IN PROGRESS

After almost ten months, three seasons, and the birth of our daughter -- the blog is back! And even though this blog's been quiet these past few months, there are LOTS of house updates to share. I thought I'd start with the project that's currently in progress: the downstairs office and bathroom. These two rooms, located just off of the Great Room (read: the home of the stuffed beaver), were in desperate need of a complete renovation. Think peeling wallpaper, uneven floors, drafty windows, and a nonfunctional bathroom (see above). The bathroom, previously with a cramped shower and crumbling hex tiling, is being turned into a half-bath, with quarter-sawn oak flooring, sheetrock walls, and new plumbing fixtures. The office oak floors have been re-leveled and refinished and the plaster walls are being repaired and then painted. Both rooms will have new, energy efficient, 12 over 12 double-paned windows. See below for progress photos -- we love the contrast of the old refinished floor with depressed black caulk and the new, perfectly level bathroom oak floor with the prominent ray flecks.
 
+ BEFORE

AFTER

 

 

SUMMER HOURS

 
Yikes! I'm realizing over a month has passed since the last posting. It's been such a busy spring, and we're having trouble staying on top of it all. Given that it's Memorial Day weekend -- and feeling a lot like July weather -- I thought it appropriate to give an update on the porch, our new favorite place to be. The large, east-facing screened-in porch was one of the house's early selling points, and late last summer we had the space repainted, choosing a pale blue for the ceiling and a light grey stain for the floor. This weekend, we purchased a few comfortable chairs at a local furniture sale and an inexpensive rug from Target's Smith & Hawken line. The red benches in the photo below, a barn discovery, were given a few coats of creamy paint. We moved the dining table outside and there's some talk of screening movies, via a projector, in the space as well. It's not hard to imagine happily passing the summer months away in this very spot. See below for a few before and after photographs.

THE KITCHEN GARDEN - FENCES + GATES

The kitchen garden, which we hoped to finish last fall, is now a spring project. The weather has been unseasonably warm as of late (hello, 70 degrees), so we'll need to move quickly if we want to plant our veggies and flowers for this year's growing season.  The finer details are still being developed, but I am currently envisioning raised planter beds with 6" high weathered steel edging, bluish/grey compacted gravel paths, and circular timber post fence with transparent mesh infill. I've heard that the perimeter fence should be at least 9' tall (!!) to keep out nibbling deer, but I'm hoping that we can get away with a 6' fence, adding netting over the beds later if need be. See below and above for fence and gate inspiration. I LOVE the idea of adding a bit of color to the fence, whether it's through a blue door or red fence post finials.

WINTER PROJECTS

It seems like a long time ago now, but during the fall and winter months, we embarked on a series of small, miscellaneous projects. Some of these projects required outside expertise and others were DIY. In the mudroom, we commissioned a storage unit with hooks and cubbies for coats and winter essentials. The cast-iron hooks are from Schoolhouse Electric Co, a great resource for vintage hardware and lighting: http://www.schoolhouseelectric.com. The kitchen, located just around the corner from the mudroom, also needed a storage system in the form of a center island. A lot of time was spent researching the various, and for the most part, unattractive and expensive options. Ultimately, we decided to have a custom island made -- one with a butcher block top and Metro shelving below -- by Bowery Kitchens in New York. While we haven't needed the extra storage just yet, the extra prep space is fantastic. 

For two of the bedrooms, I created bedside tables comprised of blacken steel pipe fitting bases (my absolute favorite modular system) with serving tray tops to hold lamps, magazines, etc. The bases are surprisingly steady, and the trays don't require attachment brackets. The side tables are different heights, working with the height of the adjacent bed. Last fall, we also made a long dining table out of old barn wood and pipe fittings -- photos to follow.

SPRING YELLOW

The previous owners seem to have been avid gardeners. Although many of their planting beds became overgrown in the years that the house sat vacant, I can say, with some confidence, that they were especially fond of yellow blooming spring flowers. Last fall, we removed over twenty LARGE clumps of forthsythia and still have no shortage of the shrub on the grounds. And the daffodil display in the spring is impressive. While the common yellow daffodil is predominant, I am partial to the more unusual breeds, such as the white flowers with orange-ish red centers and the pale yellow flowers with crinkled petals. I've recently read that there's growing interest among gardeners for 'heritage' cultivars, which refer to daffodils bred more than 50 years ago. These older cultivars, perfect for naturalizing, are larger than the miniatures and are far more natural looking than the modern hybrids. Many of the heritage cultivars also emit a mild fragrance, something that was lost in the more recent quest for the bigger, brighter flower. While I may never be able to identify any of our cultivars, I can only hope, if only for the fantastic names alone, that we have a few Narcissus 'Sir Watkin', 'Maximus Superbus' and 'Canary Bird' in our collection. See below for a few photos from this weekend.

ORCHARDS

Last spring, around this time, we began the seemingly insurmountable task of pruning our fruit tree orchard. We estimate that it's been at least ten years since the last pruning; many of the trees were so overgrown that they needed to be cut-back by almost half their height. Pruning is surprisingly hard work. We weren't remotely close to finishing before the trees began to bloom last April, and this March we started up again where we left off. I recently read that you need at least five fruit trees for the grouping to be classified as an "orchard" and that historically, orchards contained a walnut tree, a quince, a mulberry, and a medlar (a quick search explained that medlar trees produce an apple-like fruit and, while not widely available today, were popular in Europe during the 1800s). Our orchard is comprised of nine trees, including apples, crabapples, and one lonely pear. A number of the trees are quite old and will likely need to be replaced (mulberries? medlars?) in the upcoming years. See below for orchard inspiration images from simple mown paths with spring bulb underplantings to trained espalier trees. Pruning progress photos to follow.

EARLY SPRING BULBS

The ground is still frozen and the grass brown but there are a few signs of spring at the house. The former owners appear to have been somewhat of bulb enthusiasts, planting snowdrops, scilla, spring and fall blooming crocus, and seemingly millions of daffodils. See below for photos of the recently emergent snowdrop (Galanthus spp) clump growing in the lawn and a few teeny tiny crocuses. This fall, I'd like to expand the snowdrop collection (there are over 250 cultivars of Galanthus nivalis alone!) and plant naturalizing tulips, such as Tulip clusiana 'Lady Jane', under the orchard.