Master Bathroom --Before and After (and a peek outside)

This is the master bathroom AFTER. The tub is a wonderful vintage clawfoot, but I have no idea how old it is. It came with the house. The sink is a nice Kohler reproduction. The beadboard is all new, with nice square moldings on the top edge, the baseboards and the ceiling.
The yellow stand at the side of the sink is a recycle, painted by yours truly. The painting above it is of a whale in Maui, painted by a friend of mine. 

 

 AFTER: This is a peek into the powder room, and I apologize for leaving the lid up. To the right of the green towel is the shower.

AFTER: This gives a better view of both the powder room and the shower area. It's a nice large bathroom, with lots of maneuver space.

BEFORE: This is how it looked when we bought the house. Bare basics, stripped down and raw. 

 BEFORE: This closet had wobbly doors, which we removed. We decided to leave it as open storage--easy to access, and very nice when you don't have a vanity cabinet. 

AFTER: Now it looks like this. Much more personality, but still farmhouse simple. 

AFTER: Blinds on the windows allow natural light to flood the room.

AFTER: Here you can see the new storage area with the door trim redone to look like it was meant to be this way.

***********************

And now, let us step outside to catch some more tulips before they are gone. 

Our well looks so country gorgeous. 

Tulips are so happy. Straight, tall, optimistic. 

Beyond, you can see our junky Coke machine by the barn. It's also in bloom. 

I love spring. Every day brings something new to see.

By the front walkway, the daffodils have had their turn and  are on their way out...but they are still beautiful. Hope your Spring is as lovely as mine. 

My Hang Ups

BEFORE:

This is how our foyer looked when we moved in. A whole lotta nothin' going on. Well, a bunch of trash on the floor was goin' on.

AFTER:

This is the same area now. On either side of the french doors are pictures of our native blue and white herons. Behind the closed french doors is the kitchen.

 

This is the view from the living room,  with the front doors to the right. The long hallway beyond is lined with a hook strip made of the same knotty pine that is on the floors. 

 The hooks extend all the way to the end of the hall. There are 24 of them all together. They are super-convenient and handy for everything that comes through the doors--keys, hats, scarves, jackets, bagpacks, etc... 

 A close-up of the hooks and the pine strip.  We got the hooks at Home Depot. They are usually loaded with stuff, but are trying to make a better impression today. 

This corner does a lot of extra work. There's a shoe basket under the natural pine bench, a glove basket on top of the bench, and tools, keys, and a sunglass box on the hooks. Stuff.  

A close-up of the native blue heron print. We love when these birds visit our pond for breakfast. 

This picture was taken after Christmas. The blue heron was almost three feet tall and loitered for about 20 minutes. Then he dove into the pond, ate something slithery, and flew away. 

The handles on the french doors are made of a section of branch, sanded and polished to the touch.  

The accessories on the chippy blue table change with the seasons. 

One more view looking toward the front doors. Au revoir. 

Powder Room Before and After

Before: Basically functional but totally unattractive. Notice there is a closet door directly across from the toilet. It was an electrical and storage closet which could only be entered through the powder room. Terrible layout!

This is how the room looked when we moved in. 

After:  The closet opening was walled in and a new entry to the closet was placed in the hallway. The bathroom mirror reveals the new wall with the artwork on it. We painted the walls this lovely robin's egg blue. 

 The oval mirror reflects the small cabinet that holds toilet paper and fresh towels.

The carpenter added large moldings to the ceiling and floor.

Here you can see both the top and bottom moldings. The picture with the big white wooden frame mirrors the moldings. 

This is the view from the "seated" position. This is the previous locale of  the awkward opening to the electrical closet. It has been closed off and a new doorway was moved to the hallway outside the bathroom where it always should have been! (Who thinks of these things??)

The farmhouse vanity and mirror, and the pine door in the reflection. I love this little powder room now. 

Wishing Well, Before and After

We have our own water supply here at DR. Three wells, to be exact. One for the house, one for the barn, and this one, which is the original, dug many years ago. It still works but we don't use it for anything but adding charm. This is what it looks like after rehabbing it. Pretty cute, huh!

BEFORE: This is how it started out when we bought DR. Just a cement base with a piece of plywood and a weight on top to keep children out. 

This is how it looks now. Our wonderful carpenter created the roof structure, the top of the well, which looks like rock, and the wooden bucket. It is on the edge of our driveway, and this is the view toward the forest. 

The grass was newly planted so a bit patchy still. This is the view toward the road. 

This also gives a great view of our new driveway, a circular one, with a planted island in the middle.

 Here you can see the concrete ring on top, made to look like natural stone. Children love to crank the handle to raise and lower the bucket. We also have a ladder inside to make it safe if any little people fall in.

Go ahead. Make a wish.