Phase III: Family Bath.c.

She's coming around...

Progress:
Walls:
We have walls! And bead-board wainscoting + trims. Painted & beautiful.
(Included are some sad little "before wainscoting/trims/paint" pics for ya keeners)

Floors:
Structurally sound subfloor! We had thought something was spongey... turns out the idiots that lived here cut into another supporting joist = soggy floors (thank goodness we were here to rescue! *superpower theme song*). All fixed & tip top now.

The hex tile took a weekend to install... much fun. ?. But she's a beaut.


Next Up:
Fixtures!
Lighting!
Accessories!
(Special thanks to Mum & Dad for being our magic renovation fairy this year = towel warmer!)
And... taking a bath!


Also...
Have you heard that we will be featured in Apartment Therapy's Renovation Diary for our Foyer design? Yup yup... exiting news!

After that glimmering dust settles... we'll be ooking forwards to enjoying a summer of the other work, trying to hack together a more-permanent temporary Garden, slave away on the Basement Suite (still no updates to date, folks... just the un-sexy ductwork/electrical/plumbing plunkin' away down there), and a buttload of "finishing touches" that will feel superb to cross off the enormous "to do" list.
This is the plan anyway. And it is a good plan. We're beginning to see the light to this whole renovation/rehab @ 619 yeehaw: that by 3 years total inhabited time we can set sights on lighter improvements (i.e. tray ceilings and refinishing hardwoods)... and maybe finally take a vacation.

Ahem... now about taking that bath... ;)

Phase III. Foyer.b.

Floorplan:
Enter house from West through Front Porch into Foyer.
Door to Living Room is to the right, staircase to 2nd floor is omnipresent, door to Kitchen is at the end of the room (past the staircase), and hidden from view is the door to the Basement (under the staircase).

We will be reconfiguring only to add a coat-closet (a modern necessity for living in an upper buy in this winter wonderland).

Deconstruction:
Floors out. Bulit-in bench out. Carpet on the stairs out.

Reconstruction:

Sarah's House

Ceiling:
Will be trenched for electrical, and then remove the stippled plaster.

Walls:
Coat closet built. The North wall has a register which cannot be blocked, so we're positioning the closet in the SW corner. Yes, the closet will cover that beautiful oval window (don't worry, you can still appreciate it's character from the Front Porch). As for losing natural light, this small West-facing window is in the shadow of the house and offers only ambient light (think 20W incandescent for 2 hours a day). The huge window in the stairwell is the main source of natural light for the Foyer, and a mirror will be added to bounce around that light equalling a brighter, happier space. Physics agrees!

Floors:

Sarah's House

After the subfloor is inspected & repaired, marble (or something similar) will be installed in the area from the staircase to West of the Living Room door. Hardwood (remnants from the Kitchen) will be laid in the remaining space. We'll need a transition piece of some sorts... buffering.

These particular ideas came straight from this Sarah Richardson design. So you may blame her influence if you are still all faclempt over our destruction of any "original" elements (the Man & the Woman now quickly run away from any further absurd accusations of destroying your troglodyte aesthetic values).

Dreams:
Good golly we're full of it... this space has been endlessly inspiring. How to pull it all together... we're still working on that!

Perhaps a gallery wall, some colour & texture while remaining simple & clean, a mirror (of course), and overall a feeling of "Honey, I'm home!" kiss kiss hug hug wonderful wonderfullness is to be in the air. Even though we don't really know what it'll look like in the end it'll come together, we just know it will!

On a side-note, we've decided to re-arrange priorities on remaining "finishing" decor until the Foyer project is complete. So we can focus without our usual overdose on coffee coffee coffee, but moreso because we know that this space will be the informer to the rest of our home design-wise, and that we will be taking some risks with it. So, to avoid needing a passport to get from one room to another... hang on as we suss this out in 2014. Fecking love this year already ;)

You can go here to the Foyer project on Apartment Therapy!

Phase III: Foyer.a.

Foyer:
After being contacted by Apartment Therapy, this project popped up on the to-do list for 2014 (now link to project here!). An exiting opportunity for our mess to get published & the main floor closer to being "complete". We're pretty sure we were chosen from the list of applicants because our plans are risky controversial bold awesome (painting out the unsalvageable woodwork, obscuring the small oval window, and modernizing the space in an almost 100 year old home), and are pleased to accept the challenge.

facing W to FRONT PORCH

The Foyer is the (2nd) entrance to our home & creates 1st (2nd) impressions (1st place going to the Exterior & Front Porch, but the Foyer is truly the 1st when inviting you into the soul of our home). It's been an embarrassment to date (ahem cat litter? Yah... great 1st impression of our soul for our guests: the warm waft of cat poopy).

You may follow the Renovation Diary on the Apartment Therapy website. That link will ultimately lead you smarty-pantses back here to our personal blog, where you may experience our embarrassingly filthy language, sloppy editing, and ubiquitous sarcasm which we are to restrain for respect of the article & kind folks at AT.

facing SE to the stairwell

Features & Original material:
Beautiful beautiful wood trims:
In such poor condition it's a total heartbreaker. They were already painted with several layers (forest green, white, and a putrid salmon YUK) and then were stripped and neglected for who knows how long. The wood, unfortunately, is irreparably dry, cracked, splintered and has not been cared for. To be positive about this fact, we're embracing change and painting the wood out for a fresh & bright vibe.

it looks worse in person

To appease any wood-loving hangovers, we will be preserving details of the original elements as much as possible. Still don't believe painting out the damaged woodwork is a brilliant plan to save character (not to mention materials from the landfill? Have you seen what amazeballz happened in our Dining Room when we did? (Oops... haven't posted the final pictures yet! Wait for it... ;)

Built-in bench:
Also, coming out. It's not "original": our house-whispering skills have determined the bench to have been added in the '70's. Furthermore, when it was added the original bottom 2 stairs were hacked up to accommodate it.
We will be taking the panelling that is on it's face and putting it back (to where it was originally) on the staircase... aaaaaand painting it out bwa-ha-ha (now we're just having fun with you wood-purists, brace thy-self for our unbridled sass!).

Front door & window, and Living Room French door:
We will do our best to keep this woodwork intact. Pffft.

Staircase:

One of the things we fell in love with with this house was the staircase configuration: not facing the front door (feng shui), and the zig-zag being fecking adorable. The carpet on it, however, is the bane of our existence with it's mucky-muck-always-dirty feeling if not the wretched colour & texture. Time, care, and delicate attention will be invested in making this feature shine. You're welcome.

Hardwood Flooring:
Again with the poor condition! Our sad house :( That's ok... we have a wicked plan to bring new hotness to this old & busted.

Stay in tune & watch the magic unfold before your very eyes... um slowly...