One year in/The Big Catch Up Post

Sunday night Brent and I snuck out for a date night at Flank, which was actually where we had gone for a date night shortly after having our offer accepted on this house a little more than a year ago.

It was delicious again, by the way - totally recommend.  It being a Sunday night in the summer, the restaurant was basically dead - sad for the restaurant, but lovely for us and the very helpful bartender whom I think (hope?) we saved from tears of boredom.

We started the evening (ok, it was late afternoon) with making a list of everything that has changed in the house in the past year.  Then I looked at the blog...and realized that I hadn't mentioned about...80% of the list. So here's us picking up where I left off LAST OCTOBER.  If you want a bigger post about any of the projects breezed through here - let me know in the comments and I'd be happy to oblige. In the meantime, this post is to get the list up here, and I promise to pick up with our current project in full sentences - The Library. Ok, so here we go! In the last year, here's what has happened to the house so far.

Landscaping and Irrigation and Outdoor Furniture

Front Door and Shutters
Brent has stripped the front door back to its beautiful natural state. He also took down the existing shutters, repaired them, and painted them a crisp, glossy black.

Roof Repairs and Chimney Capped
Historical Slate Roofers inspected our roof and made some repairs that were sorely needed, as well as replaced the roof over the porch and capped the chimney.

Window Restoration

• Fred Sullivan of FPP Window Restoration and Insulation Services has restored all windows on the first and second floors (minus the kitchen) between last summer and this summer
• This means they all function and have been cleaned up/adjusted to work to best advantage
• We also restored the Palladian window in the master bathroom with frosted glass instead of clear for an added layer of privacy and uniform look.
  

Foyer
My mother-in-law was patient enough to tackle my first-ever stenciling project with me over Christmas...it was definitely an eye-opening experience and a test of patience. I'm very pleased with how our focal wall came out! The deep green is color-matched to Ralph Lauren's British Racing Green. I have some plans to change out the rug and console table to have some lighter contrast against the dark paint and wood trim.

Powder Room

• Ceiling pulled down, insulated, and replaced
• Crown molding installed
• Walls fixed
• Heater cleaned up and painted
• Window and trim painted (Benjamin Moore White Dove)
• Walls from...brick/blood red to Benjamin Moore Gentleman's Gray
• Shelves from CB2
• New toilet paper holder and towel ring
• Ugly tile floor covered under a Home Goods find.
• Mirror, sink and toilet are temporary placeholders

Mudroom

• Ceiling pulled down
• Spray insulation installed
• Ceiling replaced
• Walls repaired
• Painted Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (which was mistakenly purchased when we painted the Living Room...)

Butler's Pantry

• Countertop replaced last summer with Carrara marble
• Under-cabinet LED lighting installed (by electrician)
• Walls and ceiling repaired and painted (walls are Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue to match Dining Room)
• Mirrored tiles are going into the back of the cabinets to: 
• increase the light and apparent width of the room
• add some pizzaz
• avoid extensive and tedious plaster repairs at the back of the cabinets :)

Dining Room

• Wallpaper stripped (painfully)
• Walls repaired, primed and painted Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue.
• Lamps for the buffet and green end chairs scored at Home Goods

• I'm still saving up for my dream wallpaper to go into the framed panels...

Living Room

• Wallpaper scraped (painfully)
• Walls repaired and painted twice after a paint buying oops.
• Final color is Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
• Couch, chair, rug, stools, tables, lamps purchased
• Throw pillows in the fabric of above wallpaper etsy-ed
• Final decorating touches will be happening once the library is done, as right now the living room has most of its furniture in it.

Liz's Office

While I have yet to fully settle into my office/unpack all of the boxes from the move, it has been painted an furnished. Here is my Pinterest Inspo Board for the space. Brent repaired the ceiling and walls last fall which got a fresh coat of Warm Blush Benjamin Moore paint.  I put in a daybed with trundle for use by guests, and got two console tables, a new rug and curtains, and am still happily using my grandmother's desk. Hopefully I can make some headway in unpacking before school starts up again...hopefully.

2nd Floor Bathroom

Removed and reinstalled ceiling

Vent/light combo installed

Repaired walls

Cabinet from living room relocated for storage

Painted Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray

This room was all Brent, including picking out the paint color. I personally think it reminds me of a Parisian Bistro/Bar with the black and white tile, dark walls, and touches of dark wood. - are we surprised? I have yet to find artwork for above the tub - any suggestions?

Lighting Switches

As we work through the spaces and live in the house, it has been come very clear which areas need dimmers, so little by little we are installing them. They really are game-changers for the ambiance and the frequency that you will actually turn a light on. For example, the upstairs hallway light is TOO bright at full strength, and was therefor rarely used...until Brent changed the switches! Currently we have dimmers in the:

• main entryway
• living room
• dining room
• bulter's pantry under-cabinet lighting
• kitchen
• stairway sconces
• hallway lights upstairs
• all bedrooms
• master bathroom

Phew...

I'm sure I have forgotten a few projects here and there, but I can finally cross update the blog off of my to-do list!

Your next installment will focus on The Library. In the meantime, you can check out my Pinterest board dedicated to it here.  The room has been cleared out, and a high-powered vacuum and sander have been purchased..

Thanks for reading, and please let me know if you want more info on a project of where I got something.

Window Restoration Begins

The decision to restore, rather than replace, the windows on the front of the house (at least) was a no-brainer.  The 8 windows on the front facade are curved, and gorgeous.  Brent could work his way through the windows one at a time and I'm sure do as every bit a great job, but knowing that we need to button up this house energy-wise ASAP, we decided to hire professionals to tackle this in stages. The first stage began today and will include the 12 windows of the front two rooms on both the first and second floor (each has two front-facing and one side window).

 This is how the windows started out today:

 No windows!

Chains replaced the broken ropes attached to the weights.

Here is how they currently look. The glazing (currently white) will be painted black as well after it sets.

I think they look amazing.  And to be able to open them (the ones in the living room were not functional until today) is fantastic. There remain two big projects/costs associated with the windows: storm windows and screens.  We are leaning towards internal storm windows (and separate screens) for the 8 curved windows to maintain the aesthetics.  Any external storm will involve boxing the window, taking away from the smooth curve. We will probably go with traditional storms on the flat windows.  And we better get cracking...winter will be here before we know it and these gorgeous sources of natural light will be cursed portals for our precious heat to escape through. 

Why did you paint the outside of the windows black you might ask? What is your long-term plan for the exterior of the house?  Well, they key word here is LONG term plan. Unfortunately, that siding and the porch are far down on a long list of big ticket items including the kitchen and hvac. 

I have it in my head that the house wants to be a forget-me-not blue/purple/gray that I associate with one of my favorite movies (and books) of all time - Little Women. While I know the famed Orchard House predates our home and is brown, there is something about the color of Jo's dress in the last scene and Meg's (too casual) gown that make me want to dress this Lovely Lady up in a soft cloud of violet/gray/blue. 

In this case, the exterior will have a mix of: the to-be-found dream color, black shutters and white trim with a stained wood front door. Having spent way too much time today getting a very messy rendering on benjaminmoore.com...here's the general idea:

That's not the perfect color, but I think it at least shows the dark shutters, what our door might look like in its natural glory after Brent strips the yucky blue paint off, and the contrast of white trim to black details.  Do you happen to know the perfect dusky, not-too purple, not-too blue, but definitely not gray color?  I refuse to even break out the fan decks knowing how far off this project is, but at least the windows in the front are on their way to looking their best!  We might do a phase-one redo next spring/summer where we strip the door, and paint the shutters and trim to obliterate all blue while we live with the white siding. While some conservationists will cringe, I also don't think all the windows will get restored..some will most likely get replaced for cost and efficiency reasons, but definitely not the front of the house, dining room, or landing.  I think after phase one and winter #1, we'll have a better sense of what the best solution is.  Personally, I'm ready to put replacement windows on the 3rd floor now - thank you MassSave and the fact that it needs every heating and cooling advantage we can give it.

The first 12 windows should be done by the weekend! I'll post some more pics when they are all done.