November Goals

It is happening. The period of time after daylight savings time that seems like someone is pushing the fast forward button on life. It is gets darker so much earlier now, which makes the day zoom by, on top of what is already a busy month. I don't foresee us getting much done in November, but regardless, here is what we accomplished in October.

• Go to the NC State Fair - Yes! So crowded, though. Never again will I go on "can" night...
• Start plumbing @ Myrtle (not even going to kid myself it will get done this month) - Surprisingly, almost done!
• Start electrical @ Myrtle - Not yet
• Pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch - No pumpkin this year. :( We went to the beach instead.
• Determine if renters will renew lease... - Yes, they did! Hooray!
• Refinish Restore lights - Not yet, but I do have a plan

Ok, November. You are already packed to the brim with birthday celebrations, anniversaries, trips to the ocean and mountains, as well as Thanksgiving. Let's do this.

• Start electrical @ Myrtle
• Run in the OBX half with my sister and Brian (his first!)
• Meet my niece!
• Celebrate my Grandfather's 90th birthday
• Master a homemade Southern mac and cheese recipe (any suggestions?)
• Complete Christmas shopping

Lunching in Boone, NC

The last of my roses this year

Staying at my parents' condo in Atlantic Beach

Boat hopping in the VI! Brian and I are two of the ants in this photo.

Fall | Travels

October is almost over and what a crazy month it has been. Trips to the Caribbean, the mountains, High Point, and the beach this weekend. Even though it has been busy, it is hard to complain. :) Here are a few photos of our recent travels

The view from my sister and brother-in-law's home in Saint John. I have no idea why they want to live here. ;)

Their fur baby, Oscar.

Driving up the Blue Ridge en route to the Myrtle House

A detour to the Lake James Cellars Winery. Their fruit-infused wines were amazing.

The last of my David Austin Glamis Castle roses.

And the Myrtle House... looking exactly the same on the outside. Luckily the inside is starting to improve!

Framing | Myrtle House

Throughout this process of revitalizing the Myrtle House, I am pretty sure I have gone through approximately five floor plans. This is not because I am an indecisive person (which I very much am), but our plans for this house have changed over the last year of renovations. Initially, we were going to keep the layout basically as is to keep costs low. With the abundance of termite damage, we ended up replacing most of the studs, so we had to spend money on new walls regardless. Over the past few months, I have given different plans to our contractor, but this last one was decided as the winner and over the weekend we were able to see the framing up. Here is a quick little tour of the house layout.

When you walk in, this will be our formal dining room/entry. A bit unconventional to walk right into the dining room, but we knew it would work for us. This room felt cramped for a living room and I didn't like the idea of people being able to see right from the glass front door if we are watching TV. The big opening will hold the original French doors and will lead to the office/guest room. In this room is also a full bath and closet (shown here towards the right).

Still in the dining room, but now we are looking into the living room. The original plan was to leave this wall completely open, but due to the length of the span, building codes would not allow it. We ended up having to frame in narrow walls on either side, but I actually now love them and think they look more in line with how the house would have looked when it was built.

To the right of the dining room and front door through the new opening is the living room. This room also connects to the kitchen. Since the existing fireplace acts as a support, we are able to leave this space open.

You can see the corner of the doorway at the right of the photo above, but right off of the living room will be a powder room. This was originally a closet.

This is the view from the living room looking back into the dining room and front entry.

Next up is the kitchen! This room was previously used as a storage room, but was closed off like a bedroom. Under the three windows will be our sink, dishwasher, and cabinets the length of the wall. Where the ladders are will be the exterior door to the side (eventual) screened in porch and backyard. The framing next to the ladders will be where the stove, fridge, and more counterpace will be.

From the kitchen is a short hallway where you can access the two back bedrooms as well as the laundry room. To the left is the master, directly in front is the laundry closet, and to the right is the guest bedroom.

Going left into the master bedroom, here is what used to be the kitchen. We may eventually get larger windows, but for now, we plan on putting the headboard under the window to fill in that awkward space. The old brick chimney will be patched (hopefully) and probably painted to add a bit of texture to the room.

Now onto the master bath! Not a huge room, but enough space for a double vanity, tub/shower combo, and toilet. I love the slanted roof line that the master bath, closet, and guest bath will have.

The master closet is actually only accessible through the master bath. Brian didn't love this idea, but it was the only way to gain the maximum space in the bathroom (creating a doorway from the master bedroom would have eaten up about three feet of wall space). I think it will work. Again, not huge by today's standards, but it will be three times bigger than any closet we have ever had!

So that is the master! Now let's go back to the hallway off of the kitchen and go right into the guest bedroom. This is a small room, but it fits a queen size bed and dressing chest. I love the original tall windows in this room. The doorway visible leads to the private guest bathroom.

The window to the right is remaining. The other is being removed to accommodate a tub/shower and replaced with siding.

And here is one last shot of the kitchen/living room. Here I am standing in the small hallway from the bedrooms looking towards the front of the house. There is not enough room for an island, so we are going to center a little bistro table in front of the fireplace with a chandelier hanging from above. The perfect spot for a glass of wine while cooking dinner. :)

So that is it! What do you think of the layout? I think it will work really well for us right now, and if we decide to have children in the future (or just host fun sleepovers with my niece). :)

October Goals

So I just realized it is already the middle of October. Oops. However, it is never to late to have some goals for yourself! Here is how we did on our goals for the month of September:

• Finish subfloor - Done
• Finish framing (!!!) - Basically done! One or two walls left
• Finish plumbing - Not even close to starting. Those plumbers...
• Start electrical - Nope
• Go to the zoo.... - Yes!
• Set up at home office - The basics are done
• Go to an apple orchard - Yes. So much fun
• Attend a State football game - Yep

October has already been a busy month. I didn't mean to abandon the blog like I unknowingly did, but hey, sometimes life happens. We went on a very fun week-long vacation to the Caribbean to visit (and surprise) my sister. I also start working from home this week which has been interesting trying to get everything connected and set up. I also am due to become an aunt any day now. Lots of changes! With the few weeks left in the month, here are my goals.

• Go to the NC State Fair
• Start plumbing @ Myrtle (not even going to kid myself it will get done this month)
• Start electrical @ Myrtle
• Pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch
• Determine if renters will renew lease...
• Refinish Restore lights

Happy October! Before we know it, it will be Christmas time!

Subfloor excitement!

Gorgeous pre-fall run at the lake

Visiting the NC zoo

Wrapping up lighting selections

Stanley Chest Before & After | Vintage Furniture

This chest... Such high hopes for this little Stanley piece, but alas, it ended up being one headache after another. Before I go into details (and warnings for other furniture refinishers), here is the before and after.

It started off well. We cleaned, primed, and painted as normal. I loved how the paint color looked. It was the perfect shade of off-white.

I sparyed the hardware an oil-rubbed bronze and then highlighted the features in gold dry-brushing.

Still smooth sailing at this point. The last thing to do was a clear coat for protection and this guy was ready for a new home. I painted the clear coat with polyeurothane (mistake #1) at night (mistake #2). When I looked at it the next day, I found that my clear coat was streaky, had turned the color of melted butter, and looked terrible.

Ugh. So we did some research and found out that ployeurothane is not the right finish to use on light paint colors; you should use polyacrylic. All of the other furniture projects I have attempted were darker colors, so this was never an issue. The only option is to sand down, re-prime, paint, and clear coat. Ain't nobody got time for that. So it will stay as is - an "aged/antiqued" finish. Lesson learned.

*UPDATE: Some nice lady bought the piece to create dog beds out of the drawers. All is well in the world.

Subfloor | Myrtle House

We have floors! Beautiful, level, not-going-to-fall-through floors! Granted, said floors are simply plywood boards, but still. Quite an improvement!

I also found this old photo from March when we were still in the process of cleaning out the house. Both are taken from the same angle. You can tell there has been a lot of demo since then!

Yes, you are correct in seeing the ceiling is unlevel. The wood beam has completely been eaten by termites and is pulling down the beadboard. Hopefully with a few (hundred) nails, these will be securely in place again. When I first told our contractor I wanted to leave the brick fireplace exposed, he thought I was crazy (he confirmed this last week ;), but said that he now thinks it is going to be really neat. Framing is due to start this week!