One of the main reasons why I ever believed that I could buy a foreclosed house and fix it all up was because my sister had done it. If she could drywall I could, if she could pick paint colors and paint huge rooms herself I could, if she could landscape and design her yard I could. She’s an inspiration in many ways, but this is just one of them. So you can imagine my delight when the inspiration herself came to Cleveland. I bombarded her with TONS of questions, eager for ideas and feedback. She is the reason my back yard is now gorgeous, the reasons I have freshly laid dirt on every inch of my flowerbeds, and now why I have a charming new kitchen nook.

Of course to enhance the drama I’ll give you some befores:

to say nothing of the ceiling:

Luckily, Sabina wasn’t confronted with that, but rather this:

Which doesn’t really do justice to the situation. I was expert at making this little nook look spacious and inviting in this photo. The truth is, one had to shimmy around the side of the table to get to the back two chairs, and once there one couldn’t pull the chairs out far enough to allow a regular sized person to sit in them. The table was just too big for the space. We tried various table directions, various numbers of chairs, and for two years it remained unused for anything except piling things on. So we decided to turn it into this:


Obviously, things are not complete. Those two white circular pieces of paper will turn into fun circular frames or decorative plates. We still have a patch job to finish up. And, unbeknownst to you, that baseboard behind the bench is not yet nailed in. And the frames need pictures in them. But hey, it’s coming along- and I’ know your too impatient to wait until It’s all finished.
I’m trying to decide about a curtain style for this window. What do you think?
Where did I get all this stuff? Well that’s where the fun part comes in. Sabina and I found that bench, (which we’re pretty sure is Pottery Barn) at our local Goodwill for $50.00! The frames are the walls I gathered from a box in my closet and we spray painted them so they would all match. The wood crate was a steal from an antique store in “Amish Country” – Berlin, Ohio. The plant stand actually belongs in my piano room, but I love it here too- it was an estate sale find. (The kicker is there were two there! However, one of them wasn’t for sale. I thought to ask so I could have the set, but I didn’t. Shucks!) The pots are all from Goodwill. The hooks are from Anthropology. What do you think? Any ideas? Wouldn’t a whimsical chandelier be fun here? Oh if money grew on trees!