Boy do I feel you on cookie-cutter style homes. My husband and I just purchased a cookie-cutter 3 years ago, something I swore I'd never do. I grew up in the nyc, and one of the things I've always hated are neighbors. When I say hate, I mean hate the with fury of a thousand demons. I don't want to look at them, I don't want to hear them, I don't want to see their dogs and kids running around anywhere I could see them. Yes, I'm probably the one with the problem, but it doesn't change the fact of how I feel. When we moved out of NJ where we temporarily lived after we got married...I will refrain from making Jersey jokes.. we knew we wanted to live in a small wood or stone house in the country, something with age and originality, but land and seclusion was more important to us than anything else. There were so many homes we saw within our price range that were exactly what I've always dreamed of, but they always seemed to have neighbors right there, right where you could see them! or hear them, with views of their pools, views of their back yards and decks. I'm sorry, but no. After 5 years of renting and searching we finally came upon this house on a beautiful 8 acre lot abutting a forest, totally secluded, in a quaint little sleepy town in CT with a covered bridge. At that point we realized, it's either land or house, and again, land was much more important to us. You can have the most beautiful quaint little house, but you move next to the wrong people, and that cute little house can become your worst nightmare. Till this day I don't understand how people are able to live so close to one another and not kill each other. We took the leap, were very excited about it, and about a month into this cookie-cutter we realized what a mistake we'd made. We had the worst case of buyers remorse that lasted about a year. But we started fixing up the place, getting new furniture, replacing fixtures, painting the walls some nice neutral colors, bought new modern furniture for the deck, and lo and behold, we're actually falling in love with this place. We were lucky in a few aspects about this house that didn't render it totally hopeless, and one of the things is that the previous owners didn't chintz out on the windows or sliding doors. All Anderson double hung wood windows. Not those horrible white plastic windows, not sure what you call them, and the porch deck is all cedar..that was a start. The roof color is horrendous, but it can be changed, and the siding is vinyl, disgusting soul.killing.vinyl.. but you know what? if I hate it that much, that can be changed too. The thing that you can't change is beautiful natural landscape. I guess you could if you bulldozed it, but I love the feeling of waking up in the morning to the sound of birds, or going to bed at night to the sound of owls or coyotes. Sitting on our deck and not hearing anything or anyone but nature. We've now become quite attached to this house. Tuesday if all goes well we have new granite being installed, and a nice sink, with an old school industrial yet modern looking faucet. I'm playing up the "farmhouse" look now. Yeah, I bought a couple things from pottery barn, and RH, but I also haunt the many of the local antique shops, and mix it up quite nicely ( you should see the amazing hutch I got for only at half price!). I too hate that catalog look. I don't want everything to be so perfect and just so. I want our house to have an approachable warmth to it. When people come visit us, I want them to feel they're visiting a home, and not entering a staged model sub-division house. Sure it was cookie-cutter when we bought it, but it doesn't have to be cookie cutter while we live in it.

Yea, the counters aren't in bad shape at all. Except there's some water damage around that wood trim. Which is also the part I hate the most. That trim! And with wanting to paint the cabs white, I can't leave that and I don't like the look of that part painted, either. You know how you walk in the room, and something just stands out and as eye sore, making you not like the entire room. That's what these counters do for me. I really wouldn't mind the kitchen at all, if it weren't for those. Heck..I'd probably not even paint the cabs, (a whole other fear there). But, the green with the red paint kills me. If we don't get them done in the next six months, we're painting the kitchen again. Just to get rid of the red and green. It's funny, one of the reasons we bought this house a yr ago over some of the others, was because of the counters. I was so sick of seeing the same granite everywhere, this was a nice change. I think if I could go to a granite yard, pick out a beautiful slab I'd consider doing granite. But, I'm really just tired of seeing it in every single house I go to. High end homes, to middle of the road ones like mine. I have no choice but to do something cheaper, from a box store. And I just can't see doing the thin, little granite slabs all the builders and flippers do around here.

Okay, back to report. First, I love the icing bullets! Easy peasy. I don't think it would work for flooding, though? Right now I am doing flooding from a squeeze bottle and piping in a pastry bag w a bullet. Second, royal icing transfers are a breeze and I like the dimensionality they give. I will be doing that again. Third, be careful with the groundhog's tail, it breaks off easily. I made 10 or so but have not decorated them yet. Fourth, I need to buy more Americolors. I really like their Ash grey, for example (the cake stand in one set). I did have fun mixing a jade-ite sort of color though. Fifth, if you break a cookie, esp when hot, you can glue it back together seemlessly and sturdily with piping icing! Amazing. One problem I had copying the modern-cartoony flowers above was that none of my dips were delicate enough to make such a fine detail to fit in the spot. They ended up very blobby. These will have to do for DD1. I will refine them for DD2 (who also wants a few groundhogs AND some snickerdoodles). First try:

@John I love the car. Gorgeous deep red color. Is it kept outside regularly? I like your idea of a bench with colorful pillows. Maybe a deep red like your car? For that matter, it has long been a tradition to paint a main front door red as a sign of welcome. That's definitely part of colonial homes. I don't think it was done in the arts and crafts time, so I understand if that's out. I'm guessing you like red, and it goes really well with the green of one's landscaping. I also like the idea of colorful annuals in pots. There are many kinds of bright red flowers to choose from. All you need is one that will love your conditions. And you don't need much red to make a statement. I think the Pros say to have three of a color to make it feel like it belongs: red cushions, red flowers. Ooo... Will this grow in your yard so you have a third thing in the winter? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_verticillata A lot of the advice these days going to people with all-white and grey kitchens they feel are too stark is to warm things up with wood and other "warm" colors. Red is certainly warm, but so are things like natural wood and wicker in a medium to light tan. There are plenty of lightweight but substantial beige outdoor planters at Home Depot or on Wayfair. A big one and two smaller ones with the Wicker bench would do. And lucky you... In the shade of the porch, bright red vinca will thrive as an annual color punch. It's widely available in home and garden centers in spring. Or there's always Burpee.