The house had (and still has) many needs.  We worked through these so far by focusing on a room and always having a side project.  It’s that way because there’s always an unexpected rainy day, or a sunny day, or a season coming, or something has to dry for 24 hours.  We push pause one project and jump to another.  We typically have at least two ongoing projects at any given time. 

Right now, our two projects are the hallway and closing in on completing the exterior painting.  (We still have an area in the rear and a couple of spaces on the sides but we are close!)

For starters, the hallway.  What can I say about it?  This is what it was when we bought the house: it had exterior siding on it, red and brown tiled floor, a slanted porch ceiling and one hanging dangling light (and plenty of dust and cobwebs. Lol).  Here is a refresher pic before we knocked an opening through to the kitchen on the left.  See how dark it was? 

Welcoming, wasn’t it?

This has been one of the biggest transformations of the house, second only to the kitchen.   

I started by working over time (side project approach here) to pry and pull each single board one at a time from the wall while trying to save each in case we needed it for the exterior of the house.  This actually is exterior siding and the width is not one made today, so as Paul worked on the exterior and pulled off the rotten boards, we would have to have any replacements milled to match the rest on the house.  But because we have these, we had an inventory and just go to the pile!

Pulling off the siding boards, we got it down to this.

It was significantly better even in this state.

Look at that sheathing!  You could build a ship with that lumber.

Next, we sealed in the tile…

…cleaned the boards put up drywall and installed a new ceiling. 

On the main wall went drywall, chair rail and shadow trim, as well as experimenting with wallpaper inside the shadow trim. We still have some painting to do in this area (second coats, touch ups, etc…) but it’s coming along. Photos coming soon.

Behind those yellow boards are the hallway’s lovely back stairs.  For anyone who’s been back there, you know how small, dark, tight and in short, funky they were.  And a lovely shade of red, might I add.  😉

In this picture you can’t see but what is also happening right above those stairs to the left are a set of windows.  Unfortunately, this left wall was full of water damage from leaking through those poorly installed windows (insert another serious remediation job here and good ole vinegar to the rescue!).  We will replace these windows on the second floor porch but they are a great idea in this area of the second landing and they provide so much light to this much needed space.   

Pretty much the first time we saw those stairs we knew what needed to be done.  Now was finally the time.   Those stairs have to be opened up.  Even pulling off only 2 boards at the top and one can see the light trying to shine in to the once dark hallway!  (Btw, this is another great shot of Paul’s new hallway ceiling.)

A board at a time came down from that stairwell, prying and pulling, more light shown…another board and more light. It proved wonderful for that little dark space!

These photos don’t quite capture it but trust me, light in that space was so needed.  This house not quite so long ago was so very dark, so many small hallways and doors which led to doors going in and out of tiny spots, it just emoted darkness. 

When we first knocked down the small wall in the kitchen and the bathroom off of the kitchen, one could now stand by the kitchen window and look all the way through the “pink room” and to our neighbor’s house on the opposite side of the house was incredible.  Light! 

Now again, we’d opened up the darkest places and let in the light!

From this:

To this:

We will rebuild the wall to the left, and we have some lovely solid oak boards which we’ll use to replace the steps on the stairs and extend the step length.  Rails and spindles will be installed but this area stays open.

We’ve also knocked out two unnecessary small framed walls at the opposite end of this hallway (one to the side door at the bottom of the stairs and one into a “space” before the last bedroom).  The area is now open and gives a great feeling of space as you descend the stairs.

Photo slideshow of the process:

As you can see, we still have a bit of a ways to go but I wanted to share anyway.  The transformation is incredible even in this stage.   We’ll continue the chair rail and shadow trim and plan to lay a lovely bright tile floor in here once these stairs are done and we’re no longer dropping tools on the floor. Lol. 😉

Project #2 – Continue closing in on the Exterior 

Paul has spent the last few weeks grinding, scraping and using the heat gun to remove the pain from the back second floor space of the house.  Replacing boards as he went, then caulking, filling and sanding to get it ready.   He’s also done the same to the left side of the house, as well.   It’s a large area, so it’s taken some time.  See below for shots:

Below is the side of the house, cleaned, scraped and now repainted.  We have plans to remove the exterior door you see in the middle (the one without a porch) and work on the windows for trim work and glazing, as well as add a handrail to the porch.

We will be renting a lift soon for the front bay windows, so he can finish some work on the very top. We are in prepping stage for that now.  The above photo area still needs landscaping and trimming out but wow, it’s come so far!  This area used to be full of poison ivy!

BEFORE

AFTER

We’re close on this side!

I wish this photo had flowers blooming in it, but it’s the wrong season. In the spring this area is full of daffodils which had been planted long before we bought the home.  I’ve added a photo so you can see. It was once a tangled, poison ivy and weed infested area. Once we removed the poison ivy vines (and a few trips to the doc later, lol), they began to grow and bloom on their own.

We never planted any of this. They were there, all along simply waiting for someone to let them see light.  It was such beautiful and simple symbolism for this home.

We’ve talked about this a lot recently; how when we first do anything to a space, all we see is the wonderful change, how much of a difference it made and how beautiful it is. 

But then soon, we become discontented with the still unfinished area.  Maybe discontented is not the right word, but maybe eager or anxious for what we want it to be? 

Forgetting how far it’s come, what is was when we bought it, we see past the improvements and see only missing pieces.  We miss the beauty that IS there now.  Looking at these original photos from time to time, reminds us how far this ole girl’s come and we stop, and remember. 

It’s a perfect example of life and how I sometimes forget how truly blessed I’ve been every single day for so many reasons.  It’s a gentle reminder not to look at what is missing, but what is here, now and is beautiful.