Field Trip Friday with Michele from Shelstring

I live in a little suburb of Eugene Oregon called Santa Clara and blog over at Shelstring (you can read more about that here). When we first saw our house, we thought it looked like the Brady Bunch house. We searched for our home for a year by the time we finally came upon this one, and I knew it was the one the moment I stepped inside. Immediately I saw the potential it had. Although we’ve worked on it ever since we bought it nine years ago, we still have a lot to do. Part of the reason is that I never feel finished once I complete a project and find myself swinging full circle back to where I started after I’m given a little time.

So I’ll show you a little peek inside, which isn’t going to be that impressive without the “before shots”, but it will be a little taste, at least, which is more than I’ve ever shared before. I’m not sure you’re going to feel priviledged since this is the first time I’ve ever blogged about my house, but I’m willing to give it a go. So come on in, we’re fortunate to be visiting on a sunny day-

I love when spring comes, the first thing I do is visit my favorite nursery and fill up all my flower pots.

One of the first things we did in our house was remodel the kitchen. I will be sharing a full tour on my blog in my Summer Home Tour Series at the end of the summer, hopefully with the before and afters. Just to give a little insight, we pushed the wall the microwave is on out two feet and made the mud room a little smaller so that we could open up the kitchen a little more. My husband and a friend installed the cabinets and I tiled the backsplash. {One of my favorite things to DIY.}

I just got finished re-organizing our hutch area. The cookbooks were getting a little sloppy and the flour and sugar were on the counter by the sink making it quite a walk when baking.

The mud room was a blank canvas. It was just empty when we moved in. We moved the wall as close to the window as possible when we renovated the kitchen to give it a little more space. Although I installed the beadboard and created the seating area, I didn’t really complete the room until this week. The chalkboard wall was a project I did last summer for the beginning of the school year.

 I really had a lot of fun putting this room together. I wanted happy cheerful colors since it is gray and rainy so much of the time here.

The mudroom leads to the outside where I spend at least an hour a day in my gardens. I’m a California girl born and raised, so I don’t want to miss any sunlight when it’s out. One of the things I enjoy about the outdoors is that I often feel inspired to create something.

Here are a few of my favorite outdoor projects:

Baby to Potter– changing table made into a potting bench

A Pallet, huh?– bench made from a pallet

And a little more seating to enjoy…