The main residence was built in 1770, and naturally, has been updated since then (probably numerous times!).

With 38 acres to enjoy,

Entry…

Living…

Cozy family room – love the blue!

Library…

Love the red in this dining room…

Bright and happy white kitchen…

Master…

I think this room is in the separate guest cottage.

The recreation barn offers great party space…

And all that Connecticut outdoors.

Gorgeous!

As lovely as this home is, Ms. Zellweger seldom has the time to visit, so she has it on the market.  You can find more on the listing here.

The Running Man loves the chopped salad.  I love all things Oxo, and since I have everything else, it was a nice excuse to bring something new home.  What is it with the Oxo Engineers that they can make the mundane so exciting??  Works like a dream and now we eat more salads around here.  I’d love to tell you I’ve lost 5 pounds, but that hasn’t happened yet.

You can find it here:
OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper and Bowl

I simply adore porches. I do not have a porch. I wish I did. Porches invite you to slow down…sit, rest, soak up some fresh air, replenish. They invite guests to sit, stay, connect. They invite couples to swing, hold hands, savor the moment. They invite families a cozy place to unwind, share and be together. I mean really, what’s not to love about porches?

Please, come, take a tour with me to some amazing porches I found on pinterest!

How fun to be able to sit and visit with friends who stop by…

A porch and a fireplace…I’m in love…

I could see many evenings spent here with my family…

Love the brick…

Yes, even in snow, I’d love a porch like this…just set a portable heater by my feet!

Beautiful stone…

I could so see myself enjoying this porch in my retirement years…

A good book…

Quiet morning reflections…

Holding hands with  my love…love the turquoise…

A warm cup of cocoa…

If you are lucky enough to have an amazing porch…I invite you to pause today and enjoy it!

You can see my attempts at pantry organization here; though to call it a pantry is stretch – it’s really just a cupboard.

So feast your eyes on these, seriously delectable pantries for some inspiration…

from Planner Perfect (this post includes some great tips for organizing)

From Blueprint Bliss

This next pantry pulls together every single pantry organization idea I’ve ever heard into one cohesive, gorgeous space.  Prepare thyself!

From Inspiration for Decoration

Can you imagine??  I love the grey wallpaper behind to dress it up.  And all the labeling is divine.  The other thing is that while it looks huge, it’s really just a corner closet, with single-depth shelves.

It’s fabulous how every spec of space was used to its fullest. Definitely do-able!

P.S. All the plastic containers with the flip-up white lids are from IKEA.  I have a few myself and they work really well!

Looks like someone went crazy in the OXO aisle!

The kind people at Better Homes and Gardens have created these free labels for your plastic and glassware.  They make the whole place look so happy.  So head  on over to get started!

What are your pantry ideas?  Is a reorganization project on your list?

I’m simply amazed at other people’s creativity. Taking something ‘old’ that I usually see as ‘junk’ and making something so beautiful and useful with it. My mom has this gift, and I admire it. I keep hoping some of her ‘knack’ will rub off on me, but for now I will just ‘borrow’ hers and others ideas for ‘upcycling’ the old! Check out some of these neat headboards!

How about this old door turned headboard? You can see the entire process from start to finish at this at Infarrantly Creative.

And this one with a few old boards and a little bit of paint…so cute from Tiny Prints!

Who knew wood pallets could be so beautiful? And to think I just tore all mine up and burned them in the fire pit! This picture comes from So Laura blog.

Check out this gate headboard I found at Urban Country Style!

Wouldn’t this headboard made from shutters look perfect in a beach house? Found at Completely Costal.

Look at these cute fence pieces turned into headboards that I came across on pinterest.com!

And last, but not least, these might be my favorite! I found both these inspirational photos on pinterest.com. Old fireplace mantles turned into a headboards…

And to think I spent the first 15 years of my married life with NO Headboard! And to think I finally bought a headboard 2 years ago! Can’t believe I settled for a store bought one, when I could have had one of these oh so creative ones! Which one is your favorite?

But I’m really hoping you like blue and white…

Lately I’ve been absolutely smitten with blue and white rooms.  The crispness, the clean lines, the happiness.

I’ll keep quiet and just let you enjoy!

from Architectural Digest

from Diamond Baretta

from bhg.com

from Atlanta Homes Magazine

Lovely, lovely from House Beautiful

from Butler Armsden Architects

from Pinterest

from House Beautiful

from Martyn Lawrence Bullard

Which were your favorites?  Is this style for you?

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Laundry is just one of those never-ending chores. Sometimes a small ‘make-over’ to your laundry space can make this daunting chore just a little bit more fun!  Here are some ideas to inspire you.

Love It! “No Sock Left Behind” – Don’t know if your washer and dryer eat socks like mine do – oh, who am I kidding, whose washer and dryer doesn’t eat socks!?!  Inspired by Rambling As Usual Blog.

Baskets under the washer and dryer! Love this idea smaller laundry rooms!  Inspired by Show and Tell blog.

How about a drying rack for your clothes? Re-nest blog has 15 inspiring ideas for drying racks.

And I LOVE this upcycling idea – an old ladder turned into drying rack! I found this idea on Pinterest, but not sure original source to give credit too!

How about a new place to keep your ironing board? Check out some of these brilliant ideas at Houzz website.  Here’s one of them:

Love this practical idea in which you can place them either side by side or stack on top of each other. From Ana White blog.

And if you want a major uplift to your laundry room…how about these laundry rooms?! I had no idea laundry rooms could be so beautiful! Found at Light Innovations blog.

Or this one from Junk Garden Girl’s blog…

So, is your laundry room in need of inspiration? Or do you have some inspiration to share with the rest of us?

Are you undertaking any projects around your home with the ringing of the New Year?  I’m tempted to paint, paint, paint, and I’ll let you know if The Running Man lets me have at it.

My friend Wendy suggested a gorgeous blue for my kitchen and I’ve been obsessed with the idea ever since.  My question is: when I paint one room, shouldn’t I really paint the others as well?

My other current obsession is with those spaces that require expert organization and storage options for maximizing every last spec of space.

Instead of our Home Tours this month, we’ll pick a room each week and focus our attention there.  Today: the MUDROOM!

I picked this room first as I’m ultimately jealous of the rooms that I’m about to show you.  Mine is 4.5 feet long, 3 feet wide, has an exterior door at one end and a window on the other.  I currently have 2 rows of hooks for all the coats that a family of 4 amasses living in the nether regions of c-o-l-d.  And that’s all I can fit.  No shoe storage, no sports storage (um, 2 hockey bags sit in my living room – we’re fancy like that), and no storage for all the milieu of things we accumulate.

So help me drool over some swanky mudrooms just for fun.

Love the lift-up storage.  Think I’d add some additional shelves as those baskets are beyond reach of the adorables.

Love the open cubbies below for storing shoes (read: kick off shoes into a single spot).  Also love the open hooks for bags, etc.  Might take advantage of the open space above for items that aren’t used often.

Take a gander at all this space!  While I love the individual locker concept, this is also very appealing.  More hooks though!

I saw this photo and thought, “Wait!  This looks familiar!”  I swear it was from a Good Stuff Guide Home Tour of Old and I was right!  Check out Wow Of A Home to see the rest of the house!

I do think this is a great solution for a formal front door storage.  That bottom molding pulls out for shoes.

I thought this concept was also brilliant: hooks that open to shoe cubbies.  Every speck of space folks!

Love, love, love this mudroom paired with a project room especially with the bulletin board on the side.

Now we’re getting into the major ones: love these closed lockers with the chalkboard space to doodle.

Reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to share or create: on a recent charity hometour, one house had these personalized individual plaques with funny quotes and quips about each family member hanging on their locker door.  They were awesome and I think there’s certainly a business there if someone had the interest.  I’d be your first customer!

Is this a beach cabana?  Just stunning.

This is IT for me: high moldings, a ladder to reach high places for vertically challenged me, under storage for shoes/boots, baskets for hats/gloves, closed storage for extra stuff.  I’d use the blank wall for a big bulletin board and vinyl lettering that said, “Be Great!” or “Go Forth and Prosper” or something silly like that to send us Team Farmers out into the world on the right foot.

Okay, what pieces would you put together for your dream mudroom?

A different sort of house tour today…

One of my favorite songs is Miranda Lambert’s The House That Built Me.  First time I heard it, I had chills.  On my 1,013,541st listening, I still adore it.

What if you could walk through the home where you grew up??

I recently discovered that the home my parents built in 1978 and we lived in until 1997 is for sale and I “borrowed” the photos for our home tour today.

Travel with me to Richland, Michigan just outside of Kalamazoo to see the house that built me.

Here she is… My bedroom window was the one on the right.

My grandfather built us this home, laying the brick and doing all of the carpentry.

A single gentleman bought the home from my parents, and I know my mom is squirming somewhere wishing she could get in and decorate!

While we were building the house, my newborn sister was habitually in her carrier in the fireplace – the safest place anyone could think of during all that heavy construction.  I have vivid memories – at 3 and 1/2 of varnishing (did they just give me scrap wood??) and drinking tons of Fresca.

It’s funny how rooms seem so much larger in your memory and the decorating now is much different.  My mom used to set up our Christmas Village every year on the bay window, and I would play, play, play.  This room is also where all my high school study groups met.  For Physics (ech!) and Calculus, my friends would teach me everything I was supposed to have learned during the year.  For History and English, I would teach them what they had slept through.

This was actually a screened porch during our tenure.  It has gorgeous views of the pond and golf course.

Here’s the kitchen that opens up to the sunroom.  One of our TVs was in the cabinet there where the books are now, and every afternoon at 4, Oprah would come on followed by Donahue while my mom cooked dinner.  We’d sit in these barstools here and do homework and talk about our day.  My sister would stack 12 Oreos on a plate (it was always 12) and get her tongs and a big glass of milk and get dunking.  Somehow this never interfered with dinner.

This is the study where my dad worked.  I used to take it over when I had big papers to write – it has a fabulous view to the golf course and my mom’s gardens.  We used to have another table and chairs in here which was Study Group site #2.

This was the sundeck where I mixed baby oil and my fair skin, which just wasn’t a good idea.

This was the racquetball my dad included when he saw in the plans that we would be filling a big hole with concrete.  My best friend Ingmar and I would play 2 games of racquetball and 3 games of basketball (hoop is at the other end) after school every day.  We also hosted 4 high school rock bands here for a big event.  The sound bouncing off all that concrete was, well, not so pretty.  My dad was up and down the driveway with a flashlight looking for anyone doing anything illegal.  I think mom and dad were super glad when that was over.

My sister used to scale up to her bedroom on the 3rd floor when she’d forget a Nintendo game.  Luckily, my mom didn’t know that until later…

If you’re in the market for real estate in Richland, MI, you can find more photos and info at Boris Realtors.

A happy birthday tomorrow to that same Racquetball buddy Ingmar! I sure was lucky when you moved in next door.

I was thinking family when I chose today’s home…

And with that, we’re off to Colorado to get a look at a happy, happy family home.

I just love the look of this house.  Sleek and modern, but also classic and traditional elements as well.

And all that golden light to welcome us.

Check out the funky colorful art hanging in the entryway.

These candles signify the color palette of the entire home.  And I love the yellow on the walls.

The great room opens directly onto the deck.  Love the tall ceilings with the open beams, the colors, the retro look.

And of course, my favorite (well 2 favorites): 1) the room is completely open to the kitchen, and 2) I love a big comfy sectional.

Here’s another look…

Now get a load of this kitchen.

Here’s a closer look.  The uniform color palette repeated throughout the home ties it all together.

Gorgeous bathroom…

And a very happy playroom!

I love the easel, but I’m also jealous of all that wide open space out the window.

Look at all the creating that has occurred at this table!

I just love how this home functions for its family.  The floor plan of large open rooms provides family togetherness, but also meets every family member’s needs.  I’m sold!

Special thanks to Jon Rentfrow, of Rentfrow Design, for the amazing tour.  Jon was the Home Designer on the project.  The home was built by Brannen Homes, custom home builders in Northern Colorado.

Thank you also to Warren Diggles Photography for the use of his stunning photos.