Glory to God in the Highest!

Merry Christmas, hope this year ends with all of you feeling blessed and loved.

We are closing the walls!

Here it is..... SHEETROCK! It was delivered today and I am sad to say I missed the 18 wheeler that delivered the sheetrock but it is placed nicely in every room. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. Today they started in our daughter's room. the ceiling is done, I will snap those photos tomorrow, it was too late when I went by the afternoon.
As an added bonus some of the exterior doors have been delivered as well. Hitting a high note and making it early Christmas present to boot!

This is the stack in the living room, and waiting to see these pieces go up. This view is looking back toward the hall and new powder bath. You can see the fireplace in the background. We had to repair the firebrick and with that came new herringbone tile insert. It is beautiful, I will post those photos in another post.

This originial view is from the living room looking back into the dining room and the kitchen.

This is the same view now, you can see the ceilings have been vaulted and the sheetrock is here waiting to be hung.
We are so glad things are coming together, everyone has worked hard this week and we are so grateful for all the people involved in the renovation. We have gotten to know new friends and look forward to sharing the rest of the journey with friends new and old.


Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Baby, it's cold outside.

It is finally cold in Texas! I am thankful for that, it is December after all.
The insulation has been blown in the outside walls and put up into the ceilings. We are about to begin putting up the sheetrock, then wood floors, tile in the bathrooms,Yipeee!!! But I am getting ahead of myself.
Let's start with what is already in place at Hathaway; outside walls, new roof, new framing, new electrical, new plumbing, new lighting, new HVAC and insulation. Imagine how surprised I was when I went inside the other day and it was much colder inside than outside, the insulation is working like a charm.

Here is looking into the master study from the master bedroom. The pocket door track is installed and ready for interior doors. You can see what type of insulation was blown into the walls and insulation that was put up into the beautiful tray ceiling. ( I will take another photo showing the beautiful framing of the ceiling)

Here is a close up of the insulation, between the windows in our bedroom. It is amazing how quiet it is in the house with just the insulation. Once the sheetrock is up it will be really quiet and spa like. Although it will be more like Calagon take me away, is probably closer to reality.

Here is a shot of our daughter's insulation, I know it all looks the same but I am so happy to have moved from framing to insulation and heading into sheetrock.

From one of my favorite Christmas songs:
I've got to go home - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Ahh, but it's cold outside!!!! (or inside if you have new insulation and no heat)

Windows of the World... Well, our corner of the world

Here is the back of the house right after we signed the papers. The upper windows have changed in shape and size, the back wall has been moved out to increase the room size. This was the original garage of the home when it was built (1942). It has since been closed in and looked like this but here are some of the photos along with the process and transformation.

This picture shows the sagging roof and the outside rock exposed. Along with single pane windows and french doors which were poorly installed. As in everything that was done to this house before we bought it and started this "renovation", I mean total rebuild.

This is after the roof was ripped off and before the new roof and extension of family room was completed.

Here is a close up of the two new windows and dormers of the upstairs bedroom and bathroom. And the new metal roof on the back side of the house. Can't wait for the rain (now that the house is dried in).

Here is the almost finished view, minus the stacks of lumber and trash. I love how it looks and I will really enjoy it when I am floating in the pool on a raft with an umbrella in my drink !
We are headed to pick out exterior doors and then onto sheetrock. They say it moves fast after the sheetrock starts..... will keep you posted!

What, Lassie we have a well in the backyard?

After making a joke about a well in an earlier post (Now you see it, now you don't) we do indeed have a well. It is pretty exciting(not in the sense I just found a million dollars exciting) but exciting in we have an alternative way to water our lawn.

This is looking right into the well. Please admire the grass around it, my handsome hubby and good looking son have laid at least two pallets. After determining we had a well, my smart hubby tied a lug nut to a piece of string and dropped into the well. (you know super technical stuff) After what seemed like a long time it finally hit bottom, at thirty seven feet. It was also wet which meant we have a well and it has water in it, SCORE!

Now that may not seem like a big deal but here in Dallas, we have been under watering restrictions and the whole state is in a drought. It makes exciting to discover we have something useful for the future. Because we have discovered many things that are or will not be helpful in the future. The list of those things is far too long to recite. (trust me)
So armed with the knowledge that we do have well, I am thrilled with the possibility of watering our lawn and making sure our children do not fall into it. Because truth be told we do not have Lassie to alert us or help us find them if they do fall in the well.



These are our two furry children ( I mean dogs) :) As you can see they would be no help in either action finding the kids or alerting us, but they are certainly cute!

Put a lid on it

Well, after a very long break I am back to the blog. We have passed our plumbing, HVAC and electrical inspections. Hence we have not changed much inside other the addition of more wires, pipes, vents and framing.
We are waiting for our new windows to arrive (this Tuesday) and be installed which will help move to the next stage of the drying in process. Meaning flooring and sheetrock can start going in and the house will start looking more like a house. Which brings me to my favorite part (for right now anyway) our new roof! She is a real beaut, Clark... The new dormers and the trim and shutters look better than they have in a long time.

I love it!! It looks good even with the old paint,ladder and new posts that are not yet trimmed or painted. We hear it is going to be moving quickly from this point on. However, I am not holding my breath with that little nugget of information.



Looking forward to sharing the details with you very soon.
But for now I will try to keep a lid on all the excitement.

When in Ephesus...

Last year we had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Ephesus. I fell in LOVE with the city of Ephesus, it was completely amazing. I was blown away by the ruins that have been excavated but was taken aback by the streets, they were made out of marble. Beautiful,gleaming marble, they looked almost brand new. I digress, today I had the pleasure of going to pick out tile for our bathrooms. And you guessed it, I chose marble for the bathroom floors, counter tops and shower walls. I had the best time, but thank goodness for the representative and my sweet friend Kendall who kept me on task. I would still be there looking at everything they had even though I only needed help with the bathrooms.

These are the bathroom choices in miniature.

This is the wall surround for the claw foot tub . I will include the tub photos in a later post. (it is beautiful). The tile is a 2x4 white venatino laid in a brick pattern, the cap is a 4 inch classic white calcutta.

This is the floor of the master bathroom, classic white venatino basketweave. There will be a boarder of 6x18 classic white venatino around the perimeter of the room.

This is the shower floor cut into 4x4 tile, the shower wall tiles are 12x18 and a 12x12 tile on the floor of the water closet. The background color is the wall color we are considering. Benjamin Moore's Owl Gray (OC-53). I can not wait to see it all put together.

Now you see it, now you don't

One of the things I love about Hathaway are some of it's original pieces. We do not have many left, but we do have this little gem, I mean after it is stripped, rust remover applied, sanded, primed, and repainted, it will be spectacular. I am still on the first step of that mission and wanted to share it.





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This is how it looked above the outside door. I knew it had to have a light or house numbers... some type of function.

Wonderful cotton wrapped wiring! And another incredible view from the side.

Step one of many.....

This is after applying four full sprays of stripper, covering it completely. I must say that stripper has come along way, this one has no to little odor. It's super easy since it sprays, but it has taken the whole can to just get down to this stage. ( I call this step one and a half)

It is still not quite finished but, SURPRISE!!!! It was an address box with a light inside. You can still see the painted on house numbers. I love the charm it evokes, now all I need is a Dutch door, Lassie, and hope that none of my children fall into that well in the backyard.

Obsession of the moment

I am quickly becoming obsessed with bar carts. I look for them everywhere, I have not had much luck finding one yet but I know I will find one soon. I have seen a couple of ones on the internet and I might have to make one mine.
Here are a few photos I dream about:



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This is the Madison bar cart. I love how the top comes off and you can use it as a tray elsewhere. And the faux bamboo isn't too shabby either. This one comes from shopsocietysocial.com

This one has all you need, but is too contemporary for my taste.

















This one is the Stanton from Shopsocietysocial.com. I have a huge crush on this one, it makes me smile when I see it. I think it would be perfect for the living room on Hathaway.

This one is simple and looks good but not formal enough for my taste.

Last but not least for all of you who know me...

and my love the color orange. This one is called the Hostess. It is a happy thing, I also thought you could use it as a bedside table or console table and it comes in EVERY color in the world. Please visit the fore mentioned website and dream a little dream of me.

Saying so long to Summer

I have to say this day is glorious, we awoke to temperatures in the 60's. I think any and everyone in the state of Texas is outside basking in all the wonder of the beautiful breeze and mild temperatures.
So long to the HOT and dry summer, hope we never meet again!


Happy Labor Y'all!

Up up and away.....

I have to share yet another post on the framing. They have vaulted the living room ceiling it is spectacular. I am giddy with excitement! It looks so much better.

This is looking back toward the dining room, the ceilings were barely eight feet tall.

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TA DA!!!! I love it, the room feels so much bigger. I can't wait to see it with the sheetrock





Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Room with a view

The framers are finished with one room in our new home, the study for the master. I must say this space has been transformed. It started out as a closet(more of where that space moved to later) and has now made it into a wonderful room with the best view. We will be spending the majority of our time in this room. Of course I can see it totally finished in my mind every time I walk in the room. It was a dark dungeon of a space, not sure I would have enjoyed it as a closet either
But the window spaces make a huge difference and I can't wait to see it all finished.
Here are some before and after pictures for a better prospective.

This looking into the closet with one door on either side.

This is the framed pocket doors after the walls were removed looking into the study, no windows yet. Still dark and unattractive.

This is with the windows on two of the sides. The three outside walls have windows on them.

You can see the view, but I did not do a great job of showing you the view outside the window. We have a pool that is in good shape and we can now see it and hear the water feature.
Hope you all can enjoy the view!

Door to spark the imagination

Today I ventured into a salvage warehouse, be still my heart and checkbook. They have lots of doors, cabinets, shutters, sinks, drawer hardware, lights, everything... you name it they have it. I was in complete love of all things old.
There were cabinets in electric blue and mint green from the 50's. Purple sinks from the 80's and bathtubs from the 20's and 30's. But I squealed with delight when we found a door we might use for the outside of the Laundry room. It is solid wood and beautiful with four small windows. Hope she fits and she is still there after I talk to framer and carpenter.


This is the outside of the door, the brown paint makes it look more like a cottage door and don't you want to peek through those adorable windows. Keep your fingers crossed it is there when I go to retrieve it.

This is the inside of the door, the white makes it look more modern. We are going to change the paint on the door itself to match the trim. But I think it would go nicely with the rest of our Hathaway Home.

Framing and change in perspective

Framing is well underway on Hathaway, it is changing daily. It is so cool to see a plan come together. The house itself was nice but needed to be tweaked a bit for us as a family. Now with it being gutted more opportunities have been encompassed and we are moving forward quite quickly. I mean we waited forever to get started and now the ball is rolling and we are enjoying the ride.
Here are few photos of the framing and changes that are taking place in our new home.

This is the framing of the new pocketdoors into what is going to be the study/office off of the master bedroom. I will upload another picture of this space with the new windows frames. Spectacular views.

This is the framing for the new master shower.

This is standing in the new doorway of the new master bath looking into the master shower. The door to the left of the shower is leading into our new master closet. Yippee!









But I do have to admit with all the old sheetrock and wallboard gone, the new lumber smells heavenly.

The Demo

Well, we started with the demo only going by our plans drawn by our architect. Meaning we only thought we were moving a couple of non load bearing walls and putting in new bathrooms and new kitchen.
But it was not to be so.... At the last minute the electrician found we have cloth covered wire from the 1940's and the whole house needs new wiring. So a little bit of demo turned into three dumpsters worth of garbage. Here are a couple of before and afters of the same rooms but slightly different views. I will share more once I sort them out.
For your viewing pleasure. (ha ha)

Master bedroom fireplace before. Loved, loved, loved those built-ins. Not to be saved,they were gutted and thrown away. They added a lot of character to the room.

Master bedroom fireplace after gutting. Looks like new mantel and built-ins are in order.

Kitchen bay window area before. Looks cute and cottage like, but who knew what was underneath? (we do now)

Kitchen window bay area after gutting and another angle. Notice all the dark spots that is wood rot and water damage and not sure what other kind of damage but damage none the less.






Our super on the job was walking through the kitchen yesterday and one leg went straight through the floor. Two huge cuts and a few choice words were heard. ( I mean clean choice words too!)
So I think we are in for more than we bargained for.

A closer look

Well, the outside of the house did not scare me off. The broken shutters, overgrown ivy, the cracked paint, horrible choice of light fixtures,the sagging roof.

I am not easily put off by those things.
Inside was not much better I must confess.

Really, did I think this place could be our home.....
Absolutely! I love the work, the sweat (especially this summer in TEXAS), the planning, the waiting and the RESULT!
Even though this place looked like it was going to fall down (more about that little nugget later), it made me happy. The feeling of it needing love and attention appealed to me. I to a fault, can see in my minds eye how it should look. And then I have to brought down to reality with the logistics of how all that is going to occur. But we took the plunge and are in the weeds with demo, AC guys, framers,central vacuum people, plummers, landscape people. You name we have gotten a bid from them.
So here we go.....