Garden Prep

Hi everyone,

I'm having a great time digging up my front yard; I've removed four of five ugly stumps and soon I will have a beautiful empty slate for planting a flowerbed surrounding the porch. I've also started digging up lawn to extend the bed out much further into the current lawn space, which is how bungalows are commonly landscaped. It's a lot of work but I love digging in Virginia--the soil is rich and full of earthworms. I will need to add quite a bit of amendment because it is a very dense clay soil, but I have a feeling it will be easy to grow things here.

Because the weather has been so cold and we've had quite a bit of snow, I'm making slow progress. I haven't even bought a single plant at the nursery yet, or had mulch or compost delivered.

But the rose bush I hacked back is putting out baby branches--little tiny ones that are just little "nubs" right now but which will soon grow and, I hope, become canes I can train onto the porch.

So stay tuned for updates as the weather (hopefully) improves.

I cannot tell a lie...

...I chopped down the juniper trees!

Hey, look! It's a bungalow with four pillars. Finally. Now, soil prep and new plants.

Junipers--to chop or not to chop.

The thing I hate most about my house--ok, probably the only thing I hate--is the junipers that block the columns on either side of the porch. They look really pretty here:

But then, so would anything, right? (The world's most awesome new app, Waterlogue, turns photos into watercolors.)

But I digress.

I want to cut down the junipers. They have a yellowish green color that doesn't go well with the house, and they aren't appropriate to the house's architecture at all. And when I sit on the steps they block the late afternoon sun.

The problem is, if I cut them down the house will look terrible for a while and it will be a ton of work to redo the front beds. Not to mention the fact that there are pretty much no other plants on the property, which means the house is just sitting on this bald grassy lot already.

So, I am hesitating. I lie in bed thinking about sawing down the junipers, but they are so mature, I feel guilty killing them. Am I unfairly biased because I grew up in a home devoid of piney evergreens?  Opinions?

On a more positive note, there are some random bulbs popping up throughout the yard. Surprise!

Finally, a Bungacello update!

Hello there, faithful fans. I know you've started to wonder whether home renovation has finally driven me mad, or whether I succumbed to paint fumes or got lost in a blizzard. No, I've simply been travelling a bunch for work, and each time I've gotten home, I've been too happy to just flake out around the house to post an update.

So, here's a quick look at what the house looks like these days. Imagine you are coming to visit! If you're lucky, it will have just snowed. Here's the house after the big snow two weeks ago: 

When you come inside, you are in the lovely entrance hall.

I finally got brave a few weeks ago and started drilling holes in the wall for pictures and things. I even got super brave and hung this adorable coat rack, which is a wonderful green color and looks smashing.

 The front hall is wonderfully welcoming. It's full of light.  I just bought a rug (finally!) the other day, which makes it even homier. My mom's wonderful bookcase, which used to hold all of her books about running and gardening, lives in the front hall and holds lots of books about books. See the bit of blue tape on the door frame? There are loads of those around the house--all the places where I need to do some touch up. I'm just not in the mood to open a paint can yet, for some reason. I'll get there eventually.

 When you look into the living room, you can see that the beautiful built-in bookcase is finally done! I still need to paint it. I've got some art up on the walls, and other things in progress. This lovely piece is a present from my dad--it hung in my parents' living room for many years. I need to get it rematted but I keep putting off going to the frame shop. I can't wait for it to hang over the fireplace.

 If you're anything like me, once you're in the house, you will immediately sack out on the couch and admire the vista into the foyer and stairwell as soon as you possibly can. Most exciting in this picture is the light coming down from the stairwell. I FINALLY had the stairwell fixture installed last week.

Speaking of lighting, the same day, Marshall, Robbie and Bobby installed the undercounter lighting in the kitchen, too. WOW!

The kitchen is absolutely fantastic. I love having a dishwasher. See the cute decorative wooden scrolling over the sink? I had John, the carpenter who made the bookcases, add that in. Most people pull those OUT of kitchens when they remodel, but I think they're adorable. If I'm going to have a circa 1960 kitchen, I'm embracing it. 

Next up is the most wonderful thing ever:

Can you believe it? Look at that fantastic combination of things: gas stove with range hood, a beautiful cabinet and open shelving.  There are a few things to work out (like, the missing IKEA shelf and the lack of a permanent countertop) but it's a wonderful workspace. It looks like the cabinet has been there forever. In fact, I have to explain to people who visit that it's brand new--they can't believe it, because it really seems that it should have been there all along. John did a great job building it to fit perfectly. And there's room for all my stuff. Just to remind you, here's how they had it before I bought the house:

Just because it's so pretty, here's a closeup of the stove area. I installed the little hanging rack myself! Drilling into plaster is way easier than I thought. In fact, it's much simpler than mounting stuff on drywall.
 

Here's a fun little thing I asked John to do: he cut a cat sized mouse-hole into the bottom of the door between the kitchen and the pantry so the cats can get to their litterbox but I don't need to look at the litterbox--or the rest of the pantry, for that matter. They took to it immediately. I think it's half hilarious and half adorable. I still haven't gotten around to sanding it down and touching up the paint (not to mention cleaning up that awful door handle). One step at a time.

Just behind the pantry, the guest bathroom has actually started to come together! The washer dryer are finally stacked (as of last week) and the washer works. The dryer is being set up tomorrow. I've been hanging everything to dry for WAY too long.  As you can see, this room is definitely still a work in progress. But it's so civilized I can't quite believe it.

Finally, I'm just going to give you one glimpse upstairs. What I love about this house is having two stories: I can keep the mess upstairs! And mess there is, indeed. I still haven't finished fully setting up the bedrooms. But because it will ALWAYS be messy, I'll give you a quick look at the sewing room, which I've been putting to good use.

It's wonderful! Tons of workspace for all my projects. And, of course, there's plenty of room for a cat assistant or two.

Adios for now, dear friends. Now, please come visit so you can truly enjoy the house in person!

Built-ins begin!

Hello everyone!

All is going very well at the house. I have been living here for about a week now, and it is already starting to feel like home. The spaces are just wonderful--the rooms spacious, the traffic flow very natural, and I even entertained my first post-unpacking guest, Nicole. It was wonderful having someone over, and it feels like a house that should and will be filled with guests in future. So let me know when you're coming over.

Other things I'm enjoying: hearing the train rumble by. I've heard it whistle in the daytime (love the train whistle) and a clanging bell in the evening, but just a rumble at night. It reminds me of my years in Menlo Park, where I could hear the clanging of the train crossing echoing from a few blocks away. I love that sound. I'm also enjoying having a nice big porch to protect me from the rain when I get home. I'm about to enjoy my first short walk to work; I will test out the buses soon but they run irregularly until the semester starts.

Many boxes remain packed because I am waiting for the built-in bookcases to be installed. Yesterday, John began the process. He delivered (in the FREEZING cold) the boxes he built in his shop, and got them set in place. Today he's coming back to finish. I'll be painting the pieces once they're fully installed. Can't wait!

The cabinet base in the living room. There will be open bookshelves above this reaching to the ceiling.

The base for the tall bookcase in the dining room. This one will not have a cabinet at the bottom, but will be a very tall wall of books. Perfection!

The window seat! It's nice and deep so I can sit cross legged against the wall. It has a lid you can lift so the interior may be used for storage. John has to install the hinge and finish the baseboards.

Finally, I have time to post an update!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update, but wow, has it been CRAZY around here. I've got lots to show you, so be prepared...this post is epic.

Things are still crazy, actually. Right now the house is full of people: I've got electricians finishing up the last bits and pieces of the fixtures and wiring, plumbers installing gas lines for the stove and dryer, and a locksmith sawing off an old door handle and installing new deadbolts. It's exhausting and loud. And expensive. But I'm sitting here in my sun-filled new living room writing this at the same time. I'm not complaining!

So, last time I posted, the floors were being sanded and prepared for finishing. The floor guys finished mid-day Christmas Eve, and I waited patiently as they cured. Here's what's happened since:

1. The floors were finally safe to walk on in socks!

Here they are after one coat. The stairs are a wonderful, warm pine. They really soaked up the finish, so they will need an extra coat. I had to move in to stay on schedule, so the floor guys will come back for this final step in a week or two.

The old finish was water-based, and I could tell it was done with a poor quality product, since I had a beautiful water finish at my house in Texas. I went with oil polyurethane this time, since it's such an old house, and I am so glad I did! It was the perfect choice for these floors.

2. After the floors were cured, movers came! And Mom came!

Books filled the floor in the middle of the library.

Mom gets busy unpacking. She was AMAZING!

Of course, the books had to be unpacked as soon as possible! Note the beautiful floors here. Remember the "Welcome" patch on the floor? Gone. Aaaah.

Mom kept claiming she was going to stomp on the bubble wrap, but really, she just created lovely, orderly stacks of it as she unpacked.

3. Appliances dribbled in!

I scored a great deal on the fridge, which had been returned and was $600 off its regular price. It's counter-depth, which I would never have been able to afford otherwise. The stove is a thing of beauty. Double ovens. Gas. I didn't even realize I had bought the same brand (KitchenAid) with matching handles until they were installed. 

4. Lighting, switch plates, and outlets were installed.

Beautiful new sconces over the fireplace.

The original foyer chandelier was reinstalled. I need to go bulb shopping--we only found one that works to test it! Note the surrounding chaos. Sigh.

Fantastic space-age fixture in the dining room. Ikea, how I love you.

Adorable Ikea pendants and lovely recessed lights in the kitchen. Note that the counter will be extended when I replace it--once that happens, that second pendant won't look like it's hovering on the edge.

4. I moved in. The best thing about it so far is how much space there is! Considering how small my last place was, the things that thrill me are probably a bit silly.

I have room for my toothpaste! My previous bathroom was so small and the "vanity" so tiny I had to buy toothpaste tubes in the smallest size and stand them on end. Look at all this space! Also, note the beautiful white paint on the cabinet base. Mom painted over the cheap, dark stained wood.

There is space for yoga! In my last house, there was no place in the house where I could move my body in all directions (arms up, arms out, bend down and lie on the floor, stand up again) without having to move over in the middle of the series to adjust out of the way of either a piece of furniture or a light fixture. The upstairs hall is now also the yoga studio.

 5. The cats moved in! I have been so looking forward to watching them discover the staircase. I'll close today's post with a sweet image of Pirate surveying his new domain. Thanks for visiting!

More delicious pictures!

Here's the front entry this morning, now fully painted, before the floor guys arrived to start the patching and sanding. I think the new paint color is gorgeous! You can see the new AC return vent under the stairs. Don't you think I need to splurge on a vintage brass cover?

Remember this? 

 

Ta-da! Now it's gone and has been nicely patched. Also, you'll see that the difference in color between the foyer and kitchen is almost gone with the sanding.

The kitchen floors are the best surprise of all. They were very dark and discolored. You can see the difference here--they haven't sanded the edges yet. Wow!

In an odd turn of events, the sanding revealed this stain, which hadn't been visible before. It's right in the doorway of the dining room. Drat. So far this is the only negative result of the floor project. Perhaps the varnish will hide it again. We'll know tomorrow!