Category Archives: My Home

Room by room pictures of my home

Cleaning the Kitchen Plus New Curtains!

While I’ve been droning on about the dining room, I have been cleaning the kitchen. Really cleaning the kitchen. I’ve scrubbed the floors by hand and wiped the cabinets. I keep greenbeans on top of the cabinets, and I removed the jars and washed dust off of them. I’m going to swap out a few things in the kitchen over the next few days, but essentially, I like this kitchen. The big change I’ve done this week is new window treatments.

Here’s my new red and yellow stationary roman shades…

If you look above the curtains, you’ll see white spots where Mike removed the hardware for the curtains that were up. I’ll be painting those tomorrow when I do the touch up painting in this room. I did not take a “before picture.” I liked the window treatments that were in place before but they were 12 years old, and I had made them of “reused” fabric from another house (when we lived in New Jersey…a long time ago!). They had panels and closed off the space a bit…plus the cat peed on the panels, and I was just so disheartened. It was time for a change, and if Sam the Sinister Cat tries to pee on these, he’s going to have to hike his butt up awfully far.

I kinda sorta wish the light were not above the table, but someone else is attached to it as we bought it on a fun weekend in Connecticut. I would like to see a black wrought iron piece there.

Here’s another view from the potrack. See the gate to the left? With animals, we have gates everywhere. We have gates to keep the cats and dogs from entering areas, and then we have gates to keep the cats away from the dogs because Sam the Cat likes to sneak up and make “muffins” on Gracie the Dog. She is scared of him (Golden Retrievers are conflict adverse.) Gracie says…”that Sam is a pervert.”

I just realized that I didn’t wipe the counterop very well and the flowers on the table are off center. Sorry. The kitchen has it’s own mini floyer. I’m working in there right now…it’s where the phone and painted rooster are located to the right on this picture (above).

Here’s more of the kitchen…

That little chalkpaint “Eat” above the cooktop? It should say “Eat Less!” I love chalkpaint.

This backsplash is 12 years old, and I still like it. It was from Home Depot Expot Design Center which is now out of business. The backsplash was a splurge — the tiles are handmade and handpainted in San Antonio, Texas.

I have greenbeans across the top of the cabinets, and yes, we eat them! I have other places that I store canned goods, but I always keep something on top of the cabinets. Sometimes I’ll alternate canned tomatoes and green beans if I’m feeling bold.

Another view….

That is an old Pepsi crate above the plate rack. It did not photograph well. It’s got little jars of our honey in it and a few dishtowels rolled up. I move it from room to room. Sometimes it has candles in it and sits on a coffeetable, but for the past three monthsl, it’s lived in the kitchen.

Like the little glass ice cream sundae dishes? $1 at the Dollar Tree. More roosters…did someone say roosters were so yesterday? I did not get the memo. Roosters were the rage a few years back in all types of kitchens and they have since flew the coop. However, my kitchen is a country kitchen–it’s in Mendota, Virginia which is about as far out in the country as most people get–and the roosters continue to work with it, so I keep them.

This kitchen may see quartz countertops and a new stainless sink in the future, but for now, I’m really happy with it. That countertop has been a topic of discussion for two years. I’m afraid the installation will damage my backsplash. If anyone is reading this from AGC Glass Company (my employer), they have heard me say “I’m getting my countertop in April, in May…in the fall…in the spring.” I’m ashamed…I have still not done anything!

Hope you like my new kitchen curtains and touring my kitchen! We’re having steak and salad tonight for dinner– wish you could join us!!

Guest House Bedroom and Quilts

Happy Saturday! Another blazing hot day! We are staying cool by staying inside today. I’ve been cleaning our kitchen from top to bottom–serious..scrubbing the cabinets, cleaning the inside of the cabinets, and even washing my jars of greenbeans that I keep on top of the cabinets. I made the mistake of cleaning our self-cleaning oven today when it’s close to 100 degrees outside, and it’s been blowing hot air for over four hours. Yuck One hour left and it should be clean. Next time, I’ll do this on a cool day — winter!!

Mike and I have been pushing forward on our projects. He has the dining room completely painted, and I’ve been painting the baseboards in the kitchen, and we’ll be installing new kitchen window treatments by Monday. I’ll post pictures. I hope they look good!

Finally, the guesthouse bedroom’s hardwood is down and while there are a few things remaining to be done, the room is essentially finished. It’s a very simple room, but I like the way it looks. I stood in the closet and took this picture.

I just want to go over and crawl in that bed. The room is so much cleaner than our main house master bedroom. The hardwood floors that Mike installed make it look so fresh and neat. I painted the baseboard, and he made and installed the toe molding. We didn’t even fight. Much.

The quilt was made by a local Mendota quilter and friend, Joyce “Toby” Sproles. She was actually a close friend of my mother’s (Leah Vivian Sproles Barker) and I went to school with her daughters (Lois, Sandy and Lisa). She made it out of scraps, and I admire the artistry she used in putting the colors together. I would not have known where to start! It is perfect for this room, and everytime I see it, I think of Toby. She has had some serious health issues, but she keeps on creating. I want to get her picture with the quilt to add to my Quilt Project tab on this blog. I hope to do that in the next week or two. There is so much talent in this area.

I put some sheer curtains on the windows which were purchased at Walmart for a little less than $9. At first I planned on buying a new black rod, but I decided to spray paint the existing rod (which is one of those real simple ones that cost about $1.00). A new one might have looked a bit better, but I’d rather use what I’ve got and save the money.

The guesthouse is furnished with castoffs or extras, furniture that Mike has made, and a few things that someone had been intending to get rid of but gave to us instead. I made most of the window treatments and throw pillows. It reminds me of having a big dollhouse (until it’s time to clean it). We are going to be working on the guesthouse during the next three months, and I’ll take pictures of the rooms as we work on them.

As you go into the guesthouse, which is really an apartment above the garage, you’ll run into another quilt. It’s called Flower Garden, and my sister Nancy made it. It was a Mendota Cemetery Quilt, and I won it during the raffle. I bought a lot of tickets.

Pretty, Isn’t it?

I don’t mean to gush, but thank you to everyone reading this blog. I love your coments. Mike will look at me while I’m looking at my laptop and say “what are you grinning about?” It’s you! I’m reading your comments! This has been so fun for me.

Patriotic Apron Giveaway

Mendota’s Katie Harris made this patriotic apron for some lucky little girl to wear. If you’d like a chance to win this apron, just leave a comment to this post sharing your plans for Independence Day. Simple! Your comment must be submitted by 10 pm on Tuesday, July 3. I’m downloading a little gizmo that will randomly pick one comment which will be the lucky winner. I’ll notify the winner by email and on the post which will be placed online after 10 pm on Tuesday, July 3. I’ll mail the apron to the winner. Easy. And fun!

On Saturday, Katie had her store open from 9:30 am until 5:00 pm. The building has been in her family for over 40 years. I believe she is calling the store…”The Store.” Here’s a picture…

I hope that at some time the store will be open on a regular basis, but at present, Katie opens it when she can…when she has some extra time. When she’s there and the store is open, she occasionally provides refreshments. Lemonade. Muffins. Beans and cornbread. It feels like you are visiting someone in their home but you handle all of their furnishings and accessories!

I have history tied to the store. When Katie’s father operated the store, he called it Benfield’s Store, and my mother worked there. It sold sodas, bread, milk, gas…all of the things that a country story sold in the 1970’s. The Benfield girls, Katie and Lisa, and I got off the school bus at the store. Mom would give me a bag of chips and a Ginger Ale which was in a small glass bottle at that time. She’d ring me up with the old-fashioned cash register that went “Cha-Ching!” After our snack, we girls would head to the back of the store and play Rook with our friends. What memories!

Going back many years further, my father helped make the block for the original store site. He was paid 10 cents per block. I can imagine his hands…young at that time…working. Here’s a picture.

Inside the store, there’s little vignettes of things Katie loves. She’s uncomfortable charging her friends, but I’ve assured her she’ll get used to it. We want the store to be open, so we want to be customers as well as friends.

Getting ready for July 4…

Katie has an eye for making things pretty. This kerosene lamp is a good example. In Mendota, we all have kerosene lamps as our power goes off frequently. As I write this, thousands are without power in Virginia following the June 29 storm. I wonder…do they have kerosene lamps?

Here’s something that Katie and her grandson made. It’s a birdbath made from a plate and a vase. Very clever and a good project for little hands.

Also on Saturday, I continued working on my dining room. It’s going nightmarishly slow…

Here’s another. Looks like the Charles Manson murders took place here.

We are anxious to get this room done and put back together. We had a delay because Mike went out of town this weekend to see the Atlanta Braves with his son and grandson. He had a great time, and it was worth it, but it’s back to work!

Hope you enjoyed visiting The Store. I also hope I have a new/old dining room tomorrow evening when I post.

Thank you for reading my blog. I had over 50 views on one of the posts last week. Many thanks! Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested and keep it growing. You have my appreciation.

Eva

Dining Room Project – Before

There won’t be a lot of DIY specific projects or recipes on this blog for a bit. We are still in catch up mode! We’re eating microwave popcorn instead of cooking and focused on the essentials–cleaning, organizing and freshening our house–room by room. During the last two weeks, we’ve worked in the foyer and in the yellow guest bedroom. Today we started on the dining room which has remained the same since 1999/2000 when we first moved into our house. “We” is my husband, Mike and me. Retired Man. 🙂

My dining room is a good example of a room that is ~~exhausted~~ tired. Good grief! It has been bleeding dragon’s blood for over 12 years!! I’m so not liking the red. I recall how hard it was to get that exact look (Ralph Lauren Barn Red). Here it is in all of its glory along with meaningless accessories:

To my comment on meaningless accessories, this room speaks so much to something that was just purchased and stuck on the wall. My thoughts on what makes a well-decorated home have changed. Ten years ago, I felt I had to fill up empty wall space. Today, I wait until I find something that speaks to me. The plates I like but not just stuck up there with the picture. They are going to get a much needed rest. Inside the hutch.

Here’s a good spot to explain the messy dining room table. We’re doing projects all over the house!! Just in this view, there is a bolt of fabric (guest house window valance), a Bible (getting ready for VBS at the end of July), an open laptop (blog), a closed laptop (work) and just the least bit of camera bag. Feel like sitting down and eating a good meal?

Back to the room. Below the chair rail, there is a trailing vine. Here’s a picture (ignore my computer’s power cord).

It’s the Virginia creeper vine painted by the very talented Bristol artist, Lisa Snead. I want to keep this area the same. I live in Virginia and love most, if not all, things Virginian, so I’m wanting to keep the Virginia creeper vine.

The red paint will change out to one of Benjamin Moore’s Affinity colors called Moroccan Spice which is actually a terracotta color.

See all of the paint chips? I told Mike that I thought Moroccan Spice was the best choice and sent him out for what I thought would be the $3 sample paint pot. He returned with a ~$50 can of paint. I was shocked! Even if it didn’t work, I’d have to use it. However, it does work. Sigh.Of.Relief. Also, with the brushed spot, I noticed how good it covered the red so all’s well.

Back to the room again…I realize I may have a problem with wanting too many painted pieces of furniture in a room that I’ve also got artistic painting on the walls. I’m living with that.

Here’s a piece I really enjoy:

This is the first piece of furniture Mike and I purchased. We bought it in Nashville, Tennessee, and it was part of a breakfast set made by Pennsylvania House. We thought we were high up. Later, as our family moved, evolved and changed, we gave the table and chairs to our son and daughter-in-law, and they later gave it to their son. I’m not sure where it is now, but it may well be something that went to Goodwill and was then snapped up by some DIY blogger with a quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and is living the good life again!

More about the hutch. Did you think I was going to tell you I did the artistic painting? I wish, but NOT!! Holly and Jim Thomas of Meadowview, Virgnia did this for me about 12 years ago. They included some of the things I enjoy as part of my rural life including my wonderful kitty Miss Molly. Loved her so much. She lived to be 21. Here she is reaching up to a bird’s nest:

Might as well show you the top of the hutch above Miss Molly.

I’ll probably have this hutch until I die.

Here’s something else I have in my dining room. It’s a repurposed cabinet that housed a radio at one time. Now it is….ta da….a wine cabinet!

I coveted it in an antique store in Middleburg, Virginia. It was $750. It might as well have been a gazillion dollars, because we could not afford it at that time. When I finally got my husband to agree to consider buying it as a Christmas gift, he went to the shop, and it was gone! However, he learned that it had been there on consignment and after not selling, the cabinet had been taken to the artist’s house in Manassas, Virginia to be readied for auction. A trip to Manassas and $300 later, it was mine. I loved it in my townhome in Leesburg, Virginia (where we lived at the time), but I’ve never found the right place for it in this house. I’ve stuck it in the corner of the dining room where it will probably stay for a while longer.

The dining room table which is piled with junk in this picture I’ll talk about separately on another post. By the way, I do clean the house, and it is not usually this junky, but as I mentioned above, while we’re working on painting and sewing, I’ve not been very neat. Sorry. The only things I’ll say regarding the table at this time is that my husband made it for me and it is very special. Definitely worthy of a separate post.

Window treatments are now down. The room is taped and ready to go. Surely it won’t take us a week to finish this paint job.

I’ll keep you posted:

Yellow Guest Bedroom Done! Finally!

A few days late, but the yellow guest bedroom is finally done. Just a quick before picture:

If you’ll recall from my earlier posts, the room had become a place for us to put things that were in transition or we didn’t know what to do with. Also, the window treatments were very cheap ones I’d got from Target. Target has great stuff, but these looked bad from the start. Why did I leave them up for over 5 years? They hung crooked and didn’t hide the blinds that are pulled behind them. The blue and white checked duvet cover and Euro shams were fine, and I’ll use them again. However, the cat threw up on the duvet and since it had to be removed anyway, I thought it was time for a change. I always dread putting on a duvet. It’s like wrestling a mean cat.

Enough of the past…let’s move to now! Do you like it?

Minor changes, since I don’t have a lot of money to spend on this, and I still like the room. It’s a cheerful room that, if I were a guest, I’d enjoy sleeping in. I had the white battenberg duvet cover, the Euro shams and the quilt (which is now included in my Quilt Project Page.) I still love the Sherwin Williams “Light of the Moon” paint color. The only purchase I made was the $8.95 per yard fabric for the valances.

Here’s another view of the room. Notice the very sweet little birdhouse table beside the bed? My husband made that for me.

My next projects will be in the dining room and kitchen. Retired Man is still installing hardwood in the guest house bedroom, so I’ve lost my good help until that is done. He has an artificial knee, bad back and achy neck so he isn’t going to move on that project very fast. A bit each day.

I’m continuing to learn how to use this blog. I’ve learned that I should include my site name on photographs so I’m learning to using picmonkey. I wasn’t sure if “rivercliffcottage.com” should be centered or on the corner. I think it’s better on the corner. Thanks for staying with me while I’m learning all of these new things.

It’s Saturday afternoon here in Mendota, and it is blazing hot. I’ve got two snoring dogs beside me who I’m certain are wanting me to join them for a nap!

I Hate Miss Fentriss

My sister, Pat, and I lived in Norwood, Ohio briefly in the late 1960’s. We attended Sharpsburg Elementary, and we each took Home Economics. Pat was in the 8th grade; I was in the 6th grade. Girls were required to take Home Economics and boys were required to take Shop. It was the 60’s.

Anyway, there was an especially enthusiastic Home Economics teacher named Miss Fentriss. I have no idea if she was a Miss or a Mrs. but it seems, in my sister’s recollection, that sewing was the most important thing in Miss Fentriss’ life so I am making an assumption that she was married to her Singer sewing machine.

I had a bit of hyperactivity (Mom called it energy) in the 6th grade–I barely remember Home Economics. I do recall making a blue apron that had a very poorly installed zipper pocket in the front. I gave it to one of my 6th grade boyfriends to give to his mother for Mother’s Day. I can only imagine what the surprised woman thought when she received the gift. “Was the poor child who made this blind?”

My sister took the class seriously. I still member the very fashionable navy and yellow polka dot culottes she made. (Now there is a word you don’t see often…culottes). She knows how to sew and enjoys it. Later in life when she attempted to teach me to sew, Miss Fentriss’ name began to enter our conversation.

My sister would say in her most school teacherish voice, “Miss Fentriss would do it this way,” or “Miss Fentriss would always clip her threads” as she smugly clipped her threads and ensured her lining wasn’t slipping,

If you have read my previous post (here), you know that I planned one day for making the most simplest of valances and cleaning up our yellow guest bedroom. It did not go well.

However, I have not been lonely during this process. Nosiree! I’ve been besieged by Miss Fentriss’ presence. She hovers, loiters and whispers “tsk…tsk…what a mess!” She is especially upset that I did not line the valances. I started to line them, but I found that the drapery fabric was 54″ wide and the lining fabric was 48″ wide, so I’m short lining fabric, and I live 20 miles from the store. Forget it. I’d like to smack whomever made that rule about varying widths.

It’s 9:40 pm. I went and picked up the fabric this morning but I didn’t get started on making these valances until late this evening. I’m close to having two valances (unlined) made but the room is a wreck, and Chrissie the Cat is trying to knock stuff off the table. And I hate Miss Fentriss.

I’ll post the fixed up yellow guest bedroom tomorrow.

Yellow Bedroom Redo Mess

Ughhh….. I will not have the curtains done for the yellow guest bedroom today. I have had some minor setbacks…all of which are my fault.

1) It took me about 45 minutes to remember how to thread my machine.

2) Following the threading of said machine, I googled “making a valance with a rod pocket.”

3) Following reading said instructions, I determined that 2.5 x the width of the window would make awfully bunchy valances, and I opted to use a single width of 54 inches for our standard window. Very.Big.Boo.Boo.

It looks like this:

Now, I will have to return to town and buy another two yards of fabric. I’ll ensure that the pattern matches up and start from scratch. Tonight, I’ll get the lining ready. In the meantime, I have to leave out the sewing mess.

I hate it when I do things like this. I have also got a cold if that can be used as an excuse.

Also, if you are reading this, would you mind leaving me a comment? I need to make sure my comments are working and the new view counter is working that was added last night.

Thank you.

Yellow Bedroom Redo

Here’s our yellow guest bedroom. I wanted to give you the real picture before I got started. It has become a junk repository. I will be replacing the very cheap Targe’ window treatments with some blue and white valances I’m making. I’ll remove the duvet and use a white battenberg duvet in its place. I’ll add one of my favorite quilts at the foot of the bed for warmth and color. This project should not take more than a day, and the cost is the fabric which I purchased for $8.95 per yard at Short Sheets Fabric in Bristol, Virginia. I already had lining fabric and touch up paint for walls, as well as the bedding.

Hope to have the reveal/after picture tomorrow evening.

Foyer Redo

As I planned this blog, I listed all sorts of projects that I want to complete around the house. I decided to start in the foyer which is pictured below.

This is my foyer BEFORE picture. It’s a small one-story entry and it has received very little attention. The piece of furniture that’s shown in the picture came off the curb of a house in the Bell Meade area of Nashville, Tennessee about 25 years ago. A friend and I picked it up before the Goodwill truck arrived. At the time, I had nothing in the dining room and it was to be the beginning of a creatively put together, mismatched dining room set. Never quite made it.

The baskets are just there waiting to be moved somewhere else. They are part of another project that has not been completed.

Do you see a pattern here?

This is the start of the AFTER pictures of this project. I painted and then Michael fixed all of my painting mistakes. The paint is Herbal Wash by Valspar purchased at Lowes for about $30.

I liked the wall color but the white closet door reminded me of a giant bandaid, and I started thinking about all of the black doors I’ve seen in blogland. Rhoda of Southern Hospitality had just posted about this a few weeks ago. See Rhoda’s post here. I decided to paint the closet door black.

Here’s the room all finished up today.

Here’s another picture taken from the living room angle.

Chrissie the Cat is investigating our work. She’s not allowed on this side of the house, so as soon as this picture was taken, she went sailing out the front door. Also, the room is small and I do not have the best camera lens or photography knowledge to capture it correctly. There I am in the picture and you can see that I am one of those people who still has a red dining room. Dragon’s blood red!!! That will be changing soon.

I am still using the old piece that came from the curb, but I’ve removed the top. It shows some age, and I’m okay with that. (Me too!) I found the mirror in our attic. It had been packed away when we moved ten years ago. Totally forgotten until last week when I went on the hunt.

I’m very happy with the black door. Actually, I’m loving the black door. However, it did take three coats of black paint to get the door painted. I recommend that if you paint a white door black, as we did, that you remove it before starting to paint. Also, in case anyone is wondering, I painted both sides of the door.