INTERIORITY COMPLEX

WHAT WE DID THIS SUMMER

Not much -- house-wise, that is.

We worked a bit on one shade garden...with our trusty gardening assistant:

 

And we also couldn't go the whole summer without any fresh vegetables, so we planted a small plot of tomatoes, lettuce, and nasturtium.

 

It worked out fine for us...except for the gallons of rain we had all summer and the late blight it caused on our tomatoes.  Regardless, we have still gotten quite a few beautiful heirloom tomatoes and lots of lettuce.

As we roll into Fall 09 we have lots of new projects planned and will keep you updated regularly.  Please stay with us!

STRIPTEASE

When we bought this house we suspected that above the unusually low ceiling beams in the kitchen there might be more space above...and there was.  We were able to capture almost two feet of ceiling height back in the kitchen by removing the original ceiling joists and re-supporting the house with new horizontal bracing.  Remember this?

 

After deciding to keep them-- for some project, some day -- a friend told us to leave them outside all winter and the elements would strip the layers of paint.  Well we'll be damned...it worked!  Have a look:

 

We haven't really figured out what to do with them -- and this weekend we need to get them out of our yard -- but they really look great, don't they?

THE FIFTH DUMPSTER

Our final dumpster has arrived...this is the fifth thirty yard one we've had.  To put that into perspective, each one holds about five tons of debris.  You do the math.

We're now getting rid of the last of the garbage from the old wood floors, random bathroom tile, lots and lots of brick from the chimneys, and various disgusting stuff.  The two piles you see are the last of it -- plus a basement full of the old water heater, softener, well pump and motor, and more rubble.

Spring cleaning at its best!  More to come on the interior...

 

MOVIN' ON UP...AND IN!

Well the time has finally come for us to move in this weekend.  Although it will be a temporary situation for quite awhile -- due to time, schedules, and most importantly, budget -- we are excited!  The rooms have for the most part been made livable, although nothing is fully finished.

That Hall Bath is still not quite finished, but with a bit of trim and paint touch-ups, we'll be there.  Last step will be to get the shower ring enclosure installed...but it's usable in the meantime.  We're also not thrilled with the medicine cabinet we bought, but we're hoping to re-purpose it and change the mirror.  It's a nice quality piece, but the caning is a little fussy and it has a sort of "suburban bath" feel to it...nothing wrong with that, of course, but not right for us.

The kitchen is still severely temporary -- and will be for quite awhile.  We painted the plywood subfloor so at least it has some sort of seal to it, but the cabinets and actual appliances are a long way off.  Fortunately we had several loose pieces (tables, cabinets) and our refridgerator -- this will help us function in the meantime. 

Take a look at the progress:

 

Laundry Room -- Functioning!

 

Kitchen -- Temporary, but livable.

 

Dining Room -- The bones are done...furniture?

 

Living Room -- The beginnings of a room.

 

Front Hall -- Minus a marble floor, but a hall nonetheless.

 

Upstairs Hall Bath -- Nearly there.

 

Upstairs Hall -- Yes!

 

One of the Guest Rooms -- Acting as our in-house wood shop temporarily.

Keep checking back on progress -- to warn you though, we might be posting a little less since we are halting the major projects for awhile...until our checkbook can recover, that is.  As the rooms get finished, however, we'll keep posting them.

TODAY'S PROGRESS

The wood floors...they're done!  That's right, done!  Upstairs has been sanded smooth and vacuumed to within an inch of its life.  Downstairs has also been sanded and finished with a light coating of tung oil.  Take a look:

 

DINING ROOM

 

LIVING ROOM

The Mud Room is also moving right along.  The floor has been finished with three coats of Farrow & Ball's Blue Black No. 95 and it's looking beautiful.  We got the washer and dryer moved into the laundry area and have begun prepping the sink for installation.  We have our plumber coming in on Tuesday to run the dryer vent and install the laundry sink with us...with an antique piece like this we thought it best to call in reinforcements so we don't screw it up.

All in all things are looking good.  We've decided to push the move another week -- to March 14 -- so we can take next weekend to do one final cleaning -- it's amazing how much filth and debris can build up over six months of construction work.  Not surprising!

ALMOST THERE!

Well, we're about a week behind schedule for our original move-in date of March 1. We took an impromptu trip to Paris last weekend for Valentine's Day...house-related, of course!  We found these great antique brass marine lights at the Paris Flea Market.  Not sure where we'll use them -- we bought five in various styles -- but they will find a home somewhere, we're sure!

  

As for construction progess, we spent this past weekend finishing sanding the wood floors throughout...just completed yesterday!  The messiest work, by far...upstairs floors are staying unfinished and downstairs are getting a coat of tung oil, which will protect them from the elements.  We figured with a big dog that is fond of running through the house with muddy paws we should protect the downstairs...hopefully we'll be able to clean his paws before he reaches the upstairs floors!  The raw wood is truly beautiful.

We also tackled the Mud Room and Laundry Rooms in a big way.  We got the new hardwood flooring installed -- remember, there was no floor here because this used to be the garage -- and primed (paint arriving this week) and the walls here painted as well.

We're looking at finishing the Hall Bath this week by grouting the new tile floor, getting the trim up and getting the fixtures set.  It should be operational by the weekend!

The last steps before moving in will be to get the washer and dryer installed in the Laundry Room as well as our fantastic antique laundry sink, after the floors get painted (Farrow & Ball, of course!).

THE UNEXPECTED

Not the typical view most people have from their beautiful new french doors opening off their future library:

 

Another dumpster is in our future...

THE FLOORS CONTINUE...

We spent the weekend tearing up the narrow plank wood flooring on the ground floor of the house...whew!  A painful workout, but worth it...have a look:

The Living Room:

   

The Front Hall:

   

And finally, the Dining Room:

   

We are drum-sanding this week to get down to the raw wood.  Stay tuned for more details on that...

TAKING IT TO THE FLOOR

The other project we are tackling before moving in -- along with the upstairs hall bath -- is to refinish the wood flooring throughout the house.  We deemed this the messiest job so we would rather not live through it surrounding us.

Taking our inspiration from Flemish farmhouses, we have decided to sand the original wood planks raw then either do a clear sealant (not to affect the color) or leave them exposed so they will weather and age naturally.  On the lower level of the house we are removing the narrow planks (not original to the house) to expose the original wide plank floor.  This is a slow process of prying up the narrow planks and removing nails along each strip as we go.  Fortunately the original planks we are finding are in great shape...except in the Den (which was originally outside), so we are leaving those planks as a subfloor since that room will get a sisal carpet eventually anyway.  On the upper level we are leaving the narrower planks in place and sanding them raw.  We chose to leave these since removing them would cause a lot of leveling issues with the staircase which would actually be higher than the surrounding floor level if we took off one level.

Progress so far:

     

And photos of the Den floor, illustrating the condition of the wide planks and why we are NOT exposing them:

   

Slow going...but worth it!

THE FIRST ROOM

The first room we are tackling is the upstairs hall bath.  Our goal is to get this room finished prior to moving in -- probably the only room we will get finished by March 1, our deadline.

Our inspiration is taken from an issue of British House and Garden:

 

We love the reclaimed wood ceiling offset by crisp white trim, white bath fixtures, and the dark brown/green walls.  Fortunately we were able to salvage floor boards from our kitchen that worked perfectly...and we also love the idea of repurposing original materials from within the house.  We found paint colors we like from the Martha Stewart for Lowe's line -- we went with Cricket for the walls and Panna Cotta for the trim.  Although the flooring in our inspiration image is natural tile, we are going with traditional white penny tile against a white toilet, sink, and the original tub.

Our progress so far:

         

Our next steps will be to get the molding and trim up before laying the penny tile.  Not looking like much now, but just wait...stay tuned for the progress!