HOW ABOUT JUST THE KITCHEN

...because even though I have been here 4 and a half months, there is still so much to do.  Boxes are still stacked in the garage and in some cases "to the ceiling." I actually could SEE my EASTER decorations in a tub but there were 4 more stacked on top of them.  So, what did I do? you ask.. I used my ingenuity, imagination, and resourcefulness, brain and hit the Dollar Store for a couple of things, scoured the house for whatever HAD been unpacked and we "Winged It"
! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * !
But I digress...this is supposed to be about the kitchen  so here goes.

After you have come in the front door you make a right turn and you see these pictures.  Would you believe they have hung in every kitchen in the last 6 or 7 houses.  The one reads, 

"Pillsbury Flour Mills Company."  Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cool. 'eh

Then, make another right and you see the Eating Area.  Now I don't want to say it is "roomy" but I have, besides the table and chairs, 4 small cabinets and a built-in desk.  The 8 x 10 braided rug I had in my old great room is under the table.

Besides the Bay Window there are 2 large windows on the side

of the room.  Even though this home is far larger then the old, wall space is short so I had to be inventive in finding places for things I want to display. So, as "they" say:  "If you can't go out, go UP."

So that's what I did... 

Over the Bay Window...

and over the side windows!

I picked  up this little cabinet to display a set of miniature Transferware Dishes...

But...

remember that darling Great Grand Son I have...

Well, he likes to put spoons, measuring cups and what-all in there.

So much for my little dishes...

I saw a display similar to this on PINTEREST and couldn't wait to adapt it to what I have...I love it and get so many good ideas.

And in this corner we have a little pine cupboard that I had shipped back from Cape Cod.

(How do you like my idea of a SOUVENIR?)

So now we are looking at the other end of this kitchen.  Did I mention this room is 22 feet long!

And Oh, that Island...I am in love!

Over the island I HAD to have a Pot Rack...well

maybe a cup rack is how it turned out.  LOL

Here is really the working area, who? me? WORK in the kitchen???

I thought it was just a place for more decorating...HA!

I had to show you this, close up...Doesn't the area by the phone always become a huge mess?  Well mine ALWAYS was a mess

until I brought out this little shelf,that used to be in the bathroom over the faucet, to hold all the "stuff."

This is the "impossible" corner...I have had about 5 or 6 different things in this corner...Hang in there with me...I will get it right some day!

What to put above the cabinets you ask?  

Well you can see what I have. 

And you can see I need some more!

OOPS!  The one on the frig. needs to be move up!  LOL

This old cabinet used to be in the hall in CA.  Here it fits nicely in the kitchen holding my transferware. 

Here's a "close-up" of the "old" Cookie Jar that was my MIL's.

She had it on her kitchen table (back in the early 50's when I first met my DH) filled with pretzel sticks.  

I kept it that way, with pretzel sticks, for many, many years.

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Well, dear friends, I hope you enjoyed the rather disjointed tour of my new home. It does take forever to get a place the way you like to see it but if I can do it, so can you!

Leave me a comment if you don't have to run off and decorate some area of your home!  

I read them all and try to respond!

Thanks, and yes, winter will be over soon...

I guessing July! 

   

WHY Didn't Someone TELL ME this was going to be SO HARD!!!

So here I am in the State of Minnesota in the middle of winter! WHAT WAS I THINKING? It has been about 4 months since I arrived in this frozen tundra and am beginning to wonder  "what happened to my plans to move in the SUMMER?" Well, truth be told, the house sold in a couple of days and you don't turn down a "good buyer" so my only choice was  TO MOVE. I really don't think I was prepared for what was to be my "view" for the next  several (4!) months Here's what I mean

This the view straight out my front door!  

Wow!  A little different than California!

Well, it finally starting melting.   Before this it was over 30" high in the center of the deck

Here it snowed (again!) before I got to take the pic of the wonderful, almost melted snow.

"GOING

"GOING..."

"GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But, the snow wasn't/isn't my only situation:

This is how the lower level looks right now...I thought I had cleared out, decluttered, threw away and donated a ton of stuff!  Seems I brought a lot of it with me!! 8-(

This is another corner with old dining room table, patio chairs and table...

and more "STUFF!"

Just a little bit more...LOL 

But don't be dismayed, here are a few "snippets" of some of the

corners and spaces I have been working on...

A corner fireplace which certainly bosses me around when it comes to furniture arrangement!

You may remember this cabinet from the kitchen in my other house...

Now it is in the dining area of the great room

And this painted (remember? It was orange Knotty Pine from a consignment shop)

hutch which is also in the great room...

This is a great, already distressed, wall cabinet I found here at a marvelous 

"HomeGoods/T. J. Maxx." store.  Haven't finished this yet...can't find some of my 

"STUFF!!!"

Stop laughing out there.  I know, I know!)

This is in my office/den.  You can see how "undone" things are...can't close the doors cause the cords are going out the front instead of the back!  LOL

This is a corner of my kitchen.  When I do a "real" house tour you will see this house is arranged almost like my last house.

Love this little framed picture:  It says:

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE CHOCOLATE

Amen, to that...be right back...NEED some...

These are the windows at the side of my eating area.  (Sorry it is so dark, but you get the idea)  The walls in this home were stark white when I moved in; not my style so I had the entire place painted.  The color is Valspar "Bamboo Reed" and it looks "cloudy" in these pics...it is really a little more intense.  I am using white accessories in the kitchen...as you can see in the next shot

This is a little built-in desk (honestly, sometimes a dumping ground) in the kitchen.

I had the shelves built by my new "Handyman" Mike.  Not finished with this area either...lamp laying down, bulletin board not hung...it will happen...

But you need to know WHY I came back to my original "HOME"...

This is my Beautiful Family (minus one, my only Grandson is a Senior in college and could not make it home that weekend!)  One granddaughter suggested we needed to "photoshop" him in... HUH, what the heck is she talking about...if you want to know about computers, just ask your grandkids!  HA!

I have never had so much fun (or worked so hard getting settled) since I have been here.  This move should have been many years earlier, but "it is what it is" and we have been trying to make up for lost time.  The whole family has helped me so much, even spending days here helping me unpack, moving furniture and flattening boxes and putting things away...

at least so I can get through the rooms that are sort of "un-done"...ahem...you know what I mean!

Thanks you to all my followers and commenters, 

and you can know I READ EVERY COMMENT 

and try to answer...

Just for fun, leave me another...