Kitchen, bathroom and life changes…

 

I know when some of you read this post title, you were probably thinking – ‘ I wonder if Mr Red Door FINALLY agreed to painted cabinets’ – well don’t hold your breath because he didn’t and I have all but given up hope that he will. A few friends have teased him about that in last several weeks, and they have seen his resolve! LOL As much as I want them painted, I also want him to be comfortable in his own home too.

So needing a project to get my mind off some stressful things happening with our folks, and a waiting game we were playing about a job situation, I decided I needed to come up with another alternative to give me a bit of a new look in the kitchen. I really like my both wall paint colors and my stenciling so I wasn’t going to change those. Instead  I changed a few other things and as with many of us, I was inspired by other primitive homes. 

After photographing Kathy’s buttery for the fall issue of A Primitive Place Magazine..

And Audrey’s buttery for the spring issue…

…I really wanted to make my own buttery. I tried to come up with  the perfect space for one, but lacking that, I had to get creative.  Using the new one of a kind shelf I bought from Country Mischief recently, I came up with a very modified version of a buttery.  So this…

became this!!

With things I already had on hand and just a few new additions from my recent shopping trips, I filled my new shelf  rather quickly…

..and as  you can see, I moved the table against the wall and it gives us a lot more space to move around…

..and I moved my spoon rack to this wall over the microwave…

I am now thinking about painting the antique dresser I use for the microwave. I held off for years thinking that when I painted the cabinets I would be glad I left the maple natural. Now that I know I am not painting cabinets there is too much wood in the room for me. So now I need to decide what color. I do have a large jar of Caromal Colours Pumpkin…

 

Someone recently asked and yes, we use the large crocks for trash and recycling. Mr. Red Door cut the wood for the covers and I painted and distressed them and added knobs. The smaller crock holds the kitchen size clear trash bags for trash, and the larger ones holds 2 brown paper grocery bags. In our town, recycling is mandatory and paper goes together so that is one bag, and we mix glass, cans and plastic, so they are in the other bag. The 2 bags fit perfectly side by side in that big one.

I did some minor tweaking over on this side too.

Now wouldn’t these look wonderful painted?? I mean no offense to anyone who joins my hubby in their love of oak, but these have just never done it for me…

…but I am still extremely thankful that I have them. They serve us well and they make Mr. Red Door happy. And that counts for a whole lot in my book.

Well after all that,  I was left with a wonderful tombstone cupboard made from reclaimed wood that no longer had a home….

..but it didn’t take me long to come up with a new home for that!! After a redo of the inside color from red to this warm color, (which is a mix of a few different colors and then aged heavily)….

…it now has a new home in the bathroom!

…before…

and after…

 

I think it gives the room a whole new feel.  Of course I then had to do some minor tweaking in there as well..

 

I’d love to make the top of this vanity into the dry sink look someday…

using this for inspiration. Be still my heart…

I can dream, right??

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Speaking of dreams…

…back in December a few years ago, Mr. Red Door left the only company he had ever worked for since graduating from college. I am going to brag about him a bit now, because I think quiet hard working men like him don’t always get the same attention they deserve or as much as their more vocal (and blogging) wives.  I’m just sayin….

So right out of college he started working there – starting at the bottom, he worked hard and long hours, never using all of his vacation time, rarely ever taking a sick day and never getting overtime. Like many other breadwinners, (why do they say breadwinners – shouldn’t it be bread earners??) he just did what needed to be done. He  went back to school more than once  to sharpen his business and management skills. He kept a calm head and talked softly (mostly)  but when he talked, he said what mattered. As a result,  he was well respected in his field, moved up the ranks and had a wonderful job and was there for 32+ years. Quite an accomplishment. Over the years, he had passed up many outside job offers. 

But then in the fall of that year, a job offer with the opportunity of a life time came to him that gave us pause to reconsider. After months of research about the company and it’s founders, a lot of hard thinking and praying about what was right for us at that point in our lives, he accepted that position. It was a great and we had high hopes for the future. But then 2 years into the job, the unthinkable happened in the financial world with the banking crisis. That company, like so many others, struggled and had to lay off the staff. We decided we could not look back and say “if only”. We had saved well over the years and we knew we were going to be OK.

Since that time, he has worked at times and taken ‘temporary retirement’ at times, enjoying golf in the morning and spending time with me (and Lili) in the afternoons.  But we have decided that we are still too young to spend down our hard earned retirement savings and pay for health insurance on our own (especially with a wedding next year and a grand daughter to spoil).  And so, as of yesterday, he started back with the company where he spent most of his life working. Right now it is on a contract basis for a particular project that requires his project management skills but God willing, something more will come of it because it is our dream that he can finish out his career where he started it. We are so very thankful for this wonderful opportunity and I am thrilled for him that he was welcomed so warmly by so many old friends and co-workers. The amazing part it that it is literally right on the way to Lili’s house so I can stop there after picking her up and she and Bampee can spend some time together on his lunch hour. What a blessing!

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F.Y.I.  I very often get questions asking about details from past posts so I have been taking some time to go through old posts and labeling them. I have now added the label gadget to my sidebar for your convenience. If you have a question about something in my post, please feel free to check the alphabetical list of labels to see if that subject is listed. If so, click on it and it will take you to all older posts about it. Thanks blogger – that is a great help!

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Welcome to all the new folks that have stopped by for the first time!! I hope you enjoyed your visit. And to all the kind people who continue to leave uplifting words about my mom’s condition, thank you! Geriatrics and nursing homes is the only field of nursing I did before we started family and before I changed careers. It pains me that so little has changed with the treatment of Alzheimer's in over 30 years since then. The new meds certainly do not help everyone and they can’t reverse the disease. I pray that future generations see marked improvement in treatment and eventually a cure, and don’t have to suffer the same anguish in seeing their loved ones slip away like this.

Today I am thankful for:

New opportunities for Mr. Red Door…

My afternoons with Lili as we find a ‘new normal’ for just us two girls…

No serious injury – head or otherwise - when my son in law to be fell and hit his head really hard on ice in this week (SCARY!) …

My dad’s newest health concern not being serious…

And that my FIL is feeling a lot better than he was two weeks ago!

Thanks for making Behind My Red Door part of your day today. Please feel free to leave a comment if time allows. If not, that’s ok too – I totally understand!! 

Until next time – hugs, Linda