Weekend #13 - July 2-5

We've made it to weekend #13!  It was a holiday weekend and we took full advantage of having some extra time to work on the house.  We also took a day off for the holiday in there.  

Gosh, it was such a productive weekend though.  I am SO excited to share the pictures of the kitchen.  There is so much to share from the weekend.

Nan and Pap went on a little trip to visit friends and to Charleston, SC for an anniversary getaway.  It was a much deserved trip.  I think they had a great time.  Part of their trip included a walking photo shoot in Charleston.  They got some great pictures.  They've been celebrating anniversaries for a minute.  

They are the cutest.  💖  

While they were out of town, the plumber came to the house and installed the new plumbing for the sink and the washer.  He also removed the old stuff.  This is remarkable because it is the first time we've hired anyone to come in and complete any work.  We just decided we didn't really want to deal with plumbing.  He did a really nice job.

New plumbing for the washer

New plumbing for the kitchen sink

Scott and I drove to JC on Thursday night and had to stay at the B&B without the inn keepers.  This also means there was no breakfast.  Somehow, we survived, but staying at Mom & Dad's without Mom and Dad isn't near as much fun.

We were up bright and early on Friday and headed to Lowe's to pick up the new kitchen cabinets.  Scott ordered them before hand, so they were ready for pick up when we arrived.  We also got the finish paint for the main living areas of the house.  When we arrived at the house, we began prepping the room for the cabinet install.  We move the fridge and the stove out of the way and removed all the protective paper from the floor.  I love these pictures because you can really see how lovely the wall color is with the floor.  

Scott had the kitchen plan all laid out.  He attached the drawing to the wall so it would be easy to follow.

We were fortunate to have a guest worker with us for the day!  Scott's Dad, Gary, came up to JC to help install the new cabinets.  Getting to watch the two of them work together was a great joy of my day.  I am so grateful he came up to work with us.  💙

The sink is moving across the room to be under the window.  This was where I originally wanted the sink to go.  Kitchen sinks belong under windows.  (The kitchen sink in my own house is not under the window but whatever.  Haha!)  

Putting the kitchen sink at the window meant the window trim had to be removed.  The sink cabinet is just a teensy bit taller than the window.  Somehow, I convinced Scott that this is okay with help from Pinterest pictures.  😉  When the removed the trim, we found the old window weights!

Sash windows, as these are called, were popular in the Victorian era.  They work with a system of sash weights concealed in the window frames.  The weights had a cord attached that ran through a pulley system at the top of the window.  These windows are single hung sash windows - meaning only one o them is movable.  The cord that goes through the pulley at the top of the window runs down the visible side of the frame and attaches to the top of the lower window.  The weights serve to counter balance the window weight when the window is raised.  

These are present in nearly every window in the house, except in Denny's bedroom.  

After removing the trim, they were able to start setting the cabinets.  The first one to be set was the sink cabinet.  

In all, they set 5 base cabinets and 3 wall cabinets.  The kitchen is utterly transformed.  To fully appreciate the transformation, I'm including a couple of before pictures again. 

Before

After

I love it so much!  Getting rid of the dark paneling and adding bright cabinets made it look so much bigger!  

I wasn't just taking pictures.  I was busy working on cutting in the finish paint throughout the house.  We chose Seashell Gray from Valspar at Lowe's for the wall color main house except the kitchen and bathroom.  It really sets off the rich dark wood of the doors and the trim throughout the house.  

I was able to get a good bit of the cutting in completed, so on Saturday, when the work crew returned, it was ready to roll paint on the walls.  Robin and I spent Saturday painting.  My Dad continued working on the closets. Mom alternated between painting and helping my Dad.  Scott kept working in the kitchen, getting the bottom cabinets level and fully fastened in. 

Scott and I did a Lowe's run mid-afternoon to get the countertops for the kitchen.  This is only being included here because he left me at Lowe's so he could go back and get the trailer.  There are a lot of places I could be left and find plenty to entertain myself.  Lowe's is definitely not one of those places.  I entertained myself by taking selfies and sending them to Scott (and my friend Kim).

Caption: "Looking for my husband" because he texted me that he was back and I had already checked out at Lowe's and I was standing out front with two countertops among other things without a ride.  Just a funny moment to share. 😂

At the end of the day, we completed the first coat of finish painting throughout the house (except kitchen and bathroom).  

The pictures do not do it justice.  I am in love with the color.  It really compliments the dark wood in the floor, trim and doors.  It is light enough it makes the rooms seem even bigger than they are.  It was really a great choice.  The project designer is top notch, I hear.  😉

There are two work crew pictures for the weekend:  Friday was with Gary.

At the end of Saturday, we took another work crew picture with Mom, Dad and Robin.  

We might have been a little punchy from all the paint fumes.  Robin and I decided to recreate the American Gothic picture with our paint tools.  

I think we nailed it, for sure.  

The Orsburn's spent the 4th of July in Sevierville with Scott's family.  Mom and Dad couldn't get enough of the house work, so they went over and completed the second coat of finish paint in the dining room.  Dad changed out the plugs and switches in the kitchen.  

Scott and I returned to JC on Monday.  I didn't take a single picture of our work on Monday and I simply cannot remember what we did.  It is all starting to run together.  Haha!  

Stay tuned for weekend #14.  Things are wrapping up in a big hurry.  💜

Information for today's post came from: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sash_window

https://sashwindowspecialist.com/blog/history-of-the-sash-window/

Happy Birthday, Mamaw!

 

Today is earthly birthday #98 for this beautiful lady!  It is her first birthday in heaven and boy do we miss her.  I imagine there is quite a party, with lots of singing and dancing.  

Mom shared with me a story about Mamaw and a trip they took to the beach when she was growing up.  Mamaw didn't care much for traveling.  Mom said they got to the beach and Mamaw walked up the beach with her purse on her shoulder.  Then they came back home.  She didn't like it, so they just loaded back up in the car and came home.  

I like to think I got some of her same sassy spirit.  We had a tough weekend working at the house - long days and difficult decisions.  I was tired and frustrated to the point of tears for the first time since we began this project.  I am grateful for today, Mamaw's birthday, and a gentle reminder when things get hard and you just get your purse and go for a walk.  Then, if it still doesn't feel right, it's okay to just go home.  

Happy birthday, Mamaw!  I love you and I miss you.  💜

Weekend #12 - June 26-27

Weekend # 12 marked the beginning of the kitchen renovation.  This was a big step in the process because it was the last room still in the original condition.  It is the room we left pretty much alone until this point.  This was a two-fold decision - for starters, the kitchen holds the snacks and drinks.  Secondly, the kitchen has the sink and we've cleaned a lot of stuff in that sink!    

We drove to JC Saturday morning, but we started the kitchen planning started in Knoxville about a week prior.  We took a trip to Lowe's to get paint and check out cabinets so we could determine the sizes we need to fit the kitchen.  You read that right - the kitchen is getting new cabinets!  

Since we are putting new cabinets in, that means the kitchen needed to be cleared out.  On Saturday, Scott was tasked with finding, filling and sanding all the little flaws in our skim coat walls.  Nan, Pap and I started on the kitchen clear out and demo.

Be sure to check out my previous post for the before pictures of the kitchen.  😊  We started by taking the unattached floor cabinets out to the carport.  After we got everything off the floor, we started removing the wall cabinets.  In the photos below, there were a total of 3 wall cabinets and the hood for the stovetop.  I didn't take any pictures until the first two were down.  

A little bit of kitchen history from Mom and Robin:  These cabinets were put in place summer of 1973 by my Papaw.  After Mamaw and Papaw bought the house, Papaw started remodeling the kitchen and the pantry.  He worked during the day and did the kitchen remodel in the evening and weekends.  (This sound very similar to our work plan!)  After the remodel was complete, the family had a housewarming for Mamaw and Papaw.  Family and friends came to see the new kitchen and some brought gifts.  I can only imagine how proud they must have been.  Scott and I have experienced similar pride as our own remodel has taken shape at this house.  

Mom shared a funny family story about the kitchen remodel:  "The only story we can remember is that Daddy has been working in the kitchen, we think putting up cabinets when C came in.  Daddy told C to give him a chair, but he pronounced it like cheer.  C responded with "Rah, rah, rah!"  Daddy responded with a few choice words, he was not a happy camper!"  I've heard C tell this same story.  It makes me smil every time.  😊

The sink cabinet was attached to the wall between the bathroom and the back door.  This sink is why the back door never opened fully.  Above the sink, there was a copper backsplash Mom and Robin installed between the sink and the cabinets.  We removed the upper cabinets first.  The sink is moving in the kitchen and something else is going in this space.  We took the backsplash down and discovered the paneling behind the sink was a bit water damaged.  The sink and the sink cabinet were also removed.  

The water damaged paneling resulted in another full team discussion.  The decision was made to remove the paneling behind the sink.  I am so glad we did, because it revealed the wall and some insight into the earlier versions of the kitchen.  

You can see in the outline on the left in the picture above.  The sink was much smaller and nestled against the doorframe leading to the bathroom.  I imagine this allowed the backdoor to open all the way.  Removing the paneling also revealed a few layers of wallpaper.  Mom and Robin both remember the kitchen being painted gray.  It clearly had some other stuff going on before the gray paint.  I always remember the kitchen with the dark paneling on the walls.    

We removed the paneling and put a new piece of paneling back up.  The plan was to paint the paneling, but we wanted the same texture on the walls.  Adding a new piece of paneling allowed us to keep the texture.  

Mom and I did the primer painting on the paneling.  Everything I read about painting paneling walls said you must primer paint it first.  We used Kilz paint, which has a very strong odor.  We propped the door open and had the fan running, but it was still pretty strong.  Mom and I painted the walls, the upper trim and the ceiling with the Kilz paint.

Just putting the primer on changed the dark kitchen into something much brighter and it already appeared bigger.  We had already taken the baseboard off for the new cabinets, so it made painting somewhat easier. 

After we got the primer paint on, we started in with finish painting.  I chose a soft blue-gray color for the kitchen.  I wanted something to accent the floor and to compliment the white trim and doors in the kitchen.  Mom and I were the paint masters for the weekend.  😉

Meanwhile, Pap started working on the closet in the backroom.  We decided not to skim coat the walls in the closets.  We opted for a bead board finish in those closets.  Pap has been in charge of that project.  

Scott and I have had much discussion about the trim paint in the kitchen.  It appears to be hundreds of layers thick.  It isn't hundreds, but it is a lot of very thick high gloss paint. We've tried CitriStrip and Kwik Strip paint remover products, but neither one worked.  If I'm being honest, they just made a sticky mess.  We tried a little orbital sanding, but that created a ton of dust and didn't really work that great.  We are trying to be mindful because there is a pretty good chance the many layers of paint include some lead-based paint.  Today's trial was the heat gun, which is probably questionable, but it worked better than anything else and didn't create any dust.  

The heat gun isn't going to restore the wood to it's original condition, but it will at least get us to a smooth surface that can be repainted.  It is a very HOT job, for sure.  

There was so much work going on!  We've had a little issue with the roof leaking.  The roof was replaced two years ago, so it shouldn't be leaking.  The roofer had already been out once to attempt to fix the roof.  It's a long story.  Fast forward, JC had a pretty big storm with some heavy rain and wind.  Mom and Dad went by the house to take the trash to the road and discovered BIG leak with water spots in lots of places and water on the floor.  We called the roofer again and they were back out on Saturday to fix the roof again.  This time, they built a slope over the flat spot.  There has been rain at the house again and the roof hasn't leaked, so we are keeping our fingers crossed it is fixed! 

You can see the little peak they built at the top of the picture above.  I think it turned out nicely.

While Pap and Scott worked on their respective projects, Mom and I got the finish paint completed in both the kitchen and the bathroom. 

You can't really see the floor in these pictures because we had everything covered, but trust me when I say, it is gorgeous.  I love how the kitchen is turning out.

It was a very productive weekend.  I am closing today with the picture of the work crew from the weekend.  I am probably starting to sound like a broken record, but I have to say again how thankful I am for this crew.  Mom and Dad have been such a huge help in this adventure.  I am not only grateful for the help at the house, but I am so thankful for the time we are getting to spend together.  💜

Stay tuned, this is only the beginning of the kitchen transformation.  Much more to come!  

Weekend #11 - June 19

Scott and I returned to the house on June 19 for a big day of work.  We left Knoxville at 7am.  Saturday was our only work day of the weekend, so we had to make the most of it.  We had a pretty sizable work crew.  Nan and Pap were at the house when we arrived.  Brayden joined us for primer painting.  Since Brayden was there, Michelle joined in for some afternoon primer painting.  Having all hands on deck made a big impact on our single day of work.

We started in the kitchen discussing kitchen design.  Just as a reminder, here are some before pictures of the kitchen:

The backdoor has not fully opened in my lifetime.  I really wanted to move the sink to a place that would allow the backdoor to open all the way.  Scott suggested we move it to the corner in the third picture above, which put it close to the window but not exactly.  I *really* wanted to put the sink under the window.  I was initially shot down because the window isn't quite high enough off the floor for the sink and countertop to fit underneath it.  This was a point of great discussion.

In picture #2 above, you can see the pantry door, which also does not fully open.  This also made me a bit crazy and I insisted the pantry door needed to be able to open.  My Aunt Robin suggested putting barn doors on the pantry, which we all agreed was a great idea and would allow the doors to just slide along the wall. 

In all the photos above, you will note, there are no real base cabinets.  The single cabinet that looks like a base cabinet next to the refrigerator is not actually attached to any structure.  It's mobile, if you will.  The other cabinets are metal and also not attached to the floor.  None of them were in great shape.

After much discussion with the team and debate that even involved a trip outside, the design decisions were made.  

Let's just say, my idea was chosen as the winner.  I am looking forward to sharing the pictures of the renovated kitchen.  Look for that in a future post. 

Once the design decisions were made, it was time to get to work on primer painting.  Mom continued her work finishing up the woodwork cleaning.  She did an amazing job.  

My dad and I worked on getting new protection down on the floors and the newly cleaned baseboards.  We used Scotch Blue Adhesive Masking Film this time.  It has the blue painter's tape at the top and a plastic film that unfolds to cover the baseboards and flooring below.  Such a smart product!  One roll is 90 feet long.  I think it took 2 rolls to get the bedroom, front room, living room and the dining room baseboards covered.  We also put down paper.  Lesson #6 (I think): Plan on being messy.   

The painters got to work putting primer on the walls.  Brayden really was a huge help.  He did a large part of the rolling of paint throughout the house.  

Michelle even showed up to help!  :)

We managed to finish the primer painting through the entire house including the bathroom.  We did not do anything in the kitchen.  The transformation was unbelievable.  It really feels like the house is starting to turn the corner.  Chris did stop by for a visit while we were painting.  He liked the primer color.  Haha!  It won't be staying this color of gray.  

Brayden and Michelle brought a new level of playfulness to the house we haven't had since we've started.  I like to conduct 'Karaoke with Carla' on a regular basis, but we haven't had any silliness beyond bad singing until they came to help.  Thankfully, all the paint had been put away before they started acting silly.  

I'm excited to share a video tour of the house from the front door of the primer completion. You should see some familiar faces from the work crew in here.  😀 Sound is not required for this video.  It is a real sneak peek into what we've been up to.

It was an incredibly productive day.  We finished the cleaning and completed the primer painting throughout.  Getting the primer on the walls really revealed our skim coating job.  I am SO STINKING PROUD of these walls.  Scott and I worked so hard on them.  Our work crew has worked hard to get the woodwork clean and the paint on them, which really revealed the finished product.  They are not perfect, but gosh, they are close.  

 I will close out today with a picture of the Weekend 11 work crew.  Goodness, how I love these people. 💜

The Extended Crew - June 5-13

On June 5th, Scott and I celebrated wedding anniversary #17.  💙 As is the norm for most summers, we celebrated our anniversary with our family vacation.  We left Knoxville on June 4th headed for Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.  

It was a much needed break from our real jobs and our weekend renovation project.  We hadn't taken too many days off before this trip.  

We left Nan and Pap with a list of things to work on while we were gone.  I'm not sure if they asked for the list or if we just assumed they wanted one...but we left one nonetheless.

The work crew consisted of Nan, Pap and Robin over the next two weeks while we vacationed and then returned to our real jobs before we made it back to the Myrtle house.  The good news is, Mom sent updates and pictures along the way!

Mostly, they sent work crew pictures.  :)

Mom explained in the picture below that she had to take her hair down and put on some lipstick to go to Lowe's.  She clearly needs more training on Lowe's trips.

Mom also sent me this picture with the message "Packed up, ready to carry lunch to the home place."

So while we were gone, she remained in charge of snacks.  :)

They did do actual work.  They completed everything on the list!  Mom and Robin did an amazing job getting the woodwork clean.  It was a big job.  There is a ton of woodwork in the house and they did it all. It was ready for the primer paint when we arrived the following weekend.  Pap replaced all the outlets and  switches.  He also fixed the bathroom door that leads to the backroom.  It had to be taken down and cut.  The flooring in the bathroom was installed with the door in place, so it didn't actually open.  He cut the door so it opens now!  He also reinstalled the door to Denny's room and the baseboards over the new wall in the dining room.  It was a big week while we were gone.

The bathroom door removed

The bedroom door reinstalled

I am so thankful for this crew that has been a part of this journey with us.  They've hung in there, even though sometimes the Project Lead can be picky.  They kept the project moving forward while allowing Scott and I to have a week at the beach with our boys.  I cannot thank them enough for everything they've done.  💜