The Downtown Farmhouse

I have not worked on any construction sites. Who knew how important the clean up crew is? You can’t just be the talented person who knows how to build stuff or the designer who makes things beautiful. On the back side of all that beauty there is dirt and dust and plaster and lath. Gross on top of gross. I can’t get over how much garbage we have created. We ordered our 7th construction dumpster to be delivered this week. I’m not talking little dumpsters, I’m talking 20 yards of serious and might I say expensive trash.

The mess is never ending. There are always piles to pick up. We must be uglier before we can move ahead with the plan. I’m good with being the clean up crew. Me and Bea the Machine!!! Here is a typical pile.

Here is the mess maker. Yes he has socks on his arms. That will have to be a later story

This shovel and broom are my best friends. If that shovel had costs $1000 it would have been worth it.

I definitely DO NOT need to go to the gym. I no longer have under arm flab (you women know what that is) and I am building man shoulders with all the shoveling. I am not sure that is helping with my cuteness.

Love

Popeye arms in the future

The “Big House” has mostly the original windows. They are super gross but so cool at the same time. They are wood. They will all need to be removed and repaired, glass replaced where needed and keeping them has been a compromise. I wanted them and Steve caved. They were a non-negotiable. They belong in the house. Here they are in the future study/music room.

Windows in the apartment were complete mish-mash. I think the previous owners must have found and installed whatever was available.

Obvious by the pictures.

We have ordered new and improved 2015 windows that will match the original 1903’s. They will have wooden screens built for them just like the originals. They will make the apartment not look like a separate – add on but an extension of the beauty the original house possesses.

I might have stomped my foot a little and pouted but the windows will stay!!

the old window lover

When you buy an old house in an old neighborhood, there is something called a Preservation Board. You must get approval for any changes made to the exterior of your home. This includes an application, a fee (of course there is a fee) and a meeting you are required to attend. We submitted the application in October for windows and doors.

We attended the required meeting this week at City Hall. We sat in what looked like a court room with seats and a podium. However instead of a judge, there was a committee sitting behind a wall with their little name placards and everything.

These people were holding our future home wishes in their hands. If they said no…..what would we do? We had ordered the windows already!!! Yes, that was taking a chance but really? We are taking the home back to it’s original look instead of mish-matched, ugly windows. So we sit with our book of pictures and application in hand. I even looked cute just in case it helped.

It’s our turn

We stand

We walk to the podium. You must be at the podium to speak.

We state our name and address (which address do you say when you live at one house and own another?) I just stand there smiling and looking cute. Steve is way more professional than I am

People are smiling? What are you smiling at? Do you know something we don’t know? I’m starting to sweat.

A lady on the committee speaks. She states the reason for our request. She put pictures of our house on the tv’s for all to see. Who in the world would want that nasty, dirty house? She describes each and every picture. The windows we will be replacing, the doors.

All of the committee are looking at our file. Do they like our choices? Do they realize we already bought the windows? Who spilled the beans?

Another lady speaks. She says that she has some e-mails from the surrounding neighbors. Oh crap I get scared. She reads the first one. It says “We are so excited for the new owners of this home.”  She then reads the second one. It was super long!!! In a nutshell it said that she was so excited that we would be her neighbors and that we would be such a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Our house has been so abused and that the neighborhood would be a better place with us in it.

Hold back the tears. We know we are good people. We know that we will make a difference. We know that God gave us that house and we will do whatever He tells us to do with it.

I look at the committee and thank them. One smiles back. She will be our neighbor as well as three others on the committee.

We are approved!!! Oh thank God. We just spent a whole lot of money on those windows!!!  They even gave some great ideas for the porch. Steve said “great…..”

Of course, now that the scary part is over I had something to say. “We will see you soon. We have a lot of work to do and I guarantee we will be friends.”

Another hurdle complete. Next……..Rezoning meeting is this week.

the cute sweaty girl.

We have moved demo upstairs. There are 2 apartments, which includes 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, 5 rooms and a hallway that need attention. On the first floor, we have been filling up the wheelbarrow with the plaster and lath and wheeling it out with sheer muscle. We are currently on our 6th dumpster. Upstairs creates a whole other issue. I am just a small woman and will not be able to wrangle a wheelbarrow down the steep, narrow set of stairs that we currently use. I’m tough but even I have my limits.

My husband is so smart. He figures it out. We needed a chute to dump plaster from the second story into the dumpster. We tear it up, we dump it into buckets, we climb out the window, we step out onto the porch roof, we dump it in the chute and BOOM, it’s in the dumpster.

When the two guys were standing the 16 foot chute up, they needed pure muscle to man handle the chute while they placed it in the dumpster. I’m your girl. Grrrrrr.

Love.

the chute wrangler.

Last week when I showed you this  cart full of 2 x 4’s from Lowes

I think I might have given the wrong impression. It’s still exciting, and yes we are still moving forward with the 800 square foot apartment. We have newly constructed 2 x 4  walls, windows have been ordered, the kitchen cabinets have been ordered, architect drawings are on the way and so much has progressed. HOWEVER!!!! The other 3200 square feet of house is still pending. Here is a sneak peak of what’s going on now. We still have a lot of gross, disgusting kitchen cabinets to remove.

and a lot of plaster and lath to remove. Do you see the railing in front of the door. What the heck?

this whole wall of lath has to be removed. Calling the lath whisperer.

and then there are the stairs. Oh the stairs……

If I was unclear about where we are in the process of renovation, I do not think there is any question now. We are 6 weeks in, 6 construction dumpsters full and still happy every day.

Love,

The family that demo’s together

A friend came to the house on Sunday to measure for kitchen cabinets. He brought his sweet daughter. She wanted to see the chaos if you can believe it.

I asked her if she wanted to be the first person to write on our walls. Blessings if you need a title. She said YES!!! I asked her if she had a favorite bible verse. She said YES!!! I asked her if she knew it from memory, she said YES!!! Find me a sharpie, quick.

Here is what I got. Gather your tissues. I could not be happier. I let her pick wherever she wanted to write in the whole house. She picked the wall that will be directly behind our bed. Perfect.

love,

still need a tissue every time.

I am all about HGTV’s Fixer Upper, Joanna Gaines and should be bff’s.  I was so completely jealous of anyone who was able to attend the Silobration in Waco Texas this weekend. If you are not a Fixer Upper watcher, catch up people.

However this weekend we uncovered a banister. It’s in poor shape just like the rest of our beautiful house but I instantly quoted Nicole Curtis from Rehab addict. She pulled drywall and she found a stairway banister and spindles. She yelled in her very new england accent “Why would anyone cover that up????” Even ugly, it’s exciting and it also means WE MOVED UPSTAIRS!!!! More demo but it’s ok, we are moving on up. I think the hammer and Dad have become one.

the continued demo crew,

Steve, Charma, Pee Wee and Bea.