Upcycling For The Win

What do you do when you and your husband have moved into your new home and COVID, the pandemic of the century, strikes?  You sweetly, somewhat subtly, suggest projects that he could do to improve your ability to unpack specific items.  Thus changing his plans for the day hourly... This is the predicament that my sweetie has found himself in.... He's been begging for more time with me over the past two years, and now he finds himself quietly wishing he or I might go back to work soon...

My first not too subtle nudge to move a "to do" up to the top of his list was our coffee/wine bar.  The original concept was to have him build a cabinet to hold what we needed.  Then one day as I was flipping through Facebook Marketplace and drooling over a Hoosier cabinet an idea came to me.

Me:  "Um, honey what do you think about Hoosier cabinets?"
Bill:  "They're cool, why?"
Me:  "Do you think we could take one and cut a hole in the base for the wine fridge... For the wine/coffee bar?"
Bill:  "That could work"....

I began my search for a Hoosier cabinet that isn't in perfect condition so we won't feel bad for cutting it up... and found one with an enamel top in near perfect condition... that's in the price range we want to pay.  We buy it, put it in the spot it'll stay in... and daily I ask if he's figured out how to fix it up.  He's looking at it, scratching his head and walking quickly away muttering something about being busy with another project... I sweetly point out that there's at least 3 boxes that could be unpacked if this beast project was done... and the next day it's outside, up on his workspace... and he's figuring it out like he always does....  It looks AMAZING!!!  Even Bill is happy with how it turned out.  I might have even ordered wine to fill the fridge.  Cause something that pretty can't be empty right?

While I was looking for the Hoosier, I also came up with the next honey do project for Bill that entailed retrofitting yet another piece of antique furniture.  Really, it sounds like I'm working his butt off but I'm trying to make the projects easier for him.  Instead of designing from scratch, I'm finding him pieces with good bones... That's my story and I'm sticking to it...  Anyway, we don't have a garage and the only place that really made sense to place our tankless water heater was in the end of the hallway where the addition will start.  Places the water heater dead center of the house for all our water needs - the addition will have another bathroom and laundry room.  You can imagine how it's not something I'd want to look at daily though.  Bill had planned to build a cabinet around it.  I suggested getting a cool old armoire and cutting out the back to slide over the water heater.

Bill loved the idea.  Technically it's a quick fix right?  While he worked on the Hoosier, I looked online trying to find something not too expensive and, like the Hoosier, not in perfect shape so we wouldn't feel bad cutting it.  The day after the Hoosier project was finished, we were sitting in our living room discussing the final run we had to do to empty our old house.  Bill was worried about us not having enough space in our shed and fretted about how he was going to store his tools that were still in our old house's garage.  It was then that the proverbial light bulb went off in my head.

When we purchased the farm, the previous owners had left an old armoire with a broken leg in the shed.  We decided to keep it because we knew we could fix it up one day.  I thought about that piece and how much room it was taking and asked Bill if it would work for the water heater project.  Out of sight out of mind right?  Neither of us could understand why we hadn't even thought to use it.  Bill took it out of storage, placed it into his work area and began the plans to retrofit it.  It needed to be raised 25" and he wasn't sure how he could blend that large of a skirt into the piece.  I asked if he could build a fake drawer front so it wouldn't look like it was sitting on a box.  He thought that would totally work, and when we got to the old house later the next day we found an old drawer front he'd saved in his workshop from our old booth projects.  Both the cabinet and that drawer are walnut!  PERFECTION! 

Well mostly... some of the veneer on the cabinet wasn't perfect so we decided it would be partially painted.  Bill wanted to paint a fun design in the ovals on the doors.  I suggested he use the MoonCrest logo that was designed by Ashlyn Downing, the daughter of my childhood best friend.
Bill spent about three days building the base and shoring up the cabinet interior so he could cut off the back.  While doing so we discussed what parts would be painted and which would remain stained wood.  Ashlyn changed up the dimensions of our MoonCrest logo to fit in the oval and Bill made a stencil to paint it. 

The cabinet had small white porcelain knobs on the doors when we got it.  We happened to have a handful of similar knobs that we'd gotten junking sometime in the past six years.  The paint was left over from projects we've done over the last two years.  The only cost for this project truly, was Bill's time.  Once again he knocked it out of the park!  When all was said and done an ugly appliance was covered up with a fun piece of furniture that no one knows is solely decorative.  I love it.  Sooo much better isn't it?

You'd think I'd be happy and let him rest then right???  He made the mistake of putting the drawers that were in the cabinet into the house for a minute to stow them away for some other use.  I took one look at the thick oak with the tongue and groove notches and said "Honey!!!!...."  He hates that... he knows what it means... more work for him!!!  It was quick... really...  Bought some small casters, he put those on the bottom, added the porcelain knobs and we now have pull out drawers at the bottom of our pantry!  SCORE!

Now I'm done... Not really...  being Coronatined together just gives me more time to come up with another honey do... daily... maybe hourly...  He's getting ready for me to go back to work but he's got at least two months before he gets that reprieve.  Pray for him... and if I go missing, go look in the 'cut' in our backyard...  😆😆😆

Actually I've made up for it somewhat.  Going back to a comment I made in the beginning of this blog, his exact words were "when this is over, I want to be with my wife, somewhere, with a drink with an umbrella in it"...  I had planned to take him to Mexico when our old house sold.  Then when COVID was heading to America I'd changed my plans to take him to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail... and then that was dashed as all travel basically stopped and people were sheltering in place across the country.  So when I signed the sales papers last Friday, I went to the local liquor store.  Bought 7 bottles of bourbon that neither one of us had heard about... and surprised him with them in an Easter Egg-esque hunt... AND made sure there was an umbrella in his rocks glass. 

If that wasn't enough... for our anniversary yesterday... I made sure we had toilet paper... Today y'all understand how important that is... 10 years from now someone is going to read this and think that's a really shitty present.... It's ok... when they do, I ask they google toilet paper anomaly of the Corona pandemic... 30 rolls baby... Pure Charmin Gold....

Happy 4th anniversary baby... We've got a roof over our heads, two pots to pee in and TP to wipe with... Life IS good.

Slowly But Surely She Begins to Shine

So far 2020 can be summed up in two words:  Crazy times.  January we rushed to complete everything we needed to get our Certificate of Occupancy to move into the farm.  Our finances were finally dwindling to the point that we had to accept where we were in the beautification of Penny process, and finish the rest while we live here.  In early February I spent every waking hour packing and painting - getting our old house ready to put on the market.  I was so tired by the middle of the month that I couldn't articulate a full thought.  The house went on the market February 19th and received multiple offers.  It's officially set to close April 17th.  The end of February through the second week of March I became an expert at driving at 24' box truck.  Bill's rigging experience helped immensely as the two of us moved our belongings by ourselves.  Today, Bill continues knocking out projects daily, while my job is emptying boxes and adding the touches that make a house a home.  We've got a long way yet to go, but here's more of our progress...

Bill and I didn't want box vanities, so I spent 2018 looking for old chest of drawers that spoke to me,  Two of the ones we chose had hideous pink marble tops.  Bill built new tops for them out of wood we reclaimed from Penny's old walls.  The spare/guest bathroom we decided to keep simple with white bowl and bronze fixtures to match the gorgeous old pulls on the drawers.  The mirror we had over our foyer table at our old house but decided that it really fit here... as you'll see later we didn't have a shortage of antique mirrors.

I should mention here that the drawers have all been cut for the plumbing.  It's a detail that the average person doesn't think about.  Most just think "cut a hole for the bowl and we're done"...  Plumbing goes down about the depth of two drawers.  He made two small drawers from each large one with a space hollowed out in between for the fixture.  The storage area in the spare bathroom vanity isn't a whole lot, but with the kids coming and going, it's just the two of us and only really needs to hold toilet paper.

For both of our master bathroom vanities we chose Mexican Talavera  pottery sinks that we bought online at La Fuente Imports (www.lafuente.com).  Took a minute to get both but we love the look.  We also chose two chests that had mirrors attached.  Bill's (above) has plenty of storage below for larger bathroom items (iron, cleaners, etc), and mine has plenty of drawers for everything a woman might need in toiletries.  The only thing I think I want to add to my area is a lighted magnified mirror on a swivel arm...

If I'm going to show the vanities, I guess I should show you the before and current look of the master bathroom.  We still have a bit more to do ~ bead board, crown molding and the window... but it's beginning to look like we dreamed it would and more.  From an adjoining bedroom to a master bathroom... the hardwood floors were carefully removed and used to replace the damage flooring in the kitchen.  Grey tiles found on clearance at Lowes were used on the floor.  See the "Tale of Three Mantles" blog to learn more about the hearth tile and mantle.  Pictures have been hung and the antique gas stove is in the corner with little lights in the firebox to provide ambiance through the mica windows.

On the other side of the room we removed the two closets.  Opened up the wall on the right to the master bedroom closet/electrical box and made the area for the shower.  An antique chandelier (similar to the chandelier that used to hang in the living room but the previous owner took with her), hangs above my dream claw-foot tub.  Once the windows are done, we will hang a large stained glass window in front of the bathroom window, and change the temporary curtain for something more appropriate.

Are you ready for the living room progress?  This here makes me sooo happy.  I get a cup of coffee and sit in my new old favorite chair (that gets refurbished in July)... between the fireplace, the wall of mirrors, the wall trim, and the trunk with mica lamp... I'm as happy as a pig wallowing in muck.  This is everything that makes us just sit back, relax and smile with pride in everything we've accomplished.

There's more, but I need to move more boxes before I take pictures that are blog worthy.  Perhaps I'll do a blog on the victory garden we're currently planting.  What's happening today in the world is so bloody terrifying.  It makes both of us grateful that we moved to the country.  I fear for us, for our family and for our friends around the world.  Please be safe.... social distance yourself from others.  My thoughts and prayers are with everyone reading this blog.  Stay safe.  God bless you all.

The Tale of Three Mantles

Y'all, can we talk?  Before you decide to take on a fixer upper, make sure you have 1) vision and 2) someone that can understand and implement that vision.  Bill and I discovered we excelled in that type of teamwork when we were up-cycling for our antique booth.  When we first walked through Penny... to say she was "rough" would be an understatement...  she was like a poor little girl who was given layers and layers of a bigger sisters hand me downs that never fit her....but we immediately felt the peace we could have with her.... she felt like home.  We both saw her potential and decided to make her be the beauty she was supposed to be.

Pinterest Idea

Before Living Room

Don't get me wrong now... I actually liked some of the concepts the previous owner had... it was the execution of those concepts that had us both scratching our heads.  The paneling in the living room wasn't horrid, it was just too dark for that small room and the 80's waterbed headboard on top of the fireplace just screamed Marge Simpson's hair-do.  I thought the fireplace was lost in that room.  It needed to be a focal point instead.  We removed the bad hair-do and the fake bricks then sat back and waited for the answer to what to do to come to us.

Living Room Today

Between junking at Antiques Unlimited, my favorite antique store in San Carlos, California , and Pinterest an idea started to formulate.  Through Facebook Marketplace we found a mantle similar to the one in Penny's master bedroom.  The original idea was to remove the mirror in the mantle and have Bill frame out one of the two German carved door panels I'd brought home from one of many shopping sprees with my mother...  Let's just say the guy at Antiques Unlimited instantly lights up when we walk in.  We rarely walk out empty handed.  But I digress...  When we started working on this project Bill was brainstorming how to frame the panel, and I walked up to the mantle and asked if we couldn't just attach the panel to the mirror and treat the mirror as matting.  One of the few times these past two years where I made his life easier...  Except he doesn't make it easier on himself... he didn't just clean the mantle up... he took it apart, sanded, stained and put it back together even stronger than it was before.  While he did that, I took the antique English and French transfer-ware tiles mom bought for Penny and tiled around the hearth (Bill gets credit for the floor of the hearth tiles)...  The final look with the antique sconces I purchased from an antique store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is so much better than the Marge-esque 80's look before.

Which lead us to what to do with the master bedroom and the other German panel... I loved this original mantle, which is why we went looking for the other.  This baby technically only needed a cleaning.... but Bill, being the perfectionist he is, again, took it apart, sanded, stained and made it stronger.  What was left of the antique transfer-ware tiles I used on this hearth too...  keeping the flow consistent in this small house.  Today, the final mantle was put in place.

Bedroom After

The master bathroom originally was a bedroom with a small white mantle.  Neighbors have told us they didn't know that there was a fireplace in this room because a bed was placed against the mantle as a headboard.  It wasn't substantial enough to attempt to keep for the house.  We found another mantle on Facebook Marketplace.  Bill took it apart, cut out the excess wood to give it better curves, then gave it a grey wash.  The hearth was covered by me with tiles I found at Habitat Restore for $20 a box of 10.  All in all, these fireplaces look so much better than they did two years ago when Penny became ours.

The next step for the three fireplaces is to put a trim around the hearth floor.  When we have some money again (Phase III) we'll start adding inserts to these fireplaces so we can use them.  Currently they are only ornamental.  We were quoted $10-15k per fireplace to fix the flues...  Inserts can be done for a third of the price.   When we get to Phase III we'll decide whether we want wood, electric or gas inserts.  There are pros and cons for all three.

Now one last thought before I end this blog... you might have noticed the painting of San Francisco above the living room mantle.  I found this beauty in Aptos, California, on another junking trip with my mother.  I removed the ugly brass frame and haven't had it re-framed for the five plus years I've owned it.  Bill is going to make a frame for it out of the scraps of wood we have from Penny's remodel.  It'll look like a transom over the fireplace.  I was staring at the space above the master bedroom fireplace today and decided that we need to honor Bill's Richmond, Virginia roots... We need an old print or painting of Richmond to go above this fireplace....   Richmond family... if you've got an answer to this, please let us know... otherwise I see us coming up soon after the old house sells to see if we can find the perfect piece. 

Five and Dime - It's Almost Time

With 2019 soon coming to an end, so too is Phase I of our farmhouse renovation (the remodel of the home's original footprint).  Phase II will be the addition (bedroom/laundry/master closet/garage and siding).  What's left to do in this phase is to install trim and bathroom fixtures, fill our propane tank and get inspections done.  We're close enough to begin to get excited.  I thought it would be fun to look back and see how far we've come.  When you put the pictures side by side it truly is amazing what we've accomplished.

First... the hallway and closet...  The ceilings had been lowered 2'.  During demolition we found the original bead board ceilings above.  We've kept the bead board ceilings throughout.  The french doors that were in this picture have been removed and are getting ready to be put in place as the wine closet doors.  This whole area is less claustrophobic... and the pantry door upgrade is fabulous.  I love our stained glass door panels.  Coming soon-ish in this area will be one of 4 transoms that will help define the rooms without taking away from the open flow/feel.

Speaking of claustrophobia and horrid flow...  The spare (hallway) bathroom used to have a water heater and washer to the right as you walked in... in front of you was a wall.  This room was a clusterfuck of dark maze tunnels, made darker by the cheap wood-like paneling.  There was nothing to be salvaged...  nothing to give to Restore...  nothing I'd offer to my worst enemy.  I really enjoyed tearing out those boards one by one.  I did it with a relish.  Thank God we did.  The amount of rot under the washing machine and water heater made us wonder how neither had sunk into the crawl space over the years.  It simply wasn't safe to put anything on let alone walk on.  This whole area had to have new floor joists. 

We removed the wall and the window.  The bathtub/shower was placed at the back end of the room.  To the left of the tub will be a small broom closet.  Bill took one of the chests I brought home and rebuilt the top.  A hole had been cut out and hidden by horrid pink marble.  The new top is made of wood that we pulled out of this home while remodeling.  We're all about upcycling/recycling.  He did an AMAZING job.  It's now waiting for our plumber to come over this next week to hook up toilets, vanities and other fixtures in the bathroom.  Once these are installed I'll bring down our antique linen closet to hold towels for this bathroom. 

Our master bathroom, formally the third bedroom, is undergoing a major transformation.  What was once a scary closet in the master bedroom that held years of really out of code and unsafe jerry rigged wiring is now our master shower.  I can stand facing the shower head, hold my arms out and not touch the walls.  Never again will either of us bang an elbow while showering... and when we're (MUCH) older we'll have room for a bench of sorts if needed.  When our plumber comes this week he'll also do the shower fixtures and, more exciting, the claw-foot tub will be officially installed.  I SO CAN'T WAIT for my first soak in that gorgeous tub.

The rest of the bathroom is coming along.  The original hardwood was carefully pulled up (by Bill) and moved into the kitchen to repair the kitchen floor.  We chose a large slate gray tile for both the bathrooms.  Since the house is small and open concept we're trying to keep the materials to a degree of uniformity.  We both felt it would look less busy and patch worked by keeping some elements of our design simple. 

Again, Bill is transforming old chest of drawers.  This one will be mine when complete.  It'll be on the wall to the left as you walk into the master bath.  Bill's vanity we'll be bringing down to the farm after Christmas for him to work on.  His matching Mexican talavera sink was just delivered.

After painting the entire house interior white I decided it just didn't look right in the bathroom.  It's such a large room that it needed something to make it cozier.  There'll be bead board along the bottom half of the walls.  The mantle is one we got locally that Bill refinished with a grey wash.  I brought a handful of paint samples and immediately thought we were 50 Shade's of Grey-ing our bathroom.  We compared the samples to the floor... the shower tile... the claw-foot tub... and found a color we liked that worked with all of them.  That uniformity really works... when you are standing in the bathroom and look out towards the kitchen you see the white walls with grey cabinets... The house is modern masculine with a bit of feminine bling throughout. 

Oh and that kitchen... That train wreck of dry your clothes while reheating your food kitchen... that let's change the type hardwood but not finish the project kitchen.  I'm pretty positive nothing makes Bill and I as excited about walking into this home as the transformation of this kitchen.  Again, the ceilings had been dropped 2'... we demolished those and Bill carefully brought the bead-board back into the kitchen ceiling.  The ugly window was replaced with a large garden window.  There is so much light in this kitchen now.  It's a happy place.

10' ceilings with lbl beams that are about to be wrapped with wood provided to us by the Longino's.  Thanks Jeff and Holly!!!  Katie and I started the aging and staining process this week.  With time to help Bill after Christmas, we should be able to get these up to add to the finishing glory of this room.  This week I also brought down the plate that hung in my grandparents kitchen (see the rose plate in the first picture).  It's waiting in a drawer to be ceremoniously hung above the window, where it was in their home.  The only thing missing in our kitchen now is our oven.  I'm waiting til the last possible second because this will DEMOLISH what's left of our budget/bank account.  I'm terrified to pull that trigger until I know we're moving.  Being land rich and cash poor isn't a fun experience.  I'm gonna have less hair and an ulcer by the time we get into that house and our current house is sold.

Bill is still at the farm this week working tirelessly on finishing the trim.  The early Christmas present he received (router) is helping him make beautiful craftsman trim.  It's so period appropriate.  I'm loving the look.  The previous owners had put crown above the trim but the clean streamlined Craftsman look is divine.  Bill is happy I think so because it's less work for him to do.  :)

Sometime in January or February (I've looked at my schedule and it's not looking like an easy task for January at the moment) I need to head out to California and figure out how to ship my grandfathers table.  Then Bill can work on building the banquette benches to go with it for the breakfast area in the kitchen.  Did I mention we are all getting excited as this first phase is drawing close to the end?  Even the dogs have come to check it out.  They approve of the yard but aren't sure of the paper on the floor.  We've told them that is only temporary.

I need to do two shout outs...  One to Cherie, who has been ever so patient with Bill coming and going... providing him a bed when he's down there... and making sure he's alive (literally), in one piece (maybe 4) and fed.  She's been an amazing sister wife during these crazy 22 months.  We couldn't have done this without her total support. 

The second is to my hub... who has been working his ass off during this time... trying to get this labor of love done for me and the kids.  He hasn't seen me enough in the past two years.  We've both been pushing through, taking care of both homes, the kids, the furbabies... and our jobs.  My mantra to him has been "It's a limited time.  It'll be over soon"... and "How can I help?"  The distance has sucked and it has been frustrating to not have the mad skills he has.  I've done my best to get him help where he can use it and accept it.  I'll meet you in the claw-foot tub baby when this is through.  I'll bring the bourbon.  I love you.

 To all of you.... Happy Holidays....  May you find peace and blessings this coming year.