Can This Vanity be Saved?

When we bought this house, my first thought was this vanity had to go.  Orange formica, mismatched doors, and an unusual shape.  Didn't seem like a keeper.

But as we got into the project and I looked closely at the bathroom, I realized this tired old vanity makes excellent use of space.   If we put a modern vanity in, it would be too deep and you couldn't comfortably walk past it.  And this one has lots of storage and lots of all important counter space.  So....... we decided to save it.

The talented team from Waterhouse Builders made new, all matching doors.  We had a custom shaped granite countertop made (love that rounded edge on the front), new sink and hardware, and voila!  It's practically brand new.

So what do you think?

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Our Longest, Most Complicated Milestone is Done - Gas Heat!

At long last, we have gas heat!  Gone is the antique furnace, metal ductwork, brick chimney and the oil tank.  But it was quite a journey!

We submitted all of our paperwork to convert this property to natural gas back in October.  We got approved in November.  And then we waited for the spring thaw.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, in April, we got the hookup.  And in May they came out and inspected and gave us the approval to fire up the new furnace.

Look at our tiny new boiler!!!

So, it took 7 months, miles of PEX, and all new radiators...... but we finally have gas, baseboard heat.  And our new, suitcase sized furnace is up and running (remember, this is Maine, we still have cold nights!)
















Best of all, we got rid of the antique, oil fired hot air furnace!  Over the course of the winter, I developed some expertise on troubleshooting this thing.  It typically stopped working at least once a week.  So believe me, I'm not sorry to see it go!  It will also be nice to get rid of all those big metal ducts that criss-crossed through the basement ceiling.

Farewell to the old furnace!

And, I know, it's odd to be excited about cold nights in May, but we're supposed to have lows near freezing this weekend.  And I can't wait to see how the new furnace works!!

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The Trials and Tribulations of Paint - But What a Difference it Makes!

Our open floor plan is all painted!  

Sigh......it doesn't seem like painting should be so hard.  Pick a color, slap it up on the wall, & done!  Right?  Well, it's not quite that easy.

Challenge 1:  Picking the paint palette.  With the fabrics, carpeting and artwork as our guide, we picked one color for the main living area, another for the bedrooms and a 3rd for the hallway bathroom.  Because this house is going on the market, we wanted something neutral, but with enough color so the beautiful new moldings we've installed will 'pop'!

Sherwin Williams 'Rice Grain'

The bedrooms are going to be painted a Sherwin Williams color called Rice Grain.  It's a creamy beige, with a lot of warmth.  The perfect backdrop for all our furnishings.

The main living space, however, was supposed to be Sherwin Williams Softer Tan.  It looked great on the paint chip, great with the cream colored cabinets and all our fabric choices.   But, when we painted the test sample in the kitchen next to our new cabinets, it just looked drab and muddy ( Of course, that's why we always buy a sample to try in our lighting, on our walls!)  So, back to the drawing board.

Several years ago, we lived in a house with walls painted a beautiful soft green/gray/beige.  I know, it seems odd to call it three colors at once, but as the light shifted in the room, the color constantly seemed to change.  I LOVED the color, but it didn't match any color chips on my pile of paint decks and we never learned what the color was.  But, when we did some remodeling, I kept a piece of painted drywall, because I knew I wanted to use the color again.

Fast forward several years and I whipped out my tired piece of drywall and took it to my friends at Sherwin Williams.  They mixed it up for me and I named it 'Cream of Celery Soup' (does anyone still eat Cream of Celery Soup anymore?  My mother always used it to make casseroles when I was growing up!  Hmmm.....does anyone even make casseroles anymore?).

I put up the sample and it looked beautiful!!!  With the same color shifting qualities I remembered from our old house.  And a nice neutral backdrop for everything else.  Hooray - we're ready for the painters!

Challenge 2:  Color Consistency.   The folks from Backman Painting got right to work priming the walls and ceilings.  Next, they did a fantastic job spraying all the doors and molding to create a fabulous, flawless finish.  Remember our nice new fireplace surround and mantle?  What do you think, now that it's all caulked and painted.  Isn't it beautiful?















Next step was the wall color.  The Rice Grain color in the bedrooms looks beautiful.

Master Bedroom - front view

Master Suite

Repainting the Stairwell

But I couldn't wait for them to start the Cream of Celery Soup.  I left the house for a meeting, just as they were starting.  When I got back a couple of hours later, imagine my surprise to find a very dark hallway.  Somehow, my light, bright Cream of Celery paint had morphed into a much deeper shade.  Yikes, the paint store sent the wrong color!  Now the guys had to repaint - and of course they had done the trickiest part, the stairwell walls.  But first, a trip back to the paint store, to get the right color.

They quickly finished the rest of the space and all the details (and enjoyed a little bit of our nice spring weather!).

The Result:  Beautiful!  With the right paint, the rooms have really come together and the paint now highlights the molding, antique beams, cabinets and trim throughout the house.


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Master Bath - From Plan to Reality....Almost!

All the elements of the master bath are finally nearing completion!

The floor is in - a travertine basket weave with a mosaic border.  I love how this came out!!!  It might be my favorite feature of the house.

The shower is still a work in progress.  The plumbing is in and tile is finished, but the glass doors and faucet assembly still need to be installed.

We hope to get the vanity hooked up this week - it's a sort of transitional-traditional style with a marble top and undermount sink.  And I can't wait for these beautiful sconces to get installed.

Restoration Hardware - Bistro Sconce

Finally, we'll add a gleaming faucet and a Pottery Barn pivot mirror.

We hope to have it all pulled together in a couple of weeks.....can't wait to see how it comes together!

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Fireplace and Mantle Update

Have I told you how excited I am to have a house with a fireplace?  It's a feature our last two houses didn't have, so I was thrilled to have one this time.  There's something so warm and comforting about a fireplace  - especially here in Maine!  We've been known to use our fireplace on a cold June night.

But this one was ready for an update.  This part of the house was built in 1960 and the fireplace reflects that.  It's gas - but set up for propane.  Since we're moving to natural gas, this will require a whole new log set. That's actually a good thing, the new log sets are 'vent free', so all the heat goes back into the room!

Source:  Redhomedoor.blogspot.com

From a design perspective, I want it to reflect the architecture we have throughout the rest of the house.  Beautiful, simple moldings, to give it a traditional look.

So.....I started looking for some inspiration.  I started a Pinterest Board and found a couple that were really exciting.  This one is beautiful.  Love the top crown molding and simple trim.  

Source:  Better Homes and Gardens

Another favorite is this one from Better Homes and Gardens.  Like our house, they have a raised brick mantle, which has a dated look.  I loved how they trimmed it with molding.  I also really, really like the black brick.  But I'm not sure it makes sense to do that for a new buyer.  They can decide if they prefer the red brick or want to paint it black.










The other inspiration - the fireplace in our own house.  It's got the same simple trim, but with a cherry top and a stone/glass hearth surround.

So, with all those great ideas, I sketched something up.  And after lots of discussion (because we all had lots of opinions!!), Anthony created this beautiful surround.  Now that it's got a couple of coats of paint on it, it looks like it's always been there!  What a nice update!

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Traditional Kitchen Update - Part 1

At long last, we're ready to put in the new kitchen.  Remember our starting point?  It was probably last updated in the 70's, and while still in respectable shape, there was very little storage, no dishwasher and the appliances.....well, let's just say I sold them on Craigslist for $25.  It was time for some updating.













We removed the scary staircase (remember this post? - www.kitchen-conundrum),  tore down lots of walls, installed new windows and raised the ceiling - thanks to a whole new joist system that we installed for the 2nd floor.  Then we had to complete the key infrastructure.    It created a bright, open slate to start the new kitchen.

With that behind us, it's time to start installing the cabinets.  It's always amazing to me, how this big jumble of giant boxes and molding can come together so beautifully in a new kitchen.  Waterhouse Builders got to work and started with the upper cabinets.

Crown molding goes on first

We're using Martha Stewart's Ox Hill cabinets in a brand new color - Heavy Cream.  I love the simple styling of the doors and drawers for our traditional style kitchen.  We ordered glass doors for either side of the stove and we're using a complex crown molding to take the cabinets all the way to the ceiling - a nice custom touch that highlights our high ceiling.

The upper cabinets go in first, followed by the lowers and the fridge cabinet with side panel.

Getting ready for the new stainless steel vent hood

Coming together!

Cabinets are installed!  

Now that the cabinets are installed, we're ready for the fancy trim work, countertops, appliances and lighting.  Getting closer to completion!

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Tree Trimming

Now that we have a 2 story house, we have lots of branches that practically scrape against the house.  It is an invitation to problems - everything from broken limbs to squirrels who can easily get into the house (have you ever tried to get rid of a squirrel infestation?  Not fun!  We spent months trying to get them out of a house - and kept finding acorns in odd places for many more months after that!  Try putting on a pair of shoes with acorns in the toe :-)).





So we called the guys from The Greater Portland Tree Company to come out and do a little pruning.  But what we found was a lot more than we bargained for!

As they looked closely at some of the big branches, they discovered that some of them had a lot of rot.






































We didn't plan on removing this whole limb, but as you can see, there wasn't a whole lot to it!

Old Squirrels Nest 

The next piece that came down broke into pieces and this old squirrel's next looked like a mini explosion as it hit the ground!






They also removed this extra tall tree stump from the back yard.

The final result - a nicer shaped tree that's in great shape for many more years of shade!!!

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Mixing Old and New Hardwood Floors

Are those the signal strength bars for my cell phone????  No - just the weave pattern as we blended the new floor with the old.  Our project house presented some unique challenges to the team from Abrams Hardwood Flooring.

New Red Oak in Upstairs Hallway

But let's start with the easy part.  Since the second floor is essentially new construction, the guys were able to come in and get the new red oak floors installed pretty quickly.  We couldn't believe how much the new floors changed the look and feel of the house.  There's just something about new wood floors that immediately warms the space.

They sanded them and put down one coat of polyurethane to protect them.  After all the other work is done, they'll come back and add two more cots of poly, to get a strong, protective surface.

Look at how one coat of polyurethane brings out the beauty of the oak

Master Bedroom with New Oak Flooring

But the downstairs was a whole different story.  Since we removed several walls, each of those spaces was essentially a hole that needed to be filled.  We talked about putting a mock 'threshold' in to transition the space.  But we knew that wouldn't give the right look to the open floor plan and opted instead to have the guys skillfully weave old and new.

They start by cutting back the old floor to create the cell phone bar strength pattern - that gives the start for weaving old and new.  But we found a couple of surprises when we got started.  1)  The original house has a blend of white oak, red oak and even a little maple thrown in.  2)  The 1960's addition - which is in the same space - has only red oak.  After lots of discussion and input from lots of experts, we decided that since the area of the 'weave' was primarily white oak, we should use white oak.

Wood Weaving Complete, Awaiting Sanding

This is the view with the new flooring woven into the old.

Can You Tell Old From New???

And here is the woven floor, post sanding

Living Room Before Sanding

We also decided that the mix of woods in the back hallway, along with all the walls that were removed, made it necessary to take all that wood out and start fresh.  So what was already a big job, just became bigger.

Kitchen & Hallway - Starting Point

Kitchen & Hallway - New Floors!

I won't have final photos until we get the next two coats of polyurethane down.  But at this point, we think it look pretty fabulous!!

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