Kitchen remodel and French Larkspur Giveaway

I have so much to tell you! We have family moments to share, remodeling projects to update you on, and some interesting visitors to our garden.

First, I would like to share with you a glimpse of a home improvement project in our kitchen.
A friend of mine shared with me last March that she was wanting to raise $ for a mission project and she was putting herself up for hire.  Now I haven't asked her if she set me up for this, but I certainly wasn't going to waste an opportunity to get some of this talented woman's time.  I told her "sure, I know I can help!" and told her the next day that I could use some crown molding in our bathroom. My husband, Steve can do crown molding, but I didn't think he would object to someone else doing it instead. But I kept thinking about who could need help or what else I could ask her to do.

The next day I was inspired to tell her I thought of another project I could have her do. I had acquired some incredible 100 yr old ceiling tiles several years ago that have been waiting for our kitchen remodel project. We weren't ready to dig into the whole project, but I thought that perhaps we could start with the ceiling, so I said. "I'd love for you to hang those ceiling tiles for me in the kitchen."  She said, "Good! I've been wanting to dig into your kitchen for at least four years, be ready to make some decisions!"

The next week was a whirlwind, as she came over with her tools, and I spent time researching my preferences and pinning things like crazy to a kitchen board on pinterest. Here are some of our first moments. The first day the acoustical tiles came down exposing some aged wood that cried to be left exposed. The first photograph shows the pantry that came down the first few days also. It wasn't a very efficient use of space and was rather ugly. The second photograph shows the original ceiling with strips of wood taken off and the first row of ceiling tiles around the perimeter. Afterthought would tell us that I should have already cleaned and painted the tiles and that we should have taken the yellow ceiling pieces off to expose more original wood, but instead we plunged forward.

I have more pictures to show you of our before project, but will save them for the next post. I want to share a giveaway so you can have time to enter or consider registering for.

French Larkspur is having a decorating class in October and they are giving away 10 spots to the class. I would love to register for the class, because it is very reasonably priced, but if I can win one of the 10 spots, that would be even better!~ You can get details on the class or win a chance for the giveaway here. I have subscribed to this blog for some time and it is one of several favorites that have given me inspiration in our remodeling projects.

Thank you French Larkspur for motivating me to write a new post today for your giveaway. I have gleaned so much from blogland and would like to become a blogger that informs, inspires, and encourages others. Make sure you watch the video for the class. It is very sweet and has a meaningful message.

I look forward to telling you the rest of the story and bring you up to date with our progress!

Until then, love one another, and make every day count, 

May the Lord bless each of you,

Joanne