Casual Basement Bar Design

Mike and I are working on our basement these days! With our wedding less than three weeks away, we have been super busy trying to get the once-storage room cleaned up, painted and somewhat decorated by the time guests come into town to stay.

Mike is aiming for simply "liveable," as we are operating on a tight budget. On the other hand, I am aiming for inviting and relaxing.  I want it to be another beautiful addition to the living space.

One of my favorite features of the space is the bar in back corner next to the sliding door to the patio (the patio is on our list to fix-up, too). There is a traditional "bar" back there that we will likely utilize for the time being, before we install a mini kitchen situation in the next years.

So for now I am going for the casual home bar feel in the space. It would be awesome to get this Set of 4 Zuo Era Twin Peaks Bar Stools! They swivel to adjust their height, which would be so fun!

Zuo Era Twin Peaks Bar Stools at Chairish

But if we get rid of the already existing bar, I would love to see a little 2-stool bar in its place, taking up less room and just a little casual sleek, kind of like this Vintage Dry Bar & Stools set at Chairish.com.

Vintage Dry Bar & Stools set at Chairish

But I simply love this style of bar stool:

Metal Frame Wood Barstools at Chairish 

I love to plan out my vision before I make the big decisions. So far we have the color on the walls, the trim up and painted. Now we just have to lay down the tile for the bar area, and we will start the accessorizing and decorating of the room! I already love the way it feels down there, it's such a bonus living space, and I can't wait to have friends and family over to hang out at the Fletcher Home Bar!

More pictures to come, so stay tuned!

Basement Progress

Mike and I are working on getting the basement cleaned and useable! So far, we have painted the walls blue, all the trim and closet doors white, put up the trim, and I made curtains for the sliding glass doors!

Trim and Paint DONE. Also painted the radiators, closet doors, posts and the shelves.

After 2 coats of white. I put about 4!

Kitty Biscuit laying on the fabric as I made the big curtains!

Love the stained glass window look when they are closed!

Feeling so happy about the progress!

Summer at Fletcher Estate

This summer we spent a lot of time outside, working on the landscaping and harvesting the gardens! We also tore up the old slate flooring in the dining area and put down new tile for the new pellet stove we are installing this fall!

Here is my photo roundup of our Fletcher home life this summer.

Badger and I on the lawn!

Kitty Biscuit being cute in the guest room as I work.

We saw so many hot air balloons this summer! This one is from Essex Resort and Spa. 

Fresh blueberries picked from the patch in the backyard.

My delicious morning parfait made with local strawberries and freshly-picked blueberries!

Flowers blooming everywhere!

Mike and I working in the basement. Surprise shot!

Lilies in our pond in the garden.

Yoga dog - Badger the Great Pyrenees hogging the mat.

Shooed Badger away and Kitty came right in and sat on the mat! These two, I tell ya!

Beautiful flowers Mike planted growing up his rustic trellis in the front yard!

So that's my roundup. Hope you liked it!

Wedding DIYs

As you may or may not know, Mike and I are getting married on October 12, 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!! We took our engagement photos a few days ago, and it was amazing! It's so real! I have done all the invitations and stuff on my own, so it has been really fun to use my DIY creativity!

My best friends, bridesmaid Devon came over the other day and helped me DIY the thank you tags going on the maple syrup jars for my guests. So we "dip-dyed" 100 tags and then I wrote our thank you message on each one. Here is how they turned out!

Blue mason jar inspiration!

Color inspiration!

And here is the finished product:

Spring at Fletcher Estate in Essex, Vermont

I'm half joking when I call our home "Fletcher Estate." Badger has been hanging out with us outside while Mike and I have been working on the landscaping and the gardens :) Kitty stays inside, but usually watches from the window. Here are some photos from this spring!

Day Bed in the Home Office

Mike and I are having a garage sale soon! We are also planning a wedding that is going to be fantastic and wonderful, and I can't wait to photo dump into this blog omg! So many DIY projects. We are doing a DIY Flea Market Style Wedding theme!

Anyways, I'm having a blast with spring cleaning. We have been working a lot outside to get the gardens ready, but this weekend has been rainy, so we've turned our attention to the interior of the home.

So in cleaning and organizing the house, I  rearranged my guest room / office. The room looked like this a few days ago: Guest Room / Home Office.

I wanted space. I felt like the bed was taking up a lot of the room, and it was feeling cluttered, which was not conducive to my work! I cleared out my stuff and light some candles! It is officially spring cleansed. Now here is what it looks like now.

Notice the rainy day lighting. I will have to take a few more photos when the sun comes out :) Have a wonderful day!

Victorian Cottage Guest Room

You know the saying about life giving you lemons. You're supposed to make a cocktail with those lemons, sit back, sip and enjoy! Wait, is that how it goes? Anyways, there are many variations to the saying, all of which essentially say the same thing: "make the best of it."

Well, this is more of a case of, "When the house gives you a room with outdated yellow wallpaper..." So we are making the best of it! My decor theme in this room has evolved to a light and airy Victorian Cottage room, for now. I still have some things on my list of to-do's in here, including curtains, wall art, another lamp and possibly a dresser somewhere, but this is where it is now and I couldn't wait to share it!

I anticipate that this room will be transformed into a nursery within the next few years, but for now, it's a lovely guest room, always prepped with fresh sheets and an extra down blanket for those cold Vermont winter nights.

So enjoy the little photo tour :)