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Dining Room Update

It's absolutely true what is said about the snowball effect of home upgrades.  A little paint here turns into new paint everywhere.  Fix a broken tile here and soon whole floors need changing.  Well, that's what has been happening in my "Just One Donna" home.  Spring brought us a brand new kitchen and that kitchen makes everything else feel old and worn out. Not one to throw it all out with the bath water, so to speak, I have been working hard to find ways to update on a budget.  Freshening up doesn't mean you have to break your budget.   One room of focus has been the dining room which is adjacent to the kitchen.  It's a work in progress, but I've made a few changes to get some momentum going.  First, let's take a look at the before dining room.  You can see it is a very traditional dining room.  I love the traditional feel but wanted to add some more modern accents. Three things have changed.  The first and most impactful change was replaci

Kitchen Renovation-The Plan

Three Steps to Creating a Kitchen Renovation Plan This post is the third in a series detailing my experience with my kitchen renovation.  Previously I wrote about accepting that a renovation is needed and the five questions to answer before starting a kitchen renovation project.  Once I had some clarity about what I wanted my new kitchen to look like, and I had established an overall target budget for the project, I needed to determine how to go from the "idea" to an actually finished kitchen. That meant I needed a "PLAN". 1. Sketch Your Dream Layout The first step of my plan was to complete a drawing of the layout I wanted for my kitchen.  This was easy for me because I didn't want to change very much about my existing layout.  I had lived with, and loved, my existing kitchen layout for many years.  That may be a reason I had resisted a kitchen renovation for so long.  The existing kitchen was working pretty well as it was. Kitchen Layout Sketch

Five Questions to Answer When Planning A Kitchen Renovation

According to my astrological sign, I am a homebody and get comfort from my home.  Perhaps that is why whenever I think about tearing my home apart in a renovation I get a panic attack.  The thought of the impending disruption is certainly a reason to put those renovation thoughts on the back burner.  It's one thing to know that you want your kitchen renovated, but it's another to actually take the steps to get the work done. You mustn't delay updates to your home forever.  Short of moving there is no other way to address the wear and tear a family of four leaves on a home over time.  Let's face it, the kitchen takes a lot of abuse from the daily life of a family.  My experience with a family room addition several years ago left me greatly resistant to repeating those trials and tribulations. In that project, the three-month family room addition turned into six months of disruption, of which about four weeks were spent with the backside of our home completely open and

Grilled Peaches with Caramel Ice Cream

When peach season arrives you may be looking for new ways to use your beautiful peaches.  Have you thought of making grilled peaches? This grilled peach dessert is so easy you'll want to make it over and over again.  Go ahead.  Peach season is short. Grilled Peaches with Caramel Ice Cream When I saw the beautiful, local peaches at the store this week I had to buy some.  The weather has been so hot that baking dessert in the oven was not what I wanted to do. I decided to grill my peaches for dessert.  This grilled peaches dessert was so quick and easy that I wanted to share it with you in time for your Labor Day barbecues. Grilled Peaches-The Simple Ingredients Grilled Peaches with Caramel Ice Cream Print Recipe Serves 4 2 firm, ripe peaches 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 2 Tablespoons butter, melted Caramel ice cream Caramel sauce Whipped cream Directions Start 30-60 minutes before grilling.  Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit.  In

Time for A Kitchen Renovation

When is it the right time for a kitchen renovation?  We'd been thinking about a kitchen renovation for a long time.  The kitchen in my house was original to the home, built in 1981.  It was a beautiful kitchen when built, with custom cherry cabinets and well thought out use of space. We made some changes in the past by installing double ovens in a mysterious closet space, and an electric cooktop, with a cabinet with sliding drawers, where there once was a range. These updates made the kitchen very serviceable and a pleasant space for cooking and entertaining.  As my sons grew we made daily use of our kitchen table, especially enjoying the morning sunshine while eating breakfast. You can see in the picture above that I added a mobile kitchen cart to the end of my island as a way to test whether or not I would want the length of the island extended.  I found the additional 24" of length to be very useful, especially when taking hot dishes from the double oven

Tomato and Corn Quiche

This tomato and corn quiche is a delicious summer dinner. Use Fresh Tomatoes in a Delicious Summer Quiche (This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. The compensation I receive when you shop using these links helps support the costs for this blog.)  Tomato Quiche  Today's quiche is inspired by my friend Lydia Walshin's recipe for tomato pie that you can find in her book, 25 Tomatoes: Easy year-round recipes using fresh, canned, roasted and sun-dried tomatoes from the Perfect Pantry kitchen .

I Remember

This month my parents sold the home where they raised their family, my two brothers, my sister and me.  It all happened pretty quickly.  Less than a year ago Mom and Dad decided to move to sunny Florida. Once the decision was made it took less than eight months to purchase a new home more than a thousand miles away, purge sixty years of accumulated possessions, resettle in their new home and say good-bye to the house that once nurtured their family.  Whew!  This was no small accomplishment for two people in their 80s. On the morning of the closing for the house I took one final walk through ostensibly to make sure all was in order for the new owners, but in reality to say good-bye.  As I walked through the empty rooms I remembered... I remembered that winter, long ago, when it snowed and snowed and snowed.  It snowed so much we were able to build an igloo with blocks of snow.  There's never been a winter quite like it. I remembered being sick, first with the mumps and