To everyone who has pulled up the site during the past year looking for updates, my apologies.  Adapting to a new schedule has me juggling my time differently, time I previously spent on the blog.  We do still really enjoy sharing our progress, and if you’re wondering we are still here each day working away. 

The title of this entry “To be or not…” seemed appropriate because it refers to where we seem to be with several decisions on the house and its style. 

One decision refers to the interior design of the home: Victorian or Neoclassical?  For those who toured the home during this year’s Home and Garden tour and/or friends and family, you might remember the wallpaper we’d hung in the entry way. 

It’s quite beautiful wallpaper with the light damask pattern.  We’d chosen it literally right after we purchased the home and we were not even close to the design stage.  We simply saw it and loved it, so we grabbed it. 

See how pretty it is?  Well, you walk past that a few times and add to it the very different feel that the parlor, drawing and ball room have and especially the outside and after hemming and hawing, we both finally admitted to each other that this wallpaper didn’t fit! 

Another thing we noticed is that with the lights we have, the paper seemed to have a slight yellow tint to it.  Maybe it was the lighting but still, having it hung by the wood trim in the entry made the entry darker than we wanted and overall, the feel became VERY Victorian.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some beautiful details and patterns from the Victorian era however it can be very over the top and bold with its patterns and was it what we wanted for this house?

The house with the wallpaper. What do you think?

Also, note quickly the ceiling Paul is working on for the entry way. Isn’t it beautiful! The parlor and the ball room both will have medallions and beautiful ceilings. More photos coming soon!

Back to Victorian: Don’t get me wrong, the Victorian style homes have beauty but for me, I think they can become too busy very quickly.  At least for this style of house.

This is where my mind kept going each time I walked through the entry way. You see what I mean? lol

So in case you’re wondering, yes.   After we’d prepped and hung the wallpaper, yes, it all came down!  On the same weekend the decision was made, down it went!  I was done with it. Lol. 

We are now back to white exposed plaster walls and we begin the design process again!  Oh well, if we’re going to change it, now is the time and now we know. 

See below the exposed walls (and shadow trim Paul is doing. Another glimpse of his ceiling here)

Using the exterior Neoclassical style seemed to fit things better.  Drawing from the front area comprising the ballroom and parlor, with their tall ceilings and columns inside, we want lighter, brighter and classical. We’ve found just like with the kitchen, as we live in these spaces what works best seems to emerge by looking at the house and trying to keep to its integrity.  

The other very big change we are seeing (and for those driving by) is the front porch.   

We lost so much of the season last year on an interior project that took much longer than we expected, it were still inside during too much of the summer.  It was so gratifying this year to finally see color on that porch and it being to tie in with the rest of the house.  

It has been this since last fall  (cleaned up and with the dog inside, of course, lol)

And these:

It was time. But before we could begin on painting the porch, we wanted to scrap down the bay window so that when the sanding and scraping was done on the bay, it didn’t blow over onto the porch and cover that with dust.  Therefore we waited to paint the porch until Paul dealt with the bay windows. 

He scraped and sanded down to bare wood the right side bays.  Where boards that were rotten he replaced, trim was cleaned up and caulked and all prepped.  There is so much detail on these bays that it took days and days.  But he did it.

You can see how some of the trim was damaged, but he removed most of it even if it was salvageable so that he could properly clean the edges, then put the salvaged pieces back and replace with any new pieces. The time he spent on this bottom bay alone! But the detail is amazing.

Oh and I almost forgot the porch ceiling (that’s REALLY fun,…not!)  If you look in these photos you can see it stripped. Sanding OVERHEAD was the only way to do it.  But Paul got that done, as well.

With the sanding done, now time for the painting of both the bays and the porch.  Time to paint one section, then tape the next section and paint again! This is where I came in, lol 😉 in case you’re wondering what I was doing this whole time.  Oh, I did cut and add some trim to to repair the missing boards on the bottom one day.  I can miter cut with the best of them now!

The results of his work are amazing.  By the time we painted, it looked like new construction.  This old girl is really beginning to shine again.

The result:

Now that the porch was painted, Paul focused on the exterior facia boards seen at the round section on the right.  It was actually full of rotten boards and deteriorated in some sections, not to mention the woodpecker, the bee-hive and the tree fall damage a few years ago.  Yes, I know, painting the porch first is not usually the order of these things but Paul had already inspected it and knew he could save it.  Originally we had started by scraping and painting the house portion of the porch but you know how it is, once you’ve made a clean spot…and off we went with painting the porch. 

From the front, here is what the porch was looking like:

Only a few bird nests were in there, lol (like 20).  This isn’t fire kindling or dangerous on a WOODEN house at all…nahh…  WOW.   He pulled and pulled and used a broom to insert it up inside the porch all the way, pulling and pulling until all traces of birds and other nests were gone.  A bit of a dirty job but the porch is bird nest free now! (sorry feathered friends)

The porch facing is still under repairs now but will keep you posted.  Also, part of the porch restoration will be the glorious columns!  We have ordered our first column and it should arrive soon.  We’ll determine if it’s a good fit and develop a strategy for installing it.  We’ll share more pics soon!

Oh yes!  Lest I forget.  What’s a porch without lights?  FINALLY…porch lights!  It’s the little things, right? 

And speaking of little things, I wanted a new mail box.  I’ve wanted one since we first bought the house but waited patiently (most of the time, lol) until the porch was addressed.  Now with the porch done, it was time.  I checked pricing online for one I thought suited the house and let’s just say, either my taste is a too extravagant or these things cost good money.  One of the mailboxes I saw online looked strikingly similar to the poor dilapidated one we have now but it was white. 

Hmm….you remember the door locks in the house?  The ones I restored? Could I…?  With the mailbox? 

I did!  And I think it works just fine, at least for now.  Maybe someday we’ll change it but I actually like it very much right now.  I even added a little gold embossing on the design.

Here’s the original mailbox (yes, it was hanging like that when we bought the house.)

Now restored!

And what’s a newly painted porch and mailbox without a cute little sign, right?

The porch has come a long way.  When the columns go up, it will be stunning! 

Here’s a before and after:

Welcoming, I’d say.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the other decision I mentioned we were considering was if I could still do the blog. 

Oh, I could throw out some words and post a few pics from time to time easily enough, but could I adequately spend time on a post, include insights, stories or experiences?  You see it was also time for the blog domain renewal this month and with that in mind, it was decision time for me. 

Of course, I never seriously thought of letting the blog go yet, but the timing was such that I had to confirm to myself that if I renew it, then I need to use it.  Suffice it to say, I renewed it. So here we are, for another year!

And oh yes! We also had the Home and Garden Tour again this summer. The tour was a great success. We were one of about 8 homes on the tour and Paul and I ended up staying during the full open house and were the tour guides. Close to 300 people came through and the exchanges and conversations were great for us. You see we are in the house every day, day in and day out, and the changes don’t seem that much to us on some days. We work and work, but has it changed?

Hearing from others who haven’t seen it every day, coming in and exclaiming how much they see changes, how much they love the changes and so happy to see the old girl coming back, was definitely not only a fun way to spend a day, but truly motivating for us. And so a big thank you to everyone who helped and who came! We enjoyed it tremendously.

Below a few pics from the house at the time of the tour. It’s a slide show, so you can flip through each.

And for the blog and more importantly, the house, onward!