Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The Barn


If you look closely at the floor in the barn, you will notice that it was far from level. This is to be expected of course, but the sag was more than just age, it had a bit of structural problem. 

Over the years, the center post which helps support the upstairs (including the guest quarters), had become shorter and shorter than it needed to be because of the floor sag. You can see the many shims that had been placed beneath the column over the years. 


And this explains why. There was significant rot underneath the floor. 

The former homeowner actually had this fixed for us, which was very kind of him. Our contractor Matt began by opening up the floor to expose the structural weakness. 

And this was the primary reason. As you can see, this post was crumbling into the ground. 

A new post was installed beneath the floor along with a proper footing, as well as other structural components that would allow for two cars to be parked in here. 

It was completely level after he did this. Notice that the center post is in direct contact with the floor once again. 


Here are some of the rotten beams that were replaced. 

Now the barn floor is nice and sturdy once again. This will be especially nice once the snow comes and we can get into the car without having to go outside. I've never lived in a house that offered this luxury but I have no doubt I will enjoy it immensely. 


Friday, September 26, 2014

A Visit from Steve Thomas


Steve Thomas dropped by for a visit at the new house yesterday!

Emmy-winning former host of This Old House and Renovation Nation, Steve graciously toured through with me and shared his wonderful insights on the house and the renovation. He is a walking library of knowledge of all facets of historical architecture, the work to restore classic homes and sustainable building practices. He was incredibly generous in chatting through many details of our plans. 

Being a true builder at heart however, he was also eager to take a look at the basement to get a feel for what the place was founded upon. When Steve asked what the basement was like, I sheepishly admitted that I hadn't been down yet. Upon hearing that, he made sure that was to be the next stop on the tour. 

Steve's visit was one of those surreal moments when I felt like I was seventeen again and cozying up to another fascinating episode of This Old House. Except to my astonishment, he was in my house! I would have photographed him in every room but I thought that would be a bit too much... 

I have to admit that I didn't really tell Steve how influential This Old House was to me in my younger days. Already a subscriber to Colonial Home magazine as a teenager, This Old House was historic architecture in motion. Growing up in a modest suburban ranch, I thought, oh my, to live in on old house with such history, with such craftsmanship, and with so many layers and lifetimes. 

Over the course of my days I have learned (especially after writing this blog for six years) that I am without a doubt a house person. Experiencing firsthand Steve's enthusiasm for getting to know a new old house certainly proved to me that he is too, through and through. Having the opportunity to have him visit our new place, especially as we are embarking on our own old house renovation, was an experience I will forever cherish.

Steve and his wife Evy are on the tail-end of their Sea Cove Cottage renovation, which I have been following enthusiastically for the past year. Between time spent on his own renovation, and trips nationwide and abroad as spokesman for Habitat for Humanity International, he is a tireless advocate for our classic homes, and is an inspiration to all of us who are enamored with all things house.

Steve and our contractor Matt talking shop. 


Monday, September 22, 2014

Weekend Updates


We tidied up a bit, and the old cabinetry that was being stored in the kitchen nook is now staged in the dining room. 

We've scheduled a pick-up from Restore for Wednesday. They'll take all of the old cabinets, and the dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. 


We did make another discovery over the weekend - the kitchen doesn't have the original wide plank pine flooring. This is perhaps because the ell of the house was built at a later date, or possibly because the planks were removed at some point due to fire (which was quite common), or some other reason. 

An architect neighbor of ours thought that this north kitchen wall, which is adjacent to the dining room, once held the cooking hearth. There is some evidence of this in the roofline, and in a few mismatched floor boards in the dining room on the other side of the wall. 

However,  the reason I took this photo is to share our most recent mock-up of one corner of the kitchen layout.  We've often used mock-ups as a means to make final decisions for items that can't be easily undone and always find them so helpful.

We've decided to keep the sink and the range in the same place as they were previously. The refrigerator will most likely also remain in the same place. You can see masking tape to the right of the refrigerator that shows where the kitchen counter will/may come to. 

The other option was to put the refrigerator in the corner against the west wall, but having the refrigerator line up across the room from the range and hood feels like it will provide more balance.

In the end, we also removed the pantry on the north wall. We decided to do this to open up the room more upon entry from the dining room, and it's removal also facilitates flooring options. Now that we know that the old wide plank floorboards are not there, we are discussing the potential to put down new Eastern white pine planks from a local sawmill, which replicates the original floors in the main house. 


Upstairs, we did find the original wide plank pine floors underneath the vinyl. We are speaking with our floor refinisher about replacing a couple of more damaged boards (casualties of plumbing retrofits) so that we can refinish the bathroom floors to match the rest of the house. 


The loo had to be removed before the old vinyl floors were taken up. 


As did the sink. Both of these items will also be donated to Restore.  

Still not absolutely sure what we'll do in here between bath, shower and toilet. It's hard to focus on one particular project when there are several other projects going on at the same time. So we are moving forward with the certain goals - get floors refinished, and walls patched and finished.  Hopefully by then the other details will follow. 

This is the length of the space in the bath/shower nook. The wall will most likely come out but a plumber has to assist Mike as there is some peculiar plumbing involved. 

This second measurement is the maximum width that the sink can be. 

The reason I have photographs of these measurements (which I took with my Canon Rebel) is because we didn't have pen and paper to write on. That's how high-tech we are. ; ) 

Hopefully, my next post will be about our doors! They've been away for over two weeks - more details to come. 


Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Kitchen Updates



The kitchen in the photos above has now turned into this...

This post was going to be about Mike removing the wall paper in the kitchen...but somehow, that seemed a tad out of date. This bundle of blue cabinetry, etc. includes the upper cabinets and soffit  after he removed them. 

As I type this post, Mike is back at the house (which is not far from our rental house) removing the lower cabinets. But before he does that, he has to move the upper cabinets into the dining room to make room. 

What a difference it makes to remove the soffit. It ran all along the west side of the kitchen and really created a closed-in feel, especially over the sink. 

That vertical box-like beam to the right of the picture window is an old structural post. There is also a structural beam running horizontally across the top of the oven wall, which is why a soffit was installed there. 

Both of those walls will be bumped out about three inches to enclose the structural post and beam, which will also make the room more square. This will create a deeper window sill above the sink, as well as a deeper threshold for the door going into the living room (where black plastic hangs now). 

The yellow mark shows the area of the formica backsplash. 

We will be meeting with the kitchen designer this week to review the cabinetry plans. I am very excited that the cabinets will be locally made. Our first bid for cabinetry came from our local lumber yard, which were considered to be a semi-custom option. It was suggested that they would be much more affordable than anything custom. They would have come unfinished (because we want to use no-VOC paint), which would have left us to paint the cabinetry ourselves. 

I solicited a second bid for custom-built cabinets anyway and to our shock, it was very competitive compared to the semi-custom option. The custom cabinets will arrive already painted with our choice of no-VOC paint, and all of the cabinets are made from solid wood. No particle board or plywood. 

Lesson learned...Always shop around. 

And as of today...

All cabinets and appliances are being donated to Restore.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Wing Back Chairs



After a visit to our local green furnishing store, I realized that new 'green' furniture was not going to be in our budget. So I've instead turned my focus towards (affordable) older furniture that pre-dates the era of flame retardants and the like. My intention is to use these antiques to slipcover or reupholster, and I have indeed found a couple of chairs that will be perfect for that. 

While searching, I fortuitously found this beautiful brown and cream toile wing back this past weekend which is perfect as is. It is in wonderful shape and has the most lovely down cushion to nestle upon. 


The toile pattern is a lovely pastoral on creamy linen. 


I found another wing back chair at an antique store I frequent that came from a local home. It is in remarkable condition considering its age. The pink damask slipcover (which has a cozy English feel to it) is so lovely, but something I'm not sure will work. We'll have to see. 

If not, I will most likely have it reupholstered as the cost to do that is about the same as having a slipcover made. I'd also like to have a fuller cushion made. 

After looking at several antique stores and learning the typical prices of vintage/antique wing back chairs (they range from $135 up to $500), I've come to realize how hard it is to find good ones for a good price (my range is $145 and under, which I've miraculously accomplished). 

Considering the state that the new house is in at the moment (there's lots of projects going on), it's hard to believe that one day soon, we will be living there, cozying up in a nice chair. 

Renovation updates next!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Weekend Progress


We had a very busy weekend that included two morning visits to appliance stores, trying to select the new refrigerator, dishwasher and range for the kitchen. Mike decided to spend a couple of hours before dinner this evening at the new house, although he wasn't quite sure which 'to do' item he was going to tackle, (there are many to choose from). 

Apparently, it was the hidden window. He took these with his iphone, creating a panoramic photo from a program he recently discovered. He sent me an email telling me about it. 

Also, notice that the evening prior, he removed the wallpaper. That may have taken more time than the window!   

We're not quite sure if we'll leave the wall that separates the shower from the loo or not. It depends on what we decide to do with the shower/bathtub. I had thought of keeping it, and creating a shower/bath nook. Also, it can carry the plumbing for the shower head. 

Mike thought we should perhaps remove it. 

Decisions, decisions...

The two over two double hung window (to the right) is a newer (old) window that we'll replace with a matching eight over twelve double hung. 

All of the walls surrounding the shower surround are drywall, not plaster. So this bathroom remodel that was probably done about 30 or so years ago. 

What it looked like before. 

What a difference a window makes. 


Thursday, September 4, 2014

Restore


Once again, I ran into Restore to look at something, and came out with something else. 

Ever since we searched for a full-sized bed last fall, I have continued to keep an eye out for something a little closer to what I had originally envisioned. The bed that we ended up purchasing at the time was the best we could find, considering our time constraints and budget, etc. 

The bed I found at Restore the other day is similar to the last bed. It has a wonderful curved footboard with lovely detail and elegant feet. 

The headboard is also quite similar, except that it has a more streamlined top profile compared to the crown detail of the other one. The reason that I prefer the streamlined version is that I am going to wrap the headboard in organic batting and then have a slipcover made to go over it, basically creating an upholstered headboard. I think it will offer a great deal of comfort for reading in bed. But also, I just love the look of an upholstered bed, especially for girls. 

I will paint the footboard and legs to coordinate with the fabric that I (we) choose. The bed was just $75, which was half the price I paid for the first bed on Craigslist. 

My other discovery at Restore were these beautiful old brass pulls. I just love them and hope to use them in our renovated kitchen. The only restriction is that there are only eleven, so we'll have to see if they'll work. They were 50 cents a piece. 

Renovation updates next! 

Cozy Summer Mornings



The leaves have begun to turn. It is true. As summer winds down from year to year, it is always a surprise that the season will not last forever. 

But I'm also glad, for my favorite season is Autumn. We've had cooler nights and crisp mornings recently that make pancakes an extra cozy treat. 


The dumplings call these Easter eggs as they are various shades of brown, white and blue. 


Here's the last of the local strawberries, Mmmmm. We will miss them until next year. 

We've been enjoying a new pancake recipe. Jennifer posted them on her blog Dear Lillie and they are truly wonderful. It's a new family favorite around here. 

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