We are still in a little bit of a holding pattern until our carpenter is able to come finish out a few custom components of our kitchen, but I thought it may be fun to show you a little sneak peek of our kitchen.
As you can see, I decided to go bold and venture out into the brave world of unlacquered brass cabinetry hardware! I am really thrilled with the amount of warmth and character that it has added to my very white kitchen.
Hi there! It has been quite a while so I thought I was due to come back and give a little update. The house is really coming along and I’m so grateful that it is, for the most part, functional and I’m finally able to cook again! Here you can see how exciting it was to finally have running water in the kitchen. It is really easy to forget how awesome these daily conveniences like, oh say a kitchen sink, are until you are without one for so long!
This post really isn’t about the inside of the house, but what has been going on in the backyard. Let’s look at some before and after pictures, shall we?
Sugar Snap Peas
Let me tell you what, these have been such a fun surprise! My expectations for the sugar snap peas were quite low since I was starting them from seed and got them in the ground about two months after the recommended time.
[sugar snap peas planted about 10 weeks ago]
Here you can see they really came through for me! The vines were covered with delicious, sweet and crispy peas! I ate most of them straight off of the bush while working in the yard : )
Herb Garden
My first addition to the raised beds were some herb plants. It is so fun to look back and see how much it has already grown. Take a look at the beds 12 weeks ago…
[raised beds 12 weeks ago]
Here it is this week (I really need to take a picture like the one above as it is today…hard to believe it is the same!).
Overall, the herb plants have really thrived! Some have definitely been doing better than others (winners: Dill, Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary and Basil / losers: Cilantro and Chives). I got a little bit panicky with the basil, because the leaves kept turning brown. Apparently, if they get water on their leaves, the sun can then burn them. Since I have been trying to water them more carefully, they really have been gang busters! Obviously, the mint has no problem taking over a pot.
I’m OK with the Cilantro and Chives not doing super well, because I probably use them the least in my cooking anyway.
Beets, Carrots & Tomatoes
It is safe to say my spring crop of beets and carrots was a big flop. I have heard from friends that their first (also spring growing season) try at carrots was completely unsuccessful but then they tried again in Fall and had tons! Here’s to hoping my story is the same and I have lots of fresh carrots this fall. Houston is really so perfect for veggie gardening because we can grow in both spring and fall.
I’m hoping my tomatoes are as easy on me as my sugar snap peas were, because they were also in the ground about a month after they were supposed to be. We had a fairly cool April, so maybe this was for the best. The plants are growing so quickly and I even have a few big green tomatoes. Now I just need to figure out how to stay ahead of those pesky birds and squirrels.
I planted some zinnia seeds amongst my herbs to add a little color. Here is one of my first ones blooming…
As you can see, that weekly renovation update thing didn’t quite work out as I had planned! I’m giving myself some grace here (and sparing you at the same time) and skipping straight to today! Here is what has been happened at our little home…
Hardwood Floor Installed & Stained
New backdoor Installed
Painting Complete
Laundry Room Tile Floor Complete
Cabinetry Installation in Process
It really feels like everything should say complete* (with an asterisk). Floors are complete* (except for thresholds and final buffing), painting is complete* (except for the shoe molding and final touch ups) and tile is complete (except for baseboards and shoe molding) Doesn’t it always seems like the most pain is found in the final details? So many finishing tasks are dependent on one another like how the painters are waiting on the floors to be finished while the floor guys are waiting on the painters to be finished!
By the end of this week, we should essentially have everything but the counter tops in (which means no backsplash or custom cabinetry items finished yet, but ’tis life). It will be such a treat to have a refrigerator inside and not have dust everywhere, even if I have temporary plywood counters!
Just dropping in for a quick little update. I bopped over to the house at lunch yesterday to decide on the hardwood stain. My goal was to go with something pretty dark, but still somewhat warm. I wanted to avoid anything red (at least to minimize the already red, red oak) or gray looking. Take a look…
[coffee brown / antique brown / medium brown / honey brown]
Rodolfo (my hardwood guy) recommends an alcohol wash to go on the sanded floors prior to stain. This adds a richer color and helps to wood grain show a little better. You can see in this next picture the grid with painters tape – normal stain above and alcohol wash stain below. You can also see Rodolfo’s bias toward the ebony stain showing up in the size of swatch he was showing me : )
[limed wood]
[alcohol wash + white stain]
I was pretty darn tempted by the white floor and also the lime finish, but thought, for the sake of resale someday, not everyone would appreciate that like I would. Also, the dark stain is classic, which you can never go wrong with! The final decision is to start with the alcohol wash and stain in coffee brown. The alcohol helps the wood to better hold the stain and also makes the wood grain pop.
A few weeks ago, we had some busy bee visitors come in town to help us knock out some yard work. Within one day, here is what was accomplished:
Raised Beds
I’ll most likely write a more detailed post on building the raised beds, but for now, here are just a few quick shots of the process.
[seriously...the energizer bunny]
In the weekends following , Ryan and I made several trips to The Ground Up to get a few cubic yards of really good raised bedding soil. This is what each of the beds will hopefully be sprouting soon:
Bed #1
Bed #2
Bed #3
Bed #4
[quarantined the mint to a pot so it wouldn't completely take over!]
Planting the Trees
We decided to get three Schumard Red Oaks and Three Chaste or Vitex Trees. We placed the Vitex trees (a lovely blooming tree with purple flowers – image below) along the back of the fence which will hopefully stop your eye before being drawn to the giant lot-hogging house behind us. There is one Red Oak in the back left corner and two in the back right corner.
[hopefully our Vitex tree will look like this before we know it!]
[David, our awesome neighbor, come over to lend a hand]
One month later, our red oaks have really filled out with fresh green leaves, my herbs are starting to flourish and there are even signs of life with the Vitex trees!
[my thyme is already creeping]
I had no idea that such a love of gardening had been instilled in me – I guess all of those years with my little garden patch in the backyard growing up really stuck with me (thanks Mom!). Honestly, there isn’t much I would rather be doing than working out in my garden – this could change when the Houston summer rolls around : ) Appreciate all the backbreaking work my family did to get our yard started!!
P.S. I saw my first lettuce sprout yesterday, which was only 4 days after being planted. Talk about immediate gratification!
By the title alone, you can see that I have some catching up to do on renovation posts! I think we are now about half way there and bad news – I’m getting close (if not past) the end of my rope! I really can’t complain, because the process has been fairly flawless, other than a few minor hiccups along the way. I tell you what – renovations are not for the faint of heart (nor for those that are big babies, like I am!).
For those that haven’t seen the week 1 update, take a look here, since then, a surprisingly small amount has been accomplished…
Let me start by taking you through the new front door into the new foyer. Please, won’t you come inside?
You can see here, the doors to the laundry ‘closet’ have been installed and the doorways have been framed out.
[view from living room into foyer]
This wall, that was pretty random and previously between the living room and kitchen…
…it’s now gone! New insulation and sheet rock were installed in the kitchen replacing the previously mold-ridden walls. You can see our new recessed lighting and locations of island pendants here, too.
New hallway door installed, closing off the ‘private quarters’ from kitchen, living room, etc.
My resident handyman pulled out all of the old baseboards…thanks Ryan! Can’t you see the true joy just radiating from him? I guess any guy using a crowbar has no reason not to be happy.
Finally, almost everything mentioned here has arrived, except for the dutch door (don’t get me started – Home Depot, you has some ‘splaining to do) and appliances. Speaking of dutch door not yet arriving…
…this is where it will be going – towards the back of the house, between the living room and dining area. It will look great, if it ever gets here for us to install it!!
Thanks for stopping by – next up will be an update on our backyard! Can’t wait to show you my raised beds : )
This feels like a good time to take a break from renovation updates and show you one of my favorite things. A few years ago, I was exploring a new antique shop in the Houston Heights and came upon this really neat piece. It is a vintage gym locker along with a whole set of baskets. It has been almost two years since I purchased it, but, as they say, better late than never!
Maybe I’m just feeling sentimental about it because I haven’t exactly found a place for it in the new house and am feeling a little bummed about that. Not to worry though, It will be sticking around and I’m sure to find it a home in one room or another!
The baskets alone probably made the entire purchase worth it – I have used them in so many places and definitely have more than I know what to do with! I have had so much fun using the vintage gym locker as casual display for my mom’s china and more than anything, it provided amazing storage in our apartment!
By the way – thanks for taking the photos for me, Katie! : )
So this past week was officially time (of maybe even past time) for me to pull the trigger and get everything ordered for our project. Sometimes there is just too much behind the scenes yuckiness and I need a reminder of the prettiness to come. Here is a fun peek at some of what we have selected:
Laundry Room Floor Tile
New Back Door
Entry Light
Kitchen Sink
Kitchen Faucet
Porch Lights
Appliances
Unlacquered Brass Options for Kitchen Cabinetry Hardware
Entry Door Hardware
Ahhh, isn’t it all so lovely : ) Helps to smooth away some of the rough edges we saw here and give me hope for the final product!
Well, we are officially about to begin week three of our renovations, but of course, I’m behind on blogging! Take a look at what happened on our first week. Oh, and in case you are curious, take a look at before pictures and the master plan.
New Front Door
[everyone say hello to Gerardo!]
[can't wait to get the siding and front door painted!]
Built Out Laundry Room & Entry
When you come through the new from door, the living room is to the right and garage door to the left. There is a framed pass through ahead to the right that leads to the laundry closet, back bedroom and current door to back patio. Hopefully this gives you some point of reference.
Kitchen Demolition
As to be expected with any project, there were some less than pleasant discoveries..
Luckily, the mold was fairly inexpensive and painless to get rid of!
If you look really closely at the wall behind the step-ladder, you will see some sunlight coming through those walls. I’ve decided that it is really for the best to never see behind your walls! At least we know that it will now be sealed.
Hardwood Floor Delivery
My hardwood floor guy delivered our wood last week in order to give it a few weeks to acclimate to the temperature and humidity in our house.
Well, I think that about wraps it up for week one of the renovation diaries, but I’m sure you will be on the edge of your seat for the next installment : )
Because we all know that many hands make light work, I decided to call in some reinforcements when it was time to pack up and move out of our kitchen, dining room and living room.
I must say, we have some pretty stellar friends here in Houston. All it took was the promise of pizza and the offer to write on our walls and they were in!
So thankful for sweet friends who are willing to help and strong men with good backs : ) I’ll be back with a little update as to the progress we made on the renovations since Monday. My goal is to provide a weekly update on the project as we go.
