Gravel and Paint Everywhere

Whew! What a whirlwind few weeks! Things sure have been happening at Woodford Rest. While I’ve been recovering, I’ve been trying to work on a few projects around our house that have been driving me nuts since we got here. These projects allow me to sit and rest in between different phases and rest. It’s harder to do that running back and forth between the house and motel building. I’m trying to stay productive while I recouperate since there is still so much to do. I know I need to take care of myself, but in the wise words of my Dad, “You do what you have to do.” He and my Mom were some of the hardest working people I have ever met. Since they have both passed away, their example has helped me push through many difficult situations. Between not wanting to disappoint Matthew and not wanting to disappoint my parents, I’ve been working like crazy:)

One of my favorite pictures of Dad

The main area that has bothered me is our front entry area. It was painted to match our old kitchen which was a very dark brown. It made the whole area feel dark and claustrophobic. Honestly, one of the places I liked the least in the house.

I forgot to take a good before, but you can see the original color on the coatrack.

The entryway looks so much bigger now! Look at how bright everything looks! The window looks so much bigger, and the lighter shade of paint makes everything brighter. I’m going to add a curtain that matches our living room and dining room. Once that’s done and Matt finishes the trim around the front door, it will be amazing! So exciting to see these transformations. Our sweet old house is becoming beautiful again:)

Freshly painted entryway

The gravel is done! It’s amazing how much fresher the property looks with this. This is the first step in our plans to asphalt. We are hoping next Spring/Summer to be able to asphalt. We’ve found an amazing paving contractor who was able to gravel and grade the whole area in 2 and a half days. He and his team were such hard workers! I love how the pathways to the cottages turned out. Everything feels so connected and orderly now. One of our next projects is going to be placing some planters around the property. We’re also planning to replace our front porch and the office front porch with slate. It’s really going to start looking nice around here:) Stay tuned!

Pathway to small cottage and the mother-in-law suite at the back of our house.

Parking lot smooth and graveled!

Parking spot for the Big Cottage and walkway to front door.

A lot of my projects are done in the big cottage and apartment. Matt is doing some of the final projects that require more knowledge than I have so I’ve started working on the outside and have been back to finishing the mother-in-law suite. I’ve been taking gravel that was spread around when we were plowing this winter and prepping the grass to mow it. Holy moly raking gravel out of the grass is hard work! Also, I’ve uncovered the old paving stones and put some solar lights along the path to our house and the office. I’ll tack the lights down once we do the new patio slate.

Our new to us walkway

As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve also started some work in the mother-in-law suite. Matt removed the toilet so I could start painting. I chose a color that is kind of dramatic and I absolutely love it. The fixtures will be oil rubbed bronze so I think it’s going to look really beautiful. I’ll post more pictures of it as I can here are a few to pique your interest:)

After the toilet, part of the wallpaper and shelf were removed.

New color applied without the corrected trim.

With all of the construction, it’s easy to forget to take a breath and look outside. Spring has sprung at Woodford Rest, and it is absolutely gorgeous. We have some wildflowers springing up along the rock walk, and morel mushrooms have sprouted in the green area. I love our little wooded haven.

Wild flowers blooming along the rock wall.

Morel mushroom in the green space.

We’ve also continued to explore the beautiful towns around us. It is absolutely amazing to me that we have lived here almost a year and I feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface. There are so many restaurants, shops, hiking, gardens, and museums that we haven’t explored yet. This weekend we went to a few places and ended up in Williamstown, MA. It’s a super cute college town that has a little bit of everything. We went to a few bookshops, discovered a new to us coffee shop, and took a nice walk. As we were walking along the road, we came across this beautiful creek. It was a gorgeous piece of nature right in the middle of this busy town. I just kept thinking, “I’ve never been so happy or felt more at home”. This year has been super stressful and I am absolutely exhausted, but I wouldn’t trade any of it. I feel so lucky to be here and I hope all of you are able to find a place that makes you as happy and relaxed as Woodford Rest (and New England in general) make me feel. Take care of yourselves and don’t forget to rest:)

P.S.

I haven’t forgotten about taking pictures of us doing projects. I just haven’t had a lot of opportunities to take photos when Matt is home. I’m working on it;)