Camp Contentment – The Kitchen!

I have to admit that even though the

kitchen was very outfitted with 60’s

vinyl flooring, avocado green

laminate and floral wallpaper. Coach

and I found it quirky and charming. 

 

And though I enjoyed day dreaming

about new floors and countertops, it’s

no secret that we thought our little

kitchen was adorable, just the way it

was! The 1960’s General Electric stove

was still in perfect working condition.

 

However, during the fire renovation,

the opportunity presented itself to replace

the floors, countertops and backsplash.

We also decided to give everything a

fresh coat of paint , add a diswasher,

disposal and under counter lights.

Keeping with our black and white color

scheme we chose commercial (VCT)

vinyl composition tiles, laid n a

diagonal, large scale checkerboard.

 

 

For the backsplash, we selected white

subway tiles from Home Depot with

dark grey grout and Wilsonart Oiled

Soapstone laminate for the countertops.

 

 

With a fresh coat of white oil based paint

on the kitchen cabinets, new knobs, grey

chalkboard walls Behr Dark Ash, flat

over Benjamin Moore’s oil based primer,

Fresh Start (rolled over the wallpaper) ,

the kitchen took on a whole new, yet

vintage look!

 

 

Before…

 

After….

Cute and affordable, I love cooking in

this kitchen! A big fan of Chip and Joanna

Gaines, and their popular, Waco Texas,

based TV show, Fixer Upper. I love to

imagine what walls they would have

torn out and all the cool things they

would have done but truthfully, I am

very grateful for not only our updated

kitchen but for the entire, newly

renovated and much improved house.

Camp Contentment–Curb Appeal

The one of the many things I like about

our neighborhood is that most of the

homes are at least 50 years old and

approximately 20 are 100. Charming

old houses nestled on tree lined streets

is my idea of “home”.

Though our house was charming from

the beginning, it didn’t take long for my

imagination to start dreaming of affordable

improvements. Being that most of the

front yard was covered in Mondo

grass, my first priority was to repurpose

the area, making use of what was there

and figure out a way to use some of the

grass in an artful way. Even though I

more important things to do, I could

never get this off my mind. So one day,

I sat down and made a little drawing

of my ideas. Then I tucked it away in a

drawer for safe keeping.

Then, in March 2014, back home from

an awesome week in Paris (thank you

again, Clint and Jenny!) and before the

fire, I began phase I. With a garden hose

and spray paint, I established the edge

of the flower bed I was going to create.

There were several small youpon holly

shrubs in the space which I was deter-

mined to incorporate. I began by digging

up all of the mondo grass, careful to get

the roots. Then I planted several, 3-4, flats

of white impatients.

 

The impatients grew tall and dense,

creating a nice white contrast under

all the shade trees. They were beautiful

until the first freeze. Right about the

time we were moving back in to our

house. With so much going on, I hired

a gardener to pull the impatients and

plant white pansies. I was so pleased

with the way he worked I decided to

show him the sketch/dream I  tucked

away. To my surprise, he said he could

do it…. and at a price I could afford. 

 

 

So, I hired him!

And though the new design, called a

southern trillium, is not visable from

the street, I love the way it looks.

Again, using a garden hose to help me

visualize the design and spray paint to

provide guidelines, the gardeners

started digging. They removed a ton

of Mondo grass, planted dozens of

daffodils and packed down crushed

granite to form a swirl of paths.

 

 

 

They also created a new shallow bed

near the house and loaded it with

Paperwhite Narcisscus….one of my

favorites! Another favorite, a Gardenia

Topiary, is planted near the front porch

steps, in a large yellow pot. Which

bloomed profusely during the month of

May. Much to my delight! I love fragrant

flowers. They truly lift my spirit and

make my smile…and stop and breathe

deeply. Sending a whispered, ‘Thank

you, Lord!’

 

 

I love our little house…and I say so

often when I pull into the driveway.

We are quite contented living here

at Camp Contentment. That is until

I walk out on the back deck. Which

I’m convinced needs to be a screened

in porch!