Even More Home Shows

I loved this water feature right in the front walk.
The details in this house were amazing including the beautiful urns on the front walkways.
Here is the house. It was only 3.3 million so maybe you will want to have one built for you.
Drapery details.
The office. I loved the upholstery fabric on those chairs.
A view of the back patio, pool, and pool house. (The little white picket fences were just temporary to keep any accidents from happening...you know accidental drownings from those people who bring their children and let them go free. I'm sorry to say that we saw too many of those.)
A view from the front landing. There were so many stain glass windows in this house that it was unbelieveable.
The homeowners designed the windows and the wife and interior decorator picked out all the glass.
The kitchen. (Those are awards from the homeshow on the counter.) They finished almost everything before the show began but somehow the cabinetry hardware didn't make it.
There were transom windows everywhere. Here is the doorway between the kitchen and family room that led to a laundry room, a set of stairs to the basement, a door to the pool and patio area, and door to the garage.
A close up of some of the kitchen details.
A built in eating area with more stain glass and the kitchen dining table.
Formal dining room. See that blue area past the fireplace? That is the office space I already showed you.
Oops, this is a little out of order. Here is another picture of the table and built in eating area.
The entry hall bath.
there are four girls in the family that lives in this house. Girl's room number 1.
Here are three more transom stain glass windows. I'm telling you it was unreal. This was taken from the bedroom pictured above. In this area there was a sink area and toilet, then a shower/bath area, another sink and toilet, and then bedroom #2.
bedroom #2
The play area complete with stage area, murals, and a play area behind that TV.

They even had a black light on the night scene so it was like being on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland.

A lavender bedroom for daughter #3. Wouldn't you love to spend time curled up with a good book?
chandeliers and wall sconces were found throughout the house.
a close up of the bedding.
Room #4.
The bathroom and walk in closet between bedroom #3 and #4. It was fancy enough to be a master bathroom. A large jacuzzi tub and walk in shower are on the opposite side of these vanities.

The master bedroom.
Master sitting area. It took us 1 1/2 hours to tour this house. The basement had a second kitchen, dance studio, family room, two guest rooms, a large home theatre and pool table area. This house was huge!

The builder did an amazing job. Everything was done to perfection right down to the smallest detail. All the furnishings are new and belong to the family moving in. The owner is young. We met him while touring. He made his money in an encrypted security business.

Many people don't like to go to homeshows. They feel bad that other people have more, nicer, bigger, better...whatever. I love to go to see new design trends, etc. Even so, I came home feeling grateful for the home that we have and the love that abounds here. It just feels like home.

Jammi (Anita) is having a shopaholic giveaway in celebration of blogging for 6 months. Check it out.

The Front Yard

Several weeks ago I posted about trimming all my bushes in the front yard. Thimbleanna asked me to post a picture so here it is. This is an alberta dwarf spruce trimmed into a spiral and about 22 boxwoods shaped into spheres. I do this about twice a year. I love it when they are all nice and neat.

Flowers from the backyard. It is so nice to see so many varieties blooming.

The backyard still needs lots of catching up to have the flower beds really look nice. We are working on it. The kids are loving the tree house though. We still want to add a zipline and a slide. Does anyone know where you can get a spiral slide for a good price? We are ready for that project.

I've yet to decorate for fourth of July. I better put that on tomorrow's list of things to do. I'd love to see yours though. I've got to gear up for Saturday's BBQ at our house. It's one of the big family traditions. So fun to have a big family day together enjoying the parade, BBQ, and fireworks.

A New Look!

Thanks to the background fairy (and her step-by-step instructions), I have a new look on my blog. It matches so perfectly don't you think? I love it. Who knew it was so easy?

Steph and family have been working hard getting Grandpa Creed's house cleaned out and ready to sell. It helped me be motivated enough to start cleaning out. (I think I got rid of more than I took home from the garage sells this morning.)

My husband has a new rule, and it is a good one, "for everything that you bring in to the house, at least an equal number of things needs to leave." I'm sure I will remind him of this from time to time. After all, if the rule works for me, it should also work for him right? I do go on cleaning binges and always have a donation pile going in the garage. (It's about time to make a run too.)

Steph informs me that I still have waayyy too much stuff...especially in my sewing/studio space. Hey, I still have plans to use up all the stuff in there. If only I could find the time. I just was gifted an antique singer sewing machine. Can't wait to figure out how to thread it to see how well it works. It sure is heavy and supposedly is the best machine Singer made. I recovered the stool but have yet to paint the table. I guess I'll wait to see if it works before beautifying the cabinet.

Eli's back home after working in Canada and Michigan for the last two months. His girlfriend, Brenna, is getting back from France tonight. I hope my car is still in one piece, he borrowed it to pick her up at the airport.

I'd tell you more but without pictures it is so boring isn't it? Ok, here's a little more. Candice and family are off to Texas this week. NYC is a cool place to live. The Stringhams are really going to miss it. (I'll miss visiting them there too.)

Marissa and family are coming next week for a visit. I can't wait to get my hands on more grandbabies. We've been having lots of fun with baby Creed since Steph has been doing so much to help at Grandpa Creed's house.

I went to the bead show in SL. I spent the whole day there with Brett's mom. She bought lots of beads to get ready for Swiss Days in August. She will have a jewelry booth there. Of course, I went looking for sterling silver earrings for me and ended up finding a few more things I couldn't resist. Now, I have more projects to work on in my studio space. Steph is going to love me even more. :)

I hope you all had a fun weekend.

More Home Show Houses

I'm a little out of things but what is new right? There always seems to be a new drama or challenge in my life. I spent a lot of time this week with Creed Ford; a man I grew to love as I tried to help him be able to stay in his home for the last 3+ years. He came home from the hospital Tuesday on Hospice. I had him all to myself on Wednesday and spent an enjoyable day talking to him, singing to him, massaging a body sore from spending so much time in bed, until his grandchildren could be with him Wednesday evening. Creed was able to visit with them and passed away in his sleep at 3 am Thursday morning.

There is a big hole in my heart. It was so nice to be truly needed and be able to give service freely. We spent a lot of time together. I will miss him. Creed D. Ford born July 24, 1921. He died June 18, 2009. Services are tomorrow.

Here are some more home show pictures that I downloaded last week. I loved this house. It looked small but I think was 7000 square feet. Very french country.
The floors are quarter sawn oak. They were from a wine barrel making company. They couldn't use them because they had too many knots. It gave the appearance of an antique floor. Coffered ceilings, thick mouldings, and other details were found throughout.
Reclaimed beams in the entry hall.
The kitchen had some great details with lots of cabinetry.
Loved this basket of watch faces and pictures. It made for a cute vinette.
Here is the study. Beautiful wood.
The master bathroom.



Nice garden paths off of the kitchen.
More kitchen details.
This was the butler's pantry made with antique cupboards built in.
The family room. The downstairs was more modern and contained a home theatre. This house is listed for 1.75 million. I think.
This is from another house. There were lots of black cabinetry. I was surprised how many there were. How soon will these be outdated?
A huge craft room with wrapping center, granite countertops, a nice bathroom, children's play area, etc.
Not my favorite design but this room is about the same size as our addition plans so I included this picture for my husband to see.
There were tons of beds with many layers of bedding and pillows, pillows, and more pillows.


I like how they made use of unusual ceiling heights.
This painting was done directly on the wall. The artist was there and said this would cost between $1500-$2000 to do something similar in your home. He was really good.
Here is the rest of the room.

I have more home show pictures. Is anyone interested in seeing more or have you had enough. Let me know.