The Photo Shoot

Here is a small glimpse into our guest house/barn renovation. The Country Living feature focuses on the interior renovation so I thought I'd post a little peek on the exterior (more photos inside and out after the feature is published). The window that's shown here is in fact an original window, and is the only window that we did not replace.

 The photo shoot took place on Halloween. Unfortunately I don't have any behind the scenes glimpses as my Canon Rebel has expired, and I inadvertently misplaced my point and shoot. But it went really well, and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting someone I have admired for quite some time - Heather Bullard. 

Heather was the stylist for the shoot - she did such an amazing job! Everything turned out so beautiful. I am so excited to see the feature when it comes out in the February issue. 

The photographer for the shoot was the reknowned James Baigrie. He was also such a wonderful pleasure to meet. Heather came Tuesday to prep everything, and then James arrived early Wednesday morning. Shooting began soon afterward. 

Mike took those two days off to watch the babies so that I could be up at the guest house helping as much as possible (ironing linens, fetching props, etc.). Just as the previous photo shoot, it was insanely fascinating to watch the process of creating photo-ready spaces. 

Heather took this photo of Mike on her iPhone. I was with the babies while he ran up to deliver some morning necessities... like fresh brewed coffee. 

After the shoot, Heather and I had a chance to relax and socialize a bit more. She gave me some tips, using my iPhone, on styling this pumpkin bread that Mike made. I think that she may have even taken this photo. 

It was wonderful to stand in the kitchen and talk about everything design. 

Due to the business of the shoot being on Halloween, and also due to the abundance of rain we had that week, we didn't dress the babies up in their Halloween costumes until this past weekend. They thought it was a hoot to look like some of their favorite critters. Graham only tolerated the lion's mane for about 60 seconds (he's never been a hat boy). 

I hope that all had a wonderful weekend, over the last days of October. I also hope that for those of you who were affected by Sandy are with power, and safe and sound. Our thoughts have been with you from afar. 

Guest House Renovation

Renovation of our guest house has been at the bottom of our priority list these past several years. We've had so much to accomplish on the main house that although we were anxious to fix up the space in which our guests stay, there just wasn't the time to do it. 

This past spring we decided that it was finally time to cross that task of our to do list. Once we started thinking of the things that needed to be done, we called Dale, our local structural engineer. In the above photo, he and Mike are checking the foundation. As you can imagine, Mike was thrilled when I got the camera out to capture them. 

If math is not your language, I wouldn't recommend trying to join in on a conversation with two engineers. I stood there for awhile and when I realized that I had nothing to contribute, I just let them be. 

At first we had big plans...removing the roof and expanding the second story, creating a little half story for an extra bedroom, etc. Then we came back down to earth and decided that much could be improved with a few of the most basic things...new windows, new door, and refinished floors, new sink, and faucet, and paint, paint, paint and more paint. 

As do all of our projects, the guest house renovation has taken much longer than anticipated (notice that these photos were taken last spring). I believe the goal was to finish it before my brother and his family arrived this past June. A lot was completed but many things were not...no new door, no kitchen faucet, no ceiling lights, refinished floors...

This little project of ours has reminded us of how stressful renovation can be. We thought that because the structure was separate from the main house, we would be less affected by the typical anxiety inducers, such as noise interrupting the babies' naps, endless scheduling, coordinating and consulting with contractors, delays, and the list goes on - but this was what you might call, wishful thinking... 

In the end, Mike has been doing a great deal of work on it himself. Floor sanders and power washers needed to be rented, lots of painting had to get done, many discussions and ruminations were needed over design elements. And then of course, there were all of the other million little things that needed to get done. How quickly we forget! But we are nearing the end now. 

Photos will follow...eventually. 

Will you plant those hydrangeas...?

Here is a photo of our old oil tank from a few years back. It took us several years until we switched from the original in-floor oil furnace (heated one spot really well, really noisily, rest of the house not so much) over to electric baseboards. It was another year before we got around to having the old tank hauled off (as scrap metal). 

I took this right before the scrap metal guy picked up the tank. Mike had tipped it up to drain the remaining oil so that we could dispose of it properly. 

What instigated the next photo is something I wrote on one of my infamous 'to do' lists one weekend, shortly after the oil tank got hauled away. 

It read, "Plant hydrangeas by basement door." 

This task was aimed at Mike for one very good reason...

A thick concrete slab had to come out before the hydrangeas were planted! Loud and heavy machinery had to be rented. 

After he broke up the concrete,  he hauled it away for recycling.

Concrete removed. There was a foot of gravel under the concrete, so next up was an infusion of soil and compost. Eventually the siding will need some touching up (on another 'to do' list). Those  vents you see in the two photos above are from the old California Cooler. This was the only section of the house that didn't get resided, thus the old vents are still in place. 

Endless Summer hydrangeas planted. xo. This is the best hydrangea bed in the whole yard. They love the full shade. I was lucky to find these at our local nursery for just $17 each, which I thought was a great deal considering their size.

 The only original windows left in the house are the basement windows, of which the laundry room window is shown here. These basement windows were an old blue for a long time until we had the chance to paint them white one day. They look much crisper now. 

Here is a photo from that day...

My loves. xoxo

More blossoms are on their way. 

They'll keep the limelight hydrangeas on the patio company. The limelight are getting bigger each year. I'll do a patio post on them soon (it's on my 'to do' list). 

This fall I'll prune them back as they are getting a tad overgrown around the stairs and reaching out into patio a bit too much. 

Building Our Fence

We gained two extra living spaces with the renovation of our farmhouse. The first of these outdoor 'rooms' is the wraparound porch, which provides a transition between indoors and out. The second is the yard we created around the house with picket fence, which transitions from the house to the rest of our property.

To address some long standing drainage issues, we excavated to slope the ground away from the front of the house. After we excavated this area, there was a transition in elevation up to the rest of the yard. We decided to take advantage of this break in grade to create planter beds, which also disguises the varied ground elevations. Choices we mulled over included lots plantings associated with either a retaining wall or a fence line. We decided on the latter. 

Here, Mike has staked out the proposed fence line. The gravel border to the left of the future fence is a french drain, which we installed to help collect and convey water away from the house (and basement). 

Mike and my Dad dug the holes one weekend, while Mike and his Dad set the posts the next. They are set in concrete so that they remain straight through rain, wind and snow. 

This is an old photo so the file is small. Both being engineers, you can be sure that our fence is strong. 

Here is the yard today. There is of course always more planting to do, but each year the beds get fuller and fuller. 

We have held off on plantings around the porch so far. We can't decide if we prefer it left open, or if a line of low-growing shrubs or flowers may add a nice touch. It is a challenging spot to pick plants for. The area receives direct sun all summer long, and occasional piles of snow coming off the roof in the winter. 

The grass outside of the fence line has started to yellow, as it does around this time every summer. We've opted to only irrigate the yard inside the fence line, and let Mother Nature take care of the rest. 

Here's the side yard just after we completed the fence. 

Here is the side yard today. 

There are a few more posts on the fence here, here and here.

P.S.

Where's Graham?

Hmm, where could he be? 

A Living Wall

When we initially designed our outdoor dining patio, we knew we wanted the space to be as green and lush as possible. To accomplish that, we opted to not build a formal wall around the patio, but instead created a living wall. 

This is what the area looked like after the patio and stairs (to the dining room) were built. Because the yard slopes away from the house, we built a hardscape patio with a stone-style retaining wall to create the level space. In addition to accommodating the slope of the yard, we also liked the idea of not having to mow around or under the table and chairs during the summer months. 

Here I've propped English boxwood up around the patio to see what the living wall would look like. Although these were the tallest boxwood I had come across, they were still going to be fairly short up against the patio, especially at the end with the largest drop to the ground. 

The patio is the same dimension as our dining room (12x16), which required over twenty plants. 

A year after we planted the smaller boxwood, I came across larger plants that were at least twice the size of the original plants. So we had a dilemma...wait patiently for the already planted but smaller boxwood to grow, or buy the larger ones to enjoy the living wall immediately because of the increased height. 

To resolve this question, I called the lovely Tara Dillard, a landscape designer who helped us plan the foundation plantings in the yard. She recommended switching out the smaller plants for the larger ones because we'd have to wait quite awhile for the smaller boxwood to grow that big. 

So that's what we did and we're so happy, despite the extra cost, the work to transplant the smaller boxwood elsewhere in the yard (in the flower beds) and of course, planting the larger boxwood in their place. 

The boxwood are very loosely shaped. I really do love the classic manicured formality of meticulously pruned boxwood hedges, but that aesthetic just doesn't seem to fit our yard. 

Beyond the fence line the yard is fairly wild. We used the fence to create a separation between areas of the property that are more vs. less managed. We wanted to create a lush yard next to the house, but also wanted to keep it on a manageable scale to minimize the maintenance of plantings, watering, etc. 

Soon the limelight hydrangea, which are on either side of both sets of stairs, will be blooming. I've already started to see little buds and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do this year. They've grown quite big over the past three seasons and although I have yet to cut them back, I will probably do a little pruning this fall just to keep them at an even height.

Our Front Steps and Walkway

I am finally getting around to posting on our front walkway and stairs. I had to dig deep in the archives to find some of the before pictures and I'm almost too tired to even write about it after seeing all the work we had to do. 

The walkway and stairs are made of concrete pavers. They come in irregular sizes (length wise) to simulate old stones. We used these same pavers on our outdoor dining patio and stairs. 

This is the view of the valley below with Mt. Adams in the background.  

The view from the porch. 

Putting in the hardscape was definitely an huge undertaking. I personally had no idea that there was so much involved in creating features as simple as walkways. 

We started with this, a few concrete stones and some old wood beams. This was our fancy front steps and walkway for about a year after we renovated the house (this photo was taken in 2009). 

After much deliberation, and some math on Mike's part, we decided to create the stairs with concrete and then adhere pavers over the concrete to create a stone look. 

Mike started building the stairs by creating a form for the concrete. This was a lot of work as he had to dig down fairly deep into clay soil so that the stairs had a firm concrete base. 

After the concrete was poured and cured, Mike adhered the pavers to create the look of stone steps. 

As we completed the stairs, it was time to build the walkway. 

This involved a lot more digging into our clay soil which is like concrete when it is dry, and softens a couple inches at a time with lots of water applied to it. So this was a fair amount of hard work. I know because I attempted to help out, but gave up when I couldn't even get the shovel two inches into the ground. 

I can assure you that Mike is always thrilled when I run to get my camera. He's especially thrilled when I ask him to stop working and smile! This is a request he kindly ignores. 

The walkway took some fancy figuring to get right. The ground slopes downward slightly at a few pitches and due to varying elevations, there were water drainage issues to consider. 

We rented this machine a couple of times in order to get the gravel that is placed over the soil compacted and level for the pavers. 

Here is the stabilization cloth that goes over the gravel. By the way, this was Mike's first time putting in a walkway so this is all information he learned from books and online resources. 

The picket fence was also an ongoing project during that same summer. As you can see, Mike left a section of the fence open until we finished the walkway so that he could access the area more easily. 

So much math! Here Mike is using a guide to set the edge pieces which help hold the pavers in place when you walk on them over the years. Next up was a layer of sand, over which the pavers were placed. More sand swept over the top filled the cracks between the pavers. The last step was to run the compactor back over the walk to lock everything in place. And voila!

This is what Mike looks like when he's thinking about some of the details.

Details, details...

Mr. Handy

I recently came across some old photos that had a very familiar theme - Mike working on the house! 

This photo brings me back! To think of all the work we had ahead of us - thankfully, we were completely oblivious!

Mike is doing a mock-up of what the porch roof would look like. We did a lot of mock-ups like this as we didn't have an architect so the only way to come to any conclusions on building details, like roof pitch in this case, was to play around with it visually. This was mostly for my sake as I think I need three dimensional visuals. 

He mocked up two different roof pitches and I remember standing at different distances from the house to be sure that the end of the porch roof (porch eaves) didn't come down over the windows on the front of the house. 

The gravel was something our contractor put around the house while they were working in order to keep the mud down. It was a great idea but something we had to deal with later on when we started working on the yard. 

After the contractor built the porch roof, Mike painted the porch fascia before the contractor arrived to finish the porch trim. I remember that we accidentally used flat instead of semi-gloss so it had to be done twice!

The is when Mike still smiled for me while working on the house!

I have yet to post on our house entry. Mike did all the hard scape (pathway and stairs). After he built the stair mold, a concrete truck came and poured the concrete. Mike then adhered our concrete pavers over it to simulate rock steps. 

 Putting in the pathway was a turning point as up until that point, we were using small square blocks, which seemed even smaller when it was rainy and muddy. To get up on the porch, we were using wobbly beams. Both were things left over from all the construction. I'll do a proper post on this project soon. 

Our vision for the dining patio was ambitious! This is what we started with and again, I just feel so exhausted thinking about all the work ahead of us. The patio took an entire summer for us to complete. Mike did all the surveying (he's a professional engineer), leveling, building, etc. 

After the retaining wall was built, he built a mold for the stairs. The stair mold was moved into place under the french doors. The mold for the front porch was built at the same time so that the concrete could be poured in one morning. 

Mike uses a lot of math when he's working on his projects. It's amazing to me, being more of a left brain person, that he can write down a bunch of complex equations and come up with amazing results. 

The projects are for the most part behind us thankfully but the photos are a reminder of how much work Mike has put into this house. He's worked most weekends, evenings and throughout entire summers.  

Finding these photos makes me realize how many photos I haven't included in my renovation before and after posts. I'd like to work on updating those not with just more photos but more detail on the resources we used and things we learned along the way.