Monday, March 31, 2014

Camp Contentment– The SALE!

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6232013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6242013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6252013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6262013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6322013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6332013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6342013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6352013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6372013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6412013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6432013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6442013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6452013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6462013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6472013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6512013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6522013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6532013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6562013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 6542013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 655

With move in behind us, we spent the next three days preparing for a big sale. our goal was emptying the Magnolia House of it’s many treasures by Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t easy but with a great turnout and a lot of help we got it done! Thanks to my awesome friends Mary Nash, Paula, Shirley, Jan and Linda for all your help…you were truly life savers.

Next….I can hardly wait to show you more of Camp Contentment. It won’t take long, because it’s really small but nevertheless, cute :)

Monday, March 24, 2014

Camp Contentment … Moving Day!

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 034

 

 

It’s moving day! Monday, January 5th. We’ve prepped and painted the walls and

ceilings in 5 rooms, removed carpet and curtains, pried up tack strip, sanded and

refinished the original wood floors. All, in less than 2 weeks. We’re tired but

encouraged….and a little bit proud of ourselves. Everything is coming together

and today we hit a milestone. We are moving in! Tonight will be our first night at

Camp Contentment.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 568

 

There’s still plenty to do but I love projects and will take it one day at a time.

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 569

 

Don’t you love the old wavy glass next to the front door?

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5702013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 126

 

 

 

This Ikea rug, $100, is just what I was looking for! I’ve been pinning on Pinterest,

for months and found so many inspiring ideas. Would you like to see them?

Follow me at Roxanne Spradlin. The idea board for this house is called Camp Contentment.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 571

 

 

Our house is small, and though l love a little clutter, I don’t want it to feel

crowded. One of the observations I made while looking on Pinterest was

that a room feels more spacious if you use a lot of white and use color and

patterns sparingly on the items you deem most important.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 574

 

 

Coach has request that this room have a rustic feel. So, while I was I jumping

up and down over the bold black and white rug (above), he was loading this

one onto our cart. It was more expensive but very plush and ready for our

leather sectional to wrap around it.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 577

 

 

This is our Guest Bedroom….the one and only. In downsizing, we’ve gone

from four bedrooms to two. Not having a bedroom for each of our children and their

growing families is unfortunate. However, it is a lovely space and does have

it’s on private bath. I will be contented…I will be contented :)

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5752013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 576

 

 

Here is the Master Bedroom….with we are attempting to create a suite. As you can see, there is a

door hiding behind the white chest, below.  Previously, it gave access

from the Guest Bedroom (originally the master) to a hall bath. In  1950 this

house was a 3/1 but in the early 60’s, the 2 small bedrooms (now the Master) became one and

a bath was added to the once master bedroom (now our Guest). Long story short, it was a little

confusing until we simply blocked this door from both sides. Now we have 2

bedrooms with 2 baths. Plain and simple.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 580

 

 

Someday we plan to remove the door completely but for now, it looks like this.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 593

 

 

 

I had planned to paint the Master suite white, for the reasons mentioned

above, but when Coach expressed concern I went in search of a color that

would look like a dusty chalkboard. When helping friend Abbie Atkinson,

decorate her house, she had found the perfect color at Home Depot, called

Dark Ash. It is made by Behr. I chose a flat finish and then end result was

perfect!

 

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 581

 

 

The room is long and narrow with 5 windows. I was anxious to see how our

furniture fit into the room. As much as I love lots of windows, it can make

furniture placement challenging. Fortunately, there was one wall wide enough

for a king size headboard.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5822013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 572

 

 

There are 5 of these hanging lights in the house. All different yet similar.

They remind me of Gunsmoke…or Bonanza. At first, I didn’t like them at

all and though they have grown on me, we are going to replace them with

something more modern.

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 586

 

 

Like the rest of the house, the kitchen is cozy and cute! We’ve done nothing

in here but clean and take off the pantry door. I am enjoying the cute vintage

laminate countertops, vinyl flooring and wallpaper for now, but I have lot’s

of ideas for this space in the future but for now I am contented :)

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 587

 

 

 

This old stove is a treasure! It’s in great shape and works well.

 

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 588

 

At first, I wanted to open up the wall behind the refrigerator and recess it

which would have provided 15, important square feet but it would have

cost too much to relocate the hot water heater and plumbing which currently

occupies the space. Our daughter-in- love, Jenny suggested a Smeg (about $2000),

which made my heart sing until we ran across this similar size fridge at Ikea, a

Last Chance closeout  purchase for $299. It was clearly the right choice for us.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 590

 

I love all things “cottage”! This kitchen is going to be so fun to decorate and

use! A special thanks to my sister, Lynnette, for the embroidered cup towels

she made. Aren’t they cute! She is so talented,… and makes beautiful things!

Shop her Etsy shop, Frazzleme!

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 573

 

 

One hour before the movers arrive…I decide to quickly paint this old end table

that we will put glass over and use for and dining table. In a small dining room, I’m

liking the idea of being able to see through a glass top.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 583

 

 

Remember the inspiration pic, above?…and the Ikea rug? Since the dining

flows off of the living/entry, I think I need a splash of black in here.

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 584

 

Hey, it works! I like it. Surprisingly, I think I can use 2 more dining chairs…

I never imagined I could seat 6 people in this dining room but I can!

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 592

 

 

After all the furniture is in place, I’m pleased. It wasn’t easy figuring out what

would work and what wouldn’t. Interesting how different the same furniture

looks in this room. The black and white rug and pillows make a big difference.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 591

 

After a goods nights sleep, Coach cooked us breakfast. What a treat after weeks

of running through McDonalds!

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 594

 

 

Coffee and bacon frying….What better way to start out our first day at Camp Contentment.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 595

 

 

Cute glasses, huh? Once upon a time I bought them at the Dollar Tree

(where everything’s $1). The numbers are adhesive vinyl…the type that you

stick onto the side of a boat. They are very durable if you hand wash. For that

reason I don’t use them everyday but they look awesome when I want to set

my table for something extra special.

 

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 596

 

 

Yep! I’m going to like living here.

 

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 597

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Camp Contentment!

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 339

Last Summer when Coach and I walked through this cute little 1950’s house, we had a bright idea

about downsizing and ultimately simplifying our lives! The Magnolia House, our favorite yet,

was a beautiful house and property which required more upkeep/maintenance than we wanted.

So, we made a plan but weren’t in a hurry. That is until I ran by to visit with my friend Susan and

discovered her Mother’s old house would be for sale in the near future. One look  and our plan

was set into motion. Magnolia House went on the market in August. Football season is not the ideal

time to move but we didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so we went for it! The house showed well

and often but we would not get an offer until the middle of November. With a January closing date,

we would use every minute of the Christmas holiday to purge, pack, paint, refinish floors, have a

huge sale and move. By leasing the house before closing, we were able to start painting 3 weeks

early. I certainly don’t consider myself a great painter, it takes a lot of time and patience but after

getting a few bids I realized our small remodeling budget would stretch much further if we did the

work ourselves. So, bright and early on Monday, December 16th, I pried open a 5 gallon bucket of

Valspar D’jour white and started rolling.

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5182013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 519

Most of the wood floors were covered with celery green shag carpet which were coming up at the

end of the week so I used them as a drop cloth….a real time saver when painting walls and

ceilings. Another short cut was to use the same color on both. Unfortunately, I forgot to take before

pictures but the walls and trim were the same color as the carpet. It was A LOT OF HARD WORK, but

after five long days, I finished just in time for Coach to start ripping up the carpet! School was out

for the holidays and he was raring to go. In no time flat he had the carpet rolled up in the back of his

truck and was prying up the tack strip. With a tight schedule, I jumped in and took over the tack strip

removal job, careful to pull up every nail, while Coach gathered up all the sanding and varnishing

supplies. At this point, to be completely honest, I was worn out! It was Christmas and I was missing

all of the fun stuff but I trudged on by dreaming of iced sugar cookies and singing Christmas carols at

the top of my lungs.

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5262013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5322013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5452013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5282013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 549

Those were some tough days! After painting walls and ceilings for 5 days, I was on my hands and

knees  for 2. To say we were exhausted would be an understatement ….and beat up! Cut up hands,

sore knees and backs. At the end of each day I felt so old and wondered if we could keep it up but

each morning I was surprisingly able to get out of bed and keep going. Mike had a plan laid out which

helped me to focus  and stay the course. In the past, we haven’t always  worked well together but

there was no arguing on this project. We didn’t have the time or energy:)

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5362013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5352013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5332013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5202013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 5212013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 522

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 547

Two days before Christmas we spread polyurethane on the floors and let them dry while we took a

much needed break.

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 548

Back at it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I finished sanding and painting the wood work with oil

based paint. Things were starting to take shape. It was encouraging to see what we had accomplished

in less than 2 weeks! But we couldn’t celebrate long because the movers were coming on Monday.

Yikes! The move!  I haven’t even mentioned that this little house would be half the size  and we would

only bring with us the things we love most. Which would mean letting go of years of accumulate

treasures. I thought this might be painful because I like stuff! However, I’m pleased to say, I found it

rather liberating!

2013 variety, wolfe wedding, house and camp contentment 546

Last night, at dinner, Coach asked me if I had missed living at our old house…our nicest house, ever. Without pause, I quickly said, “ Not once”.

We love our new, little old house. It reminds us of our very first home. It is our new favorite! We are more than happy. We are contented.