Phase II of the hallway makeover; the jars are fairly organized; lots of links!
Now I will reveal my hall makeover and accept my award! Yes, it happened. Go here for befores!
Well, here is a quick before:
I got rid of my at-least-27-year-old-but-more-likely-50 wall to wall carpet, thanks to wonderful encouragement from my daughter-in-law Natasha. I had the floors refinished, and installed a runner on the stairs and carpet in the back area, chosen from among all the possibilities with the confident assurance of my other daughter-in-law Jaime.
This past week the guy did the back hall:
(The light is tricky — it’s all the same color on the walls, Matisse Gold it’s called, have no fear.)
My daughters Rosie, Suki, Deirdre, and Bridget all lent their advice and moral support as well.
My husband Phil gritted his teeth as I lied about it being a one-day job and good news, we are still married (and celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary on the 11th!)
My friends Sue, Margaret (who pointed me to the carpet company and whose husband John gave me the excellent if not immediately heeded advice to “just decide”), and the ladies of the St. Clare’s Guild (meeting over here for Knit Night) held my hands and wiped my brow. Shoutout to FBMP and to my friend Stephanie who told me to look at the antique shop a couple of towns over for one of the oriental runners.
I would like to thank the Academy good Lord, because without this support network and without the excellent actual workmen who sanded, sealed, painted, and carpeted, and told me “think positive” when I worried about what would be under it all, I would still be in decorating purgatory.
Here is a quick before (go here for more):
After (yes that is a chin-up bar there — do you have one in your house somewhere?):
This is how the back stairs look now:
(Don’t look too closely by those balusters — I know they need a deep cleaning around where the carpet was!)
This is the view from the kitchen, into which they lead (now the paint needs to be touched up, but this is so much nicer!):
I’m happy the carpet is bright and cheery! I’m happy the stair runner doesn’t compete with the wood and orientals in the front hall. It is the same neutral as the trim. I love that it’s all wool (I think the old one was too; otherwise it would not have lasted so long!). And I love the refinished old floors.
All I have to do now is replace the light fixture in the downstairs hall. I got a new-to-me nice one on FBMP and I hope to show you next week!
Taming the Jar Situation Corner
I have dreams of this kind of pantry…
or even this…
But I have this and I am quite content with it!
The Chief installed a new shelf for me in the pantry — that one up there.
Thus, I was able to rearrange things (would you even know it was me if I wasn’t rearranging the pantry!) and am now feeling better about being able to see my remedies, which had been in a jumble on the other side, in the mostly dark. They are now here on this metal shelf:
And my on-deck jars (vs. the ones out in the garage) are on the new shelf and I will show you where else, below.
I have the big jars here plus the peanut-butter ones which I like to store active pantry items in, in the kitchen pantry cupboard.
Lots of extras on the floor tucked under these shelves, plus just above:
And “special” ones in that wicker basket, you know what I mean by “special”:
You can also get a glimpse of the rings on wire hangers, hanging from the end of the shelf there by the window.
Let me know if you want more of a tour of the pantry. This is by far my most interesting room haha! And if I have to take more pictures, I will just have to make it nicer.
bits & piecesIf you would like your well read high schooler to study Just War theory, may I recommend my husband’s seminar (based on the seminar he has offered at Thomas More College), now on Substack?What Fifty Years of No-Fault Divorce Has Gotten Us (here is an archived version if you don’t subscribe)
There are those who reject the thought of John Henry Newman as Modernist. They are quite wrong!
Beware Universal Mental Health Screening [for children]!
Infant bottle-feeding and obstructive sleep apnoea: what sleep medicine won’t tell you
from the archivesFeeling angry at life?A Pep Talk about Time
liturgical living
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts.
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
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