New look for my master bedroom and a Rug Pad USA review and giveaway!

I drooled over this rug for MONTHS before I finally decided to spoil myself by buying it! I lived with it without a rug pad for several weeks, putting off the purchase. But then Rug Pad USA contacted me and asked if I would like to do a review of one of their rug pads and it was perfect timing! (Thanks to everyone who participated the giveaway is now over!) With a new rug, two “new” lamps and a new comforter it was WAY beyond time to share with you my newest refresh of my master bedroom! Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Guest bedroom and library! Country girl style and comfiness!

My new guest bedroom and library! A lot has been going on around here at Grandma’s house. Lots of changes. With the divorce final and so many hard days behind me, my cousin said, “I know you’ll be fine because you’re Stubborn and Busy.” We’ve decided that that’s going to be on my tombstone, “Here lies Tarah who was stubborn and busy.” And we have all agreed that my two grandmas would be very proud as they too, were VERY stubborn and busy women. So, on to the first of the big changes that I’ve been working on: here is my BRAND NEW guest bedroom and library! Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: The deck, my outside dance floor and living room!

A post all about one of my favorite “rooms” of my house: the outside deck and my dance floor! When my grandparents’ lived here this was their least utilized outside of the home – the only way to reach it was to walk all the way around the house! My plan to add this deck came naturally and was one of the first things I was certain I wanted to add and my ex husband and I built our deck together. I put in almost every joist hanger (all 8 million of them…) my ex dug almost every 4×4 post and we dropped the joists in together. From there he took it over and laid down every last deck board over the course of three days. With the depth of the deck 11 feet all the way around I chose to use 12 foot green treated deck boards that we put in as tight as we could together and then cut off along the edge with a skill saw. Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Farmhouse living room reveal of thrift stores and hand me downs!

A post all about my farm house living room! Beneath that old blue carpet were several layers of linoleum that wonderfully protected the hardwood for many many decades. This is not a big room nor was it an easy room to plan. First the staircase had to double in length (because the old one was so steep it was like climbing a mountain!) and, because of the staircase covering up its entryway, then the bathroom had to move and the living room absorbed that problem too by giving up even more space. Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Master bedroom refresh! Sweet country meets Hollywood glam!

Several times in the past couple of months I’ve hinted at showing you guys my master bedroom refresh! It all started when I decided to move the head of my bed from under the south facing windows to the east wall. It opened up the room so much – I can dance up here now! But it left me with a couple of issues, the first big one was that I could no longer use my washstand as my bedside table (not enough room any more) and neither could I use the dresser for the other side. So, on I went thrifting on the search for bedside tables, their makeover was a fun and easy one, check it out here. Read the rest of the post »

Home tour: the Kitchen Reveal!

Oh I am so excited to finally show you my kitchen reveal! You guys have heard me talk many times about how it took us fifteen months to renovate my grandparents’ 100 year old farm house. It was a tremendous amount of work but I did get the majority of it done and now I’ve been living here for a year in August! I know, I know, you can throw tomatoes at me, I have not yet given you guys the complete home tour. You’ve seen my Master bedroom, closet and bathroom as well as my office but, after that, I’ve been pretty much mute. I promised you last week that my kitchen reveal was imminent because I FINALLY finished the door thresholds and I asked Joe (my now ex husband) at the time, “Do you think our floors are ever going to be this clean again?” His answer was, “I doubt it.” Because what happened when I put in the door thresholds was that I was forced to clean the floors thoroughly and anyone with dark hardwood floors will tell you that they NEVER look truly clean almost no matter what you do. SO, I got out my camera, did a little staging, and tackled the big photography job for this kitchen reveal. But, first, allow us to take a trip down memory lane 🙂 Read the rest of the post »

Home tour: My office reveal!

Before we can truly start in on my office reveal we have to start by going way way back to literally the day we started remodeling the house. This room used to be what was left of this old house’s screened in porch. Back in the ’50s the other part of the screened in porch had been enclosed to create an entryway and my grandparents’ bedroom (so they could sleep on the first floor and their two girls could get the two bedrooms upstairs that is now our master suite). This part though remained a screened in porch and one of my very favorites places in my child hood. When my aunt and mom were little girls they would sleep out here throughout the Minnesota summers and both of them still recall it as being one of their very favorite things. I still pine a bit for the old screened in porch and now, from time to time, wish I had not had to enclose it. However, this porch was only yards from the dirt road outside our house and I knew we would never be sitting out here to enjoy the dust and watching people drive by – not really what you would call a “scenic” view. And I needed an office! Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Master Bathroom Reveal!

The total amount of months it took us to complete our renovation was fifteen. I spent almost every day after work at the house, almost every weekend and it just about killed me. Going into the renovation I knew it would be one of the hardest things I had ever done but also, what I wanted to do more then anything I had ever wanted to achieve in my entire life. This master bathroom was my treat to myself. The double slipper tub (*swoon*) was the one splurge I gave myself for all of my work and I have never regretted it, I absolutely LOVE that tub! But lets start at the beginning. Check out that linoleum! Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Master Closet Reveal!!

First thing is first before I get into all of the details about our master closet I’m going to do a copy and paste from my previous post about our Master Bedroom Reveal so you know where everything began: As far as the design goes it all started with the passing of my other Grandma: Eleonora. You’ve seen her mentioned a couple of times here along the way in my Before & After of Eleonora’s Rocker and Eleonora’s buffet/our entertainment center. You’ve also probably heard me mention my awesome white leather tufted hassock. It was in Eleonora’s attic for my whole life as far as I can remember and I absolutely fell in love with it when they said each of us grand kids could pick a couple of things to keep. It also scared me a little bit, everybody here probably knows by now that I am not a panty-hose-wearing, dress-loving or pearl-wearing kind of gal. However, that did not stop me from entirely falling in love and from there, everything else fell for it too. Read the rest of the post »

Home Tour: Master Bedroom Reveal!

The big master bedroom reveal! I know I know I know, we’ve been living in the house 6 months and I still have not posted anything resembling a reveal of the rooms besides when it was empty and we first moved in! I’m sorry guys, you are allowed to throw tomatoes at me. Read the rest of the post »

Grandma’s house is officially MY HOUSE! Before and afters gallery!

Feb 15, 2018 When I first published this before and afters blog post it was August 19th, 2015 and now its February of 2018 so it certainly seemed time to update my very FIRST post on Grandma’s House DIY! So I’ve been living in this old place of my family’s for over 2 years now and it remains an incredible joy. I am still doing projects all DIY style and do it yourself as you saw throughout my renovation. Its a lot of work but, as I’ve said in the past, its good work, the best of work! There is nothing like making a home. Read the rest of the post »