Brick Landscaping

On the north part of my house, I have a little section that's always been in need of some type border to separate it from the yard. When I did the remodel of the attic, the brick chimney had to be reconstructed. Before they could get away with the old brick, I hauled it all back to my house for future use. I really like the look of old rustic brick. And having been a part of the house at one time makes it pretty cool too.

These pictures are what I got done this last Saturday by laying out what it will look like prior to mortaring it. The chocolate lab in the picture above is my super cool dog, named Scully.

More Insulation

This is about the only thing that is postable for this week - my bay window / door getting stuffed with insulation. It's amazing how much insulation you can stuff into an area. Even with the smallest quantity of insulation you can buy, I was afraid I'd have all sorts of leftover insulation that I'd have to deal with but it wasn't the case here.

An Embarrassing Side Project: Office Wire Fix

While removing more of the lathes, this time with the sawzall, I accidently cut the wire from the switch to the ceiling light in the office. Duh.
I didn't think to take a picture of the actual cut wire until after I ran the new line. This is before I stapled the wire to the stud:

I could have sworn I had plenty of distance from the blade to the wire, but apparently the blade must fly around while in action. I still really like my sawzall though, despite the rework I had to do. I decided the easiest and most unnoticable fix was to just add a j-box to connect a new wire to the existing old, rather than rewire the entire line. I had also found a splice in the existing line which was removed with the new wiring fix. The j-box is placed on the office side also. This way it can't be seen when you walk right into the house.

I took my time patching by doing one step each day.

The acoustical texture (aka popcorn) spray was pretty wild. There's a very good reason why they tell you to cover EVERYTHING in the room when you use it. Remember the part in the "Exorcist" when Regan suddenly vomited all over the visiting priest? That came to mind upon triggering the texture spray.

And the final result, or at least final for now. I still need to paint the entire ceiling in the office. But later.

Insulation

Welcome to another exciting installment of the 1900 Farmhouse blog. And what could be more exciting than installing insulation? Trying to get through this 6" opening to crawl into my porch attic might be excting:

But instead, I decided to blast a hole in the entry way ceiling with my new Sawzall! Not quite the porthole to heaven, but it was the only way to get the attic.

This is the before insulation: And after (I probably should have straightened out that existing wiring but I just wanted to insulate, and get out!):

Here's a sequence of the porthole patching:

Montavilla

The neighborhood I live in is called Montavilla and it celebrating it's 100 year this year. I have been really surprised with all the hoopla lately in the neighborhood and especially the little business district that is 2 blocks from my house. When I first moved here 11 years ago, the business district was avoided since there was nothing worthwhile except for Flying Pie pizza and Ya Hala - huge favorites among many Portlanders. Within the last year, a theater has gone in, a very cool coffee shop, and a wine bar. Rumor has it, we're going to get a fine dining restaurant, possible a sporting goods store with a skate park, and possibly a Trader Joe's.

I really started this blog to share progress with family and friends from out of town. I haven't done much lately, except get this pile of lathes down into the basement. Whoop-ee.

More Lily Action

This time of the Stargazer variety.

Regarding the remodel, I just got back into it early this week since coming back from a two-week jaunt to Europe. There hasn't been too much progress, only a few hours of sorting and denailing a huge pile of lathes. I'm planning on using the lathes for kindling in the wood stove, or time machine, as my brother likes to refer it to.

Basement

I don't usually show people my Basement, but it is a pretty important part. After all, it holds up the house.

The previous owners left this work bench which has been handy. Sometimes I keep it neat and tidy. Sometimes, I don't.

I painted this mural when I first moved in. I don't know what possessed me to do it. I guess the blank wall was just too borish.

Here's the Jam Room which has been pretty quiet lately.

Second Floor

Second Floor Tour

So, as I mentioned in the First Floor tour, having the stairway open to the Family Room is great. And Scully likes it too, since she gets a better view to the outside world.

In the front of the house is the bedroom that gets the most light. I have put in 3 skylights and it's great. Here's a view to Mt. Tabor from one of the skylights.

The other bedroom was increased in size dramatically when I did the dormer addition / attic remodel. For example:

Before

After

Here is the Walk In Closet designed in the remodel. Of course, it's got to have a window.

With a fairly large footprint to work with on the attic remodel, I didn't want to make the bedroom too large. So, the extra space was converted to a balcony. Just recently, I added a wicker chair. It is really comfortable and the view is not so bad from the balcony, either.

The sole reason for the remodel back in 2003 was for an upstairs bathroom. I'm extremely happy with how it's turned out. Some people really like the aubergine color of the walls. Others are like....yeah, um, that's interesting. The shower was the most fun to design, and I wanted to do something unique and interesting. So I made fish tiles. And put them in river rock to make the shower floor.

One of my favorite things about this old house is the unique angles of the roofline that give it so much character, as shown here.

First Floor

First Floor Tour

The Entry Room was an addition to the house, I believe, sometime in the early 80's. It was repainted to a cardinal red a few years. The color before was more of a coral, but was starting to fade into pink. Usually things fade to black. But not my entry room.

I redid the Family Room in 1998 only by just painting the trim and adding crown moulding. I did get new furniture a few years after from Sofa Table Chair. One great feature of this room is the open stairs.

Enter the Dining Room. This to me is the main central room, and also the room that has been in most need of a remodel.

The Office has had a few share of roommates and is also the location of the birth of Kaeli Kaainoa on October 12, 1995. That's another reason why I can't sell this house. Her father, Dave, won't let me.

The Kitchen was my first remodel attempt and looking at it now, I did a horrible job. It will soon be remodelled once again. In a proper manner, hopefully.

Bath 1. Another potential improvement. I think it'd be cool to get a claw foot tub, pedestal sink, etc. I really don't like this sink and have been waiting to replace it for some time.

The Pantry was another addition to the house, sometime in the 1970's. I spoke to the owners during that time, who informed me they made that change. It's especially handy to have the washer/dryer on the same floor. But it still doesn't make me enjoy laundry any more.

Glenwood Oak Wood Stove

Since being in this 106 year old house for the past 11 years and constantly seeing the old insert for the wood stove, I've really been wanting to get a wood stove back in the house. It was also another push to get the dining room redone.
I bought this from Barnstable in Massachusetts and had it shipped out here earlier this spring. I was a little afraid it'd be too gaudy but as soon as I got unpacked and in the house, I was quite stoked. Rugged elegance.
The year the stove was manufactured was 1899, just a year before this farmhouse was built.

A Lighting Idea

Yesterday, I had an idea of how to light up the oak tree mural. Place track lighting on the hearth floor, aiming up to the tiles. To try it out, I just placed candles to see how the effect would be with shadows etc. Of course, the candles aren't going to justice to what an electric bulb could do. I don't know. I'm slightly inspired.

What do YOU think?

Blue Cheese Burger Sauce Draw Diner's Acclaim!

Before I started on this whole project, I was really banking on finding a HUGE sum of cash hidden in the walls to help me pay the expenses of the remodel. Or at least a treasure map.

This is what I have uncovered:

At least it gives me an idea of when the wall was modified - 1982. Sort of interesting. Sort of not.

Wow! Corn Flakes were only 69 cents! Ohhhhh, those were the days....

















I ended up putting back the newspaper in the wall, though I think it's original intent was insulation. I thought it'd be fun to link the modification to the date. I'll do the same with my remodel - add the sketches and planning, along with some newspaper articles.

More Garden Pics

I have actually gotten a lot done on the dining room this week with tearing out the walls. However, there's really nothing worth posting so here are some picture of my garden that I thought worthwhile.

South Wall

Here's the last wall of plaster to be removed in the dining room.
Before:


After:

How it was done:

No More 70's Style Indoor Siding

The moment I've been waiting for. The sole reason why I'm redoing the dining room: the 70's style siding that covered my east wall in the dining room. It was actually fairly nice wood, but the whole angled look was just too dated for me. I'm surprised how long I lived with it.

Before:


In between:

After:

just wait.....be patient.......it's coming soon.

Another Wall Down

After about an hour and a half, the north wall of my dining room becomes plasterless:




And the aftermath of the removal (or at least a part of it). I have about 10 heavy bags of plaster with one more wall to go.





And your's truly blasting away....

Red Lily

After going to St. Louis for a few days for my mom's birthday (yes, she's still 39), I came back to some pretty exciting changes, notably this lily that I planted last year. I wondered why it was so expensive. Now I know why.

Here are some other pictures of my yard. Not all that impressive, as my focus is on the dining room these days, but at least my plants are alive!

Down with the walls

I actually started with the paster removal a few days ago, but wanted to jumpstart the blog again. So here it is....a new post.
I'll have something a little more interesting tomorrow. Promise.

My First Post

Hello!

After getting my first cell phone, I've decided that technology has finally won me over and I'm creating a website (with the generous help of blogger.com) for others to view my progress in the remodel of my 1900 farmhouse in Portland, Oregon.

To view any previous remodeling progress, please use the links on the side that will direct you to photos. As for today, here is where the dining room remodel stands (for previous pictures of the mural, click here):