New Uses for Old Things

When I decided to sell my grandparent's dining room furniture, it was a tough decision.  I knew that it wasn't incredibly expensive antique furniture dating from the 1700s, but it was still beautiful furniture that had been in my family for over 70 years.

Before I listed the table, chairs, buffet, and tea cart on Craigslist, I decided I would keep the china cabinet.  That way I could pass it along to one of my children if they ever wanted to use it in their own homes.  I am happy to report that our old dining room table and chairs have found a very happy home.  The couple who bought them on Craisglist was kind enough to send me photos of the table and chairs in their dining room, and it looks amazing, so I know they will enjoy it for many years to come!

Because I had a new china cabinet on the way, which you can read about here, I knew the old one couldn't remain in the dining room.  So I started looking around our house to see where I could put our old china cabinet.

One day, while lying in bed, I realized that the wall between our closet and our bathroom was the perfect spot for it.  The more I thought about it, the more excited I got about moving it in to our bedroom.  I could use it to store linens, almost like a linen press, and some of the special things that had been shoved in our closet for too long, like a collection of scarves and gloves from my grandmother and mother.  Now, with easy access I would maybe wear some of these pretty pieces.


 

And I would simply relocate some of my Beatrix Potter collection so that I could enjoy them everyday when I get up each morning.

They seem pretty happy in their new location too.  Mrs. Rabbit is fixing something yummy for dinner, and I spy butter and a pitcher of milk being carried by a certain kitty cat in the background.

Having the china cabinet in our bedroom also allows me to display some vintage linens, like the crocheted popcorn bedspread that my grandmother or great grandmother made.  And while cleaning out my parent's house, I lucked in to an old Ivory Soap laundry sack that no one else wanted, so I've folded it and placed it on top of the bedspread.  I may eventually turn it into a table runner or a pillow, but for now it will live here in the cabinet.

I've also put some pretty soaps, lotions, and bath salts inside the cabinet and I really love how it gives me easy access to things while still looking pretty enough for display.

I'm really glad that I decided to keep this cabinet since it was something my grandparents purchased together and enjoyed for all of those years.  And I love that it provides me with some extra storage space in our bedroom, for free!

Have you repurposed a piece of furniture and turned it into something useful in your own home?

Bedlam

I've shown you my bedroom and the bed my dad made before, but it was quite awhile ago.  There's a reason for that, you see I don't make my bed very often, so the photo ops in my bedroom are few and far between.

The definition for the word bedlam is...

–noun

 

1.  a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.

2.  Archaic . an insane asylum or madhouse.

Sometimes both of these definitions fit this room perfectly.  It is the place where we rush around getting ready in the morning, sometimes at 4:45 am on the days Mr. Tide goes into the city for work.  And I think that anyone who has to get up at 4:45 am is a bit insane, so that makes this room meet the qualifications for an insane asylum or madhouse.

Some might say that it's a place of uproar and chaos too, since I choose not to make the bed each day, preferring to roll out of bed and leave the rumpled mess of sheets and blankets behind.

Growing up, we made our beds every day.  It was one of our chores, and we did it dutifully each morning.  We would wake up, put our feet on the floor, and pull the bedspread up in one fell swoop.  I could make a bed that even a drill sergeant would have been proud of.

My mother loved a neat house and beds that looked as though no one had really ever slept in them.  She wasn't mean or harsh in having us make our beds but instead taught us the fine art of making a good bed.  This meant that our home was always welcoming but also pulled together.

I didn't inherit that gene.  Oh I love a nice clean house with everything in it's place, don't get me wrong, but bed making has never ranked high on my list of things to do.  When my children were little, I helped them make their beds, and most of the time all of the beds in the house were made.

But as I got older, and so did they, well bed making kind of gave way to just asking that I be able to see the color of their carpeting!  Teenagers never seem to mind a messy room, and my daughter had messy down to a science!

My son is more like me.  He can let things pile up for awhile, but then he has to take control and do something about it.  While my daughter can find order in the madness, and she truly can, I need order to stem the tide, and my son is the same way.

I've termed my style of cleaning manic depressive cleaning.  When I'm in the depressive phase of cleaning I can walk past dust, dog hair, and dirty clothes for a period of time, but when the manic phase takes over...look out!

Thankfully, the depressive cleaning periods don't last for more than a few days, and the full on manic cleaning days have gotten fewer over the years too.  Now I find that I am somewhere in between.  But today was a manic day.

Mr. Tide and my son Bugs were gone this morning, so I took advantage of the quiet and began stripping beds, and cleaning out stuff that needed to go!  It's that time of year after all, when we are poised to throw open the windows and enjoy a freshly cleaned house.

When I get into one of these deep cleaning moods, I also like to rearrange and move things from one place to another.  Like the jewelry box that belonged to my mother.  I decided that instead of keeping the costume jewelry I inherited in a box hidden away, I would open up the jewelry box and fill it up so that I could enjoy seeing these pretty pieces all the time.

And the little angel that used to sit on my vanity now sits next to my bed.  She's been with me since I was a very little girl.

And wherever you go in my house, you'll find beach glass.  So it only makes sense that there would be some sitting on the cherry bedside table my father made.

When I was in Yorkshire with my daughter a few years ago, we stopped in a lovely little shop and I picked up this small stone.  I love the quote by Buddha, and it reminds me to clear my head each night before it hits the pillow.

I love this photo of my mother when she was a little girl.  It makes me laugh since she didn't like cats and was actually afraid of them.  Something must have happened after this picture was taken, because she looks pretty content with her dolls and that little kitty cat.

Also in every room in our house, you will find something to read.  Magazines and books provide me with inspiration, and I love having them around.  I change up the selection on my nightstand so that I can just reach over and grab the latest magazine or a favorite decorating book to peruse before bedtime.

And of course I have to have fresh flowers close by.

Yesterday I stopped by one of my favorite Mennonite farms and purchased this gorgeous orchid.  I also picked up a primrose and a gerbera daisy that I have in other rooms.  I can't wait until my rose bushes are in full bloom and I can simply wander outside and cut flowers to fill my house with fragrance and color!

Now you may be wondering why I don't make my bed more often if the end result makes me feel happy and calm.  Or how I can leave the beautiful family bedspreads and linens stacked up and looking forlorn.  After my mother died almost 7 years ago, my sister and I had a long conversation and while we were talking I asked her if she made her bed every day?  She said, "Heck no, look at how mom spent all those years making beds and where did it get her?!"  

Though I'm happy to have a nicely made bed, and a roof over my head each night, I no longer feel the need to have a perfectly pulled together bed in order to start the day.  I can leave the covers strewn about, dog beds tossed all over the floor, and a shirt or two draped over the chair and still know that I'll have a very good, and even productive day!

Sometimes we just need to let go of the little things in order to enjoy the big ones.  I hope each of you lets go a little today and does something that makes you happy.

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Lavender Garden Cottage

Coastal Charm

New Blessing Everyday

House Tour With Poppies at Play

If you are a regular reader of Low Tide High Style then you'll already have seen many of the pictures in today's post.  But I'm so excited to be linking up with Andy from Poppies at Play and giving you all a tour of my home.  If you've never visited Andy's blog, then you are in for a treat!  She has a wonderful sense of style, she's hugely creative, generous, and she just finished a marathon!  She makes me tired just thinking about all of the wonderful things she does!

So come on in and I'll take you around the place.  We bought our house 3 years ago, (the little brick rambler pictured on the left in the photo above), and although the home was less than 10 years old and very solidly built, it wasn't quite our style.  The location, however, couldn't be beat!

It's located on a private lane, right by the waters edge, and there is more waterfront across the street that can't be built on!  We have the most amazing neighbors, and on one side of us is an old tobacco farm that also can't be built on, so we felt very lucky to have found this great home even if we knew we would eventually make some changes to it.  We lived here for about a year and a half before beginning our whole house remodel.

If someone asked me what my favorite room in the house was, I would not hesitate for even a moment before saying that the kitchen is truly my favorite room.  During the remodel, we completely gutted the kitchen and started from scratch to create my dream kitchen. 

Before

Above is how the kitchen looked just before we bought the house.  You can see the pickled wood cabinetry which was dated, the mauve countertops, and the ceramic tile floor which was installed by the previous owners and had been laid incorrectly so it was cracked and starting to come up in places.

Although the kitchen was in good shape, it did not have the storage that we really needed and we just weren't happy with how the space flowed.  We did live here for almost 2 years before starting the renovations, so I painted the walls bright apple green to play down the pink undertones of the cabinets, but it was a very happy day for me when we started tearing the old kitchen out!

After

Today, our kitchen is the realization of a dream come true.  I had always dreamt of having a black and white kitchen, the kind that reminds you of your grandmother's house with pies cooling on the window sill and a big Sunday dinner cooking on the stove.  I love the big new window over the soapstone farm sink, I can look out to the water while fixing dinner or doing the dishes!

The kitchen remodel took 4 months from tear out to being a functioning kitchen again.  During that time we ate a lot of peanut butter and cottage cheese, and the waiters at a local Mexican Restaurant got to know us very well!  We added another doorway, eliminated the peninsula and opted for a center island with bar sink instead.  The custom cabinetry allowed us to configure the kitchen in a way that provides us with wonderful flow, plenty of storage, and it has truly become the heart of the house.

There is still more work to be done in the kitchen.  The backsplash needs to be installed, which will consist of beadboard along the window wall,  while bronze sea life tiles set into an onyx mosaic (pictured above) will go above the range.  The bronze tiles were my one big splurge, they are handmade and cost $60.00 a piece, but since they will be a focal point I wanted something that would really make a statement.

 I really wanted the cabinets to resemble pieces of furniture so our wonderful cabinetmaker added lots of detailing wherever he could, such as on the sink cabinet shown above.

 The pendant lights over the island are made by Troy Lighting and are part of their Owings Mills Collection.

A bargain hunter by nature, I found as many items for the kitchen as I could on sale or at deeply discounted prices.  The soapstone farm sink was half off from Green Mountain Soapstone and cost $400.00, less than many stainless steel undermount sinks these days.  And every single faucet, including the insta-hot, came from Ebay, some of them were 90% off of the retail price!  By planning ahead, buying discounted items well in advance, and being willing to compromise on some things, you truly can get a kitchen that looks like a million bucks, but doesn't cost that much!  We opted not to buy professional grade appliances, and by doing that I was able to get custom inset cabinetry which was only a few thousand dollars more than semi-custom and it had the look and features I really wanted.

Because storage was the primary reason for the remodel, we built not one but two pantries.  One holds all of our food and paper products, while the one pictured above is for glassware and dish storage.  The doors in the middle cleverly conceal our microwave.  By placing it inside the cabinet instead of over the range I was able to get a hood, which is both powerful and pretty to look at.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have to have places to put my quirky finds, so we added a small tiger maple topped hutch with open shelves where I can put all of my tea "stuff".  It has open shelving above for my other special items and seasonal decor.  We also added a few open shelves to one side of the island for basket storage, it's perfect for having quick and easy access to some of my bread baskets.

The kitchen was not the only room touched by our recent remodel.  Every room in the house had something done to it, whether it was installing new windows, adding hardwood floors, or tearing down walls.

 The living room and dining room also underwent major changes.  When we first bought the house it was very compartmentalized with lots of individual rooms.  When you walked in the front door you were immediately greeted by a wall.  A second wall separated the living room and dining room.

 Before

The two photos above where taken with the previous owner's furnishings and show just how dark and cramped the living room and dining rooms were.

Because we wanted a more open concept, we decided to remove the walls that separated the living and dining rooms, to create one big open space for entertaining.  It also allowed wonderful flow from the kitchen into both rooms and made the space feel much bigger and brighter after taking out the walls.

After

Now when you enter the front door you are greeted by a bright, open airy space instead of a wall.  The Duncan Phyfe dining room suite was something I inherited from my maternal grandparents.  The buffet backs up nicely against the couch and helps to define the two rooms.

The living room now serves as our main TV watching area.  Because I like the advantages of having a big screen television, but don't like staring at one when it's not in use, we found this great entertainment center to hide all of our electronic equipment.  And the dining room flows right off of both the living room and the kitchen for easy entertaining!

Now that the walls are gone, you can look out of either of the windows on the east side of the house to take full advantage of the water views.

Pocket doors can be closed to help separate the living and dining areas from the rest of the house.  This was important since our son often has friends over to watch movies in this room, while we are working on our computers in the nearby office.

Although the two rooms have a more formal feel than found throughout the rest of the house, they are still rooms that we use daily.  Aside from the pieces we inherited, I tried to pick comfortable seating so that people would feel comfortable and welcome in both spaces.

I also tried to decorate the living and dining rooms with pieces that gave a nod to the home's waterfront location, without becoming too theme oriented or over the top.  I find inspiration in magazines, online, and from visiting other people's homes, but I think where your house is located and the nature that surrounds it should be where you draw your greatest inspiration.  We have lots of blues, greens, and sand colors around us, so that was the palette that I chose to use in the house.  I also like to change my accessories seasonally, and I have fresh flowers in the house whenever I can just to change things up a bit.

I also tried to keep the rooms fresh by introducing new pieces of furniture to blend with old family heirlooms.  The antique Hepplewhite chest of drawers is another inherited piece, while the black glass sided cabinet was a new purchase.  In addition to looking great, both of these pieces provide much needed storage for linens, serving pieces, or just some of my collections.

I also love having something unexpected in a room, like this giant round metal chandelier.  It brings a bit of surprise to the space and pairs wonderfully with the much more traditional mahogany dining room suite.  It really is one of my favorite things in the room.

We also gutted the guest bathroom during our whole house remodel.  The layout stayed the same, but we updated it and added a new deeper tub, new fixtures, tiled floor and shower surround, and lots of white painted beadboard.

Before

Above is how the bathroom looked when we first bought the house almost 3 years ago.  It was perfectly serviceable, but it needed some serious updating.

After

We replaced everything in the bathroom except the vanity.  We were able to order a custom double bowl sink from Lowes and I replaced the old hardware with crystal knobs to give it more of a cottage feel.

The peg rack hung in our previous home and works well for holding towels in the newly remodeled bath.  As you can see, I love re-arranging and changing things depending on the season or if we are hosting a party.  I recently added the ladder, turned art piece, to the wall above the towel rack.

The shelf was yet another Lowes purchase and provides me with more flat surfaces to decorate!  The mirror was a bargain at just $60.00 and came from a local antique store.  The beadboard and trim was all installed by Mr. Tide, he only used a few off color words during the installation and painting process, but I think it was worth all of the hard work!

I love when a home has vintage or sentimental pieces in it.  The chalkboard that leads down the hallway to our bedrooms came from my parent's house.  We used it to play school, practice homework on, or leave messages to one another when we were growing up.  It's blank in this photo, but we use it to post birthday wishes, and lots of other great messages now that it's in our house!

Unlike our last home, which consisted of a lot of off white walls, when we purchased this house I decided that all of the natural light called for some bold colors to be used in the bedrooms.  I've always been a water loving person, and I used to spend hours hanging out at the beach when I was younger, so I knew I wanted something water inspired for our bedroom walls.

We added two more windows to our bedroom for a total of 4 now, and the views of the water and the fields next door are so wonderful to wake up to each morning!  I still need to find some more artwork for this room, but I'm waiting until I find something that really speaks to me (ie. something Mr. Tide and I can agree on) and suits the room!

Although doing a whole house remodel is a big investment in both time, energy, and money, I think that by planning ahead and having the time to find the right professionals, and being able to hunt online or in stores for bargains helps a lot.  I also acted as the general contractor, and we did all of the "de"construction to help save even more money.  We did lots of research and found wonderful, honest subcontractors, which allowed us to get quality work for a fair price. I also purchased things well before we even needed them, sometimes years in advance, so we were able to get everything we wanted and more without breaking the bank!  I also recommend being flexible, sometimes things just don't work out and you have to go with the flow when you are trying to redesign an existing structure.  Stick to the things that are most important to you and in the end you'll be happy with the results.

People often wonder if we had any major problems throughout the remodel and I have to say that we honestly didn't.  We did have a few unexpected costs, like having to replace all of the subflooring near the sliding glass door which had suffered some water damage at some point and needed to be replaced.  And when asked if I would do anything differently my answer would be that short of winning the lottery and being able to rip off the roof and add a second story, there really isn't anything I would change.  Thinking things through while we lived here for two years really helped us know what we liked and what needed to change before the remodeling began.

For more detailed information about the remodel and to see lots more photos you can click on any of the photos in my sidebar!

I hope you enjoyed the tour, and I would like to thank Andy from Poppies at Play for letting me share a little bit of me and my home with all of her wonderful readers!  Be sure to pop over and say hello to Andy, you'll love her blog and you'll find lots of  wonderful inspiration!

P.S.  There is still time to enter my current giveaway!  Click HERE for more info!