It is looking great. I love to shop the house. So fun to make old new again and see it in a different light. A way to no cost remodel.

No cost remodel? Too late for that! hehehehe.....but it's always good to have tried and true items. Things which have memories associated with them, or a personal history, are my preference.

Yes so true . this is probably why I like to re-use my things over and over in different ways. The memories old and new.

Really looking good! I like the idea of 'shopping the house'. Does shopping the barn count, too? We have all of our stuff in the barn while we finish the house. When we moved (in a hurry) there were tons of boxes of antiques that had been in our attic for 20+ years. Should be fun getting reacquainted with all of our old treasures! When our son was born, we started putting antiques away to save them from an energetic boy and his friends. Well, we never got around to bringing them back out. I don't even remember what we have!

Jay, especially the barn! If it were not for my Teahouse we would have had no place to store everything. While I wanted a remodel many years ago, we first had to restore the derelict garage--no semblance of a roof, the cement slab busted by huge tree roots--and then we moved the contents of DH's house into there in boxes, stored the hardwood flooring for 3 years, as well as my range and things which I purchased and immediately stored. The saying is all good things come to those who wait.....(if while you wait you work like blazes.

Since childhood I've fallen asleep by designing houses in my imagination, walking through the rooms. It reminds me of a story I heard about a prisoner of war (WWII era) who would keep his mind occupied by mentally building his house board by board, laying it all out and constructing a satisfying place for him to be with his family. It kept him sane during his ordeal. I don't know if he returned home to build a house for real. The brain/mind is powerful.

For me, this house remodel is my last. It is time for me to use the things I've collected to fill my space, my life too. After this, I will relieve myself of the burden of keeping things for "one day."

Good point- this house is to be our last as well. It's a different house; very open, and not all that many walls. There are a lot of windows, so wall space is at a premium. Time will tell what will 'work' in this space and what won't. The other delay for us in getting rid of stuff is the barn itself. One third of it is going to be finished as a rustic great room, 16 X 28, with a 21' ceiling. There will be a LOT of wall space there, and a more rustic, rural flair. We're also going to finish a second bedroom in the basement to use as a TV room and guest BR, but that will just be comfortable, practical furniture as opposed to antiques.

Well I have to admit I still keep some things for one day because I like to change things around in our house. Some looks need different things . I have already had a few things rotate through the house loft and back to the house in the almost 7 years since we have lived here.

Well, I'll probably keep the cherry wood queen bed, but that is not bric-a-brac as they used to say. My real weakness is pots and bowls for the kitchen. And some plates of all kinds. I had a LOT of the colorful ware that I got when Linens & Things went out of business. Red, orange, green, yellow, blue, purple, yeah, that was about all. But they were left in the MA house when it sold. Now I still have some white stoneware bowls, various mugs, pieces of china salvaged from the broken ones from Katrina, a jungle theme. Then the white American Limoges china that was DH's mother's, it won't be used often, but it will be in one of my two glass-doored wall cabs. My everday choices for plates/platters/salad plates will be stored vertically in a plate rack (dowels separating them, you know what I mean?).

I also love my seashells, collected over the years working in south Texas near South Padre Island. I really love my artwork on the walls, but like Jay noted with his new house, there are not many spots on the walls anymore--taking out 3 big walls means SIX surfaces are gone which once gave space to hang paintings or host furniture. Thank heaven I have a Teahouse....and Jay has a barn.

Jay, I hope you can build yourself a huge chandelier from a wagon wheel or maybe deer antlers and hang it via a pulley from the 21 foot ceiling of your barn! That would be a fantastic feature over your gathering area. Remember all the old movie saloons had such chandeliers which fell when they had the brawls! I hung a potrack on a rope with a pulley in my kitchen, just the usual height ceilings, and I cleated it off so I could lower it at will.

I am planning a chandelier of sorts. I bought an old cast iron hay trolley which I'm going to make into a lighting fixture of sorts. These were used to load hay in the loft, and ran on an overhead track. I'm thinking about putting it on a piece of track so I can move it a bit. There is a huge set of hay forks that came with it; I haven't decided if I'm going to try to use those as part of the fixture, or just hang them on the wall.

I recently got a deal on some 2" maple stock, enough to do the kitchen counters, AND build a big harvest table for the barn. I'm starting to visualize that big table with the hay trolley above it. The barn room is going to be used for larger gatherings when family comes to visit. Since there is a full bath in the barn, it can function as a guest house as well. We'll add a nice wood stove as well. I'm wondering if the old wood cook stoves throw off enough heat to heat a room. They are fairly common around here, and would be a lot more interesting than a regular old wood stove.

Jay, your plans sound fantastic and appropriate to the geographic area and the structure itself. I think I have a mental image of the hay fork. If you have a good chance at taking a picture, I'd love to see it. Your barn will be a blessing to your lives. Don't know about how much heat an old cook stove throws off, but in old days they kept the cook house separate from the main living areas because of fire hazards. So I'd say it can get pretty toasty.

ML, your remodel looks great. Did I miss the kitchen pictures?

Not yet, Marti. The cabs were delivered today partly, also yesterday. Dropped one coming up steps, so no installation yet. I cannot wait for the stove and sink to go in. I think the cab with plate rack will give me the most pleasure to see....besides my shiny little gas range. The old kitchen is a faint memory. The space looks like the lobby of a theater with cabs milling around before being seated. Placed. No doors no drawers just cabs Did not turn on computer today so did not look at pics on my camera, will wait. New coax installed from street today, hope it improves my WiFi reception in New addition without using a relay or booster.

Thanks for the compliment, Marti.

Gramarows, in my case we closed down my DH's home in MA so those items from his place are in the Teahouse. Stuff from our house on the river destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, what little I could salvage, are there too. I had paintings waiting to hang both places that are finally going to have a permanent location, some other art objects which were gifts to DH during his long professional career. I absolutely LOVE old used shutters which are "real" not those plastic fakes sold for exterior mounting. So it is easy to incorporate the old beside the new if someone is a mind to! By the time a person gets my age, there is pleasure and contentment in surrounding oneself with reminders of happy times or happy places. If you like it, go for it, regardless of what fashion might imply.