Conquering The Kitchen

I was interested in the word "kitchen". So, being me, I googled it. It comes from the Latin "coquere" , which means "to cook". Then it got all mangled and we ended up with the word "kitchen" in English. Well, the Latin word "coquere" is really close to the word "conquer" if you ask me. And that is what we had to do in Mobley. Conquer the Kitchen!

Here are some before and after pictures. Now, remember we are working on a zero budget, and I wouldn't call myself a big d.i.y. girl, rather a Queen of Camouflage.

We spent a total of $300.00 dollars in the kitchen, ahem, the majority of our decorating budget for the entire house. The lion's share went for the range hood and backsplash. The rest went to paint. Paint, I might add, is no longer $6.99 a gallon for the good stuff, lol...Oh yes, $15.00 for cabinet pulls

The old range hood with rotten backsplash removed

New range hood in pretty stainless steel

Old backsplash, yep, linoleum falling off the wall, gross.

 

 

New backsplash, lovely ceiling tin tiles with a quaint fleur-de-lis pattern

The wall phone cord was heavily painted to the wall, yikes.

 

 

Cupboard in front of newly patched and painted wall in soothing white

 

 

Old cupboard in front of bilious yellow wall

 

 

I used a poster to cover the doors, and painted the cupboard white to blend into the new wall to make this little kitchen o' mine look bigger. Plus this cupboard holds most of my small appliances. Woot!

 

We had to move the kitchen cabinet up three inches to accommodate our refrigerator, so I camouflaged it with a big basket (holding cookie cutters and muffin liners) and a lovely old bowl filled with geraniums. It really brightens the kitchen, I love flowers.

I had some pretty Waverly fabric from the 1980's called "Geranium Leaves" (I think), so I sewed up a little 26" doubled sided curtain. This way I get a lot of light in the kitchen, and the neighbor gets to see my lovely fabric. Aren't I nice? Yes, yes, I am.

 

Here is Mr. Mobley, my d.h., preparing the cabinets to be removed. You can't tell but this yellow the kitchen was painted  was hideous, bilious yellow, (ie bile, ick). The original white fridge, and the awful hideous backsplash and filthy range hood that came with Mobley......

 

 

Now it is our neat sweet calming white kitchen, with our lovely new backsplash and range hood. Oh yes, we had to put on new drawer handles to hide the holes in the cabinets where the others had bored through. We renovated, well maybe camouflaged, this kitchen for $300.00 dollars. We used our old appliances. The kitchen cupboard was a piece I earned painting wooden bunny plaques in the 1980's.. Egads! I left a tissue box in the photo, a sign of the weather, lol......

I wish you could all come and see Mobley in person. She is quite a lady, well seasoned, a trifle mature, and full of God's spirit.

Blessings to all, Theresa

 

Life Is For Living

We are settling in. Truly, settling in. Mobley is now at the forefront of all our busy industry. We have accomplished much in a short time. However, it was just a short time ago that I heard God whisper.

I never called it a whisper until I started reading "My Heart's Song". If you never met Geneva or read her blog I encourage you to go there. Do not stop, do not pass go, she is worthy of your attention. The address is http://www.my-hearts-song.com/ (click it, lol). When she embarked upon her journey of mobile home makeover/renovation, God had to whisper to her.

My whisper (a big one) came after mom passed away in March. "Life is for living", God said. I pondered this and realized I had put off life. I wanted all the planets aligned before I would act. I dreamed big, and filed those dreams in the big filing system in my head.  I was paralyzed with the "what ifs", and the "I can't's, let's include the "I won'ts", too. Succeeding is truly more terrifying  than doing nothing at all, or doing things but burying them in the ground.

I am taking baby steps, but I am determined not to be a "man" pleaser anymore. If you don't like my blog, you are welcome to leave. If you don't like mobile homes, you are welcome to leave. If my style is not your style, I pretty sure some other blogger has your style down to a tee. It's all about living!

But, if you are prepared to put up with my ramblings, dip your toe in my paint palette, and have some fun, let's go! God, Himself, whispered to me, "LIFE IS FOR LIVING".

 I welcome your comments, and any help or guidance you are prepared to offer.

I have decided to have a little friend help me. Her name is Bitsy. She will pop up in photos and may even host the blog occasionally. She's definitely more fun than I and has retained her childlike spirit. She is likely to belt out a song at any given moment. "The B-I-B-L-E, Oh, that's the book for me", is definitely her favorite song.

Here are some pictures of Bitsy. As usual, she's up to some antics. I think I will start next with some pictures of the kitchen, as that is the heart of the home.

Bitsy is always a little shy at first.

But after she get's to know you,

 

She will talk and talk and talk, that's our Bitsy.

A big beautiful bunch of bountiful blessings to you, Theresa

Finding Grace, Going Berserk

Berserk may be a little bit of an overstatement. However, the 2nd definition of berserk is "Operating in a wild or erratic way; out of control". My spending on craft supplies the last , hmmmm, 30 years could be defined by the word "berserk".

Yesterday I boxed up some of my fabric and craft supplies so we could move the California closet system to its new home. My goal, to completely empty the old closet. It seemed like such an insignificant little task. Harrumph, I am in shock as to the accumulation of stuff in said closet.

Here is the California Closet insert on the right and there's room for my two faithful Kenmore Sewing Companions. See the fabric I kind of threw in there for an example

 

Here is the one on the left, another tall cabinet with the bin module in the middle. Love the pull-out drawers, plus they are so sturdy. Great closet organizers by California Closets.

 I love the little shirt pull-outs. I fill them with rolled up fabric and can pull the drawer out to see what I want (left). Then, there is the laundry bin that I use for my batting and polyfil (right)

 

 

. These are such good pieces. Love those California Closet folks (not that I've met them personally, lol).

Not only, did I not empty the closet, by the time the day ended I was gifting others with my stuff (in my mind). I guess this wanting to give stuff away is really a way of keeping it. If we give it to "them" it is safe, lol....Are any of you guilty of this, too?

Anyhoo, we have decided (I use the term "we" loosely) to make the Craft Room our Decorating Central. Most of the projects for this house will start in this room.

8 X 8  feet of mirrored doors, eeeeeek.

 

Bland but a good sized craft room, yippee skippee

The immensity (is that a word?) of this task has begun to sink into my being, but I am playing the Pollyanna Glad Game with all my heart.

I am glad we will have a roof over our hoary heads. I am glad God is the head of this strange turn of events. I am glad I have Miss Sweetpea across the street, let the commiserating and celebrating begin. I am glad for our new pastor and his wife, and their enthusiasm and incredible love for God. Last but really not last, I am glad for a husband who puts up with my crazy, mercurial thoughts and actions.

Did I mention dear husband trimmed the arbor last week, and Mobley is sporting a new do. I think she could get a little proud of herself, we shall have to watch this tendency and nip it in the bud, lol.

Before                                                                                           After

I am sure Mobley wants to transform into English Country Cottage style, she keeps telling me in so many ways. Shall we let her have her way? I definitely think we shall!

What a back and forth post. I hope you can make sense of it. I am used to having lots of different thoughts vie for attention in my little brain.

I think this little saying captures the essence of "me":

"I was going to conquer the world today, but something glittery caught my eye!"
Sorry for the awful photoshop crop on my pix......

Blessings to you all, Theresa

God's Immeasurable Grace

I was sitting in church some months ago. It had to be months because my sweet little mother was sitting right by my side (I miss you mum!).

Anyhoo, God whispered in my spirit. You know, you feel the words as opposed to hearing an audible voice. This is what He said, "The universe cannot contain me, but you  hold me in your heart". How awesome is that!

As I Prune, And Remove Certain Plantings Will I Be Pruned By God?

An immeasurable solar system full of world's and stars, planets and moons, not to mention a big burning sun of enormous proportions is too small to contain God. But here I am a puny, whiny, idiosyncratic human who can hold God in her heart. And I do hold God in my heart.

My Strawberry Bed is Full of Weeds, Grace Covers My Hearts Weeds!

 

I hope I can relay some of God's grace through Finding Grace, Going Mobile. Along the way, I wonder if God will transform me as we endeavor to transform Mobley into a lovely, cozy refuge for our senior years.

In Time, I Hope My Trees And Life Bear Much Beautiful Fruit!

Have a lovely, restful, grace filled Sunday.

As Always, Theresa