Evening Star

When I chose for the Bed & Breakfast to be our Home Inn Hamilton, obviously Quilt Town USA had a lot to do with it. Quilters are genuine, good and charitable people. What better guests to invite into your home? With that, I knew that each room must be named after a quilt block!

First up, Evening Star.

Evening star looks out to the front yard (and that white cat-- still getting to that story one day). 

The chair in the corner is a sturdy solid wood chair. I love it! Simple lines. Beautiful. (yard sale find)

Do you see the quilt in the corner on the chair? That quilt is very special to me. Ryan's grandmother Millicent Redford made that quilt for me. Just for me. Why? I organized the family reunion. (A lot of work, but I love planning parties!) For a quilt, I would organize it every time it comes up!! I love quilts! She spent so many hours on this beauty! It has creams and pinks and browns in tiny squares! Oh, how grateful I am to have a piece of Grandma Millie in our home. 

I found the beautifully sculpted wood bed at an estate sale in Utah. (Most of the furniture was aquired this way) I wanted a certain feel for the BnB that couldn't be achieved with modern furniture. The size and weight of this piece is awesome! It was one of the first we purchased for the BnB. The bench and mirrors came from a sale here in Missouri about 20 miles away. Lamps too. As you can see the powder room is en-suite (for all our rooms).

Evening Star bathroom has a combined tub and shower, stool and sink. It is our smallest of the bathrooms but still large enough to get the job done!

When we first bought the house, this room was lime green with monkeys! An adorable little girls room transformed into this calming and enjoyable space to get some shut eye!

No TV, just conversation

After taking in the GINORMOUS kitchen you can turn 180* to this warm and welcome living room.

The wood work throughout the house is stunning. One of my favorite features is the oak wood wall surrounding the fireplace. I originally thought there was too much wood. I have changed my tune. It is so warm and welcoming. This living room begs for conversation. Sit, relax and enjoy one another. 

Again, just like the dining room, the windows in this room bring me such happiness! There is so much beauty out these windows. From the animals scampering, the sunlight gleaming off the water on the pond, all the green (Missouri is sooo green) and one of my favorite things in that back yard... the boys in a game of football. Oh, how they make me smile!

When we moved here, of course, I added the massage chair to the corner. Many a guest of Home Inn Hamilton has relaxed in that chair. Rarely a day goes by that I don't get enveloped in it. And you see, no TV in this room. People in real life are so much better! I love my home!

Now that is a kitchen!!

Peeking out behind this beautiful dining room is a FABULOUS kitchen!

The contractor that built this home sure knew what he was up to when he put in this kitchen!!

It stretches out for days!! Look at all of those counter tops. I absolutely love a clean counter top. I walk into this kitchen with its clear counter tops and it makes me stand just a little bit taller!

 And cabinets!! Everyone I know has too much junk in their kitchen and I am no different. Still filling these cabinets, 3 years later, but I am determined to make it happen!

And the island... we gather around and visit. Kitchens truly are gathering places. This one can welcome everyone at once!

She is a kitchen I adore, and love cooking breakfast every morning for the guests of Home Inn Hamilton and of course for my family for all the meals! I love hosting!

Perfectly quaint dining room

Right off of the beautiful staircase (still makes me giddy) is a formal dining room.







Now I have to admit, when I first saw the wall paper in the dining room, I wanted to rip it all out! Every single bit of it. It has grown on me. A LOT. Not only do I not mind it anymore, it fits. The house loves it. So many stories, laughter, tears, testimonies born, this wall paper has seen it all. Oh to be one of those bunches of grapes, haha!

Not to mention sitting in these chairs and staring out these windows into all that God has created! Between squiggy the squirrel, the goats, the robin and her nest, and the morning parade of ducks. This room holds a very special place in my heart! And, we can't forget the white cat that becomes the topic of discussion on far too many mornings! (That is a later post)

And, built-in China hutch!! This house has so many of my favorites!!

Double doors that open into a beautiful kitchen is so romantic! Swoon!

Grand staircase? Yes please!!

So I have to admit, I may live a little bit in a fairy tale. Some people would use the word spoiled. I use the word blessed! But when it comes to a grand staircase in your home...spoiled might be the accurate description. Standing on this front porch, I was giddy...

But then the door opened to this...

Isn't it dreamy?

Immediately my brain flashed back to all the movies with a beautiful slightly turning staircase! It seems every girl who had their dreams come true had one. One of my favorites is from Father of the Bride. Can't you see a beautiful bride on this staircase? Me too!! Stunning.

A dream is born

I have been blessed with incredible amounts of dreams coming true throughout my life. Ryan supports me 100% in all that I do, so I can't say that I am surprised that we opened the B&B over 3 years ago, just that I am so glad that we did!
I first laid my eyes on this house in May of 2015 on an internet MLS listing on my cousins smart phone. I loved it from the moment I laid eyes on it! She of course, forwarded the listing to me, and less than 12 hours later, we were making plans to go to Hamilton and see it in person!
I arrived with my cousin Meg in Hamilton Missouri on July 7, 2015. We pulled into the driveway and I got emotional. This was my house!

Isn't she beautiful!! I know, had you pulled into the driveway and seen this, you too, would have been smitten!! And just like that Home Inn Hamilton was born. 

Hamilton Missouri

What would you think of a town of 1800 that attracts over 100,000 people annually to purchase fabric? I didn't think much of it, until 3 1/2 years ago when I first came to this town and immediately fell in love! No wonder so many flock to this rural community, nearly an hour north of Kansas City, of Hamilton Missouri.

Boyhood home to James Cash Penney  (JC Penney corporation) and Zack Wheat (MLB Player), Hamilton has pride much wider than it's streets or any field that can be plowed. Once a bustling railroad town, it fell on hard times until 2008, when things started looking up once more.
Missouri Star Quilt Company began with humble roots 10 years ago with a few short YouTube videos. Now, the company has over 400 employees, more than 500 YouTube videos featuring world famous Jenny Doan, and over 500,000 Facebook followers. If that isn't cool enough, they also have 13 quilt shops on Davis Street in Hamilton where thousands of quilters congregate year round to add to their "stash" of fabric and the newest sewing notion to help them with their quilts. Specifically the week of Birthday Bash and JCPenney Days, the town population more than doubles overnight with guests!
So how did I get involved in this grand adventure? As luck would have it, my bestest cousin Meg (lets be honest, she is my favorite out of 49...yes I have 49 cousins) presented the idea of a Bed & breakfast to me in this small town in 2015. I hopped on the bandwagon to fulfill my childhood dreams of owning my own B&B one day! Just over three years later my husband and I have transplanted our family to Home Inn Hamilton, opened a boutique Retreat Hotel Hamilton and Event Center, built a monument in the form of the World's Largest Spool of Thread (sponsored by Aurifil) and are currently renovating Hamilton's oldest existing school house to create the Largest and most unique quilt museum in the country, Missouri Quilt Museum. How blessed are we to be on this journey!!
Over the next few posts I will share information about these adventures, other great businesses here in town and maybe we will meet a few people along the way too. Come along for the ride!