Kitchen Redo - Weeks 1-4

A kitchen remodel is not pretty.  Believe me.  We are now into week five of our kitchen redo, and I am beginning to wonder if we will survive it.  The dust, the lack of water, the inability to cook in my kitchen, and the complete lack of organization (this is my fault completely) is about to drive me over the edge.  But at least I can see progress.  That's what keeps me going.

I can't believe I am going to do this, but I am going to share with you the pictures of my  mess.  I won't sugar coat it. I won't crop out the embarrassing stuff.  Here it is:  my kitchen remodel...and all the chaos that has gone along with it.  Without further ado:

 Here it is.  We have moved a lot of the stuff out, in preparation for the workers to come in and tear down the wall that separates the "cooking part" of the kitchen from the "dining part" of the kitchen.  I've dreamed for years of having one large space instead of two tiny spaces with no prep area! 

 And here's the wall.  Why someone chose to build it there is beyond me. It's not load-bearing, so it really serves no purpose except to close in the cook area from the rest of the room. Problem is, there's absolutely no space to do any prep work.  Makes it tough to do much in there!

 Another picture of The Great Wall.  The door to the left goes outside.  Keep in mind as you're viewing these pictures, that this section of the house is the oldest, built sometime in the 1820's.

 A view from the eating area into the tiny kitchen area.  The door to the right goes through a sort of "butler's pantry" and into the dining room.

 Can you see why preparing a meal in this kitchen would be difficult at best?! See that tiny sliver of counter space there in the middle?  That is the ONLY area to work in here.  Honestly.

 Here's our sink.  When the dish drainer is on the left and our flour jars and spice rack is on the right, there's no space remaining for anything else.

 Another view of the wall that separates the two areas.  Grrr.

 Opposite side of the room from the sink.  At one time, the door on the right housed an ancient dishwasher.  Yes, the dishwasher was located on the opposite side of the room from the sink...in a closet.  I can't make things like this up.  The pantry is the door on the left behind the fridge.

 After week one, the wallpaper is gone.  Michael and I scraped wallpaper for days!  Looks a little better, eh?

 The wall is HISTORY!  And we extended the counter top from the sink in order to accommodate a dishwasher.  Our new counter tops are in at this point, and I've been able to get our island out of storage.  Not sure the room is big enough for it, but I desperately need the prep space.  Due to structural issues that we didn't realize we would run into, our budget tripled....so we kept the old cabinets, and I decided to try to restore them.  I would have loved brand new ones, but ....such is life.  At least I have a dishwasher that works!

 Another view of the room minus the apple wallpaper.  We had to work around the table and china cabinet, as I had nowhere to move them!

 Half the wallpaper is down in the cooking area, but we still have that pesky strip above the cabinets.  You have no idea how difficult this was to get down.  We scraped for DAYS.

 And the new floor is in!  It's so nice!  Before, we had half the room in pine and half in ancient linoleum.  We're glad to get a cohesive look to the entire space!

 Another view of the dishwasher...my new favorite thing in the entire house!  :-)

 That wallpaper was IMPOSSIBLE!  Here, it decided to take part of the drywall with it when it was stripped.  We had to mend these walls...seriously mend.

 The new sink is nice...a bit deeper than the old one and not stainless steel....yeah!  I wanted one of those fabulous farm house sinks with the apron on it, but I just couldn't afford it.  Next best thing:  a cast iron sink in white.  It's a lovely thing.

 Here's looking into the room from in front of the refrigerator.  You can see how open it feels. Still haven't made up my mind if the island stays.  We'll see how it feels when all is said and done.

 Here's my DH scraping away at that nasty green wallpaper.  Can you tell he's having fun?  This is about three weeks into the wallpaper removal.  Three.  Yes, it took us that long. 

 And here's the walls painted!  I wanted something neutral, so I chose this color.  I'll accent with red, I think.

 New crown molding on the ceiling and beams.  We decided to paint all the trim white to make it really stand out against the walls and ceiling.  I am going for the "clean" look.  I really NEED the clean look.  :-)  Also, you can see our new light fixtures.  Much better than the old one.

 Another view of the paint color.  Neutral, neutral, neutral.

 One of the beams on the ceiling. We have three of them.

 Week Four. DH is still scraping green wallpaper.  I'm not kidding.  :-)

 In case you wondered where all the stuff we removed from the kitchen was being kept, here's a view of my dining room.  Yep, four weeks it's been like this.  Four.  Help me.

 Teapots and pottery and pitchers....oh my!

 Uh huh...more stuff.  Are you wondering where we've been eating dinner during this remodel?  Two words:  Take out.  Oh, two more:  Family Room.  ;-)  Uh huh...on the couch in our TV room...on the days that we didn't need to escape and just went to one of the nearby restaurants.

 Just so you can get the full experience.  Somebody has too much stuff.  Don't you think?

 And here's the path through the dining room.  Yes, that's dust on the floor - drywall dust.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  I'm beginning to feel as though we need to be highlighted on an episode of Hoarders.  How sad is this?!?!

 Finally, the china cabinet gets put back together! 

 Hubby, trying to find his way through the clutter and mess...

 Did you know that drywall dust gets everywhere?!?!  Even in drawers and closets in other rooms in the house?  We'll be cleaning up this stuff for weeks!

I have no shame, no shame at all.  ;-)

So, there it is.  Pictures of a REAL remodel.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  And we're still working on it.  Think we'll be finished by.....Christmas? 

Perfection

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure

is the most perfect refreshment.

~Jane Austen

Enjoy the sunlight on spring green,



200th Post Giveaway Winner

Well, I am a day late, but I hope that won't dampen the excitement and celebration for my 200th Post Giveaway Winner!  I am pleased to announce that the winner is:
 

 

Marcia

of

One Heart at Home

 
Marcia will get a box with at least two vintage brooches and anything else I may find that I think she may enjoy. 
 
Please visit Marcia at her beautiful blog.  Every post is truly inspiring, and she is such a beautiful person.
 
Congratulations, Marcia!

I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a message on my blog, and I want each of you to know how much I appreciate you being a follower.  I find such encouragement through your sweet comments and have been so blessed by them.  Thanks to each of you.

Sunny Weekend Blessings,

 

Swinging Into Spring

This is our Sweet Boy's first spring . . . at least the first he can enjoy outdoors.  He was born late April of 2010, so by the time he was old enough to be "out and about," it was too hot to enjoy the outdoors.  But this year, he is having a ball!  Last week, we visited the park for the first time.  He loves the swings so much, and that adorable laughter just makes my heart soar! 

I remember fondly the spring seasons of my childhood, and I want his to be just as magical. 

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.

~Rainer Maria Rilke

May warm, spring sunshine fill your days!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I'm posting a photo of our favorite Irish establishment:  Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans.  Michael and I LOVE to visit Pat O's and sit on the patio soaking up the atmosphere and a hurricane.  This photo was taken on our last visit to NOLA.

May the Lord keep you in His hand and never close His fist too tight.
:-)

(Irish blessing)

Happy Day!

200th Post Celebration & Giveaway!

Today, I am celebrating my 200th post!  I have truly enjoyed blogging, as it has been a wonderful forum for me to express myself randomly about my interests, my disinterests, my art, my family, my house and all the projects, nature and poetry, books and authors, travels and home thoughts, current events or the weather.  Hmmm...I admit to doing quite a bit of rambling. Which is why I am always humbled by the fact that anyone else would even want to read it, and I am so appreciative of those who stop by regularly or from time-to-time just to read a bit and say hello. 

So, in the spirit of celebration and friendship and rambling, I am giving away some BLING on my 200th blogaversary.  I have A LOT of costume jewelry.  A lot.  Most of the really special stuff was given to me by my grandmother who ALWAYS looked smashing and wore the latest fashions. It was from her that I first learned to love all these pretty shiny things.  I used to play dress up as a young girl and put on her biggest, shiniest jewelry and high heels.  A few years ago when I was visiting her, she told me that she had such fond memories of me trying on her jewelry and her high heels that she wanted to give them to me.  So...all those pretty pieces I drooled over as a little girl are now in my very own permanent collection of shiny jewelry.  She also gave me a pair of high heeled shoes about which she loves to tell the story of coming home from work one day and finding me running around the yard in them. I would sit in the floor of her closet and try on the highest of the high heels and think they looked just beautiful on my feet...but that's a totally different story for another blog post.  I am rambling...see? 

ANYway, I am giving away some of my costume jewelry to one reader of my blog.  If you are a follower and would like to participate, just leave me a comment on this post, and on March 18th, I'll randomly select one winner (by random number selector, of course).  That winner will receive at least a couple of pieces of my vintage costume jewelry and anything else I find that I may want to add to the goody box.  For an extra entry in the contest, just blog about my giveaway on YOUR blog, and I'll assign you another random number for an ever greater chance at winning.

So, if you like a bit of bling, here's a giveaway for you!  Thanks so much for following my blog, and I hope you'll be following me for many posts to come!

Blessings,

Hello, dear friends

Here come the irises...awakening after their long winter's nap. Seeing them is like welcoming home old friends!

What is making an appearance in your garden?

Good-bye Bad Floors!

Today, I learned about a blog party in which I really want....NEED...to participate!  Goodbye, House! Hello, Home! is hosting a Purge Party, and since my life for the last five years has been devoted to purging, changing, cleaning, and restructuring, I really wanted to do this!  I could post about several of our recent purges or projects, but one of the most significant has to do with redoing the nasty, scratched, what seemed like destroyed floors in what is now my husband's den.  When we peeled back the carpet to reveal the 140+ year old floors, we were dumbfounded. I remember looking at each other and one of us saying out loud..."they'll never look decent."  We actually contemplated putting carpet back down just to hide the mess that we had revealed.  Take a look at these before pictures...


Needless to say, we were worried. That's paint and drywall compound that has been spilled all over the floors.
 
Here's my husband looking quite depressed and wondering what in the world we had taken on...it seemed fairly hopeless at this point.

Here's a view of the entire room...you can see the mess we faced.

It didn't seem to worry Isabella, though, as she took it easy on the nasty carpet padding we had just pulled up. I remember being worried that she was laying on something that would make me not want to pet her later.  Yew.


A closer up view of the paint and drywall compound. Can you believe someone actually did this to these poor floors?  What were they thinking?!


After sanding, and scraping and crying and praying, here's what we eventually were able to do with the floors.  There is two coats of stain on them at this point.  Try not to look at the bad wallpaper.  We haven't tackled that project yet! ;-)


Can you believe the difference?  Aren't they beautiful?  Would you ever have thought those floors could have looked like this?!?


And here's a closeup...no drywall compound or paint!  Wooo hooo!


And here's a view of the completed project.  Wow, are we proud of this!  Now, 18 more rooms to go...(ha!)!!

Have a great week!

Lucky Me!

I recently participated in the One World - One Heart event and was fortunate enough to win a few very special giveaways!  I'll be highlighting each of them and the blogs from which I won the giveaways, so that you, too, can marvel at the creativity of these amazing artists and beautiful blogs!

I want to thank Shelly over at StampTramp for this gorgeous chunky tag!  Look at how beautiful it is! Not only did I win the tag, but Shelly sent me materials so that I, too, could make one of these fun little beauties!  I can't wait!

Please hop over to Shelly's blog and take a look at her wonderful work.  I am in awe.

Thanks so much, Shelly, for participating in OWOH and for such a wonderful giveaway!

Wings for my Dream...

If you have followed my blog for any length of time or know me personally, you know how much historic preservation means to me.  It means a lot.  My husband and I were caught up in a battle a few years ago when the historic school house across the street from our home was torn down to make way for condominiums. It was a heart breaking experience, as we felt hopeless and nothing that we did made a difference!  The elected officials in the city had already made up their minds to have the structure destroyed. I will never forget standing in the street in front of the school the day they drove the bulldozer through the front doors. I cried. I cried not only for this beautiful old building, but for all that it had meant to the children who had once learned inside its walls...and for all the people who would never get to see it and for what it once stood. 

Before that sad day when we finally realized that the building would not be repurposed or restored as we had hoped, we quickly went about trying to have some of the beautiful architectural details inside the building saved:  the antique stairwell, the windows, the doorknobs and light fixtures.  The person in charge of the project would not allow us to go in and remove these items. When I asked to remove the old front doors right before the bulldozer drove through them, I was laughed at by the men from the demolition company and the by the developer.

The building is now gone, and what remains in its place is an empty dirt hole.  The developer never finished the project, and the city has seen nothing but heartache over this project. I vowed a few weeks after this happened that I would never be defeated so easily again.  With this said, I know that I will not be able to save every historic structure, but I certainly can try!  And if the structures cannot be saved, at least I want to try to salvage the beautiful architectural details that once made them so special.

I have long dreamed of opening a business that focused on architectural salvage, whether it be repurposed or sold to interior designers, architects or builders to use in other restoration projects.  But with a need to pay bills and support my family, I have never been able to pursue that dream due to financial commitments that cannot be postponed.  Start-up for a company of that type would take a bit of time and money.

Enter DOCKERS.  They have announced a contest called "Wear the Pants Project."  People like me who LOOOONG to pursue their dreams of doing something important and fulfilling can enter for a chance to win $100,000 to get their project started.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!?!  How wonderful!  Of course, I had to enter!  I've long had my business plan constructed and just lacked the financial means to follow it.  Dockers is giving one lucky person the chance to do just that! 

So, I'm looking for votes!  I NEED votes!  I would so much appreciate it if those who frequent my blog (and even those who just stop by on occasion) would PLEEEEEASE visit the link below and vote for my plan!  Please give wings to my dream.....I WANT TO FLY!

 CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR PAULA'S

"WEAR THE PANTS" PROJECT ON FACEBOOK!

Thanks to all for your much-needed and appreciated support!



Our House Restoration - LAUNDRY ROOM

The remodel of our laundry room happened sooner than we anticipated. A couple of years ago, we were forced to remodel the laundry room after a disasterous water leak on the west side of our house. The leak damaged the floor and walls of a second floor bathroom and then seaped through to the room below, the laundry room.

There is no way to describe the state of the laundry room before the remodel. I did not take pictures before the water leak, as we were not yet working on that room and I thought I would have time to document the disaster. Little did I know it would get worse before it got better.  We awoke one morning to water pouring through the ceiling, and there just wasn't time to stop and snap pictures.  Looking back, it seems odd that I did not stop to take pictures. I take pictures of everything.  Anyway...

The good news is that in a matter of a couple of months, I had a brand new laundry room.  I appreciate that laundry room even more now that we have a ten month old at home, so in celebration of this heavenly space (at least it is to me), I decided to repost pictures of the remodeled space.

Have a wonderful, washed and clothes-line fresh kind of day!

Sign of Spring

I wonder if they realize that Winter has not yet gone away but is simply taking a temporary vacation?