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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

May I whine???

It's been a rough week. We are in finish mode, so problems at this point are all big issues. We wake up every day knowing that there will be at least three forest fires to put out when we get to the house. We are emotionally and physically exhausted. We feel we are in a constant, daily fight for "our" house. I don't have the energy to tell you all the problems, and quite honestly I just can't bear to put them in writing because it makes them all too real. Let's just say my face has broken out, I don't sleep , I have fever blisters and my back is doing this stress thing it does... goes out for no reason, well other than stress that is! Needless to say I am very purdy!! Okay, now I'm done with the whining (but not the wine!) portion of this post. Thank you for your patience!

I will now show you some good things that have happened around the house!


As I mentioned in my Kitchen Ingredient post I found some reproduction hardware that are a near perfect match to the original antique iron bin pulls that are on the built-in to the right of the kitchen fireplace. They arrived today and are perfect! They are unfinished brass and I will paint them to match the iron. I ordered some other pulls from another company that were similar and were actually iron, but the detailing on them wasn't as crisp, so I went with the brass. They will go on the island. The hardware on the perimeter cabinets is polished nickle. Did I mention they're solid brass and $5.69 each! Such a lucky find!




From the same company, House of Antique Hardware, I found these great brackets that I will add to the sink side of the kitchen! I love how they change the feel of the room.



Door on the right is the door that I designed/drew out for the french doors in the kitchen and the master bedroom. The door on the left is what I got. Hellllloooooo..... can you say 'not to scale?' Oh my head! The corrected doors were installed today. The doors open out. We talked about out-swing doors, but I decided I wanted them in-swing somewhere along the way. I told GC this, but somehow this didn't get told to the window/door company (and what a surprise GC doesn't seem to 'remember' this conversation!)... I will say; however, (and please don't tell my GC!) that I am really liking them! They take up less space inside and from my research they are the norm in Europe! We have lots of wind at our house, so I am working on how to secure them while open.


All of the floors in the farmhouse (with the exception of the new Carlisle floors in the dining room, the kitchen and the master bath) have been stained and have four coats of low VOC tung oil on them. The minute they were able to be walked on (booties only at this point) the painters moved in to do finish coats, so I don't have many pictures. This is one of the guest bedrooms.



This is the dining room. The floor in this room had been changed to oak at some point. The rest of the house is pine, so we took it back to pine. Come to find out we have a mix of flooring, which was common as they would use whatever was available to them at the time. The whole process has been a huge leap of faith as the stain literally changes throughout the entire process. I really like and trust the floor guy who was recommended by Carlisle, thank goodness! My goal is a medium brown with yellow/gold undertones showing through. Because we have lots of red pine mixed with our eastern white pine it first read RED! Floor guy kindly returned my phone call last Saturday night when I called in a panic because my floors looked red! He assured me (mind you he had already told me this, but 'seeing' it made me forget everything I had heard!) that the floor would change color throughout the staining and layers of tung oil, and then even after it was dried the color would settle down and the color would evolve. And I'll be darned if it doesn't have more golden tones than it did just two days ago. Again... a huge leap of faith! In the end the floors are really beautiful, and work well with the paint colors (I promise a paint post is coming!)


New floor going down in the master bath just today! Isn't the beadboard sweet?!

20 comments:

  1. Anyone who is making construction decisions should find your blog!! Thanks for taking us all along so we can learn from your expertise and talent. Lovely house!

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  2. Oh my darling J.,
    I do feel your pain - I truly do....I give you so much credit for seeing your vision through and not caving in. Sometimes they just beat you down but you have stuck to your guns - WOO HOO!! It will all be worth it. I know that you know that I know that you know you are right. Got It ?

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  3. Oh, you are so allowed to whinge. Please make me not be the only building blog constantly whinging! Your physical description described me to a T!!!! Breakouts, no sleep, sore back! Wow, it really does take a physical toll.... and yes problems at this stage are big issues! The positives - it's all looking so beautiful - the floors, the beadboard, your handles, your doors, your brackets. The detail is perfection! Chin Up! There is someone all the way over the other side of the world who understands exactly what you are going through! A-M xx

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  4. Be my guest, go right ahead dear Joan & whinge away! Like A-M you have such passion & enthusiasm for what you are creating & that's wonderful. There's not enough of it by far in this world that seems to accept mediocrity as the norm. But in spite of your rough week you can still embrace the +ve's & so can we.

    The colour of the floors is perfecto! The repro. bin pulls just delightful! Those French doors (Mk.2) scrumptious - you get the point here! Next week will be better - you'll see.
    Millie ^_^

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  5. You know what they say...it is worst at the end (well I say that as I work with pregnant women)...transition in labor is the hardest but shortest part...but you know you are coming to a beautiful, gratifying end.

    You are birthing a whole house, dear Joan...you are entitled to say (go ahead scream it) OUCH!


    Everything looks beautiful!!

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  6. Joan,

    Everything you've posted looks really good. Those doors, the hardware, the floors, the beadboard - all of it. But, yes, I totally understand what you are feeling right now. Stick to your guns.

    How's Ella doing through all this?

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  7. The photos looks amazing-- and if you can,take a step back and realize how far you've come and how stunning the end product is shaping up to be. I LOVE the brackets for the kitchen- they add so much... and amazing find on the hardware!I've said it before, but I'm still swooning over all your floors and I just adore the beadboard.
    Sorry for all the recent headaches and stress... you are doing the most beautiful transformation though. Stay strong and heck, break out the shaker and some olives if needed ;)

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  8. Oh my! Do I have the perfect flag for you to hang on your doorstep. (I have a picture of it that I posted on one of my very first posts) It says "Wine a bit - you'll feel better!"
    Deep breath . . . relax . . . and think about the finished product. You are going to have just a a gorgeous home. Yes the journey is tough, but it will be well worth it. Positive thoughts Girl! You are in the home stretch!
    Don't you just love GCs? I am currently helping my friend redo her beach house. It is a 1920's spanish style home. Small rooms, no storage, you get the picture? We just had a new kitchen installed. Kept everything to period, and the other day drove down to check it out and walked in to the most "country" crown molding you could ever imagine. "Hello? Who - not I - told you to put that up?" It looks awful. And it was expensive and time consuming I'm sure. But you don't add an 8" crown in a small, simple, spanish kitchen. My friend looked at me and said "Mike (her husband) is going to kill me." We left it. We're going to try painting it the same white as the walls and the ceiling and hope it'll disappear. We'll see!
    So. Once again - deep breath. It's worth every zit, every ache. 3 months from now, you'll be sipping a really good Pinot Noir and not giving your GC another thought!
    GOOD JOB!!! HAGD! Karen

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  9. Joan, It will all be so worth it when you are finished! The house will be wonderful because of your knowledge and attention to detail. I am going to email you back soon - AFTER this week, for your sake - and tell you some more small world Dallas tidbits! Hang in there.

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  10. It is looking absolutely wonderful and all of those little details that are driving you crazy..... totally make the house your home. I can so relate to where you are... it is the pain just before you sprint into the home stretch.. there is light at the end of the tunnel and many many wonderful nights of sleeping in your lovely new home.

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  11. The floors look fabulous! Unbelievable view from those double doors!! Is there anyway to have screen doors on those double doors too for nice weather? I think it would be wonderful! I LOVE screen doors!

    Your anonymous sister ;)

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  12. Mary, A-M, Millie, Linda, Kathleen, Julia, Karen, Ann and Diana--- I cried (okay, sobbed) when I read each of your kind,sweet, supportive comments. I can not express to you my gratitude for your understanding and support. You have gotten me through some rough days. The fact that friends that I have never even met could support me from all across the globe makes me stop to see the magic in this world. You are all so dear to me for taking the time to rally around me when I was down. I thank you so very, very much.

    Anonymous- thank you for your sweet comment! I am honored to have you here.

    Anonymous Susan- we could do invisible screens, but there are so many other windows with screens in each room that in the end we probably won't, at least not initially.

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  13. Joan:

    I hope that your week has ended on an up note. Your house has become such a home.

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  14. Cindy- you are so nice; thank you....
    Actually, it "did" end on a up note. We went to Maine today (to get away from the project and to antique shop!)and made a good find! I need to do a post on all of our Maine finds, we have really good luck there! Happy Weekend to you. j.

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  15. Keep heart and take a break when you need it - and all will be fine I feel sure. Happy Easter and have a wonderful weekend, xv.
    (I have strange problems with google too!)

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  16. I mean I LOVE the look of double screen doors on the right kind of house, and yours is it. Remember the movie "What about Bob?"? The house on Lake Winnipesaukee had double screen front doors, I think. LOVED it!

    Your Anonymous sister ;)

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  17. Hello there!
    What a gift you're giving to this old house. It's going to be a wonderfully warm home, thanks to all of your attention and detail. I can see that. Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's a small world. You talked about Amica's -- the pizza place -- in Salida , where lines still wrap around the front door on many occasions. I'm in Galveston now but will head back to CO soon. If you're ever in the neighborhood, come by our store and say hello! Good luck with everything! -susan

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  18. Hey there! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving such nice comments ;) I had to chuckle...you said that your mom lives in Oak Harbor, so does my MIL! Such a small world. Love what you're doing with the house...absolutely fabulous - I too am a huge fan of old homes...so much history and you wonder about the lives and stories. I've been popping in and checking on your progress almost since you started the blog...love it here...great blogging!

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  19. We need a blog update. The colors you are using! I want to maybe use a few for me.

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  20. Hi Joan,

    What a beautiful job you did restoring this wonderful farmhouse! Your attention to detail has truly paid off and I thank you for sharing it with the world! I am beginning a restoration of my own albeit on a much smaller scale. I am researching how to refinish an original staircase and am considering using Tung Oil. I was wondering if you might be willing to share the details of what your refinisher used on your staircase and flooring? Any information would be very much appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Sara

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Welcome! Thank you for leaving a comment; you have no idea how much your comments inspire me to keep writing- I appreciate each and every one. Comments are moderated by me prior to publishing on the blog, so if you don't see your comment post immediately it will be posted as soon as I receive and read it. joan