kitchen voyeurism

my mom just had her kitchen remodeled. love it. i'm kinda pissed because this is exactly the style and color of cabinets that i want for our kitchen and i REALLY hate to do something on my house after someone else i know does it. it's just so unoriginal. however, i really love the cabinets so i might have to make an exception. they were handmade by an amish guy in northern indiana. i wanted to use the same guy (i am NOT opposed to using the same contractors) when we get around to the kitchen but apparently our cabinets are going to be handmade by a non-amish guy that lives in irvington bungalow.

things i like about the cabinets: handmade locally, the color, the inset doors, the shaker style doors, the hardware, the crown which actually mimics an older cabinet that was installed too. you can see it if you scroll down.

my mom probably would not be too happy to see this picture of here on the web. however she won't know because i'm pretty sure she doesn't even read this blog. i wanted to show how, even though the kitchen is small, they made the most out of the space.

this was an old cabinet my mom has had for years. i love how she incorporated it with the new cabinets.

love the compact, red stove. really great accent.

symphony in the park

last night was one of the great summer traditions in irvington. the indianapolis symphony orchestra played in ellenberger park. it is so fun to sit outside with friends, family and neighbors, drink wine and listen to the orchestra - all for free!

more landscaping

although there are a thousand projects to be started, completed or somewhere in between, the main focus this summer has been starting the bathroom remodel and the landscaping. more about the bathroom later, this post is about the landscaping.

chad has been busy implementing his landscape plan developed a few years ago. time and money have forced us to complete it in stages. last year it was the part of the back yard, part of the south side yard, and the north side yard. this year is continuation of the back yard and the south side yard. hopefully next year will be the front yard.
the above pictures show the back yard, the newest bed in the lower left corner and then a new tree, a river birch, with flowers given to us by chad's aunt. the bed in the back left is still under construction. it's our "holding cell" for replacement plants at this point.

this is the side yard. we have three types of hydrangeas in three different beds (hydrangeas are my favorite). currently i have tomato plants and some herbs in this new bed in the side yard but they will be gone at the end of the summer. i'll have to find a new place for them next year!