The Little White Playhouse

REPOST CIRCA JUNE 2023:

Last year had so many blessings and first for us with our grandchildren. There is something so very special about watching your daughter become a Mother and parent her children. New traditions are made and a few old ones kept. Magical new memories, lots of laughter, cherishing the old memories, watching your grans grow, the anticipation of good times to come, seeing glimmers of yourself, your daughter and your husband in our grans, more laughter and a few tears of joy; filled our cups in this new season of life for us. New chapters are always so exciting, blank pages be to filled with beautiful memories. Mercy, grace, love, joy and most of all gratitude fill my heart.

I no longer make New Year's resolutions. I do, however, name a theme for the New Year. This year's themes are gratitude and wellness. I am striving to be grateful even through the storms of this life. I am determined to work on my physical health, grow closer to the Lord and to slow down to smell the roses, in the midst of my fast paced life. 

One of the firsts for me last summer was building a playhouse for my grans. I did it 100% on my own, no help from Bpa at all as he was too busy and tired out from work to help me. Took me awhile to figure it all and and I may or may not have put some of it together backwards, lol...tales of the dyslexic adhd Gigi! That is a whole other topic, ha! I ordered a DIY cedar playhouse kit from Amazon and it took me about 10 hours to get it all together and add all the custom details. I wanted it to mimic Gigi & Bpa's "Little White House", and so it does! The kids absolutely loved it, and in 5 minutes of seeing the joy on their little faces all the blood, sweat and back ache faded into smiles and laughter. That is the beauty of giving, bringing joy to others IS my joy! To my darling Rawlings, Baylor, Jessa & Genesis...Gigi loves you ALWAYS!

Without further ado here is "The Little White Playhouse."

It has a flag that I custom designed on zazzle.com with my custom fleur de lis flag weights to match ours flags and flag weight. Little wreathes over the windows and planters I painted black and added polka dots to for a Mackenzie Childs feel. 

I added this pretty heart wind-chime that I painted black. Jessa loved that feature. Baylor loved the doorbell. He loves things that make noise. He is still vacuum obsessed. I bought a real lightweight stick vacuum knowing he would love to vacuum Gigi's house with it...and he does!

I glued this little white ceramic squirrel in the windowsill  that Genesis gave me a while ago. The grans call squirrels "jump jumps," too cute! I had this wreath holder for many years from one of my trips to Colorado Springs Hobby Lobby (before our town had one). 

I added a pretty dishtowel and holder, a buffalo check valance some Hobby Lobby pumpkins (Gen is pumpkin obsessed), and this thankful sign. Found these farmhouse style chairs at Ross dress for less for $7.99 each! They were pink, so I painted them black.

I had a maker on Etsy make these vinyl letters of an adorable old childhood poem. I added the small hello fall and welcome friend picture from Hobby Lobby.

Baylor loved the phone. I tried to find a black or grey one, but no such luck so far. So off it came with a green and yellow one. Ugh problems of an OCD Gigi...IT MUST MATCH! Ha!

Added a rooster weathervane similar to the one on the roof in front of our BIG "Little White House. Added a G decal for our Monogram seen throughout our exterior and interior of our home ...yes some of my people do hail from the south (Kentucky to be exact)!

Matching welcome mat that we have around all the doors on The BIG Little White House! 

I customized this little farmhouse table and chairs for a Mackenzie Childs vibe. Added their art supplies and play dough to some customized metal canisters to match. The paint is holding up right now through the rainy season. We will be building a covered patio this hear for this porch we poured last year. It will be so nice and the kids and play outside year round without getting soaked or muddy. They all love the outside, their sweet Mama takes them out everyday rain or shine. Fresh air and vitamin D for the win! 

I custom painted this big wheels trike to match The Little White House and Baylor loved it! I kept the petals orange because I did not think it would hold up if I painted them. All in all I was thrilled with how everything turned out. Hoping for many fun filled years creating good memories with the grans!

Here is a link on Amazon to  Modern Outdoor Wooden Playhouse Kit

Here is a link to a video I made showing the details

A Little About Me.......

My husband and I just celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary! We are the parents of two grown daughters, Gigi & Bpa to four beautiful Grandchildren; two boys and two girls.  We are Furpawrents to Maltese babies; 4 yr old Lillian Grace & 1 yr old Winston William. They all keep us extremely busy, busy busy...and did I mention busy?! lol

I am a consummate DIY'er, painter, antique aficionado, novice flower gardener, wannabe chef, thriftstore/flea market shopper & yardsale lover. For all of my adult life I have had a passion for interior design & refinishing items. I especially love the elegance and history behind vintage European items.

I enjoy breathing new life into an old discarded treasure,  mixing it with the new or modern colours, (and adding a touch of whimsy); makes my heart sing! I love neutrals and tone on tone home decor; shabby whites, off whites, pewters, silvers, greys and a pop of seasonal colour.  

 It's so much fun to look back and see the evolution of your personal & home styling over the years. I know it seems odd to some, but decor is the way I express myself; it is my art form. It stills my mind, and fills my heart with joy when I am creating things. It especially brings me joy to uplift, teach and bring joy to others through my art. It brings me pleasure to give to others.                                                          

When I was a little girl we would visit my great, great, great Uncle Collingwood & Aunt Anne at their lake home in Minnesota. They lived in a large, elegant white house, with a wrap around porch. She gave me the most delightful little highly fragrant floral soaps that I treasured and carried around with me everywhere. My Aunt displayed beautiful glassware, elegant bone china, and lovely sugar dishes brimming with sugar cubes. She allowed us one each day to eat, much to our delight! We were not allowed sugar as children, except for very special occasions. It was always a special occasion at my great great Aunt's house. To this day I have always kept sugar cubes in our home, with beautiful bone china and elegant glassware.....and yes I still adore floral soaps!

When my daughters where little they enjoyed eating sugar cubes too. I fell in love with all white houses because of my Aunt's beautiful white home and the elegant furnishing she kept in it. I have one of her antique harp tables from the 1800's. I painted it white, of course, and I treasure it. 

My blog features my journey through DIY projects, health & wellness info, recipes, vintage items, prayers, poems, & faith based things that have encouraged me on my walk with Christ. I hope you enjoy my blog and feel encouraged in your faith in Christ,  encouraged to give cooking a try or encouraged to add a little vintage elegance to your home...

Welcome to La Petite Maison Blanche (The Little White House).

I am glad you stopped by!

Larisa

Valentines Home 2024

 I am so excited for the special dinner I am preparing for my Valentine this evening. I am using a new extra large roaster I just purchased for the first time. I hope it works out because I have no back up dinner planned, lol. For Valentines this year I of course wanted things for the house. I read this funny meme that a woman said to her husband, "It's me or the house babe, and the house usually wins." That is so quintessentially me! I usually look terrible at every holiday, but the meals are fabulous everyone is taken care of and the house looks amazing, ha! This year I am actually planning on wearing make up and sitting at the table with my very tired overworked husband. Yes today he will be under a house plumbing all day, sigh. I am hoping to pamper him tonight. 

 I had fun decorating the house this year for Valentines Day, though it was very last minute as our schedules have been a wee bit INSANE! Ha! So without further ado here is the house all gussied up for the big day...if you scroll to the end you will se a video of the lovely table in all her glory. 

This is a special banner I had made for our youngest daughter's wedding that I used for the candy bar table. LOVE IS SWEET! It is special to me and one of the few mementos I kept from that day. 

Here it is at the candy buffet at their 2015 wedding🩷

I love these linen Valentine napkins from White Tulip Embroidery, love that company!

I found this silver leaf cherub that I think is adorable. I just love cherubs. 

What would Valentines be without chocolate? Very delicious chocolate. Sees candies are my fav!

 Fun macaroons pink and white, of course!

I love the creations of Aunt Becky's Bakery! Especially for those of us on a perpetual diet! 

A sweet friend from Australia made this adorable heart cookie for me. She no longer makes them :(

My favourite Valentines cushions from Little Miss Norway Home. She does such lovely work.

Velvet cushions are my all time favourite though!

Valentines just would not be complete without conversation hearts! I found these for my granlils and they loves them. 

Tea anyone?

My Valentines gift was this adorable little fountain for the front patio area. 

 

Click on the link to view the video of the dining room all decked out for Valentines Day!

 

Our Fixer Upper-Creating The Little White House

In August of 2022 we sold our lovely remodeled white home and bought a fixer upper, and boy do I mean fixer upper! From mold, animal urine, asbestos, ant/rat infestation you name it we had it, whew! We had construction delays, long COVID pneumonia and a new puppy to contend with. We moved into a construction zone with our puppy Lillian, needless to say she ate sheet rock several times as we had no interior doors for months. We also had no sinks but one very old, gross sink in the garage because our counters were very delayed for two months after we moved in. We had no appliances for a few weeks after we moved in as well. In spite of the exhaustion I did manage to keep my sense of humor...which kept me sane (well kinda).

We spent our anniversary covered in paint and rat poo (my husband had to go under and hook up the new tub and add new p-trap in the land of the rats under our house). We discovered shortly after that the underneath of the home had become a rotting graveyard of dead, decaying rats. They had gone through the insulation and pressed up against the floorboards to die, and the smell was horrible. A few had chewed the ducting and the smell would come in every time we used the new heating system we just had installed. An ice storm hit and we were unable to use any heat, it was 52 degrees inside the house!

We ended up having to replace the entire underneath insulation and visqueen. My husband spend every free moment under the house for about a week, then friends and contractors stepped in to help him. We hired a company to reinsulate and add new visqueen, after we cleaned the entire underneath out. We had all of the ducts cleaned and finally we could breath inside the house again, whew! 

It was so very rewarding to have so many people in the neighborhood stop by and tell us how beautiful our house has turned out and even thank us for doing it! One day while I was working in the front yard ten cars stopped to compliment us on our work! We met so many people in the neighborhood, it has been a very friendly welcoming neighborhood. We are so happy now that we moved and are on one level (no more stairs yay), close to everything including family. 

Without further ado here are the dramatic changes we made to the now Little White House.

Welcome in!

 Here is the blue before shot of the house 

After now The Little White House!

Custom black wrought iron solar/electric hybrid security gate with fleur de lis.

Custom wrought iron fleur de lis trellis with evergreen star climbing jasmie

New front door and trim moulding

New lights and custom signage

New RING security system and doorbell camera installed

 

 Old shop and outbuildings in the back of the house

New back of house with new shed, shop & new covered parking area for boat or RV

 

 Old back of the house...so many invasive weeds bugs and spiders!

Back of house new concrete patios poured 

New concrete back patio off of the family room with new exterior door and trim

 

 Old deck with false black widow infestation...good times, good times, NOT!

Cute little white playhouse for the grans, who love it!

Matched our house to the playhouse and it was built by the old Grandma! lol! I couldn't move the day after and cut myself multiple times...I did not miss my calling as a carpenter.

Now for the inside are you ready....be very glad this is not SMELL-a-vision...

Oh the notorious granny blue wallpaper...took a team of people 4 days to remove it and had to have the sheetrock reshot because it was adhered straight to the wall with no texture, 30 years ago!

 All new closet doors and beautiful new tall farmhouse trim with Glass knobs

New custom built in laundry center with quartz counter

Old kitchen with oak cabinetry and trim low ceiling for old recessed florescent lighting

Wham, bam and thank you glammed up kitchen with new higher ceiling to match the rest of the house, new cabinet doors and drawer faces in a modern Shaker style cabinet. New huge island with Eloquence mystic white quartz counters.

What girl doesn't dream of two sinks and dishwashers?! Elkay workstation sinks for the win! Moen Weymouth faucets throughout house. Love the vintage Victorian flare with the commercial kitchen function!

 Old view from the family room We removed the old peninsula bar and upper cabinets and really opened it up!

New view modern kitchen with a vintage twist. Vintage crystal chandeliers and pendant lights. Weathered white washed oak floors. LVP Pergo flooring, very durable and easy peasy to clean!

Did I mention that I L-O-V-E glass! New drawer pulls for the island were not easy to install but I love these glass cup pulls.

I am loving the grey & white reclaimed glass tile (it's like vintage milk glass and sea glass had a baby)! This kitchen is easy to clean up after family gatherings and entertaining friends because of the two dishwashers (did I mention I had to fight two men to get them, they did not see them as necessary..they obviously do not do the dishes as much as I do)! Our kitchen is now the heart of the home were we all gather and laugh, eat, pray!

 

Old breakfast nook off of kitchen...granny vibes fosho, the notorious blue wall paper!

After breakfast nook. Wham bam thank you glam! More crystal chandys. Built in open shelf pantry with all of my spices, goodies and teas. Custom mini play kitchen for my grans, they love it!

Old family room with old very stinky brick fireplace, in fact every room had an extremely unpleasant odor of it's own. So glad this is not smell-a-vision, ha!

New family room with updated marble tile fireplace in grey and white modern colours.

 

Old living room with the notorious blue wall paper no one will forget...had to redo the sheetrock after it came down.

New elegant formal dining room. So glad we took our old vintage chandys from our last place with us!

 

 Old living room

New elegant formal dining room with beautiful crystal chandelier and ceiling medallion.

 

Down the hallway to the bedrooms/bathrooms. Our builder friend added an new linen closet (one of my fav things)! So grateful.

Old guest bathroom with rose pink counters...sigh. I remember the dusty rose of the 90's! 30 year old fiberglass had to go.

 New bathroom with old smells gone...thank you very much! New white quartz counters, new modern cabinet, kohler sink & moen weymouth faucets. New american standard studio s skirted concealed trapway toilet.I love modern colours mixed with vintage styling.

New extra deep guest bath Kohler tub with cultured marble shower surround with moen valve and weymouth trim..really just Lillian's bathtub ;) she is one spoiled puppers.

Old guest bedroom

New grandkids playroom

Old bedroom

New Office/Art Studio

Old Master bedroom

New Master bedroom with new sliding glass door. I love all of the new trim our friend did for us around the doors and closets and everywhere throughout house.

New Master bedroom, YES! It fits our king sized bed.

New master bedroom

Old master bathroom tiny neo-angle 30 year old fiberglass very stinky shower. Entire bathroom smelled like urine very badly. Even after demo we added varnish block to the sub floor to seal out the smells. My husband when under and replaced the p-trap and drains. I used bleach on the walls before our friend primed and painted.

New master bathroom with custom cultured marble shower actually made bigger! New cabinet and white quartz counter. Kohler sink and moen weymouth faucets.

 New Masterbath with toto washlet seat new american standard skirted concealed trapway toilet. My husband loves the washlet. We install them all the time for our customers, was nice for him to finally get the one he wanted. Warm seat, sanitary auto self cleaner, built in fan, remote and customizable feature. If you want a bidet seat, go with the toto brand. We have yet to have a problem with one after install.

What a whirlwind the last 18 months have been! We still have more cement work to do on the side of the house, and the back fence to replace sometime later this year....not in a hurry to do more work. Need to rest our old bodies, lol! We are very grateful for our friends, family and contractor friends that helped us tremendously with  this crazy remodel and move. We could not have done it without you all! Thank you!