The Foyer Ta Dah!

Welcome to our home.

If you were to come for a visit, this is the door you would enter to walk into our home.

Dave is working on building steps for the entrance. 

They would have been finished, along with a lot more, had he not had two surgeries this summer that held us back.  That's ok, I needed a break anyway!

This picture was taken on June 5, 2016.  We were laying hardwood floor.

 You can see here how I would lay a few rows out in the evening while he was at work, and he would nail them down the next day.

 When I wasn't helping lay hardwood floor, I was painting trim.  This house has A LOT of trim.

I. could. not. wait. to. be. done. painting. PERIOD!

 This was the last closet to be finished on the main level of our house. 

It's hard to write on OSB.  Here's what it says...

It is June 5, 2016.  This is the last closet to lay hardwood floor.  Once this is done this level of the house will be finished, besides trim in the foyer.  It's been a long haul but we did it!  We started on this house in 2010.  Moved into the basement (one room) in 2012.  We built most of it ourselves.  I pray we are here a long, long time.  I pray the next home owners love this place as much as we do.  Bless all who enter our home.  Love & Peace Cindy & Dave Rush 

This was written on the floor in the closet on the left front.  The door (left-back) is a bathroom door. 

And here is the

~TA DAH~

When you step inside, you step into the foyer.

The open area to the right (center) is our kitchen entry.

Straight back is our dining area.  Dining/Living Room.

Here is a picture standing at the other end of the foyer, looking at the entry door.

That chandelier.....

  Yep, this one...was found in someone's trash pile by the curb!  It was bronze.  So Dave painted it cream, rubbed some of the cream off of it to give it that vintage look, I put the crystals on it, and we love it!

  We bought this light in one of the quaint little stores in the Ft. Walton Beach area when we went on vacation back in May.

 I had this piece of furniture (below) in the dining room to begin with, but moved it to the foyer. 

I got it a few years ago at a garage sale.  I can't remember for sure, but I think I paid $40 dollars for it.  I do remember she threw in a nice sized jar of her "grandmother's buttons" with the furniture!  I would have charged that much for my grandmother's buttons!  Not really, I wouldn't have gotten rid of my Grandmother's buttons!  Anyway, the picture above the furniture is a Patty Host autographed print, of the Seiberling Mansion, which is in our town.  You've seen me do many posts on the mansion.  It's where Dave and I got married.

I love the way lamps around the house create a glow.  They are great for a cozy ambience for morning and evening.

 The door on the left by the dining room entry leads upstairs.  The door on the right, is a coat closet.

 

The picture below is a month old.  It's when I originally had the buffet in here instead of the dining room.  (I'm not even going to try to explain)  The point of the picture is the bathroom door, when you first walk into the house.  To the left.  Right when you walk in!  The door on the right leads into the office/mudroom area.

 We have so many doors in our foyer, that when we would entertain people would forget which door was the restroom door.  We found this sign in Nashville, IN, and it hangs over the half bath door.

 I thought I'd show you inside the little half bath, while we are visiting the foyer.  This bat hangs in our little half bath!  We also bought it in Nashville, many years ago.  The old medicine chest came from a friend who moved to Florida.  She was selling a lot of her household items and we bought some.

 We purchased this mirror at a yard sale years ago, for $10, and held onto it as we knew we wanted to put it in this bathroom because we knew it would match the vanity.

 It's a very small bathroom and hard to get good pictures....

 We bought the vanity at Lowe's.

 The two medicine cabinets we bought from my friend along with the other one, the boy scout first aid kit, I think I bought it at a yard sale. 

This guy we bought at the Cincinnati Flower Show, back when we used to go to the Cincinnati Flower Show years ago.  We had him up at our other house.

You might think we have 'odd' stuff up in our house.  Maybe we do.  We like antique, artsy, different types of things.  It's more of a collection of things from people or places, rather than going into town and buying stuff to decorate our home.

Ok so...no we don't have a collection of toilets!!!  LOL! 

I wanted to show you this seat, that did NOT come with this toilet.  We bought it separately.

Oh, and I guess you do get to see the floor this way.  It is called Luxury Vinyl Tile and I love it as it is so easy to clean.

So, back to the toilet seat.  And maybe you all have had these forever, but I haven't!  You snap these do- dads up that cover the little bolts that bolt the seat down.

Then pull it towards you to take the entire seat off to clean it!

 

Then just slide them back on...and push the covers back down.  They snap into place.  Voila'!

So that's it for the Foyer and Half-Bath, along with a little cleaning lesson on toilet seats!

Peace & Love and
Happy Halloween!

Cindy

Mud Room/Office TA DAH!

We finished the mudroom/office back in April.  

See the area on the right with the doors?  Well, in the original plan that was all supposed to be open.  We were only to have a closet at the very end.  But, there wasn't enough room in the chase to put all of the plumbing, heat runs, etc., so between the two closets on the right are what I call "Behind the Scenes" work.  Plumbing, Heat ducts, wiring, etc.  

We decided to have one closet with shelves.  Of course, it is not winter right now, so the boots, hats, scarves, gloves that belong in this closet are not in here.  They are still in the basement!  I'm sure come October-November, we will fill this up!

Dave has put a few work shirts in this closet temporarily.  He keeps his work clothes in the basement, and I gotta tell you, when we moved out of that basement, we MOVED OUT!  I do plan on making it cute again and using it for crafty fun or guests, but not until I have time to start on it and stick with it.

 

 I guess he's using this one too.  When winter comes his clothes get the boot!

 Of course, as you can see, after we laid the floor, we had to install all of those doors.

We took an afternoon/evening off awhile back and went shopping for office supplies.  This cute cupboard ended up being our filing cabinet.

 And file boxes fit in it perfectly.

This desk is kind of special.  Years ago, when we lived in town, we became very good friends with our elderly neighbor.  When she passed away, her children sold us her house, to fix up and sell.  

They left some things in the basement that they didn't want to mess with.  

This desk was one of those things. 

 However, 

BIG HOWEVER!

 it was painted and cruddy and I think the Pa in the family used it for a workbench when he was still alive.  

Dave was going to cut it up into pieces and burn it!!!!

  I wanted to keep it.  

It is SO HEAVY.  

It was not easy getting it out of the basement.  

But we managed.  

And it fits perfectly in this little office area I have now.  (smile)

(Thanks Jean)

 So the garage leads to the breezeway, which leads to the mudroom which is the door on the left of this picture.  You can barely see the bell hanging on it.  When I hear that bell, I know someone has walked into the house.

 

So here you go!  

Office Mudroom area

TA DAH!!!!!

Most people will never be in this room, because they will use the other entrance, rather than the garage entrance.

 

Cindy

Doors, lighting and duct work

Ok, so I said we'd talk lights and doors....and even though I'm not really in the mood to talk lights and doors, I'm not really in the mood to talk duct work either!  

This is what you have to think about every time you put a light switch up....

 Which way is the door going to open.  

When you open the door, will it swing in or out.  

If it swings in to the room, will there be anything in the way such as a toilet, or a table or whatev...that the door might bump into.

Then after you figure out the door swing, the light switch will generally go on the side where the door opens, as long as there isn't anything in the way.  If there is, you start over with...which way is the door going to open!

Then, what lights do you want to turn on with this switch?

Do you want them to turn on and off on both doors, if there are two entrances in the room.

If so, what way will the other door swing?

You get the idea.

You just have to THINK about every little detail, including door swings and light switches.

Which makes me understand why housing additions pick about three styles of homes, and build them all the same!

Some other stuff...

When you hire an architect, he generally will put a "chase" in a room where all of the duct work and pvc tubing and such will go.

Our chase "room" isn't big enough.

See there...no more room.

Dave labels everything, which I love.

So, we are going to put the freezer (this is the mudroom by the way) where the coat closet was supposed to be.  The ladder is in the closet at the mo.

 

The closet is now going to go to the right, against that wall, so..more re-doing.  It will hide the chase that way. 

 

Dave also had to lower the ceiling in the master bathroom in order to have room for duct work.

This is the ceiling in the master bathroom.

And this would be me....squeezed in the closet, trying to wrap and seal duct work.  I got to the very last piece and cut my finger.  VERY VERY VERY LAST PIECE!

While Dave was working on duct work he decided I need a bit of heat in the closet.

Back to the bathroom.....Dave did get a linen closet installed. 

We are very anxious to move upstairs.

That's pretty much a wrap.....I've been talking and meeting with people about kitchen stuff.  I'll share with you next time. TOO many choices!  Get ready to share ideas, suggestions, etc. about your favorite kitchen haves and have nots.

Cindy