Bloggers Block

How is it that I've only started this blog and am already struggling with keeping it up.  Once we get moved in I will start sharing more of our journey!

Katie

Cabinet Hardware and Barn Update

The cabinet hardware I ordered came in!  We are going with oil rubbed bronze finishes for the metal in the house.  This wasn't really a decision, it just sort of happened.  We found lights we liked  for over the island - the finish they came in was oil rubbed bronze.  The kitchen sink faucet we looked at - oil rubbed bronze.  The upstairs bathroom towel bar and toilet paper holder that we are now going to keep - just happen to be oil rubbed bronze.  So, when it came time for the cabinet jewelry, we had to go with - oil rubbed bronze. 

The hinges are wrap style, butt hinges - the wrap part will give a little extra support for the doors and the "butt" means that the hinge pin butts out from between the door frame and the cabinet face. 

The knobs are 1 and a 1/4" round and they are heavy.  I love how they feel, that weight, like a good solid foundation for us in this house, something that will last for years and years and years.

We also were able to get the locks off of the chicken coop and the double barn doors this past weekend, with the help of my Uncle's bolt cutters.  My sister scooped up a few treasures and I found a couple projects.  But the best news is that Nate is now completely on board with SAVING THE BARN! It's going to be a big project it needs to be straightened, reinforced, and have the foundation fixed or replaced, and that's just to keep it standing.  My hopes to turn it into a great get-together space will be many years in the making...

Kitchen Progress

It’s a slow progress, but we are definitely in the “putting it all backtogether” phase of our complete kitchen renovation. 

Since Nate and I both work 40 hours a week, with him commuting an additional 20 hours a week, we don’t put in many work hours on the house during the week.  To be honest, we love working on the house, but we love our family time with Charlie much, much more.  Plus, we are trying to stay sane during this process.  Luckily for us, we have very supportive families and the best friends in the world that have all been helping out.  We definitely wouldn’t be as far along as we are without them.

My dad and I are building the cabinets.  Custom cabinets were out of the budget, stock ones we could only get in oak and that just wouldn't work for the look.  So building them was the only decision.  It's been a challenge, but I love it!  They will have inset shaker panel style doors.  I wanted the cabinets to look like we had used just the base of an old stepback cupboard and repurposed it to fit our gas cooktop, so I designed them so that there will only be doors, no drawers.  To keep the look cohesive all of the cabinets will have the same “only doors” look.  I have plans to use old wood tool boxes or milk bottle racks for holding utensils, etc. on the shelves inside the cabinets or in our island’s many cubbies.

The electrical work was all finished up last night.  I got to play with the double wall ovens - I didn't even bake in them, but just getting to hear the beeps and feel the heat has me dreaming of Thanksgiving dinners and cookie baking marathons. 

We still have quite a bit left to do, but we are getting there.   Here are some pictures of where we are at now and descriptions of the pictures.

The view of the kitchen from the main entry off of the greenhouse.  The cooktop will go in the cabinets along the knee wall, looking into the dining room.  (That is the wall we took out the day we closed on the house.)  I had to do a mock up of the island with a couple folding chairs.

This is the view from the back porch door entry.  The goal is for the fridge and the wall ovens to look more built in.  We are still working on those cabinets and all of the doors.  The beadboard ceiling that is visible is original to the house, this part of the kitchen used to be an old porch.  We plan on keeping it and just painting it.  We will be adding a wood plank ceiling in the higher portion of the kitchen as well.

The view of the kitchen from the dining room.  See the giant beam we put in with my Uncle's help.  It fit perfectly on the first try.  This side will all be drywalled, except for the far right part - my dad is making us a built in shelf that will be very shallow, only about 4 inches deep.  There is another built in shelf like this in what will be our office.

My farmsink!!!  All I can say is, I think this deserves a post of it's own, so that will be coming.   

 Another view of The Sink.



A glimpse of what's to come

Last night I came across these pictures of the outside of our house.  We took them this past summer when we initially decided to make an offer on the house.

This is the front enterance to the house.  It faces North.  The view is out over a farm field and the countryside.  We have seen deer, turkeys, and pheasants almost every day we've been there working.  There actually was a deer bedded down right in the front yard the other night.

This is another view of the North side of the house.  The tree on the right is an apple tree that I am very excited about.  We hope to plant more and have a small orchard across the driveway from the house.  You can also see the screen porch on the left side.

This is the West side of the house.  The bay windows are the dining room.  The room that the back porch comes off of is the kitchen.  The plan is to replace the chain link fence with pickets.  This photo was taken from the driveway looking up at the house.

This is the East side of the house.  The screen porch is on the right.  The first floor window that is visible will be the Laundry Room.  I like the idea of being able to take clothes right out the door that leads onto the screen porch outside to hang on the line (or the lattice like the renters that were there did).  I can almost smell the summer breeze just thinking about it.

The next few photos are from the old kitchen.  Really the only thing that will be staying are the floors.  1 1/2" random length solid wood.  We are having a local Amish craftsman make some new pieces so that we can patch where the old cabinets were and replace some very slippery tile near the door.

This is the view of the kitchen from the entry off the back porch.  The wall that we are in the process of taking out is behind the fridge and the cabinets to the right.

This is the view of the kitchen from the door we will use as the main entry to the house.



The heart of our home…

Just hours after we signed the papers making this house officially our forever home we began pouring our hearts, souls, and backs into it.  Nate and I couldn’t wait to start swinging hammers at the wall that closed off the kitchen from the rest of the house.  We both love to cook and Charlie is already showing an interest as well.  Whenever we are in the kitchen he pushes, pulls, or drags a chair to the counter and says “me, me” until he gets to try mixing or measuring. 

So, we didn’t waste any time and with my dad’s help, the three of us had the old cabinets down and the drywall off both sides of the wall.  Even with the studs still there the change is incredible.  The kitchen will be open to the dining room and living room making a sort of L-shaped great room.  I actually think the house is standing a little straighter and taller now that it has received some love.  It’s like it can tell that we are going to stay and take care of it.

We did get some bad news when a friend of ours checked the furnace and told us that it would need to be replaced.  Luckily, there is also a very nice Woodchuck wood burning stove that is hooked up to the forced air ductwork.  We are still trying to figure out just how much wood the woodchuck needs, you would think that since fire was harnessed in pre-historic times that we in 2011 would have it mastered – that is not the case.  Two stops and a couple of phone calls to a local stove dealer has us on the right track.  Harvey, the Woodchuck master, basically told us we need to give it time and keep trying to find the sweet spot – that perfect burn.  Then we will have a house that we don’t see our breath in.

We have also made a lot of progress with the “stuff” for the kitchen.  The cabinets are ordered, our appliances were delivered today, and my sink has arrived from New Hampshire.  (more posts on those to follow)

Warm thoughts to you as the weatherman predicts -22 for tomorrow morning, oh yeah, that’s without the wind chill.  I think I’m going to be looking for a groundhog pretty soon.

The start of our ever ever after…

We finally heard the three magic words – WE CAN CLOSE!!!!! 

On May 26, 2010 we submitted our first offer for the house we will now get to make into our home!  It’s been a very long 7 months but it will finally be ours next Friday! 

We decided then that there was no turning back and we (okay, mostly I) have been planning how to restore this property ever since with the hopes and prayers that someday we would be able to make it ours.  There is the house, a small barn, and 1.5 acres that all need quite a bit of love.  It will be an interesting journey for sure as we plan to do most of the work ourselves and we plan to chronicle it here…

Welcome to our new home at Shady Grove Farm. 

Please feel free to visit often!

 

The Farm House





The Barn