Doors, Doors, Doors

Our house on Shades Creek, we call it the Creek Party!, was built using (mostly) reclaimed materials. I bet you can guess where I got most of those reclaimed pieces! I knew I wanted to use old doors in this house. We have a bay door on the back looking out over the patio, and a couple of outside doors that are new, but for the most part, they are all reclaimed. Garlan was taking down a house in his neck of the woods at exactly the time I needed doors! Good for me? Good for him! He had exactly 8 interior doors still in their jambs that I could get. The front door was also available. It was perfect and how cool for them to all stay together. They were like orphan doors that needed to stay together. I was going to be their new mom!

I forgot to mention, hardware was also included! This was meant to be, don't you think? I love this little plastic cover on this doorknob. It has character....so, it's staying!

 This is in the downstairs bedroom. You can see 3 of the doors in this photo. We used barn wood to cover the walls. The red is on the ceiling and when we ran out of the brown skins, we pulled the red down like a trim for the top of the walls. I was a little worried that it might make the ceiling feel like it was coming down on you, but it just adds dimension. I love the way it turned out! Sometimes, I just pull together what I like and hope it all works together. I can't believe how well these doors look. This room looks like an old farmhouse that was built in the 1800's. I LOVE it!

Ok, so the front door from the house kinda got taken from me. Not really, (wink) it was too sentimental for me to keep. The sweetest lady came by while Garlan was taking down the house telling him it was her grandmother's house. She was talking to him about all of her memories there and how much she always loved that front door. Seriously? I had to let her have it, right? She and I have become "friends" on Facebook and I am so glad she has that door. It fills her with memories of her childhood. I love my "new" door. I had to scramble to get one. Honestly, I'm not picky. Garlan walked through the store and sent me a couple of pictures of doors that would work and this cute red door made the cut! It adds a fun element to the front of the house! My nephew asked his mom why I picked a door that was so old looking! She just said, "That's your Aunt Lucy, she likes things like that!". The door opened the wrong way and instead of filling the hole and it not looking like the rest of the door, Garlan added a piece of hardware from an old pocket door. Ahhhhhh, it's my favorite!!

I didn't get doors for the pantry until the last minute. I wanted to find something really cool and different. I really wanted glass, but didn't look hard enough. Again, I called G and told him the dimensions I needed......he found me some cool red doors. I think these have about 12,000 coats of paint on them!! I left them as is, of course. They needed pulls and I had picked these cool brass ones up for my husbands office several months before. He never put them on his doors, so I stole them for the Creek Party! #perfection 

  There are a couple of sets similar to these on their website right now..... they won't last long! If you want to keep up with all the new findings at Southern Accents, you can follow their Facebook page. The inventory changes daily. I am heading up a blogger meetup next week sponsored by Southern Accents and Hometalk. If you haven't been to the Hometalk website. Go there NOW! You can thank me later! 

Window of Many Colors - France 2007

The architecture in France is so stunning. I was filled with wonder when thinking about how old the buildings are. We started our adventure in Normandy at a Bed and Breakfast. There were 10 of us on the trip. This window was right outside my window and with no air-conditioning, the windows were always open. The weather was still crisp and it felt wonderful to have the breeze blowing through. 

A Walk Through the Garden

Ok, it's really not a garden. It's my yard. I can't wait to get some bushes and flowers planted! I'm itching to get started. Is it still too early? I pulled out the camera and walked around the grounds here at Hansel and Gretel. At 5:00pm the light is beautiful! I truly feel blessed every time I walk around and see something new. This little corner just has so much character and I'm so lucky to have found it!

I started toward the barn and saw these doors I picked up at DWS a month ago. I need to get Albert, the handyman, over here pronto to get these put up inside!

 As I step inside, I see the light hitting this wood. The window is a bit blown out, but I love the way the light is falling on this pile of bead board. I think it's time to start on those projects!

I found this screen door under the house after we moved in. I wanted to put it back up, but the Connor Farmer thinks it's old and dirty. Hmmmph. It's on the list to be cleaned up and hung! {oh, Albert?}

As I stood up, I saw this church birdhouse that Connor's grandfather built many years ago. It looks so beautiful in the light and that chippy old shutter just adds enough character to make me want to leave it right in that spot!!

 All I had to do was turn and turn and see so many spots that had the texture and character that I find beautiful. That stack of bricks is showing because the door has fallen off. {Albert better hurry}

 I walked over to the courtyard in front of the house. This bike was left behind by the previous owner. I don't know if it was parked there on purpose or left there in a hurry. I'm sure the ivy will take over and it may never be moved again!

As I'm walking back onto the porch, I see the light hitting this corbel. I picked this little guy up at Scott's a few months back. He needs to come inside! Those stars in the background are from Scott's and my mom. This place is full of treasures.

Creek Party is in Full Swing!

The most gorgeous day of the year (so far). We were so lucky to be at the Creek Party today!!

I love these brass pulls on the pantry doors! 

The girls were acting tough after their mud ridin'. 

 Lots of fish to be caught today! These were all thrown back, but the kids were all thrilled!

 Will's first fish!!

Katie's first fish!!

A canoe ride took a turn for the worse over the rapids! That water was cold!

The end of the day on the road out.  This day is exactly what I dreamed of when building this house. Lots of memories in the making! A perfect end to a perfect day!

The Glue Guns were Smoking Again!

Well, smoking in the hot glue gun sense! 

Our inspiration this month was Emma's art! She has taken several art classes with Tricia Robinson. Check out her website. You will die with inspiration! These are just a couple of Emma's masterpieces.

A special thanks to Bebe for our sign this month!

Ashlee in her sombrero. We had a mexican fiesta! Ole!

I went through the old scrapbooking stash and pulled out several hundred things we could use.....not a dent, I tell ya....not a dent!

Ashlee had a few supplies on hand, too!

I gave a quick, non-formal tutorial on what the idea behind the art should be. Pretty much, paint your background before or after. 

Rip up your paper, stick your fingers in the gel medium and start sticking it down in your desired design. Oh, I did grab a piece of chalk to outline my design. 

This was an easy, not too much to think about project. Lots of laughter and Zac Efron talk going on!

Of course, the night isn't complete without the use of the glue gun! 

I love the use of book paper. If you have an old book, you can rip it up and make a piece of art!

 This was determined the winner in the end. She had no idea where she was going and it ended up really cool! Look for it in the last photo! I know you will love it, too!

I popped out 3. I've done this before and didn't have a plan, so I just started sticking paper down and wrapping twine and painting and glueing, Oh MY!

I think foam brushes are my favorite thing! Use them, toss them! 

No plan, just painting to see what would happen. I actually love the way it turned out!

 Our final masterpieces! Lori created one before she got there so that she could take the photos. She's so good at it! She used her silhouette. The possibilities with this are endless! She did make another while we were there. It's just felt good to get your hands dirty and create!