Ravencroft Manor

*I don’t really post personal things on this page but this one was important to me*
One whole year since my familiar crossed the rainbow bridge… It’s been a year of ups & downs, we’ve had a lot of beautiful trips & holidays. But some holidays didn’t feel the same without her. Friday the 13th (that’s a holiday to me) National Black Cat Day & Halloween… I didn’t do much those days because it felt strange to celebrate without her. My loyal companion of eighteen years was gone & it was hard to adjust to not seeing her everyday. I’ve grieved this year, like REALLY grieved. Watching her pass away was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But I was finally able to talk about her the other day without crying 😭. So that’s a good sign. I asked her to find her way back to me & I believe she will, either here or on the other side. I miss you my angel kitty 🖤🌈🐈‍⬛🌈🖤

She figured out the heat came from the floor & she liked to sit on this grate & warm herself 😻😹😻

Winter Storm Aspen… Everything looks like it’s been dusted with powdered sugar ❄️✨☃️✨❄️

Merry Grinchmas from Ravencroft Manor! I’ve been doing a vintage theme (complete with bubble lights!) for the holidays for a couple of years now but this year we added Mr. Grinch himself. I for one love the new look! ✨💚🎄💚✨

Ravencroft Manor is looking merry & bright this time of year… We added a few subtle touches, I love the soft glow of candles on a cold winter’s night ✨🕯️🎄🕯️✨

The (non permanent!) halloween decorations came down this weekend… I thought I’d share these pictures to mark the day of mourning in our house as we have to wait until next year for spooky season. Ah who am I kidding, it’s always spooky season at Ravencroft Manor! 🖤🎃🐦‍⬛🎃🖤

Happy Halloweek! Ravencroft Manor is looking beautifully festive for our favorite holiday 🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤

I think it’s interesting that you don’t realize how much work you’ve put into something until you look back at pictures of before & after. It occurred to me that I’ve never posted “before” before pictures but I think it’s because I didn’t particularly like my kitchen. It was completely new, new cabinets & appliances but definitely not victorian. It took us a while to decide what we wanted to do with it (I’d kill to be able to take it all the way back to the 1880s!) but for now we’re happy to uncover original details like the bead board & I’m CONVINCED the victorian tin ceiling is under there! *One of our wonderful neighbors said they had a tin ceiling underneath the plaster in their kitchen so I’m dying to poke at mine!!* 😫
We’re definitely not done. We need to keep scraping & sanding the bead boards & doors (fml 🤦🏻‍♀️) then we’re going to stain it back to the original color. Since we figure the window & door frames aren’t original, we’re just going to paint those brown. I’m excited to complete everything, I definitely want to have it finished by Halloween so I can mix my magic potions! ✨😈🧪🔮✨

We’ve been working on our kitchen all summer… My mind was blown when I saw the ORIGINAL 1885 bead board covered up by the imitation victorian wainscoting in the kitchen! Who does that?! 🤦🏻‍♀️ Come to find out, it’s a lot easier to paint over particle board than it is to scrape it off! *I curse the day whomever decided to paint every single nook & cranny was born!!* We ordered paint stripper all the way from New Zealand & it works like a charm but boy are our arms sore! 😓 The color of the walls was picked by Yours Truly (of course I’d go with Tiffany Blue 🩵) but I’m thinking it might be TOO bright. It is growing on me… What say you? 🤔
This project has taken a lot longer than I anticipated but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made 🥰💪🏼😓

Three years ago we bought Ravencroft Manor. How time flies when you’re having fun! We’re continuing to work on her & have been making this house a home. It’s lots of work, there’s always a project to do but we’ve made beautiful memories in these few years. I can’t wait to see what the next ones hold! 💖🗝️🏰 🗝️💖