The Powder Room

We were able to add a powder room on the first floor, which is a major upgrade to the house.  And as the smallest room in the house, I want to make it really special!  A tiny room doesn't need to be a white, boring box.  It can have lots of character.

First steps was creating a traditional, Victorian style floor with a black and white mosaic.  It's an easy to maintain ceramic floor that has lots of visual interest.

Next, Kyle added wainscoting around the room.  (We left space for the pedestal sink to get mounted)

Our painters have gotten to work and painted the trim and wainscoting.  

Next step, I added a simple stencil to the walls.  I adore wallpaper, but after stripping wallpaper for weeks on end, this will give a similar effect without the need to strip it if the owners don't like it.  It's a very simple mini print with metallic paint to give this room a bit of shimmer.

Today Nick got the faucet and toilet in.  

Next we install lighting and mirror!  Can't wait!

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When Things Go Wrong.......

Drama time!   Everything goes wrong at the end of a project - no matter how much you plan and schedule!  So when I got a text from one of the guys at 6:05 am with this picture, it didn't totally freak me out (okay, maybe it did a little!).  There was water across the front side of the unfinished basement. 

We've had a lot of snow and a few days of warm weather, plus a full day of rain, melted big mounds of snow.   The water runs everywhere and hydrostatic pressure builds around the foundation.  

There is a homemade looking pit under the stairs that we've never really paid much attention to.  Now it got attention!!  Water was coming up from the pit, while we were frantically trying to shopvac the water out.  

Turns out, when the basement was dug back in 1960, they put a perimeter drain around the basement (this is actually a very good thing).  The pipes from that lead to the pit.  But somehow (and construction debris could have played a role in this), the drain had gotten clogged.

Thankfully Keith from Flo Pro was working in the area and was able to stop by.  He was able to quickly clear the clog and instantly, all that water disappeared.  It was amazing to see how much water was coming from the perimeter drain!  It really does the job - when the line is clear!

We checked to make sure the flooding was just on the unfinished side of the basement (which is also the lowest side).  That meant we had to pull up the newly laid basement floor and thankfully only one small spot had seen any water.  And because we installed 'dimple board' to keep the flooring off the concrete, the subfloor and flooring was nice and dry.  Good news!  I was terrified we'd have to rip open the whole finished side of the basement. 

How do we keep this from happening again?  Well, we're now installing a brand new sump pump.  That will give the new owners peace of mind that the basement will stay dry.  There will also be a box to check on the perimeter drain, to make sure it's working as intended.

And as weird as it might sound, I'm glad this happened now.  Sure, it's an expense we hadn't planned on, but I would hate for the new owners to move in and have this happen.  We didn't have anything of value in that side of the basement, so it was an easy cleanup.  

This hiccup will have a bit of a schedule impact, but hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here! 

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Is it a Home Office? Library? Study?

There is a wonderful room off of the foyer, which I originally wanted to turn into a primary suite.  But once I got into the design and saw how small it would be with a full bath and closet (although it could be a great guest room with a sofa bed!)  I rethought that plan and decided it would be a great home office.

Our starting point - the 'Before' room

Of course once we got into it, I got a bit carried away and decided we should include a wall of bookshelves.  

And then a wonderful Facebook follower asked me if I'd like to buy these amazing wavy glass, antique doors.  Of course the answer was yes!  So they got incorporated into the design

Look at that hardware-

These doors are so unique!

Kyle created this gorgeous, 9 1/2 foot tall bookcase with the glass doors incorporated.  The bottom will have custom doors, to provide a bit of storage space for things that might not look glamorous enough to put on a bookshelf.  

All of this led my husband to say we should call this room the Library.  Hmmmm......that sounds a bit fancy to me.  The guys think we should call in the Study.  And of course I was thinking Office.

What's your vote? 

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It's All About the Closets

Several years ago I did a very unscientific survey and asked folks what's the most important element in a Primary Suite.  Bedroom space?  Big bathroom?  Closet space??

The winner - by a landslide - was CLOSETS!!!  Storage space was paramount for folks and that's probably more important in an old house (where closets are notably small or non-existent).  

This suite started as two separate bedrooms with a small closet in each.

By taking the smaller bedroom and turning it into a closet and bathroom, this room gained a lot more storage.  And as an added benefit, we added the 'nook' - a small room on the front of the house to the primary suite.

We paid lots of attention to closet space.  In the 'nook' area of the primary suite, we installed a wall of IKEA storage units, that provide lots of drawers and shelves, as well as a full length mirror. 

Lots of drawers and shelves

For comparison, this is the nook wall before we opened it into the suite.  It still had storage - but it wasn't quite as fancy and the room wasn't heated!

On the other side of the suite (in the original Bedroom 2), we have added a spacious walk in closet, complete with more drawers, shelves and lots of hanging clothes space.

It's such a huge change from our starting point!!! 

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The Classic Hall Bath

The hall bathroom is getting a major makeover.  At first glance, it probably doesn't look like it's changing a lot.  But it is!  The tub and vanity location stay the same, but the toilet is moving near the window and a stackable washer/dryer will go in that space.   We've also replaced all the electrical and plumbing, and added insulation to keep it cozy in the winter. 

From a design perspective, I want the hall bathroom to be classic, without trendy finishes.  So for example, tile is a long term commitment and I don't want to install anything that will go out of style in a couple of years.  So I decided to install a Carrara marble 'rug' on the floor.  Tile with fancy borders were very popular near the turn of the last century. And marble is always classic.  But it's not an easy project! Step 1 is to lay out the border mosaic tile. 

Once that's set up, I installed the surrounding field tile and then the hex tiles in the center. 

Total install time - 3 days.  And that doesn't include grouting!  I often question my sanity when I embark on these complex projects - but when I see the finished product it's totally worth it.  I love this floor!

The shower/tub wall tile will be very simple, white subway with black accent strips.  That's next on my list of tiling projects! 

I'm so thrilled the new owners won't need to carry their laundry baskets up and down the stairs to the basement.  This spot for a stackable washer/dryer will also have room for a narrow, custom cabinet to store detergent, toilet paper and more.

In many ways, this bathroom mimics the primary bath in my own home.  I even ordered the same vanity - I love the Carrara marble top with the sculpted backsplash.  It has that old world styling that I was looking for.

With the black and white color scheme, I spent months searching for a shower curtain that I liked, with no success.  And then I came across this remnant from Ballard Designs and knew it was perfect for the space!!!  (it was also $10.60 a yard!)  I made a valance for the window and need to make the shower curtain next!  I love the green with the black and white motif.

I'll share more updates as we make progress!

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Dining Room Upgrades!

 As we start the pretty stuff, the dining room is the first room to get all of its finish carpentry.

The window looks out to the sunporch

Doorway to kitchen and living room

It was a pretty simple room, with doorways to the living room and kitchen and two windows - one exterior window and one that went to the sunporch (our guess is it was originally an exterior window).  Oh, and LOTS of wallpaper! 😂

That all changed when we eliminated the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  We also moved the door from the kitchen into the dining room space, to make the kitchen a bit bigger. We also removed 3 (THREE) ceilings to gain almost 18 inches of ceiling height! 

This room had 3 ceilings - look how much removing them has changed the space!

But one of the biggest changes was swapping out the old double window for something much more charming.  I found this window at Old House Parts and it's a great way to bring light into the dining room, with a bit of architectural interest.  The door is from a former project - it was in fabulous shape and I've been hoarding it in my storage facility for years!

We've recreated the antique trim to match the rest of the house

The dining room originally had a closet - but it was really shallow and didn't provide a lot of storage. We needed to use some of the space for the gas fireplace in the living room.  But there was still space that I didn't want to waste.  So Kyle is creating a custom china cabinet in place of the closet.  

This will be such a great addition once the doors are on and it's painted!

Of course there is more to do - paint, staging, etc - but this space has already changed dramatically since our starting point!

It's obviously doubling as a storage area right now!

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First Peeks of Kitchen Progress

With the new floor installed, we’re ready to move forward with the kitchen.  It's so exciting to see it come together, because the kitchen install is a long process.  We started months ago with all new electrical, plumbing and insulation.  That was followed by drywall and flooring.  It's taken 6 months to get to this point!

I chose a traditional style, in keeping with the age of the home. 

The biggest changes in this kitchen?  The ceiling height change and the big new window.  They both make the kitchen feel so much bigger and brighter!

Look at the change in ceiling height!

On the right side of the kitchen, in the space that used to be a closet, we have recessed the refrigerator into the wall.  And there is a step-in pantry next to it.

Look how bright the kitchen is now!

 

At the end of the kitchen, next to the window, there will be a tall, glass front cabinet.  It can't get installed until after the countertops are in place, so I'm trying to be patient and wait.

But even with all that storage, I thought it needed more, so an island will be installed, to provide even more space for all the essentials you need in a modern kitchen.

Once the cabinets are installed, the countertop folks need to create a manufacturing template and then we wait for that to be completed and the tops installed.  When that is done, the tall cabinet will get added as well as all the crown molding.  And the shelving and door need to be installed in the pantry.   Finally, I'll get the custom tile backsplash installed.  Still so much to do - but it's coming along!  

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The Front Porch Beautification Project

I love the little front porch on this house.  And it was in pretty decent shape.  But as we started to update all the other finishes around it, the ‘while we’re at it’ syndrome hit us.  The floorboards had gouges and splinters, the railing was the wrong period and the steps were a bit wonky.  So 'while we're at it', we decided to update it to look as nice as the rest of the exterior.

We decided to give it a facelift.  As you can probably guess, this facelift was a little more than skin deep!  The guys updated the framing with joist hangers and modern building practices.  It included adding some new substructure, so the deck can be‘picture framed’, to give it a more polished appearance.

The first step was new decking.  While I’m a fan of composite decks for their low maintenance, I just couldn’t bring myself to put plastic floorboards on this antique house.  So we opted for mahogany decking – you can’t beat the beauty of natural wood on an old house!  

Updating the framing to meet current building code

The steps are 'picture framed' to provide a more finished edge 

Underneath, we wanted to use traditional lattice like we found on the house when we started (it also helps deter critters from living under there).  But since this is all close to the ground and will get splashed in the rain, we used a PVC product that can’t rot and will look great for many years.  It will be painted, so it will still look traditional.

Meranti is naturally decay resistant, but we added this oil to enhance it's beauty

 

The next step was the railing, with the antique balusters I spent so many weeks working on.  We modeled the design on other railings in the greater Portland area. They include the tri-color paint scheme that we’ve used on the rest of the exterior.  

 

The final step is to reinstall the brackets that were on the porch.  I’m not convinced they’re original to the house – but used them as a style guide for the rest of the brackets we added to the house.  And they are in good shape (under 50 coats of paint!), so we will reinstall them - after I get them cleaned up.

Look how close the rings are on this wood!!!  These are old! 

The result so far?  I’ll let you be the judge, but I’m pretty pleased with the first impression this will create as someone enters the home. And of course that ‘new’ antique front door is a big part of the overall look! 

The newel posts are still a work in progress

It's changed so much in the last 6 months! 

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