Oldies, but definitely goodies!

"Did I ever tell you about how Kevin began woodworking? Probably not. But it's a pretty cool story and it's amazing to see how his talent evolved through the years. 
I remember when we got married and started melding our posessions together, I noticed a gorgeous wooden bowl. It was still unfinished, yet it had a deep, dark hue inherent in the wood. This was when Kevin introduced me to walnut for the very first time. He'd made this bowl over a weekend spent with his grandfather; he'd been introduced to the lathe for the first time and the bowl was a product of what he'd turned. I've since snatched that bowl and it has a rightful place in our china hutch. It's suffered a little - at some point the bowl was dropped and a piece of that gorgeous walnut chipped away from the rim. We've filled that bowl with seashells (we have collected over the years) and turned the chip away from view so it's still serving a purpose. 
After we married, over time Kevin began purchasing woodshop tools when he's been able - and we've been married sixteen years, so that collection has certainly grown. I've also been the lucky recipient of many of his creations! 
We no longer live in this sweet little starter home, but it housed a ton of inspiration as he grew in his craft. 

Kevin, being the doting husband he is, has alway invited me to draw little sketches of ideas I had for transforming our spaces into something I truly loved.

This is our old living room. In addition to helping conceal our television, Kevin built the bookshelf with the base cabinet using a couple of pieces from an old four-poster bed of my mama's.

Tah-dah!!!!

I know... I'm pretty spoiled, aren't I!?!? Well, that's not even the tip of the iceberg! 

I'm a sucker for all things vintage. Always have been. After scavenging through the Habitat Re-store and finding a fabulous old screen door and a bi-folding closet door system, Kevin created these two hutches in the corners of our breakfast room. The paint color: Martha Stewart Living, Winter Surf. It's somewhere in between a green, beige and gray and it's a gorgeous color. Wish her paint was still around. Sigh...

And that's not all...
If we take a little step back, I can show you the butcher block island he built that boasts three HUGE drawers! Oh, and that light fixture! As the builder grade fixture began flickering, Kevin freshened it up a bit with a little beadboard, trim and paint. 

When I say that it was a house full of inspiration, I'm not even kidding. Just down the street, that old design show Trading Spaces was filming in a starter home similar to ours! It was quite fun meeting the cast. My sister-in-law (pictured left) who happens to be a designer, swung by to catch up with one of her old friends who was a designer on the show. We took advantage of a photo opp next to the trailer, I'm the lady holding the baby on the right. 

And the time he built our Julianne a vanity for her bedroom. The middle compartment lifted to reveal a mirror and cosmetic storage. I personally was smitten with the scalloped apron that wrapped the entire vanity.  

Or the time he added wall-to-wall built-in shelves to her room. 

Or when we learned we had a baby girl on the way & he built this crib for her. Now HER little sister is using it! Talk about an heirloom! 

And there were times he built things for extended family too. Like the time he built my father this folding craps table to practice on. 

And the time he transformed my Mom's entryway with this built-in unit. Some of the decorative accents were from her own scavenges. 

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Or when Kevin's grandfather (lovingly referred to as Poppie) passed away & Kevin built his urn out of a special piece of walnut that Poppie harvested himself once upon a time. 

And sometimes special people (like Fr. John) invited him to build things, like this altar & ambo. They live at St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School. 

It took a number of years to hone his craft through these projects & these are only a handful of projects we have photographs of. As Kevin's wife (and spoiled recipient of many creations), I've been blessed to watch him grow in craft and tooling! Thanks for joining me in this walk down memory lane." - Jessica