renovations | A Winsome Journey ~ imagine, dream, create

November 15, 2011

I am grateful for finished projects

Earlier I wrote a blog post ~ Grateful for my home. I mentioned that when I found before pictures I would post them. I found some; they are poor quality – early cell phone pictures, so bare with me. It has been a long and arduous 6 years,(on the 23 of December) and we are still not completely finished. Though we are nearing the end. I want to build a kitchen island from the barn wood we are up-cycling, then screen in the porch between the kitchen and the deck. Speaking of barn wood, I will add a few pictures of the beams that we brought home from the NOW dismantled barn. That was a project. The property owner was awesome, he offered us an additional barn for the taking! This barn will be my studio. I am so excited!!! Did I mention I was grateful?!

ok, pictures…

before kitchen...oh boy...

ah yes, the "dining area" of the old kitchen

kitchen a couple of years ago...same cupboards; I sanded, painted and glazed them..I think they turned out ok.

kitchen with Riley ready to pounce into the chair. The venetain plaster was a bear...it has been fairly easy keep though..I did this about 5 years ago..

the old stair way...can you imagine? ....nice 50's paneling and wrought iron even...

The second floor of the old barn hat will eventually be my studio!

Outside view.

beams from one of the old barns...priceless.

My kitchen island...(model) , I think weathered wood will do nicely don't you? It will be about 8 feet long, and I hope to build in my microwave and wine chiller...

I do have to say this has been A LOT of work, but it has all been worth it. I am also grateful all of the mechanics of the house were relatively new and well maintained…the previous owner was meticulous about that.

Be well,
Jess

By consciously giving thanks each day you set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.
(not sure who originally said this)

November 8, 2011

My Home

There was a time in the not so distant past, where this statement was not so true…when we purchased this property 6 years ago on December 23rd; I moved in with a whimper..literally. The land was perfect for the animals; all open field…no clearing to be done (big bonus). The interior of this 1840′s farmhouse/ eyebrow colonial however left a lot to be desired..the kitchen had room for a small table (pushed up to the window), the appliances and the washer and dryer. The dining area was a 10 x 10 space with the only bathroom access and low, low ceilings. The only bathroom was so tiny your could sit on the toilet with your feet soaking in the tub, if you had such a strange desire. Walk forward 1 step you were in the living room (and I use this term loosely) It measured 8x 12 mostly because the family who lived her for the previous 50 years(and raised 6 children here) were now elderly and had transformed half of the living room into a bedroom, in their nineties, climbing stairs was out of the question. Upstairs was one long bedroom and a bedroom/bathroom(?). That was it! Oh and a 2 car attached garage. Let me just say here..I had not seen the interior of the home until we moved in…We were moving from New Hampshire, and as he was already working here..he looked at properties…that is all.
Our closing was 2 days before Christmas 2005. I am a HUGE Christmas fan, HUGE! Our trees, decorations and baking usually up just after Thanksgiving. My first mission was to get the tree up. This also proved to be my first problem; we had to remove the sofa from the cramped quarters to fit the tree in! Actually this was the second problem, the enclosed stair way up to the second floor was not wide enough to get our bedroom set upstairs…Hubby had to take a wall down (on Christmas Eve)…but, this is another story all together.
I took a look around and decided..this was never going to work as is. Hubby and I put pencil to paper, pulled our 28 ft camper around back…and tore in. literally. first we (just hubby and I)started on the kitchen…enlarging it to measure 20×24, took laundry appliances out (moved to the new laundry room), added a hearth for a wood-stove, new wood floors, and 3 windows. The kitchen cupboards were hand made by a local artisan, so we kept those. I sanded, painted them a nice warm vellum, then glazed them with burnt umber.
The bathroom had to be moved, not only was it small, off the dining area; it had the only interior cellar access. Why, I ask you? Sorry Hubby, you are about to lose your garage. I designed a new space, accessible from a new hallway off the living area. A new larger bath, and 2 bedrooms each 12 x 18. Much better. I should mention how grateful I am that hubby is so talented and handy to have around. We could now move out of the camper!!!!
Next we took the wall down that separated the living room into the two areas. It was now a respectable gathering space. The flooring we chose was brought through the entire lower level for continuity. New (I use the term loosely) woodwork and things were looking up.
Upstairs had to be gutted as well, we created a master bedroom, with a large walk in closet…and a creative space for me ( smiling really hard).
We were lucky enough and resourceful enough to be able to re-use and re-purpose most of the materials for the project. The new flooring, wiring, and new plumbing, and some lumber, was all the was purchased new. We even were lucky enough to obtain a 20x 18 deck for no money, well the sweat equity on the part of my husband was the cost.

Gratefulness for my home is an understatement.
I wish I had pictures of “before” , I can’t find them at the moment…but here are a few of the after and some in betweens.