October Auction Apple Dumplings

As a little girl, I remember attending the West Fallowfield Christian School fundraiser auction every October in our small town in PA. 

My parents always volunteered to help.  Beautiful items were donated and sold to raise funds for the small private grade-school.  Lancaster County is very hustling and bustling this time of year.  And there couldn't have ever been a better time for a fundraiser.

  Huge quilts were pulled taught on wooden racks and stretched across the gym, hand quilted by the old Mennonite ladies.  A box of fuzzy white rabbits with pink ears always had the small children excitedly pulling on their parent's pant-legs, begging them to bid.   Yellow chubby farm Labrador pups were paraded across the stage for sale.  Each grade put together baskets full of edible goodies, games and themed family items.  Tables of baked goods were displayed for purchase and steaming crocks of chicken corn soup were heartily ladled and sold to excited customers watching the auction.

As a grade-school girl, I counted down the days until the auction.  All of my grade-school friends and I would snuggle the rabbits, point at the quilts, and visit the concession stands quite frequently.  But the highlight of the day was at 2 o' clock when the Mennonite ladies brought forth the hot apple dumplings.

The dumplings were huge Pennsylvania apples, cored and wrapped with the thickest dough you've ever seen.  They used only the best local ingredients including pig lard to keep the dough extra flaky.  They were dusted in cinnamon and covered in gooey brown sugar sauce.  To finish the tasty confection, was a huge dollop of home-made vanilla ice cream on top.  And at 7 years young I wanted an entire dumpling all to myself.

I can still smell that gymnasium.  Smell is the strongest sense tied to memory.  I can smell the aroma of the sweet silage in the animal boxes, the savory smell of the chicken corn soup bubbling.  But most of all, I smell those hot apple dumplings.

Well that was years ago, and since then my own Mama has concocted her own version of those dumplings that is quite delectable when we travel back to PA.  But what about now.  What about this weekend?  I don't have any fresh Lancaster pig lard.  But I want some apple dumplings to welcome in this fresh cold weekend.

Behold, my loves.  My handsome husband has re-created a pretty easy version that is completely delicious and ready for the tasting.

Apple Dumplings

6Macintosh New York Apples peeled and cored

For dough:

3 cups flour 

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup milk

1 stick butter

Combine and mash with a handheld 5 blade pastry blender until dusty flaky dough forms.  The dough should look quite rustic and by no means be "well mixed".  Roll out the dough with a wooden rolling pin.  Cut into 6 squares with a pizza cutter or blade.  Wrap dough squares around apples but don't cover the top "core hole".  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place in greased glass dish.  Put 1 scoop of brown sugar into each top apple core hole.  Then sprinkle each apple with cinnamon.  

In a separate bowl mix 1.5 cups water with 1 cup brown sugar.  Pour this liquid over the entire contents of theglass baking dish.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until apples are fork tender

Serve with Haagan Dazs Vanilla slow-churned ice cream. 

If you so desire, pull up ebay.com to complete the auction at home experience.

Love Y'all!

"Cover your jugular" and remove a gigantic mirror

So when we bought our beautiful home, we accepted the fact that we would be starting the DIY process all over again.  That is okay.  That is what we love to do.

Drew was offered a new job on the north side of Atlanta and we would pack up everything and head off...yonder.  To a new territory.  On a new adventure.

We bought the second house we walked through.  Literally.  My beloved Birchwood Lane had sold the first day on the market and the clock was ticking.  I was hormonal and emotional with my 1 month old new daughter.  Packing up my first-ever home had been very difficult.  So many memories can be tied to a warm home.

Our beloved Georgia-mom, friend, and Realtor hadn't even unlocked the door and I knew Taylor's Wood was ours.  And if you saw my previous post on Garage Door Therapy, you'll know it wasn't exactly the curb appeal that "knocked our socks off".  I remember staring through the dusty window panes of the front door.  I remember thinking: "This one is the one". 

When you know, you know.

I will have many-a-more post that tells of the story of our Taylor's Wood home.  She's got a lot of brass knobs and 90's tile, but we love her.  And she has impeccable 'bones'.

Our first-ever renovation was the dreaded master bath.  We started a month after we moved in.   We worked in the evenings after our daughter went to bed.  I know I have readers out there that have a dreaded master bath.  Master baths can be easily neglected by young families who buy fixer-uppers.  But here's the deal.  If you end up selling, they command the second biggest return on investment, aside from the kitchen.  And statistically, people are more likely to buy homes that have bathrooms and kitchens that show as updated.  Here are some pictures to show you how special the bathroom really was before we got started:

It's a massive bathroom, as you can see.  However massive bathrooms cost massive money to re-do.  See that shiny brass shower?  Yea those can be over $1,000 to replace.  Oh, and see that 11 foot builder grade mirror?  Wait, 11 foot?!  Yes.  That's right.  At this point you're thinking "Ashley, you need professional help."  And as a matter of fact, in a lot of areas, I do need help.  But not in this area. 

Behold...REMOVING THE 11 FOOT BUILDER GRADE MIRROR

Supplies needed for this project:

Safety Goggles & heavy duty gloves

A long piece of wire (length of your mirror and then about 2 extra foot)

Crow Bar

Trash bags

Hammer

Duct Tape

Meter Stick

Old bed sheet

Step 1.

So first I taped all over the mirror.  Tape up, tape down, tape sideways, tape your name.  This is because the mirror, inevitably, will crack.  And when it does, you want tape everywhere so that glass shards don't start flying.

Step 2.

You and your volunteer (someone very brave) will need to position yourselves on either side of the mirror, each holding an end of the long piece of wire.  Drew was my lovely volunteer.  He volunteered for a lifetime of 'risky business' on May 19, 2007.  Apply safety goggles.  Also apply turtle-necks, steel toe shoes, prayer beads, and jugular covers).

We slid our meter stick behind the mirror (at the top) until we discovered where the "glue spots" were located.  Usually there are random big glue patches on the back of the mirror.  These glue spots are what will need to be loosened with your wire.  Once we located the "glue zones", we used the crow bar to GENTLY pull back the top of the mirror.  We then started to slide, back and forth, the wire behind the mirror.  This loosened and detached the glue.  Mind you, the 11 foot mirror is pretty heavy, and I was a NERVOUS NELLY.

Step 3.  Once the wire successfully can slide behind the mirror from the top to the bottom, all the glue has been detached from the mirror and the mirror is ready to come down.  At this point, we were holding the mirror steady, and ready to use the hammer.  The reason being, our mirror is 11 foot long.  We couldn't physically carry the mirror.   We couldn't even budge it.  Your mirror, however, may be smaller.  In that case, it can be lifted safely to the floor.

So Drew took the hammer and did a couple of smashes to the mirror.  7 years of bad luck.  Actually, probably 35 years of bad luck.  It's not as scary as it sounds because you taped your mirror.  So it, theoretically, cracks, but doesn't shatter.  Okay I am lying.  It was a little scary.

Step 4.  Take the mirror down chunk by chunk as it is attached to your strips of tape.  We had a big old bed sheet on the floor.  We wrapped pieces of the sheet around the chunks of mirror.  We also further smashed the taped chunks within the bed sheets so they fit perfectly into large garbage bags. 

Step 5.  Double bag your crushed-mirror trash bags and dispose of them.

And that's it!  Your scary mirror is off the wall!  Don't forget to tag us in your @Instagram posts!  We want to see your big scary mirrors come crashing down!

For a sneak peak of our final Master bathroom reveal, visit the tab on this blog called "Taylor's Wood House"

Enjoy!

Love Y'all!

Ashley

$50 FRIDAY! An AMAZING kitchen addition (you're gonna love it!)

So y'all.

I was really feeling like our kitchen needed some va-va-voom factor.  Don't get me wrong, I love our kitchen.  It's the biggest kitchen I've ever had the privilege of living with.  We were finally able to pull out our vintage china at this house!  Prior to Taylor's Wood, our vintage china had sat in a rubbermaid tub for 8 years.   The kitchen has lots of great features like solid surface counter tops and hard wood floors.  I should be shot just for complaining.

But it's not a complaint, it's just a teensy tiny desire to make the kitchen more snuggly.  Who doesn't want their kitchen to be forever smelling like piping hot brewed coffee?  Or freshly baked chocolate chip cookies?  Kitchens need to be completely cozy.

Maybe you envision a fresh gleaming glass pitcher full of strawberry lemonade?  I want my daughter to sit in the middle of the kitchen wrapped in a quilt tasting a blueberry muffin.  In our family,  many memories are tied to foods.  Use your kitchen as the true heart of your home and your children will never forget it.  My own mom always had batter to taste on cold Pennsylvania saturdays.  Or dad would be on his knees churning the fall batch of sauerkraut in the old crock.  The sweet and sour familiar smell, wafting in the air.  Us three girls will never forget our long family discussions in the kitchen.   Family talk would be held on the vintage wood church pew that resided in the kitchen.  Our fat tabby cats laying on the floor, their yellow bellies full of milk.

My loves.  A kitchen memory is a forever memory.

The problem is, this particular kitchen is a bit plain.  Tan walls, cream cupboards, white doors, white trim.  A bit sterile maybe.  And I like warmth.  Besides all this, Drew and I cook dinner together every night in our home.  The only exception are the nights I am at work.  And even then, we usually make a snack together at the island and talk and decompress about our day.  We truly use our kitchen as the heart.

So I set my brain to a-thinking about what I could do to make her a bit more cozy.  More textured.  More....something.  We thought about Drew adding beams.  He wants to try his hand at installing some ceiling accessories anyway.  However, we already have crown molding in the kitchen and so we nixed that idea.  We thought about painting the cupboards.  I've painted many a cupboard in my life and though it's a monstrous task, I was open to the thought.  However, I did want something with a bit more "immediate gratification".  Y'all know my thoughts on that.

So below is the beautiful ladder pot rack we constructed.  And guess what, it's classified as a $50 Friday!!!!

You will need for this project:

Two 2x4x8's

Three 1 inch diameter by 5 ft long dowel rods

1 quart grey pain

1 quart Minwax Early American Stain

Rope

Pack of S hooks (be sure they fit over your dowel rods)

8 Eye Screws

First step.  We cut the dowels to the desired width of our ladder.  We also cut the 2x4's the desired length of our ladder.  Our pot rack is very long because it was going over our island and we wanted some symmetry.  Our 2x4's we cut to 6.5ft.  Each dowel rod was cut to 18 inches. 

We then assembled the ladder.

Drew measured, so as to perfectly screw each dowel rod into both sides of the 2x4's.  Be sure your measurements are EXACT or your pot rack will be very crooked.

Here is a shot of us checking to make sure we were happy with the ladder's length up against our island's length.  Please excuse our construction mess.

NOW for paint.  My favorite!  We sanded the whole piece and then I started by very haphazardly smearing the grey paint all over the piece.  I didn't cover the ladder, I just smeared randomly.

Please forgive me as I forgot to take a picture of staining the piece.  All you do is take a cloth and then stain the ladder as you would stain anything.  Wipe stain on, then wipe off.  And the stain will adhere to everything.  This gives it a very old look and I absolutely love the finish.  Again, just stain over the wood and the grey paint, staining the entire piece.

Drew and I then found beams in the kitchen ceiling with our stud censor and set 4 eye screws in place into the ceiling.  Directly over our island.

A lot of pot racks use chain but I really didn't care for that look.  I loved the idea of rope!  So some fun old rope worked perfectly!

Screw the remaining four eye screws into the top of the ladder and then run your rope through.  We hung our ladder 10.5 inches from the ceiling because my copper pots hang pretty low.  Remember, you don't want to bump your head on the pots while you're working at your island.

Use your "S" hooks to hang all of your pots, pans, baskets, herbs, and cutting boards from your new pot rack.

That's it my loves!  $50 Fridays are the BEST! 

Love Y'all!!!

CiCi's Basement BEFORE AND AFTER

Oh Cici, how I love you!

This special Birchwood Blog Renovation was for my dear sweet Georgia-Mom.  We call her Cici.  She really is like another mom to Drew and I.  And she is definitely a bonus Grandma to our daughter.  Cici has the biggest heart on planet earth.  Literally.  Anyone who knows her, knows this is true. 

Cici only thinks of others.  Her gift is serving and her home is always open to anyone who needs anything.  Her first impulse is to give, in every situation.  She gives of herself and her talents and her home.   We all should aspire to be more like her. 

In April, Cici's mom became very ill with the hideous malady of end-stage cancer.  Cici and her husband moved in to her mom's home immediately.  They set to work on making her mom comfortable at all times.  They never left the house, never stopped cooking, cleaning, and caring.  Her mom's nails and toenails were always painted, the house always smelled amazing and was full of food, flowers and fresh air.  Hundreds of friends and family came through the house over the course of the summer, enjoying time with the entire family.  Cici's parents, are, after 60+ years, still in love.  They insisted on sleeping together in their master suite.  So Cici bought a baby monitor to be sure her mom was safe every moment she slept.  I've never seen such love and selfless care.  Cici's own home, during that time, was completely neglected.  And Cici didn't care.  She didn't waste one moment with her mama still on this earth.  

Not one month after her mama went to be with Jesus, Cici contacted me.  Cici's son-in-law is returning home from his second tour in Afghanistan.  He will be joining Cici's daughter in welcoming his first child, Cici's first (blood-related) grand-baby into the world.

In typical Cici fashion, she promptly moved out of her gorgeous master bedroom suite (again) and into her own basement with her sweet hubby.  Giving her son-in-law soldier and precious daughter, the master bedroom in their own lovely home.

Cici's basement is... quite a place.  The family has lived in the home for years, and the basement is exhausted.  When the girls were in high school, the family hosted Bible Study in the basement.   Along with soccer slumber parties, get-togethers, church events, and housing for others.  I say housing because Cici has allowed several families to live temporarily in her basement.  The basement overlooks the beautiful in-ground pool, boasts a wet bar, a large seating area and many large windows.  In addition to all of this is the very famous "Signature Wall".  From students to celebrities, there are hundreds of signatures on the wall.  People that are very special to Cici and her family have signed the wall.  Included in the "Signature Hall of Fame" are pro-atheletes like Josh Bynes of the Detroit Lions (a dear family friend) and the governor's wife.  Cici's only request for the basement?  Don't you dare paint over that beloved wall.  She cares more for people then anything else in this world.

The dilemma in the room?  The room has been used HARD by teenagers and the neighborhood for years.  The walls are covered in nail holes, wires, water marks, old sports memorabilia, and spit balls.  The floors are stained and filthy.  The wet bar is covered in old boxes and hasn't been used in decades.  All the decor is out-dated and completely exhausted.

Cici contacted me because she wants to give her son and daughter some much-needed quiet time upstairs.  She wants them to bond as a family and have serene evenings together.  Yet SHE needs a cozy place to crash in the evenings with her darling hubby.  Cici is still living almost full-time at her dad's house since the passing of her mama.  She runs all day for him and others.  She takes him to doctor appointments and gives him his medicines.  Even when she is gone, she has the go-pro-camera monitoring him at all times so he is safe.  My heart breaks for Cici.  I want, no, I NEED this to be a very special "soft place to land".  

Below are the BEFORE photos of the Basement:

So as you can see, the basement is pretty pooped.  Cici's budget is tight, but she has a lot of heirlooms from her mama that need to go into the space.  

Enjoy my "AFTER" photo tour below, my loves!

AFTER

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AFTER

We were able to accomplish:

Refinishing Cici's mom's heirloom breakfast table as a place to sit and enjoy a meal 

Recovering Cici's mom's heirloom chairs for the breakfast nook

Adding in a comfortable sectional and tufted ottoman that fits the relaxed atmosphere of the basement and provides maximum seating 

Giving Cici a custom @thebirchwoodblog island, 2 bar stools for seating and expanding the wet bar/kitchen area 

Giving Cici a custom @thebirchwoodblog TV table 

Using new rugs to create warmth

Highlighting a functional kitchen wall with antique cutting boards and a custom @thebirchwoodblog mug rack and incorporating her mom's antique working refridgerator 

Incorporating Cici's love of rustic flare through found treasures, vintage pieces, and original antiques from her mom and dad

Mac and Cheese Pot

Have you ever thought about what you would order for your last meal on death row?  Many countries actually observe this bizarre tradition.  The tradition allows the prisoner to order a very special last fodder, before going to the slaughter.

Well.  I know this is a strange thing to bring up, especially on a Thursday, but I have thought about what my last meal would include.  And Mac and cheese would be my delicacy of choice on the orange plastic tray.  It would be smothered in cheese, butter and bacon grease.  It would be probably nothing short of 14,932 calories.  And it would be extremely palatable.

The problem is, we live in a world where we have to get up the next morning and have a clear conscience about our blood vessels.  At least I feel I need to.  As a nurse, I have a photographic memory of the lining of my arteries since my cardiac days.  Yea.  I better keep this recipe healthy.

In addition to my over-active medical brain, my tiny one-year-old daughter is an eating-machine.  She eats more then Drew and myself combined.  So I wanted it to be really tasty and REALLY healthy.  "Not possible" you may be thinking.  Well I plan to prove you dead wrong.  No pun intended.

Behold.  The best tasting mac and cheese ever!!!!  With lots of sneaky substitutions, tasty alternatives, amazing flavors, bold spices, and four fall veggies.  You'll be licking the bowl.  And thanking the Good Lord you get to see another day.  So you can eat the left-overs tomorrow, of course.

Amazing Mac and Cheese Pot 

1 onion

4 carrots chopped

4 celery sticks chopped

1 lb macaroni 

1 butternut squash peeled and chopped.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk (I used coconut milk but any milk will do)

1 box vegetable broth

1/2 cup white wine

2-3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon celery salt

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup water

Boil, drain, and puree butternut squash.  Set aside.  Use the squash water and the box of vegetable broth to boil macaroni al dente.  

In a separate pan, sauté chopped onion, chopped celery sticks, and chopped carrots with all of the spices.  When the veggies are soft, deglaze the pan with the wine.  Allow to simmer 2-3 minutes.  Add 1 cup of water and simmer another minute or two.  

Meanwhile, add pureed butternut squash to the cooked macaroni pot (There will be some water and broth that the macaroni is still sitting in, that is okay).  Add in the milk.  Stir.
Add in the pan full of veggies and liquid.  Add in the cup of cheese.  Stir and cook on low just a minute or three, until the cheese has melted and all ingredients are incorporated.

Serve hot with shredded cheese on top.

Love Y'all and Enjoy!

Ashley

Lamps gone RIGHT

 So I received tons of positive feedback from y'all regarding the DIY garage door project I posted a few days ago!  AND...on that positive note, I'm giving y'all another easy project! 

Once upon a time, I was hired to re-design my friend M's house!  If you missed her GORGEOUS before and after Living Room tour, you can find it below titled M's Living Room BEFORE AND AFTER, part 2!

We all remember my friend M.  We all remember she has treasures that I was bawling over.  Literally.  I think I cried during her initial home tour.  Her heirlooms were beyond my wildest dreams, passed down through generations.  These trinkets all just needed to find their place in the re-design. 

As you may recall, M led me on a beautiful scavenger hunt in her home to decide what was going to be showcased in the upcoming reveal.  M wanted me to see a pair of amazing heirloom lamps she owned.  They were hiding in the basement.  She loved them but had no idea what to do with them.   She consented to me making them beautiful for the redesign.  

Here are the lamps BEFORE this DIY project...

(Aladdin's Genie couldn't have been more impressed)

Amazing right?  I mean, look at the detail!  I did some research and these lamps date back to the 1940's.  Holy vintage!  Well they totally HAD to go in the re-design for M.  They just needed some TLC.  Cobalt blue wasn't in my new color palette for M's space, but gorgeous vintage lamp-glam was! 

So if you have some lighting, that's in need of some love,   Grab your weird lamp and let's do this DIY!

Here's what you'll need:

1 can of Rustoleum's gold spray paint

A few paint brushes

1 can Minwax 'Early American' wood finish stain

1 cup white water-based paint

1 cup light blue water-based paint (or whatever color you prefer; pink, grey, green)

I started by spray painting the lamps with the gold spray paint for a good solid base.  

Can you spy M's lovely vintage dining room table in the background?  Oh yes, my friends.  Another bloggy day...

I've digressed.  Back to the revitalization of 1940's lamps. 

After the gold spray paint dried, I dry brushed the white paint on to the lamp.  Make sure your brush is very dry.  

To dry brush: barely dip the tip of the VERY dry paint brush into the white paint.  Then, haphazardly drag the dry brush along the natural raised areas of the piece, sometimes barely brushing the piece.  The tiny bit of white should adhere mostly to the cracks and crevices of the lamp.

When the white paint is dry, go back over and dry brush/drag the pale blue paint over the raised areas of the lamp.  Exactly as you did with the white.  Make sure to be random with your markings.  This patina needs to look natural.  

Finally.  When that coat is also dry, go back and run over the cracks and crevices of the lamp with just the smallest amount of stain on a fresh brush.  I followed using a dry paper towel, at this point, to really smear the stain around.

Wear gloves to protect your hands from the stain.

Below is the reveal!  M absolutely loved the final product and so did I!  No one else on earth will have lamps like her!  I topped them with linen Pottery Barn drum shades.

Be sure to tag @thebirchwoodblog in your @Instagram photos!  We love seeing your hard DIY work!

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Fall in LOVE with our FALL HOME TOUR

By now y'all may have guessed, I'm obsessed with fall.

Being a Pennsylvania girl, fall means a lot to me.  Fall means dad goes turkey hunting.  Fall means really crisp New York apples like Macintosh and Empire.  Fall means watching football in a fuzzy sweater and cool nights with thick scarves.  Fall means gnarly pumpkins and steaming crocks of soup with tiny shreds of cheddar softening under the steam.  Fall is not just a season.  Fall is a memory, a menu.  Fall starts in your home.

Fall decor is pretty important. Fall decor stands the chance of being displayed in your home for 3 months.  When compared to Christmas decor, that is triple the shelf life!  Ha.  Do you see what I did there?  

So when you invest in that silky spray of pheasant feathers, or that collection of sparkling faux gourds, just remember, you'll see these a lot longer then you will see those 10 tubs full of Santa figurines.  You laugh.  But my sweet husband has 10 Rubbermade tubs full of Christmas-everything.  And I am only working on my 2nd tub of fall lovelies.  The score needs to be squared.

Well one night after work I was very tired, but quite ready for fall decor to emerge from the depths of the basement.  So my sweet husband brewed a perfect pot of dark roast coffee, poured in a splash of pumpkin spice coffee creamer, turned on some Colbie Caillat Pandora Radio, and set to work being the perfect autumn assistant.    

Inspiration started to flow.  Colbie Caillat brings back every beautiful fall memory I can think of.  Drew's first Pastoral job was in Maryland, it was 2008.  We lived in the church-owned parsonage on the corner of the dusty parking lot.  We had only been married a year.  My sister would drive the long 4 hour drive from the mountains of Virginia to Mt. Airy Maryland to celebrate Fall Break.  We had bonfires and overindulged ourselves on Maryland Blue Crabs.  Colbie Calliet sang on the radio and we made chili and played board games until 2am.  We went on hikes and knitted our own scarves.  Drew set mouse traps all over the parsonage as the temperature dropped.  We threw the old pig skin and carved spooky faces on fat pumpkins.  It was practically perfect.  Minus the field mice nestling in, of course.

Do you ever turn on a genre of music and so many special memories swing into view?  It brings tears to my eyes as I type this.  Not longing for what was, but just wanting to rest in a very special time in our lives.  

Pulling out the decor only makes the memories more vibrant.  Maybe just 12 short months ago, your grandmother stood by your side, fluffing the cotton on your own fall wreath.  If you don't think sharing these sweet stories of years-gone-by with your family is important, think again.

The year Drew's lung collapsed, his mom helped me pull all the decor out of this same old rubber bin.  Other years at The Birchwood, my mother and sisters would help me decorate on fall break.  The girls would travel down from Liberty University just to decorate something other then a dorm room.  We'd make oatmeal pumpkin cookies and go downtown to window shop.

Don't look at seasonal decorating as "the same old, same old".  Look at seasonal things as memories you must display.  Tradition you want your children to grow fond of.  There's a story behind everything that someone wants to hear.

Below is a collection of the fall vignettes I've started to piece together in our own home.  Please enjoy our Eclectically Fall Home Tour and use as inspiration!  Also!  Please enjoy the hashtag #eclecticallyfall and love all the inspiration from other sweet bloggers!  Happy Fall Y'all!

Hideous Garage Doors seek Therapy

Ohhhhh my loves! I've been wanting to share this quick and easy DIY with you forever!  I'm such a fan of immediate gratification!  Think of all the glorious immediate gratifications in our lives.  Spray tans, keureg coffee pods, bronzer, Amazon Prime.  Need I say more?  I mean, can I get an AMEN?!  What would we do without 2 day shipping on our favorite can of spray tan while we drink our fresh-brewed coffee?  No judging, please. Yes, I spray tan.  Regularly.

So in December we moved from our beautiful Birchwood home, to our Taylor's Wood home.   This was quite the difficult move.  In many ways.  From a bloggy standpoint, we had renovated, together, almost every nook and cranny of the Birchwood home.  She was "a beaut, Clark, a beaut!" (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation).  The Birchwood home tour is featured on the blog for your viewing pleasure.  One day I will have to post all the 'before' photos of The Birchwood.  Then all my lovely readers will get to see how far she did come.  We had DIY'ed major changes in the kitchen, laundry room, screened-in porch, master bath, master bedroom, guest bathroom, nursery, basement, living room and yard.  We had brought our daughter home to that house.  We had hosted a million youth group sleepovers and bonfires in that house.  We had shared holiday dinners, and tears and memories to last a lifetime.  We started our adoption process for our future son in that house.  We will never forget our years at The Birchwood.  

Well our lovely Taylor's Wood home is now in the process of being majorly renovated (by us, of course).  Today I'm sharing a rather gorgeous DIY.  If I do say so myself.

This specific Do-it-yourself is a great project that requires little time, money, or experience.  But first, the 'before' photos.

This was our home before our therapeutic intervention.  To be fair, this was our house before we bought it.  

So as you can see.  We have 3 garage doors that are very simple and plain and are taking up half of the front of the house.  Not quite the curb appeal I was after.  The home lacks warmth and character.  Nothing really stands out or says "come in".  When you see these photos, please keep in mind that other projects were needed.  We have started upon these other various endeavors including chopping down trees and landscaping and planting grass.  Oh how wretched it is to plant grass, my loves.  Absolutely wretched.  But for now, let's focus on garage door glam.

You will need for this project:

Exterior paint (I used Sherwin Williams "Keystone Grey") 

Blue painters tape

Garage Door Hardware kit (link below) 

Paint brush or small Roller

Screwdriver

That is all you need!  I used only 1/2 gallon of paint for 3 garage doors.  So keep in mind that you won't need much!

Step 1.  Tape off a design you like.  I googled a lot of ideas.  I really wanted something that looked like carriage doors but wasn't too fancy.  I also didn't want to do the "fake windows".  A lot of google searches showed taped black squares that faked windows.  I didn't want anyone driving up to the house and seeing shiny black paint squares and judging me too hard. 

Lucky for me,  my garage doors had raised panels so I was able to follow the strait lines of the panels so as to make perfect lines with the tape.  If your doors do not have raised areas, just measure out from the sides or use a tiny piece of foam to mark your lines.  Keep in mind that the taping is the most time-consuming and ANNOYING part of the project.  Tape along the lines you drew with your tool.  Like playing connect the dots.

If you have more then one garage door, be sure you are following the same rules of measurement.  To do the diagonal lines on the carriage door design, I used a small sand paper foam wedge as a tool to make sure I was keeping the correct width (About 5 inches thickness).

Step 2.  Now you get to paint.  But first, a word on paint.  Choose a color that matches other areas of your home.  For instance, if your front door and shutters are a gorgeous dark grey, go for that same grey or a version of the tone.  If your front door is a beautiful feature color like red, but the trim around the windows is a nice taupe, I'd recommend taupe.  If you want to update your front door (see last week's post $50 Friday!), choose a paint that you can also use on your front door!  Make your purchase go further!

Now.  Back to painting.  I used a roller for the larger areas, but since I had raised panels, I went behind the roller with a paint brush to get in all the nooks and crevices.  If your darling husband comes outside to help, be sure to mark WHERE he is supposed to paint!  It can be a bit confusing to see tape everywhere!  You may need several coats of paint if your garage door was a darker color.  My garage doors had a good coat of white base paint so I only needed 2 coats of fresh paint.

Step 3.  Pull off the tape.  What an obvious step.  But I had some minor touch ups because I painted on a very hot day and some of my painter's tape had peeled back a bit. 

Step 4.  Attach your carriage hardware.  Prior to this step you may have been thinking: "OKAY Ash, this looks like a mouse-maze".  This is the fun step!  Again, there are lots of options on where to attach your hardware.  The back of the hardware box even has some ideas for you!  Below is the placement we decided on and we really love it!  The screws are nice and tiny so you can use a screwdriver to attach.  Or, if you want to be super quick, a handheld drill.  All of a sudden you see the gorgeous carriage door emerge!

Step 5.  Enjoy the benefits of a gorgeous updated garage door and rest assured that this is an investment in your own home!  Such a dramatic transformation can easily be considered sweat equity!  Your neighbors will be sure to LOVE! 

Don't forget to tag @thebirchwoodblog in your instagram photos!  We want to see your garage doors!  

Love Y'all!

Ashley

$50 Friday!!! Change the look of your house in 30 minutes

I'm all about a $50 Friday!  

Today my loves, we are changing the look of your entire home, upgrading your curb appeal, logging sweat equity hours, all for $50.  Yup.  You heard me!

So when we bought Taylor's Wood, the front door was a pretty 'old-school' shade of blue.  

Not navy blue, not royal blue.  Not a pale blue either.  Not even Robin's egg blue.  Nothing epic.   The same shade of blue had been repeated on plastic shudders surrounding the windows on the front of the home as well.  During a rather daring renovation, Drew was able to pop the shutters off of the home with a garden rake, while standing on the tippy-top of a 14 foot ladder.  We then trashed them.  Boom.  It felt rather good.  But the door...

The door was still blue.  And I really dreaded paint-day for awhile because painting a door seemed pretty annoying.  And my door had 24 tiny windows.  Ummm... that sounds horrible.

But now that I've painted the front door, I'm fairly proud of myself.  And the difference is quite shocking.

What you will Need:

1 quart of paint: I used Sherwin Williams 'Keystone Grey'

1 really Amazing paint brush (I love Purdy brand)

1 paint roller

It only took about a quart of paint.  Though I had originally bought a gallon and used the additional paint on other outdoor projects (bloggy days ahead).  I also used my Purdy brush for the cutting-in around the windows.   The roller worked for an air-brushed look on the flat spots.  

I'm a pretty good cutter-inner, so I opted not to tape 24 windows.  It just seemed like a nightmare.  2 Coats covered the door perfectly.  What a difference!

Here's my blue door BEFORE:

Here is my door after!

That's it y'all!  $50 Friday and your whole house will look BEAUTIFUL!  Tag us in your @instagram posts so we can see all y'alls hard work!

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Pasta e Fagioli...what the heck is THAT?

A few years ago Drew's sweet Mom flew all the way to the Peach state to help me for a week while Drew was quite ill with a rather horrible malady.  That's another story all-together.  And for another less-tasty bloggy day.

 During that time, however, we did quite a lot of rather raw bonding.  It was September in Georgia which is usually as malicious as July when it comes to heat and humidity.  However, being locked inside, with a practically unconscious sick loved one, we were forced to pretend it was bitter cold.  Something about tending to 'the ill' makes you want to have the oven going and be pouring oneself over a rather large stockpot of something savory.

So, darling Mother-in-Law taught me how to make pasta e fagioli.  "Pasta and beans" or "poor man's dinner" is an extremely tasty comfort food for anyone who wants a very budget friendly easy dinner that tastes rather expensive.  Did I mention that my Mother-in-Law remembers her grandmother teaching her to make this tasty dish during the long winters in New York City?  How charming is that?!

Here's what you need:

1 lb Ditalini pasta

2 cans cannelloni beans

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 large onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 cup Pesto

1 cup white wine

salt/pepper

2 tsp oregano

Parmesan reggiano cheese 

fresh parsley

Directions:  Sauté chopped onion in the coconut oil.  Once tender add in garlic and all the tomatoes.  Deglaze the pot with half the wine and add salt and pepper, oregano and pesto.  Meanwhile boil and drain pasta.  Continue to simmer your sauce about 10 minutes, adding in the beans.  Finally add in the cooked/drained pasta with the second half of the wine, you may sprinkle in a little more salt if you so desire.  Simmer another minute then serve immediately.  Sprinkle with the fresh cheese and fresh parsley leaves.

Serves 6

M's Breakfast/Keeping room BEFORE AND AFTER photo tour

My loves, I have saved the best for last!  M's final BEFORE AND AFTER pictures: The Breakfast/Keeping room!  

It's perfect! 

Who doesn't want to wake up in the cool of the morning and mosey out to their kitchen in warm slippers?  The coffee pot is making its usual morning grumbling noises as you reach for your favorite mug.  You peek over the bar top and see your beautiful breakfast table and keeping room smiling at you.  A keeping room and a breakfast room combined, with massive vaulted ceilings and walls of windows.  Warm sun splashes all over the worn hardwoods.  Double love seats in the adjacent corners beg you to snuggle down and wait for your babies to creep out of their beds and join you under a thick quilt, wiping the dream dust from their blue eyes.  Or maybe your sleepy husband joins you with his cup of coffee.  The two of you sit and reflect and enjoy the Saturday morning quietness together.  

I've just described M's Breakfast/Keeping Room.  And you can believe that M's family is doing everything I just described on their Saturday mornings.  They're the sweetest family!

I have digressed.  Rewind back to BEFORE the re-design.

This Breakfast/Keeping room is a multi-purpose space for M's family.  For starters,  this is the family's usual meal space.  M wanted the Keeping area to have a cozy feel.  M explained that a lot of their football parties start in this room with snacks at the table.  The room is attached to the kitchen and needed a flow into the formal living room as well.

 There were some dilemmas in this space.  

The room is very long and thin.  The eating area and keeping area need to feel separate, yet married at the same time.  The breakfast table was too small for football parties yet awkwardly wide so that there was no traffic flow around the table and into the adjoining living room.  There is no attractive storage for her two toddler's toys. The existing red stripped sofa is quite tired and only seats two or three people.  The architecture of the room is bright and airy, but the furniture is too dark and large and does not reflect that style.

Here are the BEFORE photos of the room:

Before

Before

Before

Before

Before

Here are the AFTER PHOTOS OF THE ROOM:

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

We were able to accomplish:

2 new love-seats boast more seating without feeling bulky or heavy

A custom 6 foot farmhouse table is long yet thin, aiding in traffic flow around the table

A custom farmhouse bench tucks easily under the table, yet almost doubles the seating at the table

An antique wooden box mounted on the wall keeps toys off the floor 

A chalkboard allows for quirky quotes, inspirational scripture, or dinner party menus

An ottoman is more kid-safe yet feels so grown-up and relaxed.  It also doubles as seating

A thin custom red bookcase allows for grown-up decor, yet all is safely locked behind the double glass doors

A vintage grocer's scale reflects M's love of rustic antiques and is virtually an indestructible center piece

A family photo gallery wall anchors the keeping room 

Well my loves, that's a wrap!  Thank you so So SO much to M for allowing all our hard work in her home to go up on the blog and to be shared with our readers!  Your home and family is such an inspiration to all of us!  

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Coming up next!  Fall home tour!  Inspirational decor ideas!  Fall recipes and more BEFORE AND AFTER tours!  Can't wait to share it all with y'all!

M's Living Room BEFORE AND AFTER, part 2!

Alright my loves.  

We are continuing right along with M's epic re-design.  Part 2 is the beautiful BEFORE AND AFTER photo tour of her formal living room.  

As I had previously mentioned, M's budget was quite tight.  However she knew what she wanted in the living room.  M and her spouse host a lot of family get-togethers and football parties in this room.  She told me that this room was truly where the family 'lived'.  She wanted the room to be kid-friendly, comfortable and stylish.  M also loves the ocean and wanted something soothing that reminded her of her love-affair with the beach.

The room boasts a generous 'window wall' that overlooks the family's yard and custom screened porch.  The room has the lovely warm hardwoods that are throughout the house.  The room has a cozy fireplace and M already owns a very comfortable and stylish sofa.  Some dilemmas in this room include: the fireplace, the bookcase, and the need for a focal point.

M's fireplace seems off-centered in the space because the room only offers one built-in bookcase.  The other side of the fireplace is not anchored with any structural element.  The room has large peeked ceilings which makes the lack of a focal point more obvious.  

Most of M's budget was needed for the other 2 rooms that were being re-designed.  Therefore, I was pretty nervous about the final reveal. But this room was already beautiful, she didn't need more money, she needed a touch of flair.  I think y'all will love it!

Here are some of her BEFORE PICTURES of the space:

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

What a joy it was to bring this room to life.  Please enjoy the picture tour below!

AFTER The Birchwood Blog RE-DESIGN:

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

In this room we were able to accomplish:

Creating a focal point with vintage windows and two custom @thebirchwoodblog magnolia wreaths

Anchoring the fireplace with a custom @thebirchwoodblog Orchard Ladder for blankets

Re-styling the bookcase

Adding decorative touches to the Mantle

Re-arranging the furniture for better flow

Introducing a different rug

Re-styling the end tables

Re-styling the antique buffet table

Staying within the proposed budget

Can't wait to see y'all Friday as we do M's BEFORE AND AFTER photo shoot of the Breakfast/Keeping room!

Love Y'all!

Ashley

M's Dining Room BEFORE AND AFTER (eeek!) photo tour part 1

Oh Y'all.

I've been dying to go LIVE with these epic before and after photos!  And this is just PART 1: Formal Dining, of  M's multi-room make over photo tour!  Feast your EYES!  But first.  The story of M.

My beloved friend and nurse (We'll call her M), contacted me about 6 weeks ago and asked for a consultation.  She wanted her home to be cozy and family friendly and perfect.  She had family heirlooms, antiques, and lots of beloved trinkets in her home.  The problem?  Everything desired unity and cohesion.  M struggled to find that blend and so she hired me.

As soon as I did the initial walk-thru, I was blown away. M and her family have a gorgeous home.  Nestled amongst southern stately mansions, her home is cozy and seeps charm.  It's July and her quiet private street is practically plucked from a Nicolas Spark's novel.  A small boy roller skates while his tiny dog runs behind him.  Gorgeous limelight hydrangeas drowsily spill into the street in the humidity of the afternoon.  Perfect green tidy lawns stand at attention by crisp white walks.  Ancient magnolia trees provide huge shadows of calming shade.  A white cat sleeps on M's brick walk.  The chatter of Brown Thrashers is music in the trees.  I think that M's house couldn't be more perfect.  It's so pretty I want to cry.

Once inside, I'm still quite speechless.  A sea of perfectly worn hardwoods beckons me inside.  Stately rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and plantation blinds seem to blush as I walk in.  A cozy kitchen looks on to the most beautiful southern 'keeping room' I've ever seen.  I know in my heart, that without a doubt, this house is going to only become more breathtaking, as I piece together her wardrobe.

We start with the formal dining room.  The dilemma.  M has multiple family heirlooms, passed down from generations, that need to come together as one symphony.  Some tired antique chairs with horse-hair cushions are discovered in the basement and need to be refinished and brought upstairs.  Her scratched and worn table is quite ornate, only it needs restored.  A vintage glass-front cupboard seems to droop in the corner.  Massive curtains confiscate the floor-to-ceiling windows. A brass chandelier begs for retirement.  

The final dilemma is that M's budget is very, very tight.  She has a wonderful husband and two small boys.  Their lives are busy and family is very important.  Not much money can be thrown into the home.  She wants beauty and function and memories.  And all of these things need to be within the scope of the family budget.

M asks me to include in the finished design:

the formal dining room

the formal living room (photo tour reveal on Wednesday September 9th)

the breakfast/keeping room (photo tour reveal on Friday September 11th)

Here are her BEFORE pictures of the formal dining room:

BEFORE

BEFORE

Well, there will be many more blogs on details featured in this room.  But for now, how about a tour of M's Formal dining room?

AFTER:

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

Isn't it fabulous?

Accomplished in this re-design:

Painting the room 

Refinishing/Restoring the vintage table and 4 leaves

Refinishing and recovering 6 antique chairs

Replacing the chandelier

Repurposing the Corner cupboard

Repurposing an antique dining hutch

Fashioning a centerpiece

Re-designing the contents of the Corner Cupboard

Re-designing the elements on top of the family dining hutch

Incorporating wall art and a mirror

Setting the table with the family's antique china

We stayed within the planned budget

Stay tuned!  Wednesday we reveal M's BEFORE AND AFTER photo tour of the Living room!  And it's just as breathtaking!  Friday we reveal M's BEFORE AND AFTER  photo tour of the Breakfast/Keeping room! 

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Dessert on the Grill

Needing a sophisticated healthy dessert?  Well this will blow your guests away!

It's peach season here in the Peach State and peaches are my absolute favorite fruit.  They're so so good!  When Drew and I have guests come over, we love to load up the grill with basically most of the meal.  It's so easy.  Serving grill-to-table is really fantastic because then one person isn't standing in the kitchen cooking, while the other spouse is standing by the grill.  

Togetherness!  That's what hosting and fellowship is all about!

Introducing a grilled dessert you'll just love!

So here is what you need:

4 Peaches cut into halves

2 cups White Moscato Wine

1/2 cup Brown sugar

non-stick cooking spray

Go ahead and marinate your peaches over night in the wine.  When ready, spray your grill and cook peaches flesh-side-down until warm and golden.  Flip over each peach and grill with skin-side-down, at this time put 1 Tablespoon of your brown sugar on each peach half.  Grill another minute or two.

Serve hot immediately.  

I love to serve these with a scoop of Vanilla Rum ice cream.  So fresh and decadent.   

Enjoy!

Copper Will Do.

I must confess that it took watching the film "Julie and Julia" for me to fall in love with copper cookware.  "How sad", you must be thinking. But when you see Julia Child gently, lovingly, cooking her famous Beef Bourguignon recipe, you know you must have copper cookware.  She's flouncing around her kitchen, she's confident, she's in love with her husband.  Copper cookware probably provides all of those attributes in any aspiring chef. You can't stop thinking about copper cookware.   You long to live in France.  You stare at whatever you cook with, as if it were a traitor in your own home.

The story of my pots and pans is a sad story really.  When Drew and I got married, he had a non-stick stainless steel set.  The pots were wonderful.  Until we read up on non-stick cookware and how it would probably kill us.  And, until all the "non-stick coating" started flaking off in our food.  "Did you add pepper to the Mac and cheese, honey?"  Ummmm..... no.  Time to say goodbye.  Though I will say, those were very dark days for me.  Culinary speaking.  So any evidence needed to be destroyed.

Then, my darling mother-in-law gave me an 8 piece set of simple stainless steel pots and pans for Christmas one year.  I loved them.  I still have most of them.  Key word: 'most'. You see, my very savory and savvy husband was doing some grilling and the soft-handles on a few sauté pans melted into my grill.  Tip of the day, your grill can reach temperatures above 500 degrees so be careful what utensils you place on the grates.   Very, very sad day.  So I started pricing out replacement stainless steel pans for my melted set.  $50 dollars a pan, at the cheapest, for stainless steel.  Then there was copper cookware replacements.   A 12 piece set of copper cookware at Williams and Sonoma is $2,800.  I'm not joking.  So the dreams were smashed and I made my heart move on.

So a few weeks ago I was browsing eBay and found the most beautiful 8 piece set of solid copper cookware you've ever seen.  Price?  The set was $118.  GASP.  That's an insane price my friends.  Insane.  I called Drew immediately.  I told him I loved him.  I told him he was my soul mate and the chef of my dreams.  I told him I'd be the best sous chef he'd ever seen, if he only would consider buying me this beautiful set of copper cookware.

A few days ago,  a lovely large box was on my doorstep.  It didn't have Amazon Prime printed on it.  I was fully intrigued.  Upon opening the box, all dreams were restored!  There in the bubble wrap, was the 8 piece set of copper cookware.  Christmas had come early.  And the chef of my dreams, had prevailed.  

Now, mind you, this is eBay so one knows these are at least used, and at most, vintage.  So I set to work to return them to their beautiful copper color.

Feast your eyes, my loves.  Here they are pictured with some rosemary from my garden, after restoration.

For Copper Restoration you will Need:

Salt

White Vinegar

A scouring pad 

Sprinkle salt on your copper pot.   Then mist on the pure white vinegar.  Immediately you will see the copper changing color.  

Now use your scouring pad to gently scrub-in the salt/vinegar mixture.

Here is one of the pans right after the mixture had been applied, but before I scoured.  See how the copper has changed color?

Finally I gave them a good old fashion scrub down in some soapy dish water.

Perfect!  Even Julia Child would be proud!

If you have some copper cookware laying around that is about to get refinished, or even just beautiful cookware you love to use, tag us in your Instagram picture @thebirchwoodblog!  Maybe your guilty pleasure is vintage pyrex, or red and white enamelware, or just really pretty stainless steel cookware filled with yummy recipes!  We'd love to see what y'all cook with!   

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Here we go now. Here we go now.

Well.  This is it.  I have officially started a blog.  I can put a huge check mark in that box on my bucket list.  But this isn't about checking the proverbial box.  This is about something more.

My husband is the dreamer.  No seriously.  He tells people they can do anything and he believes it.   He once told me he daydreams about being the President and he truly believes that if he wanted to do it, he probably could.  He is the glass-half-full dude.  The guy everyone loves.  He told me to start a blog 4 years ago.  He told me it would be amazing and everyone would love it.  I thought that he was hilarious.  And crazy.

One night I came home from the hospital, smelling like alcohol swabs and vomit, and he had designed a beautiful logo.  I was out of excuses.  It was time. 

The true purpose of this blog is to show anyone that they can do anything within the scope of their home, garden, and lifestyle.  I am living proof of this.

I got married at age 21.  My husband was a student in Bible college and I worked the night shift as a nurse.  So, money wasn't exactly flowing abundantly.  I could NOT cook.  My mom was an amazing cook.  Growing up, my job was usually dish-washer or set-the-table-er.  I had always helped my parents with the flowers and landscaping, but I had never done it by myself.  I didn't own a sewing machine, or a drill, or a table saw.  

Then there was Drew.  He was 20 years old and looked like he was 13.  Great genes.  He had never built anything in his life.  He loved to cook, but nothing too gourmet.  His mom was a phenomenal Italian cook, but he was always sous chef.  DIY wasn't anywhere in his DNA.  His last wood-working project had been the Bible school Pinewood Derby.  You know, the little wooden cars you sand and paint and race in Bible School?  Yup.

And so we got married and had REALLY BIG DREAMS.  We wanted a beautiful home to invest in.  We wanted every room to be comfortable, gorgeous and full of memories.  It didn't have to be huge, but we wanted people to feel so overwhelmed with love and comfort and food that they stayed awhile.  We wanted to cook.  We wanted food to be fuel for our bodies.  Food that fought disease.  We wanted to be creative.  We wanted to enjoy home-cooked meals more then anything we ever found in a restaurant.   We wanted gardens and landscaping.  We wanted flowers we could cut and place in the house.  We wanted our yard to be our own oasis.  We wanted to enjoy our home and garden more then any hotel or vacation.  We wanted to someday grow our own food and herbs.  

Well that was 8 years ago.  And 4 homes ago.  And a thousand renovations, flower beds, and meals ago.  So I invite you to follow along as I share our journey.  Past, present and future.  It will be lots of DIY, lots of ideas, and lots of inspiration.  Follow me on Facebook or Instagram or just check in with this blog daily!  You can take whatever you have, and make it beautiful.  The Birchwood Blog is here to help you accomplish just that.  So here we go now...

Love y'all!

Ashley