Craftsman Bungalow: Two Year Update
This post is sponsored by Wayfair
At the start of summer we were singing: ‘tie-i-i-yime is on my side - yes it is!’ Now that school starts this week we’re sadly singing a different tune…”baby, baby, baby you’re out of time.” (The Rolling Stones really get us). 😉
Oh my gosh, you guys - how the summer flies! This summer has been full of work on the little house we’re restoring. I wish I could say we’re done, but there are still lots of things to do. But the good news is that we’re at the point where the end of the project is almost within sight. I thought I’d share a few of the things that got done this summer.
We changed out the exterior doors for new lovely doors and added outdoor lighting (neither of which you get to see in the below picture…but it’s kind of fun to see the house with no front door!):
We finished drywalling and mudding the house and painted the ceilings and walls in the entire home. This is our color palette:
We added new hardwood flooring in the kitchen and halls to meet up with all of the original hardwood floors (the beds and living/dining had original hardwood):
And then we made the decision to hire someone! Other than our electrician, plumber and the outdoor concrete work we have done everything ourselves, and it was SUCH a luxury to hand a project off to someone else. We had Hoosier Hardwood Floors come sand all the floors and apply the stain and sealers. I cannot tell you how good it felt to know this particular job was getting done by pros.
Those old floors were in rough shape after years of neglect.
It took them 7 work days, plus we had two weekends where the house was unavailable, so we lost two weeks of indoor work. But it was worth it - look at that gorgeousness….
Side note: A chimney sweep cleaned and inspected the chimney and it’s usable! We have a new gas log set getting installed in September.
Since we couldn’t work indoors, we went shopping…for plants!
I actually tried to get help from Lintons for this, but despite their promises that they’d help they never got back to me, so Bruce and I went to Lowes and spent half a day figuring it out. (In other words, if you’re a landscaping expert don’t judge us too harshly). We did the best we could to look at how big they will get eventually and how much sun they wanted. We went for almost all perennials to keep it simple for the future homeowner. We also looked specifically at which plants were attracting bees and picked those - we want to help keep bees happy! Now it’s daily watering, watering, watering.
Ooh! Sneak peek of the new front door and lights in this picture!
Because we had to stay outside for a couple of weeks, I really wanted a place for the kids to sit outside, but obviously couldn’t justify spending money on pretty outdoor furniture. So I reached out to Wayfair, and they came through! I ordered these really relaxing chairs for the back patio (no cushions = no fussiness) and just for fun added a firepit in the middle:
There should be 4 chairs, but we are missing a chair leg for the 4th chair. Supposedly it’s on the way…
I also found this teak bench that’s perfect next to the side door:
And finally I got some chairs, an outdoor rug and some outdoor pillows for the front porch:
If you find yourself wanting outdoor furniture, Wayfair has a huge selection (especially in the spring) and great prices (especially now at the end of summer). Here are links to the items I got in case you want to check them out:
But back to the inside…
Now that the hardwood floors are done (and we spent significant time carefully protecting them) this last week was all tiling, all the time. We tiled two bathroom floors, a shower floor, shower walls, fireplace hearth, laundry closet, and the side door landing. We still have to tile the bathtub surround in the hall bath and then we have so. much. grouting.
Most of the tiles that will be in the house
And after grout: TRIM! And repairing/painting all the old doors! And adding new hardware (I splurged on GORGEOUS interior and exterior hardware sets)! And installing the bath vanities! And installing closet systems! And installing lighting!
Oh, and the kitchen cabinets will arrive August 4 August 11 August 18?*
*they keep calling and changing the date…it’s the #covideffect
So when will we be done? I’m optimistically hoping we can finish this year. But maybe it will take us all winter now that Bruce is back to teaching.
Thanks for following along, and for asking about our progress when you see us (we enjoy talking about it, can you tell?). I am hopeful this post has left you feeling a great appreciation for all the free time you may have had this summer. 😉 As for me, I will continue to admire this absolutely beautiful willow tree we planted back by the garage as I water…and water…and water.
