Storybook Cottage: The Home Stretch

We've reached that crazy phase of the project, where all the trades are jumping in and helping get us across the finish line.  I'm hoping to get this house on the market next week!

There's so much going on, it's hard to figure out what to highlight.  But I thought it would be nice to share a few updates.




The hardwood floors have been sanded and refinished - now they are gleaming!!


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The kitchen is in and is looking pretty fantastic!





The reclaimed beams are going up to wrap the structural beams that we installed in the master suite and living room.  The wood that we are using in the living room came from the dismantled Portland Company on Fore St. in Portland.  Such a cool bit of history for the house!

The bedroom/bath beams are part of the original sheathing of the house.

Painting is underway and is adding a satiny finish to all the custom woodwork we installed.

  The walls are getting painted a soft off-white called 'Ivory Lace' by Sherwin Williams.

Master Suite in process

I'm in love with the banquette!  It will be such a great spot for the entire family to gather.  And wait till you see the custom cushions my dear friend Faith made.  They make it so cozy!

I've been tiling like crazy and finally got everything grouted over the weekend.  The new glass shower doors will be installed soon.


Now that I have a hardworking entry/mudroom in my own house, I couldn't wait to create one for another homeowner.  They are the BEST!  This one will have lots of hook for coats and baskets for gloves and hats - or flip flops and sunscreen now that summer is coming and everyone is walking down to the beach!

And when I can't get in the house because one of the trades has taken it over, I'm busy making window treatments. 

This will be a Roman Shade for the upstairs bathroom.

Operation 'lighten and brighten' the basement has made huge progress.  Now that the asbestos remediation is complete, we've removed the wall at the bottom of the stairs and installed a new door to the utility section of the basement.  George is adding new oversized bead board paneling to the finished room in the basement.

And there is a lot of progress outdoors as well.  The new walkway is going in and the gentle curve takes you past the ginormous lilac tree, that is covered in blooms.

We added gutters all around the house. I love watching the seamless gutter machine working!  It takes a roll of metal and turns it into these super long gutters!

We created replica shutters for most of the windows and they're going up on the exterior.

Can we be ready in a week???  Maybe!!  Stay tuned for a lot more photos!!

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Bunny Suits vs. Hercules. Who Will Win that Battle?

Last week was pretty exciting, we said goodbye to Hercules.  Hercules is a 1200 pound boiler by Sears Roebuck that started life burning coal in the basement (more about that later) and then got upgraded to oil at some point in its history.  Getting Hercules up the steps and out of the basement is truly a Herculean task, so we needed professional help.  Because you see, we could also see bits of asbestos around the edges and knew it needed to be properly disposed of.

Wait, wait, you say.  Didn't you already do asbestos remediation in the house?  Why yes, yes we did.  On week one of the project, we learned that the flooring in the kitchen and back bedroom had asbestos, So we had a remediation team come in and remove it.

And then you say, wouldn't it have been simpler and cheaper to have it all done at once??  Why yes, yes it would have been.  BUT, we needed Hercules to keep the house warm until the gas boiler could be installed.   So....it's a much more expensive proposition, but we're doing it right.

And doing it right is a big undertaking.  The team from Safe Environmental Solutions arrived and got to work.  First step, installing the decontamination chamber and containment unit next to Hercules.

The area was walled off from the rest of the house, with a special negative air machine that ensures any nasty fibers released in the containment chamber stay there due to the lower air pressure.

Once they started pulling Hercules apart (dressed in bunny suits and respirators of course), the real fun started.  To leave the chamber, everyone enters the dirty unit to remove the bunny suit, enters the shower unit to wash down and then the clean chamber to get dressed again (oh and they have special waterproof cell phone cases that have to be washed down too!)!!

And what did they find? Well just pulling it apart was an adventure.  They had to constantly spray the asbestos with a surfactant infused water (they call it 'wetter water' - catchy name, don't you think?) to keep it from becoming 'friable' - the term for the fibers becoming airborne.  And separating the different chambers was a big task.  This thing has been a single unit for 90 years and it didn't want to come apart.

They were shocked at the amount of asbestos.  The entire unit was wrapped in asbestos blocks, with additional asbestos between each chamber.

It was the most asbestos in one boiler any of them had ever seen - and they do this all the time!!  In addition, they discovered lots of coal soot, which meant they were covered with both white and black sludge.  Thank heavens the bunny suits are tough!

Solid blocks of asbestos

Once they're done, the air purifier runs for awhile and then a 3rd party tester comes in to do air sample tests.  We came out clean as a whistle - so they could pull the whole thing down.  Elapsed time was 3 days, so a big job!

Now we can start making that basement a bit prettier!  Stay tuned for updates! Pin It

Mid Mod Kitchen, Bar and Mud Room

What’s one part Modern, one part mid century and one part pretty cool?  Our kitchen, with a separate wet bar and mud room. This whole house was totally different than anything we have ever done before, and it was a challenge - but we're pretty thrilled with the results!

So where did we start?  This kitchen is a great example of what was considered a new mid-century trend - making the kitchen the center of family life (historically, kitchens were small rooms - dedicated to the cook and not very family friendly). It has lots of room for the whole family to come together for cooking, meals and entertaining.

It has big, high ceilings and tons of space - but also a few challenges, like lots of doorways and walkways - not to mention it overlooks the sunken living room.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was how dark it was - despite having a giant skylight in the next room.  Here's a great illustration of the difference between before and after.  See the new window in the kitchen?  My husband says this is his single favorite change in the whole house.  While the old ribbon window was very cool, it didn't really let a lot of light in the room.  And once we installed the new window, we realized there is a beautiful view out to the courtyard. An added bonus is the light coming in the tall window makes the room seem taller as well.

We loved the idea of a center island and wanted to expand on that, with even more space for family and friends to gather around. Now we have seating for 6, as well as lots of workspace so everyone can lend the chef (that would be Richard!) a hand!

Kitchen looking towards bar and dining room - Before

Kitchen After

The other big changes?  Opening up the doorway to the stairwell. The stairwell is such a dramatic space with the giant skylight above it and a great, retro staircase.  By making the doorway from the kitchen taller and wider, it brings more sunlight into the kitchen and you get the bonus of seeing more of that great space!

If you've been reading the blog for awhile, you've realized I'm  a bit obsessed with tile. So I wanted to make sure we had something really special in our own home.  When I saw this pattern, I couldn't say no.  You see, it's called Stardust - after David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album, which was published in 1972 - the same year the house was built!!  Kismet!!

Before

And then there is the bar!!!!  The bar is such a key element of the living space, we wanted to do it right.  The original, vintage wallpaper cleaned up beautifully and still graces the entire wall.

We updated the shelving with large glass doors, to display bottles, decanters and such.

Before

We also kept the original sink, with its uber cool bottle holders.  But we removed the mirror and opened up the back wall, so you can see out to the living room and people can 'belly up to the bar'!!

We opened up the doorways on either end of the bar.  Now it's a bright, open space that links to every other room.

And then we have a mudroom!  I can't tell you how excited I am about having a dedicated mudroom - especially as we hit a particularly messy mud season hear in Maine.  We installed a hard working porcelain tile that can take any abuse that comes its way.  We replaced the original cobalt blue pantries with white ones that are a bit deeper, to provide even more storage.


But it's the details that make it such a great room.  The Bubble pendant, the wood coat rack and the very mid-mod wallpaper, really make the space!

Petey's getting the hang of being a dog model!

We've been living in the house for a couple of months now and are really enjoying the kitchen layout.  And while I'm wild about the mudroom, Richard is happiest mixing up fancy new cocktails!  Cheers!

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It's All About the Details at the Storybook Cottage

We've made so much progress on the Storybook Cottage!  It's hard to believe how much it's changed.


Electrical, plumbing and drywall are all complete.  And a crisp coat of white primer makes the whole place look so fresh and inviting.    Can you believe the difference with the walls removed??

Starting Point

In Progress - Walls removed and new windows in place, look at the sunlight flooding the rooms!!

But that's just the beginning of the finish work -  it's all the custom work that really makes the house special.  And we have a LOT of custom projects!

Habitat for Humanity ReStore find - $30!!!!

First up - this corner cabinet that I found at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for $30!!!  Amazing bargain and I knew it would look fantastic in the corner at the bottom of the steps.  It's one of the first things you see as you enter the room.  And with the arch and the serpentine shelves, it's a real 'wow' piece.




Kyle got it installed and it's really exceeded expectations.  He built a platform for it to sit up at the baseboard level, so it blends seamlessly into the wall trim.  Doesn't it look like it was always there, between the windows?  Such a charming use of space!

Perfect fit!!

But that's not the only special project in the open living space.  In the dining area, I wanted to add a custom banquette.  We've done a banquette before, but we wanted this to be a bit different, with lots of seating space for family get togethers.

Each of the banquette sections will open for storage (because who doesn't need more storage space!), but the overall look is clean and streamlined.  We used extra wide beadboard for a bit of New England styling on the back.  And once the floors have been finished, we'll add tall baseboard molding, to match the rest of the house.

Next up - replacing the old, unused front door with this original, wavy glass window. Isn't it a great feature? It was part of the rarely used porch next to the front door.



We moved it to the front of the house and now it lends such a vintage vibe to the room, while also looking good from the exterior!

And did you notice the interior molding?  There were so many different moldings in this house, reflecting the different additions and updates over its history.  After a bit of investigation, we realized that the 2nd floor molding was original - with classic casing and rosettes in each corner.  We did some searching and found molding to match and have installed it throughout the whole house, for a cohesive look and lots of vintage charm!

And what's the project that has kept me busy for the last week and a half??  Stripping all the paint off of the newel post and handrail.  It was a HUGE job, but what an amazing difference!   Once it was cleaned up, I used an oiled finish on the vertical grain fir and it positively glows!

What else?  Well, the bathrooms are in process, the floors will get finished this week and the kitchen is on deck after the floors are in.  Stay tuned!

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