Heart & Whole of our Home

An old metal sign brought from a restaurant in Dallas

once owned and operated by one of the Dallas Cowboys.
And a sweet sign Mary Katherine bought us when we
celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

Most everything shown was bought at an Antique Auction
in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
The framed prints of the lady & man praying
were given to us by my brother & sister who
wanted to replace these for us.

While rebuilding I wanted an old 'farm sink' and
really didn't care about the ones I found because of the
lack of depth these offered.
I met with our tile layer and asked if he could help me
recreate something that looked like the old farm sinks
and this is what he came up with.
I love having my same triple sink once again, in white this time
instead of red, and having the 'apron' done in tile.

We were thrilled to find this table and chairs
at a local Antique Store. Didn't know if I'd be able
to locate a table that would seat 14 or not!
Of course, we use this ... oh ... about twice a year:(

More treasures (junk) we were fortunate to
bid on and win at the auction!
Our friend and neighbor, Larry, was kind enough
(and talented enough) to add lighting to the
various old pieces of furniture we bought.
He actually rewired most of the lighting we
bought while rebuilding, since so many of the fixtures
we found came from England.
He now 'dares' me to buy any more English fixtures
or lamps in need of repair for that matter!

Our painters used large chain to beat up our cabinetry,
before antiquing the wood.
There is definitely a 'theme' going here...
I wanted everything to look old, used & beat up...
if it wasn't already, and had to have plenty of
red, white & blue!
Mainly I wanted family and friends to feel at 'home'.

I engraved The Fruit of the Spirit
on tumbled marble 4" x 4" tiles
and asked our tile layer to design this area
as he wished!

A very talented local shop owner created the
mosaic American Flag for over the stove.
The grand kids fear (ha)
the dreaded "$5.00 for whining" sign.

The prayer engraved on this "Kaye's Kitchen"
tile was a framed prayer read at one of our
Son-In-Law's Grandmothers' Funeral.
It was so touching, I later asked for a copy of this and
engraved this for his Mom and her 2 sisters as a gift to them
in remembrance of their Mother.
"Strength to carry on" was found at a garage sale during
one of my many 'hunts for used things'.

I told a dear friend of ours, and one of the contractors on the
home we lost in the fire I wanted something 'crafted'
by him in our new home. He built the island top and all
of our wood counter tops using maple.

The round table we use on a daily basis was
covered with a mess! So instead of photographing the
entire table & chairs I took a close-up
of the roses on it, that Zachary and Trent helped me
cut a couple of days ago.

Slowly but surely, I've been buying some of the Dept. 56
pieces I had before. The electricians placed plugs all along
the tops of these cabinets for these and for lamps;
another weakness I inherited from my Mom.

I named this post "Heart & Whole of our Home"
because the kitchen has always been just that for our family.
In 2006, when designing a plan to rebuild,
one thing we knew was to have plenty of kitchen space,
not so important for cooking, I'm sad to say,
but for family and friends to gather.

We live in this area of our home in Northeast Texas
and the kitchen IS the heart of our home.

Please go here to tour many others....

Blessings today and always,
Kaye
Revelation 21:5