Making a Home
So, how’s all that coming? Several face book and email friends have asked, so I’ll devote this morning’s blog to an update on the restoration. Since the beginning when our experts discovered the house hadn’t been built in 1910-1920, but rather 1785-1795, a lot has happened. Here’s the tour:
Indoors: The front room is painted, new fireplace mantel, original floor polished, drapes, some new furniture along with old from antique shops, and a few pictures hung. Waiting to clean the chimney and install new gas logs. The current ones are earlier than I thought possible. We need a small coffee table and we’re calling it done. The dining room is painted, and draperies hung, floor polished. We found a dining room table and chairs in an antique store. We’re looking for a buffet. The stairway turned out wonderfully after Dawson took the door off and opened the wall. He was able to find spindles, newel post and banister at a reclamation in Richmond, VA, that match the upstairs segment. The little library is a gem. I can’t wait to get our books installed. Dave has a lovely new desk in the library and we have 2 reading chairs. A rug from our log house was perfect for it. The entire back end of the house is an addition that’s about 16 years old. It’s a super-sized kitchen. Fully painted, new cabinetry, a movable butcher-block island, TV watching place and eating area. The floor was refinished. The master bedroom is on this floor and was an addition to the house about 50-60 years ago. We’re using it as is for the time being. Upstairs, trim work and ceilings are yet to be painted. The claw bathtub has a shower added. Lights added to all the ceiling fans, and I’m painting the closets myself.
Exterior: The aluminum siding is gone. A Victorian wood siding, protected under that aluminum siding, is in good shape. This week Painter Rodney will finish the exterior. When we left he was getting ready to put the second coat on the back porch. I’ve been working on the yard and gardens. A large limb from an elm tree came down the day after we had the forest service inspect some large trees. It made a huge mess. Hoping to return to a nice neat pile of chipped mulch. We have a garage to build and the guest house to renovate. So, there you go. All caught up.
It must be home because my favorite picture is hanging on the wall and all the computers are plugged in and the TV is permanently on the Golf Channel, and Buddy is in the middle of it all. It must be home.