New Skylights!

Project Let There Be Light is complete! I have a lot of photos today, so grab your cup of coffee and relax!

Here is the family room on a sunny day. And still, I had to turn overhead lights on to brighten the space.

The crew began by taping off the kitchen with plastic sheeting. And that was a good thing, too, because cutting through roofing and insulation and drywall can leave a fine coating of dust and dirt over everything!

Yes! Light!

While the house was still tarped, I had the idea to clean off the popcorn ceiling. It was dusty and full of cobwebs, and looked like it could use some help. The popcorn ceiling is not nearly as bad as some I've seen. I covered my head with a babushka, grabbed a broom and put a pillow case over it, then used the pillow case covered end to brush off the dirt. It worked! It made a mess, but the ceiling looks much better and it's not very noticeable anymore.

The carpenter trimmed out the skylight box where it meets the ceiling with some thin wood, and it looks really nice. We still have to paint the interior of the shaft with some white ceiling paint, but for now it's looking so much better!

Light! Glorious light!

It even brings light into the kitchen area!

And the dining area now benefits from the light, too!

The back wall and hall leading to the laundry room!

Even the stairwell leading to the basement gets light!

I cannot believe what a difference the skylights and solar tubes have made in our every day living spaces!

Tom, the owner of Leakpro Roofing, and I talked about the benefits of light. As Tom said, it just helps your soul. Indeed it does!

I think I will curl up like a cat in a ray of sunshine, with a warm coffee and a good book.

Blessings, cafe friends!

Autumn Garden, One Year Later

Good morning!

I was hoping to show you photos of the new skylights today, but unfortunately the job is taking a little longer than anticipated. No worries! It should be wrapped up later today.

In the meantime, I thought I'd take you on a little Autumn Garden Tour!

My husband was in the yard, doing some pruning last weekend, when he made the observation:

"I can't believe how much better the yard and gardens look now. Too bad you don't have Before and After photos to show the difference."

I replied "Hon, it's me. OF COURSE I have Before and After photos!" ;)

One year ago, our front yard looked like this:

Overgrown barberry bushes, a few bedraggled boxwood, and a leaning tower of evergreen tree out front. And weeds. Did I mention the weeds? They were thick and about three or four feet tall when we moved in.

As a matter of fact, everything was so overgrown that you could barely make it to the front door without getting scratched in the process. My husband had to use hedge trimmers down the path, just to be able to move our furniture inside.

Last fall, we removed the overgrown bushes and leaning tower of tree. We planted new trees and bushes and plants. And one year later, everything is filling in nicely!

I had an idea to plant a butterfly garden in the front. Honestly, it got a little overgrown quickly. The zinnias grew taller than our Star Magnolia tree, the milkweed took over, and some things grew better than others. The butterflies loved it, and so did all the neighbors. But I think I will take a different approach next year.

The plantings at the foundation really too off. I think it gets just the right combination of morning to early afternoon sun with late afternoon shade. Our little dogwood tree grew at least a foot! I wish the boxwood at the back were a bit taller. I think we need some taller plantings at the back next year.

I didn't think this poor clematis was going to make it, but it did! And the craziest thing is that it started to bloom this month!

It was as if we went through a second spring in September! These urns used to have potted pansies. The pansies reseeded themselves below, and now the ground is covered in pansy blossoms. How fun! I tell you, Michigan has rich fertile soil. I love it!

I happened to stumble upon a great deal at Costco. They were selling four packs of mums for 13.99. They have really grown, too! I bought two of these four packs, and now I have colorful mums everywhere!

A happy welcome! I just need to get some pumpkins, and then I will be ready for fall!

Blessings on your Friday, cafe friends!

Velux Sun Tunnel Skylights: The Before and Afters!

Yesterday was the beginning of Project Let There Be Light here at the cottage!

For the past year, we have done a lot of updating to our new home, trying to make dark spaces light and bright...removing dark window treatments, choosing paint colors with high light reflective values, changing light fixtures. And it has all helped. But the cottage has a roof line that slopes heavier to the back of the house. And while the front of the house gets light in the morning, where there is only one window at the office, the back of the house only gets a little light for about one or two hours in the late afternoon.

The main floor family space could be gloomy, even on a nice day. But on rainy days or wintry days? I was doing everything I could with lamps and lights and candles to cast out the gloom.

So I decided to call in the experts: Leakpro Roofing in Ann Arbor. Tom helped us come up with a plan for skylights in the great room space, and sun tunnels in the interior bathrooms. I decided that if a company was going to cut holes in our roof, I wanted it to be roofing professionals that know what they're doing.

Today, I'm showcasing the bathroom transformation. And it is amazing!

Here is the guest bathroom before. It comes off the short hallway to the back bedrooms.

The hallway has a tendency to get dark, too.

But not anymore! Look at the bathroom now!

Wow! Light!

See that round "fixture" in the ceiling? It's not a fixture. It's the Velux Sun Tunnel! That's 100 percent natural light, folks!

And the poky hallway now has light, too, thanks to the natural light from the bathroom.

What a difference!

Here's the sun tunnel in the master bathroom:

The sun tunnel has the look of a flush mount pot light in the ceiling. These small interior bathrooms used to be pitch black. You could not use them at any time of day without turning on the lights. But now? Natural light! I'm guessing this will reduce our electric bill, too. I also found that it offers a nice moon glow effect at night.

Wondering how it works?

The "tunnel" part is actually highly reflective tubing that goes through a shaft cut into the roof. It bounces natural light from the roof to the interior ceiling, where the flush mount fixture nicely diffuses it.

And from the outside of the house you can see two rounded domes. Those are the light catchers.

Tom, the owner of Leakpro Roofing, said that initially, we will keep hitting the light switch to turn off the light, only to realize that the lights are not on...it's the sun!

Of course, the natural light has also highlighted the bathrooms, and now I'm realizing how badly these two rooms needs painting and updating. New light fixtures, new sink fixtures. I guess that will be our next project!

I'm so happy with these Velux Sun Tunnels!

Tomorrow, I will show you the skylights in the great room. They are coming by to finish up that project later today.

Thanks for stopping by the cafe!

PTI September Blog Hop

Good morning, cafe friends!

Autumn is here! And with it, we have autumn rains today. It's a good day to stay indoors and do a little crafting.

Today is the September blog hop at Papertrey Ink. The photo above is our inspiration. Isn't it lovely? The mix of gourds and leaves and nuts, and hello! Plaid! I'm really loving those amber colored drinking glasses, too.

Here's my take on the photo:

I created a tablescape using stamps and dies from Friendship Jar Fall Fillers and Twig Wreath stamp sets. The base of the table is a kraft colored doily, topped with Bitty Big paper in Canyon Clay.

{Today's Brew: Friendship Jar Fall Fillers stamps and dies (PTI), Twig Wreath stamps and dies (PTI), Year of Psalms sentiment (PTI), Quilted tag die (PTI), PTI inks and card stock, Bitty Big paper, doily, Prisma markers}

That table is looking a little bit cluttered! Kind of like my craft table. ha ha! Time to do some serious cleaning.

Blessings on this autumn day, cafe friends!