House Renovation

I think with the state of the economy lately people are staying put rather than moving because I have had a few e-mails lately about the addition we put on our house last year at this time. So I thought I would answer the questions I have been asked with this post. The picture below is our house before the work started. We've lived here for 24 years and love the neighborhood. We're the last house on a dead end street and have great neighbors. So we knew we wanted to stay put.

We tore down the small one car garage and had a two car garage built with a room over it.My biggest worry was the transition from the house to the addition. This is the view from our kitchen/living room into the new great room. You have to go up 6 steps but it is a nice wide door and it feels like part of the rest of the house. We have french doors for the winter so we don't heat it if we are not using it.

The view from the great room to the kitchen is just as nice.

In order to save money we did much of the finish work ourselves including all the painting, all the woodwork (we still haven't installed the baseboards), the tiling and finish work on the fireplace, the bamboo floor installation, the house siding on the entire house, the roof and when I say "we" I mean mostly my husband! I did find all the furniture for the room which is all vintage or used.

So here's what it looks like after. We still have some landscaping to do. That's my husband chasing a barely visible grandson, Baby C, up the new driveway.

And after you're done having your 50-something grandparents chase you all over the street it's time for a nap.

To those who e-mailed me all I can say is we are really glad we did the addition. We had really small rooms for gathering before and it's nice to have a big room for large gatherings. We look at it now and it seems like it's always been here. But be warned-it took longer than we expected. We did stay on budget but I think that was due to a good contrtactor.So anyone considering construction, good luck and I'd be glad to answer other questions.

My New Fireplace

I finally have a finished fireplace in my new great room. I was complaining about it here and a couple of weekends ago we finally got going and finished the front of the fireplace.
To catch others up to date, last spring we torn down a one car garage, had a two car garage built with a great room over it that connects to our kitchen and living room. We did all the finish work ourselves to save money but somehow the fireplace was never high priority on the list of things to finish. It was a working gas fireplace but the front was not finished.We bought these slate tiles way back last July with only a general idea of what the opening and hearth size would be.
My husband did a great job tiling and we did not have to cut any tiles-they fit perfectly! It's almost as if we actually knew what we were doing but trust me, we were just sort of making it up as we went along. One of the things that we just decided on at the last minute was to buy textured wallpaper to put on the rest of the face to disguise the uneven surface underneath, rather than putting up drywall which would have put the surface too far out.
We painted it to match the walls and I think that is one of my favorite parts of the fireplace. And in the end guess how many tiles we had left over-4! These 4 lonely tiles which I decided we should make into a medallion and frame. I love it! We certainly have enjoyed sitting in this room with the fire going, watching the snow fall. It makes winter much more enjoyable. I hope your winter is enjoyable wherever you may be. Happy New Year!

The New Mantle

I now have three fireplaces after we put an addition on our home last spring and summer. And I love decorating mantles for Christmas so this was the first one I got decorated.I got everything white that I could find and propped them up here and I like how it looks. The large pitcher on the right comes from my aunt's farm and I treasure it. The other ones I bought at yard sales and consignment stores. This mantle is huge and the ceiling is high so after I had things set up I really wanted a mirror to prop up there for some height so I was about to go look in consignment store when I remembered the oak mirror that is part of a bureau in my daughter's old room. So off the bureau it came and up on the mantle it went and I love it. I think that's going to be a permanent resident there.
And yes, the plywood front on the fireplace is still there. When I asked my husband when we were going to finish the front of the fireplace he said, "I'm not ready yet"!! Now what does that mean? It pretty much still looks like this.
There is actually a gas fireplace in there though so at least I have that. Someday....

Baby C. Here!

Hi Everyone, Baby C. here!
I'm at my Gram's house! At the college she works at she has a new job this year and her very nice boss lets her work four days a week instead of five. That means I get to come stay at her house every Friday! Today it was really nice outside so we got to do one of my most favorite things in the world-go for a walk! So I thought I could show you my Gram and Gramp's neighborhood. My Gram and Gramp's house is the last house on the street so it's in a nice place to play.
We walked all the way to the dentist's office up the street so my Gram could pay the bill. She told me that she has spent thousands of dollars here, whatever those are, on my Daddy's and Auntie's teeth.
We went all the way to the top of the street. My Gram lives way down there.
While were walking a pretty leave fell on my stroller. Gram thinks it came from her neighbor's tree that is really pretty red and orange right now. They have a swing set in their yard. I hope my Gram and Gramps get one for me.
Then we were back at Gram's house.

They built a big room over their new garage just for me! I already have toys and my own table in there. I played with Gram in there almost all day today because I didn't want to take any naps. My Gramps is putting siding on it now but my Gram doesn't think he will ever be done. She is sick of seeing the siding with the word "tyvek" on it. Then my Mommy, Daddy, Gramps, Auntie and Uncle came over for dinner that my Daddy cooked but they wouldn't let me try it. It looked good. Bye for now. I hope you liked seeing my Gram and Gramp's neighborhood. See you next Friday.

I Wish I Could Paint, But Since I Can't...

I have always wanted to know how to paint and one of these years I'll get around to taking some lessons. Until then I find myself drawn to amateur paintings when I see them at thrift shops or yard sales and I have found a few this past year I love.

This first little painting I found at a consignment store near my daughter's house and since it was a scene of Cape Ann in Massachusetts, right near where I grew up, I fell in love with it. I have had it on my big giant mantle in my new family. Please ignore the glimpses of plywood you may get as we have not tiled the front yet.

I have had it resting with my daisy painting I got a while ago, along with a basket and a tray my MIL gave me.

And even though it was 96 degress yesterday, it is in the 60's today so it got me thinking about autumn and I decided to change the mantle today. I picked up these two paintings over the summer and stashed them away until now. I just love the colors in them. Soon enough we will have the same colors all around us outside here in NH.

I think it makes a pretty mantle for fall. I love having that big flat surface to decorate!

I've Been A.W.O.L.

Sorry for the lack of posts but we've been busy around here. I am back to work and we were furiously installing a bamboo floor, which I love, so not much computer time. Anyways, the floor is done thanks to some very good help.

Isn't great that I have a daughter who loves power tools! And don't worry-despite the wrong footwear no toes injuries were incurred. She is a handy young woman. She does a fair amount of repairs and installations in her own old home. Her husband was there helping too. The floor went in easily but these old backs are sore from bending over that nailer. Just when you think it's time to rest I made my husband move some furniture into the room.

We bought the chairs when we were in Maine and the table we bought quite a while ago in a local antique store. It matches the one in our kitchen. The china cabinet we have had for years and the rug under the table used to be my Mom and Dad's.The coffee table I found at a consignment store, the striped rocking chair in the forground used to be my grandfather's and I am going to attempt to make a slip cover with the blue fabric. The great black phone, which I call Big Bertha because it is very heavy, used to be my mother in law's who decided not to take it with her when she moved. It's very difficult to dail a number with those old rotary dails!This craftsman style desk has been cut down so we got it for a good price and are going to use it for a large television. The little table and chairs are for my grandson.

The hearth here is two inch slate tiles which will get installed and grouted at a later date. There will also be the same tiles surrounding the fireplace and some sort of wood trim. We haven't thought that through completely yet.

And here is my sideboard which I have been loading up with some of my many dishes.
I hope you enjoyed this little tour. We are thrilled to have a room that more than a few people can fit in without being on top of each other as they were before in our tiny living room. We are looking forward to many happy celebrations here. Wish you all were here!

We're Getting There

Finally we are getting along with the family room addition and since I have had a number of questions about it by e-mail I thought I would answer them here. The room is 22 x 26 and has a cathedral ceiling which I am not sure how high it is but it is not super tall. There is a two car garage underneath. The french doors got installed this week so this is how we enter the room from our kitchen and living room. The carpenters are almost done and then we are doing the rest of the finish work to save money starting with a bamboo floor. We already had a painting marathon so it's nice to have that out of the way.
Looking back once you are in the room you can spy my kitchen.
And what is that in the left hand corner of the first picture? I have been looking forever for a sideboard and I found one in an antique store in NH that I fell in love with.
We also did a bunch of antiquing when we were in Maine and here are a couple of my finds. We bought 6 of these matching chairs which are so similar to the ones I already have. They still have a label on the bottom that shows that they were made in NH in the early 1900's. And I love the lines of the plant stand that I found.

Then one last find is this little child's table that I found at a local thrift shop this week. Perfect for my grandson as he gets older. I already have children's chairs to go with it. I also finally found a coffee table for the new family room at the same thrift shop but couldn't fit it into my Beetle so I have to go back this weekend with something bigger! Maybe I should get a truck-or maybe not-I'd come home with way too much!

Construction Update

It has been quilte a while since I wrote about the construction we are having done on our house here and here. I thought I'd be decorating by now! Things are going slower than we expected and I guess that is typical for construction projects. Luckily that is my only complaint at this point as the work that is being done is excellent. Here is the view from the kitchen into the addition. There will be a 4 foot wide glass french door-this is just a temporary door.

I meant to take a before picture of this wall but they cut through it before I was expecting and I never got my picture. But I think you can kind of see it in the back ground of this picture. I used to have my china cabinet there but that will be moved into the new room. You go up six steps to get into the room. We had to have the steps up into the room because there is a two car garage underneath.

The big box on the wall will be a gas fireplace. The view from in the room back into the kitchen will be wide open once the french doors are installed making this room feel like part of the house. I've been picking up furniture here and there this summer so eventually it will be in here. Once the drywall is up we are doing the finish work like painting, flooring, trimwork and siding so we have a lot of work ahead of us. So, tomorrow insulation, after that drywall, then doors and the last list of things and then it's ours to finish.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Now you see it,

Now you don't!

As you can see our construction project has started. We are having a two car garage built with a family room above. That white door you see is the door to the kitchen which will become double french doors opening to a staircase that will go up 6 steps to a big open family room. All the rooms in my house are small so I am excited to have a large room where everyone can gather. My husband is anxious to not have to scrape ice and frost ever again in the morning.

I am looking forward to filling the room with furniture and accessories, none of them new! I have already found a large dining table, a craftsman style desk that someone cut down that I plan on using to put a tv on, and a side table. I know I can furnish and decorate with thrifty finds and I am challenging myself to do that. Now if only the cats would stop scratching at that kitchen door to go into the garage that isn't there anymore!