Anniversary part 3
31 Aug 2023
I am definitely losing steam on the anniversary posts, I want to talk about what’s going on now! I am supposed to be currently taking two weeks off from all hard work / exercise to rest a sore foot and a sore knee, and I'm supposed to be using this time to catch up on writing, but both of those things are easier said than done.
I have been using this time to make some plans for exciting upcoming projects, I am REALLY good at making plans, it's always my favorite part of a project. I'll definitely use it as an excuse to procrastinate writing the anniversary posts!
Time to stop moaning and get to the post! We are getting to the end of 2022 at this point. These posts have been mostly house projects because I'm going chronologically and winter is for interior work.
Next stop on the year in review is the kitchen diner! I'm saying kitchen diner because I can't think of a better word. This is basically a wide hallway that runs through the center of the house starting from the front door. When we first saw the house, there was a huge round dining table in this space.
We weren't quite sure how we would use this space, since we don't really need a kitchen table. Also, I needed space for the 18 boxes of cookbooks that must be accessible at a moments notice, so we decided to have these two pieces of furniture made. I found this furniture maker on Etsy and they were wonderful to work with! That little section of wall behind the sideboard/hutch has a bunch of electrical and also the port for the central vac. Basically damning whoever lives here to leave that section of wall unused and to keep their cookbooks far from the kitchen! So annoying. The furniture people were able to design the piece so that I can just open the doors to plug in the vacuum or use that electrical outlet whenever we need them.
And let me tell you something about myself. I am never happy with anything... ever. I labor over decision making. I want to see EVERY possible option before deciding. Just last night I was ordering drapes for the dining room and I literally ordered 3 sets of dark blue drapes in different fabrics and slightly different colors so that I could see them in person to decide. Typically when something shows up, I am thinking about whether it was the right choice, or whether this other option would have been better or whether I've really thought of everything that we will ever need. It can be exhausting. Anyway, this table and bookcase showed up and Chris tentatively asked, "what do you think?". No need to worry beloved husband!! They are exactly what I wanted!
pajama ball
When you buy a house with a ballroom (the previous owners called it the game room, but we are FANCY, so it's a ballroom), you have to host a ball! At the end of 2022 we hosted our first - a pajama ball! Everyone came in their jammies and we lit the stove and I thought it would be cozy and amazing, but in reality once all of the humans got in the room and started to burn my famous boozy punch for fuel, it was blazing hot in there! Anyone who opted for flannel pajamas - including me - regretted it! Friend of the farm, Jim, stood outside on the deck sipping cocktails in his Ebenezer Scrooge night shirt observing the party through the window, steaming like the ghost of Christmas Present.
I’ve posted pretty extensively about the ballroom fireplace, but here it is in its Christmas decor glory! At this point it was kind of temporarily propped in place before the stone hearth and the tile were done. I also cranked out the drapes in here before our holiday pajama ball. They look OK from a distance, or when you’ve had some cocktails, or preferably both, but I would like to make some improvements to them at some point.
Here are the before photos - also at Christmas time!
And here we are almost ready for pajama ball 2022!
For any readers who are also into organization porn, this is the closet in the ballroom. It almost holds all of our catering / serving equipment. Very satisfying!
That's it for these two spaces! There is still a TON more interior work before the spring. If you are bored with my old lady style, just bear with me, farm posts again SOON!