Eating at The Owlery

Hello to all my visitors from Kelly's Korner!  I guess I should start by explaining why our home is called The Owlery.  We actually live in a duplex, but it feels much more like a cottage:  you cross a wooden bridge to enter the top floor, the bridge and the trees around the bridge are covered in ivy, and there are three owl decoys on the side of our chimney watching over our house.  We felt The Owlery was a very whimsical, fun name--something out of Harry Potter, if you will--and so it stuck!

I LOVE our kitchen.  It is easily my favorite (or one of my favorite) part(s) in our home.  I spend a lot of time here.  (Zach's isn't much for cooking though he will help me.)  Some of my favorite things to cook include chicken pot pie with lots of veggies; cobbler; French toast; roast beef; red, white, and black bean chili; and Cadbury chip brown sugar cookies.  Right now, as I recover from my most recent Crohn's flare-up/surgeries, I am trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our diets by trying ones I have never had or liked, or cooking old stand-by's in new ways.  Enjoy a look around the heart of our home!

 We seriously have three or four times the amount of counter and cabinet space we had in our first apartment, which was a teeny-tiny three-room apartment in a dorm.  (Yes, a dorm!)

 looking into our dining area

 looking into the kitchen from the other side of the living room

I forgot to show that wreath last week; it's faux lavender and was on clearance several years ago at Target, where I buy a ton of stuff!

 Our table is an antique Duncan Phyfe dining table!  A couple from Zach's parents' church gave it to us when we got married because they were switching from two residences to one. It needs to be refinished, but it is just beautiful.  It seats six, but we keep one chair in our bedroom for sitting.  I love imagining all of the different meals shared at this table and all of the different people who have sat down at it.  Zach's Momo made the lace tablecloth several years ago and gave it to me for my birthday.  The vase in center was made by Zach's mom who is very into pottery.  All of the birdy items were gifts from my birthday week that Zach's mom organized this year since I was recovering from surgery during that time, and the ironwork napkin holder was a wedding gift (I don't remember from whom.)  The rug, which you really can't see, was purchased with wedding gift money.  And I'm a new seamstress!  Zach got me this sewing machine for Christmas last year!

 the original needlework on the dining chairs

We wish we had the money to restore them to their former glory, but we can't right now.  We are planning to cover them with some fabric to protect the needlework and better match our decor at some point.

 I keep cookbooks, photo albums, yearbooks, photo boxes, picture frames, and scrapbook clutter on this shelf.  It needs to be better organized.  Our Willow Tree collection that we received from my mama, Grandma Byrd, and aunts on my dad's side are on top of the shelf along with a decanter that has been in my family forever.  The Alice in Wonderland bag was a birthday gift from my friend Katie; I used it in grad school, but now it holds fabric scraps.

 This china cabinet belonged to one of Zach's great aunts and was given to us by his parents to use since they weren't using it.  It holds my teapot collection, including our Alice in Wonderland collection.  (Alice was one of the first books Zach and I bonded over when we met, and we had a Wonderland-themed wedding.)  The horse paintings were Zach's uncle's; he passed away before I met Zach.  :(  On top are some plants from my mom, a set of candleholders that were left in our first apartment, and the tiered serving dish that was a wedding gift from some ladies at Zach's parents' church.  Our kitties sleep on the ottoman to the right; we store coupons in the basket.

Oh, and our chandelier can be dimmed, so we have MOOD lighting!

 The barstools were a gift from my mama; I need to redo the cushions because they don't fit.  Do you see our vintage microwave?  This was Zach's Gigi's many moons ago that was passed to his parents and then to us because ours went out...and we would rather use an old one than buy a new one.  That is an Entergy sticker on the front; Zach's dad works for them, and I am guessing he took this to work at one time.  The cookbook holder on top actually came from one of my professors who teaches Women's Lit.  (Oh, the irony!)

Our counter is a little cluttered right now because I had to hand wash some dishes and we are eating our way through that tin of cookies and container of homemade 7-UP biscuits!  (We should put the chips away so I don't see them...and thus eat them!)  I love the brown ironwork Love-Hope-Dream plaques by the cabinet.

And yes, our bottle of brandy has a sweater on...

 our lovely stove, my KitchenAid mixer, LEGO timer and shakers, new toaster (Zach killed ours by trying to make a grilled cheese in it--don't believe everything on Pinterest), the fruit bowl made my his mom, and a lovely candle from my friend Emily

 our vintage fridge with invitations, "Thank You" notes, announcements, fun photos of family and friends, menus and coupons, and lots of LEGO and bottle cap magnets

 This is a peek into our laundry room.  I used that memo board when I lived at home and when I lived in college to hold photos of friends; now I use it to hold a few photos along with cards and invitations and recipe cards as well as a picture with my cooking idol, Linda Adams!  (She is Zach's dad's cousin and used to do cooking segments on local TV stations when I was growing up, and I always watched her, and my mama had her cookbooks.  She is an Arkansas gem and so sweet.  I couldn't BELIEVE it when I found out I was now related to her after we got married!  She sent me one of her cookbooks that is out of print as a wedding present.)

I am especially proud of the collage I am putting together above our trash and recycling cans.  I was frustrated by the thermostat because you couldn't hang anything above or below it without it being too high or low respectively or without the thermostat looking awkward in the middle.  I found the idea for the frame around it on Pinterest and did it back in the fall before I was getting really sick.  I did the yarn "P" right after I had my first surgery.  I found the black frame at Hobby Lobby on clearance; it had an "American's Heros" mat in it--it was military-themed--so I removed it and mounted this picture that I love of us from our first married Valentine's Day on scrapbook paper.  We finally added these two pieces this week.  I can't wait to finish it!

I hope you enjoyed a further peek into our home!  Sorry I am so long-winded and kudos to you if you made it this far.  :)  See you soon!