updates and re-do's

Been quite some time since I've updated but, well--now I have something to share! Hannah and the grand-babies have been here since the 7th. Nathanael was able to be with us for about a week-too short. Tom and I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. We all wish Aaron would have been here too--that would have made the joy complete.
Well, with their visits things have come and gone and 'new life' has come to a few pieces of furniture.  First off, Nathanael bought his dad a nice gas grill for an early Father's day gift. He broke it in by grilling steak and pork chops for all of us, including Doug and Meghan Beck. Doug saute'd peppers and onions to go along with the meat then seasoned potatoes finished off the spread. Good and tasty!
Earlier that same day, Nate and Doug installed a few more cabinets and a temporary counter in the kitchen for me. Tom had installed several cabinets a few days before but, hadn't gotten time to do the other section. Needless to say--even though it's all temporary--I'm very happy to have a functioning kitchen with storage!!!!!
Hannah is our own personal interior decorator! She has helped me in the updating of the living room, adding a real 'office' space and updating the patio set that I was going to sell. It has all turned out very well and we're liking it.
We used the space outside the kitchen door to plant some lettuce and pansey's. It will eventually be a porch area but, since it was ugly and vacant, Hannah suggested we try to beautify the space.
I was also going to have to remove the hutch from the kitchen and thought I'd like to use the bottom in the living room. I didn't know what to do with the top. Since we had discussed the idea of an 'office' space, the idea hit her to paint and mount the top over Granny's (painted) dressing table. It all works wonderfully!
Otherwise-- we're doing ok. Spring is here at the cabin and we've lot's of projects on the 'to do' list for this spring and summer. We'll see how many actually get completed ;

 The before of the hutch. Tom hated to see it painted but, since it was no longer going to be a part of the kitchen he accepted it ;] He's actually liking the transformation. The bottom is not quite complete and is in the living room so, I'll post pics of that later.

 The after of the hutch top as well as Granny's dressing table-redone. She would have choked to know this was done but, I think she would have liked the result. The background is not complete--just staged for now. Painted a wicker chair I had that fits the desk perfectly.

 The ugly unused space in front that will be a porch area next summer--we hope!

Before of the patio set. Nice but, rather boring. Hannah's first thought was to use a nice yellow but, she decided black would be better and the material for the seats was some that I had liked for quite a while so, it all worked out well. The result is very pretty!

Hope you're having as much fun at your place as we are at ours! It's rewarding and fun to change things up a bit and reuse what's on hand without spending a lot of the green stuff!