Kitchen nearing completion

Ok...Almost done. I still need to have the cupboard doors installed. Today the crown moulding was installed. All I need is some baseboards, schoolhouse lighting, a dishwasher(that takes a hidden panel), counter tops, bottom piece of window trim, door trim for dining room, and a swinging dining room door.

Master bedroom renovation

This is only the beginning of a very tedious process of the master bedroom renovation. My deadline for completion is June 25, 2011. My fiance and I will be married that day and that is when she will move in.

The celing tiles are the first things to go. After I remove the tiles, I have to take down the templates used to secure the tiles on the celing. That can be a pain because they are nailed into the joists above the lathe and plaster. Once I get that done with, I will carefully remove the picture rails, window trim, baseboards, and door frames.

NEW SINK LEGS

Sorry for the lack of updates. I am waiting for my kitchen cabinets to be completed as we speak. Here are some pics of the new porcelain cast iron legs I recently installed on our sink. I will be adding a curtain to go between the legs to hide the plumming when it is all said and done.

Some Before And Afters

Kitchen Before 2009


Kitchen After 2010


Back Bedroom Before 2009


Back Bedroom After 2010


Bathroom Before 2009


Bathroom After 2010




Pantry Before 2009


Pantry After 2010

Baking Cookies in the 100 Year Old Occidental Oven

I finally put my 100 year old Occidental Oven to the test today. I ran this oven for 9 hours straight at 350 degrees while I baked 12 batches of cookies. I baked as they would have 100 years ago using a Hoosier Cabinet and a gas/wood combination stove-oven. From 10:00am to 8:00pm, I did non-stop baking.




Soft Molasses before/after










Here is 75% of what I baked today. I plan on making the same amount tommorrow.

Kitchen is comming together

I finally moved my stove back in the kitchen. We also decided to locate the Hoosier Cabinet next to the stove on the west wall rather than the south wall as origionally planned. We comprimised. I wanted an eat-in kitchen with an eating table. We will have the small farmhouse style table on the south wall. We have tried our best to make the kitchen period-like to the house. The house was built in 1915. The stove was made between 1915-1919. I bought it at Buckeye Antiques and Appliance in Stockton California. They do fabulous restorations on antique stoves. See my link to their website. The Hoosier Cabinet is a 1917 reproduction made by an Amish man in Pennsylvania. The sink begs the look of the 1910-1925 period. The beadboard was widely used back then in working rooms that got alot of use such as farmhouse kitchens, boarding house kitchens, bathrooms and industrial applications. We still need to add window trim, door trim, baseboards, and crown moulding.

Pantry Custom Cabinets

Finally we have our cabinets. My brother in-law Carmon does fine work. He makes custom cabinets and stairs. We are still awaiting the glass panels, bin pulls, and counter tops. After a year and a half of not having dishes, I finally unpacked them all and put them away in the new cabinets. I was like a kid in a candy store knowing I would soon have a kitchen again.

Kitchen Paint, Sink, and Tile

I have now finished the painting in the kitchen. Next will be the tile.


Here is the Farmhouse sink I finally installed after a year of purchasing it.


Finally getting the tile in and only then realizing that the pattern is off when I looked at this photo.

Built-In Beadboard Flipped

I finally installed the beadboard on our built-in hutch after flipping it around. The back side is caked with paint which would have been nearly impossible to remove. Jeremy and Dawn from Bungalowcious gave me this idea which worked out great. I still need to do more sanding on the rest of the hutch before I stain it.

Bathroom Wall Sconces

Finally one year later we ordered the wall sconces for the bathroom. We bought them from Rejuvenation. All I have left to do in the bathroom is to paint the beadboard trim.




I bought this solid brass sign for the bathroom door.

Farmhouse Sink

Here is our new Farmhouse sink that will be in our kitchen. It has been sitting in a shipping crate in the dining room for a year and will soon be installed in the kitchen. I can't wait!! I ordered it from Canyon Bath online and I am really happy with the quality of this cast iron sink. It weighs 150 lbs and mounts on the wall. I had to re-build part of the kitchen wall to support the weight of the sink. Legs for this sink is optional. Although, I might purchase them in the future. They cost $300 and I am in no hurry.


The faucet I also bought online at Homeclick. It was rather difficult for me to find one with porcelain handles instead of the chrome ones.

Pantry Paint Colors

After Jovita primered the pantry, she painted the four shades of yellow we picked out at the store. (L-R) Tiggers Tummy, Cornbread Yellow, Melted Butter, and Vintage Yellow. We decided to go with the Tiggers Tummy on the far left. It is a Disney Color. We felt that it would be a color that we would not get tired of. Initially, when we looked at the swatches, we were leaning towards the Cornbread Yellow which ended up being too dark. The Melted Butter has an orange tint and the vintage yellow has a bit of a mustard shade in it. Keeping in mind that all of the trim will be white, we feel that the Tiggers Tummy on the far left will work the best. Our new dishes will be red in color to compliment the white and yellow.


Jovita primered the pantry on Saturday. Since we do not have a paint sprayer, she used a brush on the beadboard. We would have preferred a paint roller. However, the roller does not get into the tight grooves of the beadboard.

Built-in Buffet Ideas

Since my Built-in buffet doors were removed some time ago, I have been gearing up some ideas on how to make them. I have tossed around the idea of three doors or just having two doors like they origioinally had.

I took some pics of my neighbors built-ins. Her house was built in 1914. I don't know if my house was built by the same builder or not. However, when her house was finished being built, ours began immediate construction.



The bin pulls are just like the ones our built-in used to have. When I stripped the paint off, you could see the impression. Also, we had the same kind of latches. The only thing different is the hinges.

Floor Plan

Here is a very,very rough scetch of our home's layout. I did this so you can get a perspective on where the rooms are located.

The Attic

The attic is decent size. However, If I ever plan to build a room up here I will have to add two dormers making it an airplane bunglaow. One dormer would be for the stairs and the other would be a small room. This would be done far into the future. There is soo much that needs to be done first. I am standing about halfway towards the back of the house looking towards the front. This shows the attic vent in the porch.


This is a shot looking towards the back of the house.