Hi there! I’m Stephanie, and I’m so happy you are here!
Gathered In The Kitchen is so much more than recipes and home projects.
It’s a place where a new stay at home mom came to still feel important in the world. Over a decade later, Gathered In The Kitchen is about family and chocolate chip cookies and kitchen makeovers and barn doors and rag wreaths. It’s about finding the strength to rebuild after all was lost in a house fire and coming out on the other side renewed. It’s about giving old new life and repurposing what was. It’s about finding your own personal style and taste that makes you happy!
Living My Dream
My husband and I dated when I was 16 years old for a short period of time. After a self-discovery break {you know, typical 16 year old girl issues!}, we reconnected and have been together since I was 19.
With college graduation and a marriage approaching, we decided to be brave and moved across the country to seek new and exciting opportunities. We were definitely on the 1950’s corporate ladder dream. My hubby worked hard to receive promotions, went back to school to get his MBA, and we moved three times {and bought 3 houses} with the same company to three different states in 6 years time. All the while, I “retired” from Recreational Therapy to stay home with our growing family of three kids {and way too many animals} and dream up more and more recipes and house projects for us to work on during our free time.
I was living my dream.
From Ashes to Rebuild
After moving so many times, all of which were 1,000 miles away from our families, we decided it was time to “come home”, settle down closer to our parents and only be 160 miles away, haha! Not too close, but not too far away!
As luck would have it, three months after making the cross country move to our 4th home, an 1886 Victorian, it was struck by lightning and caught fire. Definitely not the way we pictured our new life chapter to go! The struggle was real and the rebuild was a horrendous nightmare, but we learned that love and hard work can rebuild anything…and nothing will ever be more important than family in the end.
Gathered In The Kitchen is about owning four homes in 12 years all in different states and renovating all of them! It’s about finding the strength to rebuild after all was lost in a house fire.
While piecing back together our home and belongings, I have fully come to understand my own personal style and design, and realize that it hasn’t really changed over time. My love of DIY, old vintage finds and beautiful craftsmanship still remains. I’m so excited that I finally own a home that allows for my own personal style to shine!
I’m so happy you have joined me for the journey!