please visit Tootsie and all the Fertilizer Friday participants

Have a beautiful weekend~  Jessica

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sneak Peek & A Question~

 

 

Hi friends~

As I explained in my last post….we are doing some projects on our home.  As most of you know….a snow ball effect starts usually because of 1 thing.    

This is how is ALL started.  About 3 weeks ago Mister & I picked out this sofa and had it customized.  It is a creamy chenille fabric w/hounds tooth accent pillows.  We are also getting a chair and ottoman.  Something we have always wanted.  Our living furniture has had it….in fact it’s been had for about 2 years.  But, we wanted to wait…..now that we are empty nesters…..we felt the time was right.  We are also hoping it will help our little space feel more open.

( new sofa coming soon )

this is a picture of a picture…so it’s a bad pic…sorry

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Then I kick in to gear and want to get several projects done before our new furniture gets here. 

Here are a few before pictures of our kitchen.  I guess you now know why you haven’t ever seen my kitchen on this blog…lol. 

About 5 years ago we added the tumbled travertine backsplash and new countertops….I still love them very much!!  But the cabinets ( yuck ) are 33 year old varnished orange colored wood with a weird wood grain.  Not my style and no matter how much I scrubbed and cleaned…I never felt like they were clean. 

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Particularly this side….they always just felt ( to me ) like they were just dirty and had all those years of greasy goo.  ewwww.

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We are going to call this the “ almost complete stage “. I just started putting the hardware on this morning and I’m not finished…so please look beyond that and I was in a super big hurry this morning to get this posted. So the pics are not the best.  =)

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Much better right?  After 4 hours of cleaning, sanding, using gloss off then priming. Add in the hours it took for 2 coats of oil base   ( a day apart, each ) this is the SO FAR.  =)   A much brighter…cleaner…fresher kitchen.  YAY. 

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Now for my question….

Please keep in mind… this is also the so far.

Here is our breakfast room.   ( This table….will be stained this weekend & I plan to distress the chairs a bit….stay tuned for that )

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The mirror was bought when we had that overly huge table and I plan to put it in our guest room.  ( that’s another project in the works….yes….I’m crazy. 

My Mister now calls this table the Barbie Jessica sized table….I’m not quite 5’3”  but My Mister is all of 6’3”.  hee hee.  But, I like the shape and the legs….so it’s staying.

I’m getting to the question…please bear w/me.  =)

See how close it is to the living area?  Last year when we installed the wood floors throughout most of the house ( except, kitchen, breakfast & bathroom oh and the entry )  I really wanted to have them in the breakfast room and kitchen.  It’s very obvious that we need new floors in the breakfast room and kitchen.  My Mister said we should get ceramic tile….like the tumbled travertine we both adore.  However, I wanted the wood floors to continue into these 2 rooms. 

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We all but decided on having them installed TOMORROW……until I panicked last night and said….will it be too dark? Am I making the right decision?  There is no doubt in my mind that the wood floors will look great up against the cream cabinets but….will they look nice in the breakfast room? 

That is my question and honestly I need some opinions today…please…please....as our floor guy is on stand by for tomorrow and materials will be purchased about 7:00pm tonight.  If we decide to go w/ceramic….we can still get it done but the expense is greater so we will have to wait a bit. 

I would so greatly appreciate any advise from anyone reading my blog.  =) 

Stay tuned….more coming soon. 

Have a beautiful day~  Jessica

Monday, July 25, 2011

Where I’ve Been….

 

I’ve been MIA I know…..it feels like we have been running around like crazy people.   In fact, I think we have been running around like crazy people.  =)

So. This is what has been going on.

This table….was staged @ the house we just remodeled & listed to sell.

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I’m happy to report….is now in our breakfast room.

& this table….is now living at our friends house. 

I loved this table and the chairs made me swoon but it was just to big for our space.

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That also means { and I seriously do not want to jinx it}….but as of now the option period is over on this property and it’s scheduled to have new owners sometime around August 12th.

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We accepted the 3rd offer after 25 days on the market.  We feel truly blessed and super thankful. 

Meanwhile, my Mister & I have been busy here @ The Cozy Kettle…..the new ( to us ) table will be getting a make over and our living room will be undergoing some changes very soon, too.  He has also forced me encouraged me to start riding our bicycles again…..to the tune of about 6 miles a day…..my bones hurt. =)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Hugs~  J.