Summer Home Improvement Project - DONE!

When I moved into my cape cod

two years ago,

my plan was 

"one big home improvement project per year."

This year's is all finished!

This is how the house looked "before."

(Notice the screened porch, 

which was last year's project.)

This year's plan 

was for a reworking of the front outside entry,

which included:

***A new front door,

(accomplished  earlier this year.)

***Reshaping the covering over the porch.

***Removal of the two side lights 

and replacing them with a new hanging one.

***Removal of the old wooden railing,

(one good push and it would have been gone anyhow)

and replacement with a new one. 

The work actually got started during a time

in May when I had to be away for a while.

 Unexpected problems should always

be expected when dealing

with an old house, right??? 

The wood underneath the 

original brick floor was rotten.

So, that floor was removed and replaced.

Next came the new covering.

The plan was for it to mimic the

two upstairs' dormers.

Here is the view of the underside,

with its newly installed bead board,

all ready for the light to be installed.

Note all the old floor bricks.

The painting started...

...and completed,

as well as the new pendant light 

in place.

The end is in sight!

While the heavy lifting was being done,

I was doing some fun things,

such as looking for a new doorbell.

I found this one on Etsy at 

Stone Leaf Door Bell Shop

There was a bit of a challenge with it,

since my doorbell was electronic and

the cover I choose was for a wired one.

I had just had the doorbell installed when 

I renovated the house two years ago,

so really did not want to replace it.

Luckily, I have a very creative builder named Jim.

He was able to cut an opening in the facing

to house the workings of the bell.

The cover fit over my original button perfectly!

New mailbox!

The metal railing was installed as the final step.

The project was finished in June.

I found the decal on Etsy at

Stone Creek Wall Decals...

...and even found a cute one for the back door!

All finished

and I love the final results!

Now my mind is abuzz 

thinking about next year's project...

Stormy Weather...Soon...

It's a perfect, sunshiny, blue sky day in

East Tennessee today.

Hard to believe we will probably

be dealing with the remains of 

Hurricane Florence

on Sunday and Monday.

Our local forecast is rain,

some wind, rain and more rain.

I have now lived in my little

cape cod for fifteen months.

I have a huge basement,

which has not flooded since I have

been here.

But my neighbor Sue tells me

it did once flood several years ago.

So,

I am enough worrier to worry about that.

I know what dealing with a 

flooded basement is like.

My big concern is that I am storing 

all my sister Nancy's 

furniture and home goods 

while she is a care giver of our parents.

So I have a very full basement.

On my To Do list today or tomorrow

is to get everything I can 

raised a bit off the floor.

Just in case...

Fun road trip last weekend.

M was visiting and we drove

to Wise, Virginia and visited

The Mountain Rose Vineyard.

Located about a hour away,

the vineyard is located

atop a mountain.

The drive was twisty and curvy.

But once we arrived we were rewarded

with a bucolic and pretty winery.

We had a tasting of several wines

and explored their small shop.

The vines for the concord grapes 

were open for "cutting your own."

Since I have never cut grapes,

I had to give it a try.

After a very short while

I had a nice bucket full 

to take home.

They taste as good as they look!

Godspeed for everyone 

who has already been, or will be affected

by the hurricane.

Almost Finished...

The work on the new screened porch

continued last week 

and the end is in sight!

My initial plan was to use the wood floor

already there.

But after thought and discussion

it was decided a tile floor

would be more durable.

So I chose two I liked,

in a light gray.

Looking at them side by side,

they look almost identical,

but there were some subtle differences.

It helped to place them in the space and decide.

In a short while,

the chosen ones were in place 

with spacers.

Then grouted and finished!

The covers for the electrical plugs were also installed.

The ceiling fan has been installed.

The black channels you see above will hold the screens

in place and be finished with a white cover.

The last bit of progress last week 

was that I ordered a replacement door

for the entrance to the porch.

It will not be ready for four or five weeks.

I am hoping the rest of the porch 

will be done before then!

The only real remaining job

is the installation of the screens.

Then, the real fun starts,

decorating it!

Porch Progress Report

Work on the new porch

has continued steadily all this week.

Remember last week when the old ceiling

had been removed and I mentioned

I played with the idea of leaving

the ceiling open with the rafters exposed?

After about two seconds I decided,

although I liked that look,

it really wasn't in the spirit of

the "cottage look" of my house.

So I continued with the original plan

of a bead board ceiling.

That has now been installed.

It will be painted white.

I love the look of the brick wall.

The porch is now completely exposed

and all the supporting posts are up.

To avoid future painting maintenance,

the posts have been wrapped with white aluminum.

The old vinyl siding was removed from

the eave of the roof line and covered

with a moisture barrier.

New vinyl has been installed 

at the top of the brick foundation.

This shot makes the porch look massive to me,

but it's really a fairly small one.

All in all, some good progress this week.

What's remaining is a final coat of ceiling paint,

fan installed and

the floor addressed 

(still considering that one).

Oh, and the screens need to be installed!

Hope your weekend is a good one!

Big Do'ins at the Cottage

When the initial renovations

on my little Cape Cod were finished,

I decided perhaps one big project 

a year would be manageable.

I have passed my one year anniversary

in the house

and the time has come

for this year's project.

See the small white addition

on the side of the house?

This addition was a small

paneled room just off my living room.

Since I have only used it for 

storage since moving into the house,

I have decided the space
will be much more usable to me
as a screened in porch.

After planning and discussing 

this project with

my contractor, Jim

since early this year,

the project finally got started this week.

Jim has been stripping 

away the inside paneling.

The above pictures 

are how the room/porch

looked at the end of Day One.

By the end of Day Two

the ceiling had been stripped away.

I excitedly "played" with the idea

of leaving it open.

More on that later.

My original plan was to leave this 

wall covered with the paneling

and paint it.

 But after seeing the exposed brick

once the ceiling was gone,

I decided I like the

idea of it rather than a painted wall.

By the end of Day Two

we were down to exposed studs.

On Day Three
Jim began removing the
vinyl siding from the outside 
of the addition.

I have a small black room on the side of my house!

Yesterday, on Day Four
the walls actually started 
disappearing.

By the end of the day,
everything was clad with plastic.

I have a plastic room on the side of my house!

We are now on the fifth day of the project
and I can hear Jim hammering
as I type.
I'll keep you informed how we progress...

In the meantime,
have a lovely weekend!