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The pain is fading

By on Nov 9, 2014 in Addison's Bedroom, Back Porch, Bonus Room, Cellar, Dining Room, First Floor, Foyer, Guest Bathroom, Guest Bathroom, Guest Bedroom, Kitchen, Living Room, Master Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Master Closet - Hers, Music Room, Office - Hers, Office - His, Pantry, Powder Room, Renovation, Third Floor, Upstairs Landing, Wine Cellar | 13 comments

Benjamin Franklin summed it up perfectly: “There are no gains without pains.” Walking through our home today, I felt the pain leaving me. I’ve joked with many folks about what this renovation has been like. It’s felt like a bad pregnancy – painful and uncomfortable. But now that we see that sweet, beautiful baby – it’s all been worth it. Now our feelings are that of excitement and joy. We’re probably about 95% done. This next week is moving, punch, lots of the last steps of contractors. It’s going to be a zoo. But it will be well worth it. I was able to snap photos of the home today – almost complete with the last coat of poly on the floors. Here is the living room. The dining room towards living room The dining room towards music room and living room Dining Room towards kitchen Music room Kitchen Powder Room Pantry Kitchen...

It only took 11 years to get off the street

By on Nov 5, 2014 in Landscaping | 0 comments

When we purchased our home in 2003 the owners were going to take out our cute little miniature cherry tree for a parking pad. Thankfully we got there in time and saved it. It had always been on our agenda to create a parking pad. Then life happened. Here we are 11 years later – and we finally have off-street parking! We worked with our neighbors as we had to repair the damage our project had caused on their driveway. We came together with a design that would work together, and not be so much concrete. Additionally we did not want something impervious. Jose and his bobcat came back. The crew lined up the forms. Then the concrete truck came and started to pour.   The finished product – curing. This week Jose and his crew were back and added a nice old-world touch to the apron. The cobblestones provide a nice, vintage touch. We are all very pleased how it turned...

Riddle me This – Part 2

By on Nov 4, 2014 in Cellar, Wine Cellar | 0 comments

We had a little last minute change in the cellar. (And I am so glad that happened.) In order to cover it up, we decided to have a riddling rack wall made to store our wine. Form and function unite! We consulted with Kara O’Brien, who specializes in historic renovations and has a custom woodworker, and we came up with this cool idea. Kara sourced the wood from a 1740’s Kentucky bourbon distillery and from an 1840’s Athens cotton mill. Ryan came up with the great idea of painting the wall black so no concrete would show through the openings. Kara did a good job of teasing us along the way with pictures of the work in progress. We’re also making a barn door out of this in the kitchen for a little personality. All I can say is WOW! It turned out amazing. Our wine cellar has turned out far better than we originally planned, and the drywall piece and water filtration...

Running on Fumes

By on Nov 2, 2014 in Cellar, First Floor, Kitchen, Pantry, Wine Cellar | 0 comments

There have been many times I’ve said this very thing this year with so much going on. After visiting our project today, I can say I feel it. Walking into our home today smells like a can of turpentine. Between the new cellar concrete stain and the hardwood stain, 10 minutes will get you high as a kite. ( it doesn’t seem to phase our guys!) We wanted an old world look for the cellar.  So we opted with a dark acid wash satin on the walls and floor. The blank will is where we’ll install the riddling rack. This room is going to be amazing when it is complete!  It is a bit of a challenge to stain new pine to match the historic heart pine. Our builder has a stain mixologist that studied wood in college and stain. He came up with a six-step process to match our stain. We left our Halloween candy for the guys because they are working all weekend. The stain is coming together...

A hole in my heart

By on Nov 1, 2014 in Misc | 2 comments