Turning Vision into Reality

This is one of the most exciting parts of any project.  We're installing all the pretty finishes that we've been discussing for so long.  That vision I've had in my head is finally becoming a reality!

Let's start upstairs.  A couple of the original bedrooms didn't have closets.  We're changing that, but it's a bit tricky with our slanted rooflines.  This room is one example.  There wasn't a closet (they had hanging clothes racks in the rooms), but I want to add one.

Our starting point

I realized I could steal a bit of space behind the door to create a closet in the primary bedroom and include some closet space for this room as well.

I came up with this design weeks ago and it's so much fun to see Kyle turn it into reality.  I've ordered baskets that will be 'drawers' on the left side and we're having custom made closet doors for the main hanging space.  We're leaving this cute triangular section at the top open - it's perfect for displaying something!

Custom doors will be installed later

As you may remember, I have big plans for the powder room.  Since we don't have original millwork for this room, I ordered all new fir that the guys cut to size and I stained and shellacked it to match the original trim found elsewhere. (despite wearing gloves, my fingernails may never look the same!)

Beadboard wainscoting 

Here was the plan I came up with:

Kyle has started assembling the pieces and it's really coming together.

Of course there's more to do, but look how much has changed.  We've hidden all the plumbing, moved the window, added lots of insulation, a stone mosaic floor and beautiful woodwork. 

 

So many changes!  All that's left is to hook up the sink and install the wallpaper.

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The Craftsman Cottage Exterior

Now that the weather is finally warming up, the guys have moved outside to ready the house for painting. 

 

They began on the back of the house, where we had made quite a few changes.  

We started a deck last fall (foolishly thinking it would be warm until the holidays, but the cold temperatures and snow stopped that project in its tracks) and that will get completed soon.  For the deck to be accessed, we added a patio door (because, remember this house didn’t ever have a back door), that also brings lots of light into the house.  The rest of the changes included moving 2 windows and adding a 3^rd.  All of this necessitated repairing siding and replacing trim work.  

 

Fall 2025 - starting the deck

But look at the difference it makes!  The thing that really stands out to me is the addition of window trim.  A pet peeve of mine is vinyl siding that hacks off the original window trim and covers it up.  We’re going back and recreating all of the trim to give the house a much nicer look.

Window trim makes a huge difference!

Look at those curved rafter tails on the roofline - a Craftsman classic!

We also need to replace the Craftsman decorative brackets on this side of the house.  This is a great example of just how much damage water can do to wood.  Look at this hollowed out mess!

It's just a shell of a bracket with all the wood rotted out in the center.

 

Craftsman Cottage - Before

Traditional skirting finishes off the sunporch

But the front of the house got the biggest updates.  The enclosed sunporch is getting trimmed out to reflect the original porch architecture with the walls mirroring the original porch railing.  We’ve added traditional skirting below – I wasn’t a fan of clapboards all the way to the ground.  

And Kyle recreated the original Craftsman posts that were on the house when we started.  Those posts and the amazing curved rafter tails are such classic Craftsman features.  

Don't you love the replicated tapered posts?

The stairs are getting finished and will provide a gracious entry to the house.  They’re also much safer than the crumbling concrete steps and wobbly railing that we started with.

 

And last, but not least, we’re having the house painted.  Deciding on paint colors took me a long time with lots of color swatches to test colors in various light conditions.  The driving force for the colors was the stained glass that’s next to the front door.  It has a lot of gold and cream (which explains why the house has been various shades of dark gold for decades - first clapboards and then gold vinyl on top of that) and a rather brilliant emerald green (I keep thinking about the yellow brick road to Emerald City!). 

 

But I don't want to do dark gold again!!!   As much as I would have loved to go with deep earthy Craftsman colors, my dream of sage green won't work.  The stained glass green is not a color I would consider.

So after lots and lots of samples, I settled on a soft, buttery gold.  The trim will be a soft creamy white, mimicking the white glass in the window.

Evaluating paint samples

So many paint samples.  None of these made the cut!

I liked the big sample I painted on the newly enclosed porch (I was so eager to try this color, I didn't wait for the guys to finish the front of the house!).

Front porch siding is getting finished

With the paint color determined, they've started painting from the back of the housse as the rest of the carpentry gets finished on the front.  Can't wait to see it all come together!

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Saving the Unpainted Wood Trim

This house is our 23rd project - and yet it's the first home we've renovated that has the original wood trim. I am determined to keep the original woodwork, despite constant naysayers from the team 😂 (once again, they think I'm crazy!).  And in some respects they're right - there are a lot of challenges to make that happen. 

First challenge - a lot of the existing woodwork has these globs of shellac beaded over it.  I'm not sure what the cause of that is, but I read that Denatured Alcohol will melt it away and decided to give it a try. 

It's worked really well!  After I clean up the old bumpy finish it, I re-shellac it.  It looks fabulous, like brand new!  But it's a huge amount of work, that I can only do when the guys aren't around creating dust.  So this is a slow, slow process.

Freshly shellacked trim 

But look how great the original trim looks when we install it on the updated walls!  It instantly gives off that vintage vibe!

This baseboard has been refinished and looks fabulous!

And I love how the original trim goes so well with the new cabinetry.

Second challenge - the windows. We are replacing all of the windows, but I want to keep wood interiors.  I found these beautiful windows from Matthews Brothers (and they're made in Maine!).  They are vinyl (aka no maintenance on the outside) but have wood trim on the interior.  Best of all, they're copied after antique style windows with divided lights on the interior and exterior.  I absolutely love them, but I have to stain and poly each and every one of them, which is taking lots of time and energy.

One sash down.....lots to go!

Doesn't this new window look great? 

These warm wood tones are beautiful

Third challenge - the Sunroom.  Since this is a totally new space, it needs additional trim that doesn't exist.  There isn't enough of the old trim from the walls we removed to do the whole room. So we're trying to finish new wood to look like the old.  

So far, so good.  The new fir looks similar to the 100 year old wood.  So now, I'm frantically trying to stay a step ahead of the guys by staining and sealing the trim as quickly as possible!  It takes me about 48 hours to stain and seal a batch of woodwork.  It takes them about 48 minutes to install it.  So I've got a lot of catching up to do!

New fir beadboard for the powder room

 

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The Kitchen Milestone

 

There’s only one milestone that makes a full renovation really start to feel complete – the kitchen.  And now that the floors are finished, Kyle has started installing the cabinets.

This kitchen was ready for an update, and we’ve done just that!  This was a total gut job and included opening up and replacing some walls.  And of course, while we were at it, we replaced all the electrical, plumbing and insulation with new, building code compliant products.

Kitchen Before

 

With the elimination of the wall between the dining room and kitchen, we were able to extend the cabinets a bit, resulting in a lot more storage than the original kitchen.  The stove will no longer be crammed into the corner and we were able to add a beautiful farm sink.

 

We also removed the old furnace flue, which allowed us to move the refrigerator to the front wall.  This is a huge change and opens up space for a center island with space for bar stools.

 

The island is cherry, to tie into the wood tones of the original woodwork.  The plan is to add a cherry butcher block top to make it more of a furniture piece.

 

One feature I’m really excited about is the addition of a pantry.  There are two units, one with pull out trays.  The other unit could be used for hanging coats or shelving – the new owners can decide how they would use the space.

 

Last week, the quartz countertops went in and that made it all looks so much more cohesive!

Such a heavy piece of quartz!!

I'm in love with this pattern.  It looks so much like marble, but won't have all the upkeep associated with marble! 

We are waiting on delivery of the crown molding and the cherry butcher block top.  Once that’s installed, we will be almost done!  But isn't it looking good?

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