Outdoor Living

When you have a big yard, it's nice to be able to enjoy it, particularly now that the weather is getting much nicer.  But there wasn't a good way to enjoy the backyard.  There wasn't a back door on the house and no designated patio or deck.  So we changed all that with a new sliding glass door and a deck.  We were pretty ambitious - we started it last fall, thinking we could get it finished before a Maine winter set it.  Boy were we wrong! 

The good news - we got the main deck finished before the snow. The bad news - the stair footings didn't get dug, they had to wait till spring.  So we went up and down this awkward staircase all winter.  Not quite what we had planned!

This house never had a back door - we used this temporary one while we waited for the slider.

The deck is getting finished now.  It will be such a great spot to sit and relax!  It's all composite decking and PVC trim, so it's built to last without any concerns about rot or maintenance.  I just love how it looks from the window. 

And look at the view from the deck!  The Fore River and the Portland Skyline have great daylight views.  But the nightlights may be even better! .  

The guys are finishing up the deck and I've started adding some landscaping.  It's such a dramatic upgrade! 

What makes it even better?  We have an amazing backyard.  Now I knew when we bought the house that it had a big backyard, but it was really hard to tell.  

The folks from Tammaro Landscaping came out and took dump trucks full of invasive shrubs, trees and vines from the property (see the whole story here).  And suddenly the yard seems HUGE!  What an incredible difference.

Look - there was a fence back there!! (fall 2025)

We had it planted with grass last fall and it's coming in beautifully this year.  What a diference!

I can't wait to get everything done and some deck furniture out there.  Maybe then it will be time to take a break and enjoy the view! 

So much pollen out there! 😂

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Lower Level Living Space

I haven't updated you on the basement in a while and there has been so much progress!   This is going to be such wonderful living space for the future owners.  

Basement Before - dominated by furnace and ductwork

We started with all the stuff you can't see in a finished room -  a French drain to keep the everything dry and spray foam insulation to keep it warm.(Click here for details)  Once that was done, it's time to start finishing the space.

Safety first - we tore out the old, scary staircase and installed a new code-compliant one.  This is a game changer, the original staircase was so steep that we had a couple of contractors fall down the stairs.  

Original staircase

I could only fit part of my foot on each stair tread. You had to walk duck footed to be safe!

It had to go and this is such a wonderful improvement!  Of course it will get finished with a code compliant handrail.

Next step was to finish the ceiling and walls. I wanted the walls to have some visual interest (vs. plain drywall), so we installed a wide beadboard paneling.  And interestingly, those vertical lines also make the space seem taller - which is always a good thing in an old basement.

Next, we had to finish the floor.  Like many old basements, it wasn't level, so the guys had to mix up dozens of bags of floor leveler to allow us to install LVT (luxury vinyl tile).

The floor leveler gets poured out and naturally creates a level floor

And the LVT?  This is one that I've used in multiple basements. In fact, I used it in one of our own homes that was the entry from the garage, where it was subject to all the grit and dirt that tends to come in on our shoes.  It held up beautifully, such a great choice for a basement! This time, I choose a light, faux maple style, which helps make the whole space feel light and bright.

Next, Rich installed the doors to the office (of course this room could be used for anything - toys, crafts, sewing, etc - but I've found that lots of buyers want a dedicated place to work from home).

The basement support beams are getting wrapped, so they will be ready when the painters arrive.

At the bottom of the stairs, we have a recessed area, that's framed up by the closet we had to build around the water meter.  Rich built a bookcase to fill that space, providing a bit of storage/display space as you enter the room.

Are we done?  Well not quite yet.  But we're getting close! 

 

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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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