Knock down that wall!!!!

Once we decided we had to replace the flooring in both the dining room and kitchen (tears in the linoleum and water damage in front of the side doors) I started thinking about repainting the cabinets.  I was pretty set on just doing them white.  Then my husband says "you know we could knock this wall out...." (it's where a previous owner added on to the whole back half of our house).  "It won't really add anything to the cost" ----------  this is where all people who have remodeled chuckle knowingly!!!!    We had a bank of cabinets on the kitchen side above the opening....

Doodlebug thought this whole thing was just too much fun...We also had a bar here which is already torn off in this picture.  I had painted the cabinets yellow about 6 years ago when we got married.  They were originally a lovely dark "faux" wood....

I should explain a little bit here at the risk of starting a really loooong story.  We had both been through a divorce in former marriages and each had a house.  Mine was easier to sell and smaller.  And this house was under contract with a developer.  They were supposed to buy our house and tear it down to build a huge shopping center.  "No longer than 2 years before we close..." they told us....and here we are 6 years later....so.....GOD has used this to really teach me something.

And then there's the oh so attractive soffets....In a house with 7 foot ceilings....and that little scalloped trim over the window.  This picture is taken from the dining room side looking into the kitchen.  It's a little dark in this photo but you get the idea....

I started praying for the LORD to really change my heart.  I wanted us to have a place that was OURS --and we kept saying things like "When they close on our house we'll            " all kinds of things filled in that blank including starting a family.  I finally realized I need to STOP waiting.  And that we needed to just be content with what GOD had blessed us with.  It was time to turn our house into a HOME.  So we got pregnant with our son, Doodlebug. I quit my job the summer he was born and that same summer---just days after he was born the development company called to tell us they would not be buying our home.  They had declared bankruptcy.

  So we asked my talented Brother-in-Law to remodel both bathrooms.   Decided to repair things in the kitchen and dinning room thinking about putting it up for sale ourselves in the future.  And started thinking about what God had in store for us next...

And I'm looking at the Country Living 500 kitchens book late at night :) when I can't sleep because I'm thinking about all of it....worrying about paying for all of it on one salary, wondering why it didn't all work out....flipping and flipping and renewing it from the Library.....thinking about the kind of home I want for our family to live in.  Something peaceful and organized and comfortable.

(the photos below are from Kitchens.com)

(Look at the knotty pine flooring...just gorgeous.  And look at the sink!  Totally unique....Also really digging the pendant lights...like something from Barnlight Electric...all these beautiful images look so peaceful and inviting...I just want to have a cup of coffee and stare out those windows.)

 And what I realized was that we had a home already and just needed to be good stewards of what GOD had given us....