Renovations - This is Gonna Be a Long One, Folks!
Hi, Everyone!!
Long story short, these renovations were _way_ overdue, and we didn't get a lot of choice in the matter. At the end of the day, the little yellow cape will be a more pleasant place to play in the future, so long as we can manage to get - and keep - it clean.
There aren't a lot of photos of the house from before the renovation process began, because it was embarrassing, and I kept it out of the picture when I could.
Winter of 2010/2011, covered in snow
Renovations began in the Spring of 2011
Today, August of 2011 - not quite finished
During the height of what was supposed to be "a couple of weeks" of work, entering the living room would get you this view:
And if you'd turned around, you'd have seen -
The wiring inside the walls was probably 50 years old, and there was very little insulation. (In one of the bathroom walls, we found a piece of wadded-up newspaper - does that count?) Because of that, there was extra work to be done, and it would be over three months before we could move back in. (Just in case anyone was wondering where I've been ... )
A peek inside the bathroom. Yeah, we've got some work cut out for us. Fortunately, there's a contractor involved. I couldn't begin to cope with this.
Mr. Entzminger, on the other hand, knows how to get it done.
That shower curtain is hiding one of the prettiest details, the tiling in the shower enclosure. You'll have to take my word for it for now! (~_^)
The living room was coming along as well:
This is what the fireplace looks like now, with pretty Victorian downlights
And there's a steampunk ceiling fan in the center of the room. That's it, above my granddaughter's Daddy's head. (She's just a bit over one year old now, which seems to make her Daddy very happy!)
My bedroom, studio and attic were frequently uncomfortable. This is the north side.
And this is the south window, facing what was a very empty back yard.
A little tidying up . . .
New walls (NOT made from cardboard!), insulation and a real floor . . .
Add a coat of paint, and . . .
North side again, with a red accent wall
And the view to the south. The wrought iron railing keeps people from falling down the stairwell.
The kitchen only got a fresh coat of paint (some of which covers paneling from the 70s!), a back door, and a new sink.
The front porch is now fully enclosed with insulated windows, and the same color as the kitchen.
Are you still with me? Good. A bit like Ty, I had a project of my own. I can't build a house, but I can dig a hole - so I did. Inspired by the gardens of Kinkaku-Ji and Tenshi-no-Sato in Kyoto, Japan, I tore into the bland, boring suburban lawn and featureless side yard, and created - きょぞう あおじろい - Kyozou aojiroi - a "pale reflection" of their beauty. Here's a walk around three sides of the house, at about the height of a SD:
Inside the ramp, Japanese black pine, Chinese beautyberry and Rufa mountain bamboo
Enclosure is a basic principle of traditional Japanese gardens. Slide between the privet hedge and the ramp, along the new stepping stone path, and you'll find this.
If you turn to look back at the ramp, you'll see blue and yellow cultivars of the sawara false cypress.
A small yukimi (snow-viewing lantern) sits among azaleas, Japanese painted fern and hinoki false cypress.
A closer look at the guardian stone. Stones should really be larger, but all the stones were locally collected, and so couldn't be bigger than I can lift and carry. I carried this one about 3/4 of a mile!
Nearby, you'll find more azalea and stone, a pink-flowering spirea and a mugo pine. There's also a delightful little red Japanese maple in this bed.
On the other side of a dogwood tree, there's a nandina, liriope and ajuga. Those purple, variegated leaves are all year long, with blue flowers in Spring.
My son's contribution to the project is this moss garden. I'm hoping the moss spreads over all the shady areas! This isn't a traditional Japanese lantern, but Home Goods had it at a nice price. It'll hold two candles.
Down the east side of the house, what was empty and lifeless has become a forest path...
with stones, and solar lanterns...
and stone steps to carry a gravel path up and down a tiny hill...
to the pond in the back yard. No koi - they don't do well here, but there are goldfish and bullfrogs and dragonflies.
Hope you've enjoyed the tour!
~Bruce
Long story short, these renovations were _way_ overdue, and we didn't get a lot of choice in the matter. At the end of the day, the little yellow cape will be a more pleasant place to play in the future, so long as we can manage to get - and keep - it clean.
There aren't a lot of photos of the house from before the renovation process began, because it was embarrassing, and I kept it out of the picture when I could.
Winter of 2010/2011, covered in snow
Renovations began in the Spring of 2011
Today, August of 2011 - not quite finished
During the height of what was supposed to be "a couple of weeks" of work, entering the living room would get you this view:
And if you'd turned around, you'd have seen -
The wiring inside the walls was probably 50 years old, and there was very little insulation. (In one of the bathroom walls, we found a piece of wadded-up newspaper - does that count?) Because of that, there was extra work to be done, and it would be over three months before we could move back in. (Just in case anyone was wondering where I've been ... )
A peek inside the bathroom. Yeah, we've got some work cut out for us. Fortunately, there's a contractor involved. I couldn't begin to cope with this.
Mr. Entzminger, on the other hand, knows how to get it done.
That shower curtain is hiding one of the prettiest details, the tiling in the shower enclosure. You'll have to take my word for it for now! (~_^)
The living room was coming along as well:
This is what the fireplace looks like now, with pretty Victorian downlights
And there's a steampunk ceiling fan in the center of the room. That's it, above my granddaughter's Daddy's head. (She's just a bit over one year old now, which seems to make her Daddy very happy!)
My bedroom, studio and attic were frequently uncomfortable. This is the north side.
And this is the south window, facing what was a very empty back yard.
A little tidying up . . .
New walls (NOT made from cardboard!), insulation and a real floor . . .
Add a coat of paint, and . . .
North side again, with a red accent wall
And the view to the south. The wrought iron railing keeps people from falling down the stairwell.
The kitchen only got a fresh coat of paint (some of which covers paneling from the 70s!), a back door, and a new sink.
The front porch is now fully enclosed with insulated windows, and the same color as the kitchen.
Are you still with me? Good. A bit like Ty, I had a project of my own. I can't build a house, but I can dig a hole - so I did. Inspired by the gardens of Kinkaku-Ji and Tenshi-no-Sato in Kyoto, Japan, I tore into the bland, boring suburban lawn and featureless side yard, and created - きょぞう あおじろい - Kyozou aojiroi - a "pale reflection" of their beauty. Here's a walk around three sides of the house, at about the height of a SD:
Inside the ramp, Japanese black pine, Chinese beautyberry and Rufa mountain bamboo
Enclosure is a basic principle of traditional Japanese gardens. Slide between the privet hedge and the ramp, along the new stepping stone path, and you'll find this.
If you turn to look back at the ramp, you'll see blue and yellow cultivars of the sawara false cypress.
A small yukimi (snow-viewing lantern) sits among azaleas, Japanese painted fern and hinoki false cypress.
A closer look at the guardian stone. Stones should really be larger, but all the stones were locally collected, and so couldn't be bigger than I can lift and carry. I carried this one about 3/4 of a mile!
Nearby, you'll find more azalea and stone, a pink-flowering spirea and a mugo pine. There's also a delightful little red Japanese maple in this bed.
On the other side of a dogwood tree, there's a nandina, liriope and ajuga. Those purple, variegated leaves are all year long, with blue flowers in Spring.
My son's contribution to the project is this moss garden. I'm hoping the moss spreads over all the shady areas! This isn't a traditional Japanese lantern, but Home Goods had it at a nice price. It'll hold two candles.
Down the east side of the house, what was empty and lifeless has become a forest path...
with stones, and solar lanterns...
and stone steps to carry a gravel path up and down a tiny hill...
to the pond in the back yard. No koi - they don't do well here, but there are goldfish and bullfrogs and dragonflies.
Hope you've enjoyed the tour!
~Bruce