What a kitchen!

The Texas rains delayed a long awaited lunch at the beautiful country home of Lyndy Landlady but I was so glad we had waited for sunny weather. Rocking in the shade of her covered porch and gazing out over her pasture and woodlot made for a delightful afternoon.

But you want to see her kitchen!


Or do you want to sit out here a little longer?


Too early in the day for deer, I guess, so we might as well go inside.


The first thing you notice when you walk into Lyndy's kitchen is...well, I don't know. My eyes were trying to go everywhere at once - the sinks, the ceiling, the counters, the china. So I'll start with the sinks.

Yes, I said sinks. The main workhorse is a lovely copper farm sink, decorated with - what else - Texas stars.


A small bar sink, also star-studded copper, is near the stove in a counter between the kitchen and living room. Trust me here, I have sink envy!


Below: This bar, located on the back side of the farm sink counter, is in the formal dining area.


And while we're in this area, look up. A large copper square highlights the ceiling fan.



But really the copper is an extension of the kitchen ceiling decor. Oh, my. My photos just don't do the ceiling justice...plus I'm getting dizzy looking up!


So let's look at Lyndy's china at the far end of the kitchen eating area.


Outstanding.

A delicious, healthy lunch awaited but I just couldn't stop taking pictures. Lyndy's granite countertop GOES ALL THE WAY TO HER CEILING! Is not that divine?


The colors in the granite and the extra detailing puts this kitchen over the top!



And it wouldn't be a farmhouse kitchen without a huge walk-in pantry.



Lunch was delightful, as promised. Wish you could have been there, but oh, that's right. You weren't invited!

More darling details of Lyndy's house coming soon!

A stephome tour!

My stepmother Reetie picks up a paint brush at the front door of every house she moves into and doesn't put her paints down until she reaches the back door. She marks her territory better than any dog I've ever seen!

Reetie lives with my stepfather Wade, a sordid tale of lust, romance, confusion, cancer, dizzy spells, good food, and wine, mostly red! The following pictures are of their house in the hill country.

Finally, plants I can't kill!

You've alread seen this bathtub
but I wanted to show it again. I love it!

Yes, the headboard is painted on the wall.

Wade made this sofa table out of an old western twin bedstead.

These hanging windows separate the TV viewing area
from a sitting area with fireplace.

I love all the mirrors together.

Here's another cabinet I made. You stick your fingers
into the adjacent knotholes to open the doors.

And the sweetest doggie in the world...
except for mine, of course.

When is a seat not a seat?


When it's a bathtub!

My stepmother Rita never uses the tub in her master bath. In fact, she deems it an eyesore of gigantic proportions. For one thing, it's white, a non-color not used much in her wonderfully decorated home.


So Rita covered a cut-to-fit piece of plywood with padding and fabric and laid it over the tub. She then added adhesive Velcro to the side of the tub so she could attach a ruffle.


She added an abundance of colorful pillows to hide the facet.

Need to use the tub? It's all easily removed and stored in a closet or under a bed.

That Rita is clever. It runs in the family!

Curb-side crime!

Drive by junking, trash picking, dumpster diving − whatever you want to call it − doesn’t always work for me.

A couple of years ago I was garage sale-ing with my friend Joan when I found a bonanza of old lumber by a curb. It wasn’t discarded used privacy fencing. This lumber was the good stuff, old and weathered, time-worn and wonderful, big ol’ wide boards!

Some man was working through the pile and I asked him if I could pick some up. “Sure. Take all you want,” he said, so I hustled home, got IT Guy’s truck, and hurried back.

No man was around by that time but I donned my work gloves and started loading. I’d gotten the pickup halfway loaded when this woman tears out of the house yelling, “What are you doing?”

Long story short she let me take one load of lumber. She probably felt sorry for me because I was all red faced and teary eyed from getting caught stealing!

This cabinet is one of the pieces I made with the stolen boards. These pictures are my dusting photos. It's really embarrassing when one has to have photographs of one's junk in order to dust the shelves and put the crap things back where they belong.

Dusting photos sure make life simpler!

Repurposing a headboard

I saw it at a garage sale. A headboard with one finial broken off. No rails.

I liked the design and knew what I wanted to do with it but they wanted $7.50 for the dern thing. And it was broken! With no rails!

There were other garage sales calling our names so Renee and I left the headboard 'til later in the day. I knew it wouldn't sell in that condition and it didn't. In the end, the garage sale people took a dollar for it!

I carted my prize home. With a power compound miter saw I cut off the other finial and evened out the broken end. It only took seconds.


I taped off the square tubing and spray painted the ends. Not solid. More of a shabby paint job of black with brown showing through.


Then I turned the whole thing upside down and fastened some antiqued chains to it.

I never cook on Saturdays but I grilled shrimp in butter with garlic and served it over brown rice and peas (quick, easy, good) to bribe IT Guy into hanging my project for me.


And he did! I love my repurposed headboard/room divider.

What do you think?

Missy Redlover's home tour continues!

My friend Sie pointed out in the comments of the last Redlover post that although my photos are good, mere pictures can't possibly "convey the coziness and genuine warmth" of Missy Redlover's home. Ya gotta be there! And Sie's right.

But since you're not there, get ready for a super-long post and, as Paul Harvey says, "the rest of the story!"


Don't bother trying to count the Christmas trees in Missy's house because there won't be a prize for the correct amount - mainly because nobody knows the correct amount!


Missy's daddy made the children's picnic table.


Stop right here. Notice something absolutely darling on this entryway wall?



No? Then here's a closeup of the darling detail.


Missy decorates all the bedrooms for Christmas.



This tree is decorated with Missy's mothers costume jewelry on the garlands...


...with the premier piece on the topper bow.


This next piece of art is a true gem! Missy made it from more of her mother's jewelry. Isn't it the greatest?




She even decorates the bathrooms!


I hope you enjoyed Missy's tour as much as I did. She gave me some wonderful ideas and even invited us back to see her house without all the Christmas things...

...but it will still be red. After all, it's Missy Redlover's house!