personal home space being rebuilt post 2

Post 1 yesterday showed a house full of purple painted walls! Yes, purple! 

I have loved all things purple and pink for a very long time, but for many years it was isolated to clothes and fashion accessories. In my first apartment as a young single 22 year old, I started decorating my bedroom with purple. But by the time I reached my later 20s I had already switched to burgundy and hunter green followed by the trend of mauve and sage green combo.

Then about 13 years ago, I started using purple again for a spare bedroom.

1 1/2 years ago, our current home was purchased through a personal property and real estate auction and imagine what color of paint was in the LR-to-DR open area? Yes, a taupe-gray-lavender hue!!! I was so excited to be able to bring out all my extra stored items and start filling this place with all things purple. So 2 bedrooms got a light pink-lavender paint. A new bedroom made out of the enclosed front porch got a vibrant purple. And I started using purples in other rooms too.

Then the fire happened last August while I was in the hospital and unfortunately we've been displaced since then and have had to work with insurance company and their hired crews to go through the process of valuation and restoration.

The crews are getting closer and closer every day now and it is getting exciting. Finally! I've been sort of numb for so many months now. I still can't dwell on many sentimental gifts that have been lost or the treasured antiques that we've discovered in our travels and now lost. Since almost all was lost in our kitchen and being displaced to a rental house property, we needed to have some minimal kitchen wares in order survive. We also were in a financial flux to be good stewards of the monies advanced and another issue of not wanting to buy too much during this time because it means moving things at least twice.

So in the rest of the post I will show you some home décor purchases and kitchen buys or gifts.

1. From Metamora Mennonite Women's sewing guild, this beautiful quilt coverlet=

My aunt is a part of this busy and generous group and knew I would love to have a quilt in purple! Thanks, Auntie!

2. From a Dollar Tree shopping trip yesterday in Peru, IL, I bought these home décor items and organizers=

"Enjoy the little things" has some grays. And the "love is all we need" has some blue which will be another accent color I'm planning to use. Black, white, silver/chrome/stainless steel, and gray will be the neutrals and metallics that I will also focus on including throughout our rebuilt home.

3. Kitchen ware gifts from my sister's family=

The Turkish cotton kitchen towel set has a sage green, gray, white, and lavender. The drying mat is a creamy ivory. The little cutting board is white and so are the darling Mason jar salt and pepper shakers! There is a small clear glass storage containers with a hinged snap on lid. And then a set of terrific silicone spatulas!!!! Thanks, sis!

Thank you Lord for all our many blessings both large and small! 

personal home space being rebuilt post 1

Basic facts: House fire August 13, 2017

*reported by neighbor at approx. 5:10-5:15 pm

*insurance adjustor estimated $71,000+ for structural and labor costs for rebuilt

*and $19-20K in personal total loss or severely damaged items

*fire marshal and arson investigator determine cause was nightlight bulb in the laundry room (not the holder or the outlet or the wiring)

About mid-December, construction crews begin working earnestly on interior with exterior completed before weather and temperature conditions worsen.

These interior photos were taken today, January 9, 2018 and show great promise that soon all will be finished for us to bring back items that survived and those few items we've purchased:

foyer's new light fixture and freshly painted ceiling and wall across from front door

BR 1: doors stored temporarily for bedroom and closet; baseboards, walls, & ceiling were given fresh paint with new ceiling fan

BR 2: closet is the 'near' wall on right side and has small area to the left of the closet and there some small space to the left side of doorway that I didn't photograph

LR looking toward the DR/office space on right; on other side of wall seen on left is a 1/2 bath, a 3rd small BR that they are still working in  and the main full bath; the kitchen doorway is shown at back

Main Bath: the wall had to be cut between bath and BR 3 in order to get the ordered shower stall to go in and now they are fixing the wall on the BR 3 side. Plumbers are still working on this.

Kitchen: This room is next to the laundry room where the fire started so there were lots of projects in here. Originally the water heater was in the here (to the right a foot or so from what's shown). With some agreements and additional costs paid by us, the water heater got moved into the basement. The plumbing for the sink is barely showing there on the left. The window used to be twice that size but the old window on the left was not replaced per my request because the previous owner made decision with her kitchen cabinetry on that sink wall to come out into the window space. To me it was a reflection of poor planning or use of space to have done that. Since that wall had to be rebuilt, sealed, insulated, etc. it didn't cost us anything extra. Appliances just got ordered on Friday, January 6. For the kitchen we will have a stainless steel refrigerator, sink, microwave, and stove/range.

Laundry room/mud room: I was standing in the doorway on the kitchen side and am looking towards the right in the space and out the west wall windows.

Laundry room/mud room: Still standing in the kitchen doorway shared with this space, I've shifted to look more towards the south wall to show new overhead light fixture, new back door to the enclosed porch, new wall paint, new ceiling paint, etc. The outlet below the window is where the nightlight was plugged into that it's bulb exploded causing the fire. So this room and the not shown "closet" on the left or east wall of this room that has the basement entrance's floor 'door' have been totally rebuilt from roof down to the sub-floor.

And this completes the tour for the majority of this little 900+/- sq. ft. home at this time.

Color palette has some shade or tone of purple in every room as you move through different zones or from east to the west and southwest corner. Lots of white will be used everywhere in the window, door, and baseboard trims as well as the boiler baseboard heat vents and most standard overhead lights. Brushed nickel, chrome, and stainless steel will also be found throughout to in plumbing and lighting fixtures. Vinyl flooring will be a imitation slate look. The LR and DR/office area will have a low level loop carpet that has a mixture of grays, black, tan, and brown colors. I did that to add some visual interest plus a visual 'grounding' to help prevent the house interior looking too feminine. The carpet is to put down on Wednesday January 10.

I will post again soon as excitement builds as we draw closer to moving back in. (squeal)