Work on the bedroom began on move in day. After all, it is your place to relax and conclude each day.  When we moved in the room was just plain dull.  It was a dark greenish gray that just looked to me like a dreary day.  
     So out with the dull and in with the gold! The paint cans were open as soon as we could get the drop cloths down.  Thank you mom and aunt Wendy for painting this! 

     I wanted to do vertical stripes to add some interest to the room without adding stuff that takes up space. It was inspired by the Citizen Hotel in downtown Sac.  Initially we just painted the gold in a matt paint.  Then when we got around to it we masked off the stripes with painter's tape.  This was challenging in a 90 year old house because the walls aren't actually straight so there was a lot of eye balling involved.  We painted the cream with a semi-gloss so that there is a difference in sheen.  It is probably about time to put something on that wall, but we have been busy redecorating the living room. 

    The doors to the bathroom came a few days later.  The bathroom, which connects to our room,   didn't have any handles at all!  This meant that you either let everyone be part of your business or you used a screw driver.  Obviously this was an immediate fix.  Luckily we  found most of the door handles in the basement along with these gorgeous period door plates. Most of them are unique so each door has a slightly different design.  They were all black and tarnished but looked nice after a good scrub! 
   I also oiled all the doors with a tinted oil to bring back the rich color.  

     At some point in the life of our house the breakfast nook was added behind our room.  I know this because there was the outline of an exterior window in our room that lead to a wall! We debated about all the ways to fix this.  In the end we covered it up.  Now we have a curtain on one wall.  Besides being a great cover for an eye sour, I like the change in texture and the break in the stripes.  
   So that is our bedroom! It feels relaxing a peaceful to me without being dull!  I change the bedspread about three times a year when I am feeling an itch for a new look.  I would love to see other people's rooms if you want to share!

    The kitchen is really the heart and soul of our house.  For one it is always the warmest room, due to our old old oven.  For two it is full of food.  So, people always tend to congregate in there. 
     Luckily for us, the previous owners did a nice renovation in the kitchen.  They modernized some features like the backsplash, counter tops, and hood, but kept some of the great period details like the Wedgewood stove and hard wood.  Our stove is still complete with an original timer and little salt and pepper shakers. 
    

   I have added a few things that make it more user friendly and give it some character.  My mom gave us a pot rack for Christmas, so that was the first addition.  This saves so much space in the cupboards!!
   The island looks out over the porch and backyard so it is a great place to cook! We shortened and painted the stools so that we could actually sit at the island.  Usually these stools are used by guests who are hanging out during cooking. 
 

   The walls in the kitchen are still the old plaster and lath, and were riddled with holes and scrapes from years of cooking.   This summer I got up on my little ladder, filled in the cracks in the plaster, sanded them down and repainted.  This really cleaned things up!
     Then I had a whole patch of wall by the sink that was all naked.  I decided to put a chalk board, so I could write recipes that I use often.  What teacher can refuse a chalkboard!  Most of the time the recipe for bread it up so I can quickly pop the ingredients into the bread maker and be done with it. 
    The chalkboard is fun, and not too complicated.  There was of course a mandatory trip to the hardware store where I got a can of chalkboard paint, the molding, and one small piece of wood to hold the actual chalk.  I measured and taped off the area where I wanted the board.  I actually used saran wrap and painters tape, so that there was a large area covered.  Then I put two coats of chalkboard paint up.  While these were drying I measured and cut the edging.  I then painted it with two coats of white paint we had laying around the basement.  When everything was dry I removed the tape.  I nailed in the molding, then touched up the paint over the nails.  I love the look of it, and it would be great for a kids room!
    My neighbor had given me the most adorable measuring cups you have ever seen and I wanted a place to display them.  So I went to Target, found those great shelves and put them up.  The measuring cups are on the bottom shelf.  Those few changes really dressed up the whole area and made it a lot more interesting! One room completed, on to the next! Happy cooking!

    The nook. Hole repair.  Not an anticipated project.  Not something we knew how to do.  Thank goodness for wireless internet that has videos of all kinds of home improvement projects!
     When the previous owners moved out of our house, they took with them the 6 speakers that they had installed in the 100 square foot breakfast nook.  This was of course contrary to the contract that said built in stuff was supposed to stay.  Regardless, we had a bunch of big holes in our wall.  My resourceful husband found a "how to" video on This Old House's website.  We watched, paused, fixed, and watched again.  

Here is the basics of how we did it:
1) Cut the existing hole to a clean rectangle.  
2) Put two small boards or stakes inside the hole behind the drywall. This can be done with one board if the hole is fairly small.  With your hand or a string, pull the board tight to the wall and put a screw on the top and the bottom. This will give you a stable place to attach a new piece of drywall. 
3) Cut a piece of drywall that is slighter smaller than your exhisting hole.  Attach this by putting a screw through the drywall and into the stabilizing boards. 
4) Cover the whole concoction with spackle.  Smooth it out with a putty knife.
5) Let that dry overnight and then sand it smooth.
6) Add another layer of spackle. 
7) Let it dry and sand the second layer smooth. 
8) When you paint over the patched area, make sure that paint is a good match! If not I would suggest painting the whole wall again. 

     Now the breakfast nook is my favorite room in the house.   The windows look out into the garden and the morning sun pours in onto the bench.  It is absolutely the perfect place to fall into a good book and a hot cup of coffee.   This is in summer when I am not teaching of course!

Painting The House: 
     It was brought to my attention, that this blog is called Robin's Urban Farmhouse, and I have written very little about the house! So, I am going to make an effort to include some of our house projects. On top is the house when we bought it.  The paint had since gotten worse.  The bottom picture is what it looks like now! 
     When we bought the house there was A LOT to be done.  It was a like a puppy, so cute and loveable, but so messy and time consuming!
     Our house was missing key things, like door handles on the bathroom.  Apparently the last owners and their two kids either didn't close the bathroom door or got out a screw driver every time they walked in or out. That was obviously one of the first things to be fixed.  
     

     We made a list.  We only let ourselves put five projects on the To Do List at a time so we wouldn't get overwhelmed.  I am a total list person! We worked on those five projects, and we got great satisfaction from crossing a project off when we finished it.  We have kept this list thing going.  I think we have one page for each of the years we have been here.  
   Of course there are always projects to add, but last week we crossed off our LAST major project on the list.  We finished painting the house! With a 90 year old house, everything is done a little differently than a new house.  For example, it is hard to replace an interior door, because they were all cut by hand to fit the specific door frame.  So a door that is actually a prefect rectangle, won't fit in the door frame!! Frustrating.       

   Painting the house was no different.  You can't just paint the house.  You have to water blast the house and catch and clean EVERY little flake of paint, because back in the day they used lead based paint. Then you have to scrape what is left.  Then fill in the holes in the old redwood siding with Bondo.  Then sand it all.  Then prime it.  At this point you can think about paint. I have to admit.  We hired a handyman to 90% of this.  
     Justin and I haggled over colors, painted about 6 different yellow on our house, which I am sure the neighbors enjoyed, and finally came to an agreement! Thank you to my parents who mixed more quarts of yellow paint for us than I can count!  We did the final touch up of the pain ourselves.  This means that I painted it.  Justin isn't really allowed to paint much around here, because I have to repaint them after :) I think he does this on purpose.
    For a final touch we discarded an absolutely ugly old light that we had a got a charming lantern for the front porch.  DONE! Dust off the hands, wash the paint brushes, and hopefully store them in the basement for a long, long time...
   

    This morning I arrived home after a walk to see my husband pulling electrical wires out of a hole in the dining room wall.  I have to admit, this made me more than a little nervous since most of our home improvement project kind of follow the "guess and check" mentality.  Electricity is not really great to guess with.  

     Anyways, he ended up running the wire through the floor, connecting it with some other wire in the basement, then back through the wall and out onto the front porch.  I obviously know a lot about the stuff!  Then he started sawing a hole in the freshly painting redwood siding on the front porch.  At the point I went into the backyard to avoid freaking out.  The good news is, he ended up installing a neat and tidy electrical outlet on the front porch. 

    The electrical outlet means, we get to put up Christmas lights!!! And now with the cozy glow if twinkle lights the Christmas season has officially begun for me!
Merry Christmas!