There is More to Life than Renovation

We have had a wonderful summer. The weather has been great ... much better than is normal for the Great Pacific North-Wet.

Since man (and woman) doesn't live by spending all time and money on their house (though they could); we had a few short, fun trips this year.

First, in May, we took the motorcycle over to Wenatchee. We were very tired and ended up spending our long weekend vegging-out. But it was fun. It did rain on the way home and traffic was terrible on I-90, but that's normal.

Then in August, we attended a family wedding (yes, an Elvis wedding) in Las Vegas. We saw 3 shows and enjoyed ourselves. I made 50 cents on my slot machine adventure. Hah Hah! It's a good thing I don't depend on gambling for my retirement!

Yes, you _can_ fit 2 bicycles in a Mini Cooper!

In September, we took a long weekend to Westport. We packed the folding bikes into the Mini and had a great time. Our hotel had a view of the ocean. We walked the beach, bicycled, and experienced "30 Miles of Junque"; a very large garage, yard sale spread over many sites in Westport, Grayland and Tokeland.

October had a long weekend to Montana to visit a friend. We were actually going to do that in September, but there were too many fires in the area, so we went west instead of east.

The moral of this story ... not by renovation alone does man live, but by small escapes to relax the brain!

"Good Fences Make Good Neighbors" - Robert Frost

I don't really know if that quote from Robert Frost is really true, but they can certainly improve your outlook.

If you looked closely at the picture of my garden-in-work from March, you'll see that there is a very noticeable drop from the edge of the garden (and the rest of that side of the yard) into the neighbor's yard. When we first brought the dogs here, my old guy fell over the "cliff" more than once. We put up a temporary wire and metal post fence along that side to keep him safe.

The view in that direction was a nagging discomfort. It wasn't just the ugly fence, but the feng shui was very bad ... all the energy running over the "cliff" and out of our house and yard.

We fixed it. It wasn't easy or cheap, but it's beautiful now and provides a delightful sense of enclosure and comfort. You'll notice the cool hog-wire top section. We'll be using some kind of hog-wire/wood fence around the garden, and at the front of the side yard. It'll tie in nicely with the rest of the fence. But those two pieces are still on the drawing board and waiting for budgeting.

But in the meantime, this beautiful fence will not only keep the dogs in, but makes my home happier.

Kitchen Changes!!!

Some great changes to the kitchen! A wood-wrapped window and tile, both! What more could a girl ask for?

You can see my new roses out the back window, if you squint! But there is a couple of roses in the vase, so you aren't entirely out of luck.

We decided to go a bit more modern with the tile. I really like it, and if it would have been available in 1961, they would have used it. The picture doesn't do justice to the glass coppery color tile. But it does work well with the brown GE stove top.

 Now if I could just get the one non-working burner fixed ...

There are options and it's possible it could be repaired, but working on tracking down parts and repairmen is time consuming. And I just haven't put time into it yet. Next year, maybe.

Ever Think about Footing Drains?

We did. In May, we had the experience of having footing drains installed in our basement. Our drainage challenges aren't finished, but what is left is small comparatively - rerouting a couple of roof drains and adding french drains in the front garden (oh well!). Neither of those drainage problems are as bad as the water in the basement was.

In order to keep water out of the basement the contractor installed footing drains along the bottom of most of the walls. Here's what they look like when they are done, before the cement dries.

Those black plastic "thingies" ... those are to help direct water into the gravel and perforated plastic pipe laid along the walls.

The contractor ran into more challenges than expected ... the drain he had hoped to connect to, in the outside stairwell, didn't exist. So part of our basement movie room had to be jack-hammered up and the footing drains connected to the main drain, along with the no-longer missing outside drain.

No wonder water had run under the door - the drain outside looked ok, but was nothing more than a drain cap with a little pipe and a p-trap.

Drainage isn't something to ignore when you live in the Great Pacific North-Wet!

Thinking about the Mid-Century Modest Manifesto

I was just reading Pam Keuber's Mid-Century Modest Manifesto over at Retrorenovation.com. It's funny, but our house is like a Mid-Century Modest home grown up. All the features of a modest 50's house, only bigger than 1000 square feet.

We talk sometimes about how we bought the both the house I grew up in and the house his dad would have loved (only better than either). But really, we bought a house that appeals to our sensibilities; one that speaks to the optimism and thriftiness of that time, and the strong "retro" gene we have.

Aqua walls - REALLY!

This weekend I painted my kitchen Sherwin Williams "Tame Teal". It looks fabulous. They may call it "teal" but it looks an awful lot like mid-century aqua. Yumm. I wanted Aqua Boomerang countertops, but he Really Didn't. So now, I'll get my aqua fix on the walls, and have more neutral counters.  I'm not at all unhappy about that. I tend to get tired of colors and repaint, aqua countertops could have limited my creativity. Can you envision other fabulous retro color schemes?

Philosophy

When we moved to this house, we were really excited about the mid-century vibe. Our first thought, and even our first changes (re-tiling the windowsills in the living room) were as true as we could get to the spirit of the house.

Things change. 18 months later, our updates are starting to reflect the reality of life in the 21st century and the abundance of new products available and new ideas in design and living. As a person who over-thinks everything, I found myself slightly troubled by the drift from our original impulses. So, I found myself formulating a philosophy or principles to guide our updates. So here's our priorities:

• Use original or period materials, patterns, ideas etc. if possible and or available
• Use modern equivalents when functionality, comfort or unavailability of mid-century components arise
• Use modern equivalents when materials reflect an aesthetic the builders would have appreciated and they fit in with the room
• Use modern equivalents for non-visible updates (such as plumbing, wiring, etc.) or when required by code

How does this work out for us? Pretty well, for example:

• We both agreed that we wanted the living room to be as true as possible to our mid-century vision. We interpret that as seeking out period pieces, or modern equivalents for furnishing it, keeping the pinch-pleat drapes (I've acquired a fondness for them), and having a brother-in-law who is also a furniture maker create a wall shelving unit for us (planned, but not completed). 
• The baths on the main floor would also remain as original as possible. 
• I, however, am unwilling to live with our original 1961 kitchen. So, the small refrigerator was replaced with a larger one, requiring relocation. I also chose a glass tile for a back-splash. Why? It helps tie together the mosaic tile floors in the kitchen and dining; and reflects the copper in light fixtures. It carries colors of all of those. It's also prettier than Formica.

It should be Muddy March

They talk about March being windy ... but here, there's wind, but more mud than wind! Major distractions here trying to get the garden started before planting time. We're on schedule, though! Check out the new vegetable garden in work!

We'll be putting wood chips (free) down between the beds, the cardboard helps keep weed down. Yes, we'll still use garden cloth. The fence will eventually be more attractive - and shorter. But this one keeps the dogs out (they eat the vegies and fruit!)

That big pile of dirt you see in the background goes into the asparagus bed. Yumm.

The picture was taken from the dining room window.

Winter or not

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Real life interferes at times.

We have made a little progress on our lovely home, however.
Here's our newly painted kitchen, and a picture of our Monster Fridge!

 The beautiful color is Sherwin Williams Tame Teal.

And yes you can see my ugly kitchen window in the background. Eventually it will be nicely wood-wrapped. But it all takes time and money. There will be a new tile back splash, too.

On the other side of the kitchen .. check out our new Crosley wall phone.

Life has been busy ...

We've been distracted by other things in life recently, vacations, company, the usual. So I'm posting a wonderful picture DH took from our front deck. This is dawn in October.

We haven't been totally lazy on the home front. We got the gutters repaired and the back of the roof replaced. The front half had been replaced recently, but the back half might have made it through the rainy season. At least this winter the downspouts will send water out where it belongs, I don't have to worry about the roof leaking, and the gutters will do their jobs.

We even got some of the trim primered before the rains, and most importantly, a color picked. We're going with a light turquoise/teal color. Next summer, of course.

A little background on the house

Our lovely mid-century home is a 5-bedroom, red brick-on-frame basement rambler. The bricks, I've been told are "roman bricks" that they don't make anymore. They were made in a circle with the bricks connected together and broken apart from each other when used. This produced a rough, slightly irregular face to the bricks.

Some of the wonderful mid-century features include all-original lighting, working 6-chime doorbell, two original beige folding doors that are in good shape, stone faced fireplaces (2), stone faced planters (2), 3 built-in linen/storage cabinets, 1 built-in closet, and tile floors in 2 of the baths, the kitchen and dining area. 2 pink baths - the main bath in beautiful shape with a pink tub and "salt and pepper" white tile surround and counter. It also has a built-in fish tank, and an intercom system (that worked briefly, but needs repair). The kitchen appliances are original and include a built-in double oven (both working), a stove top (one burner doesn't work), a non-working original top-loading dishwasher (since replaced with a working model), and a working refrigerator. All brown, the stove, ovens and dishwasher are all an interesting light brown.

This same salt and pepper tile was used for the window sills in the baths, bedroom and kitchen. The living room and dining area had a peachy-goldy color tile. Unfortunately, the tile window sills didn't survive the new windows.

We chose to wood wrap the bedroom windows (a cost/time decision) and replace the living room/dining area tile with Daltile "luminary gold", since it was similar in color to the original. We salvaged tile from rest the windows in the house for the master bath window in order to match the existing tile work.

We are working hard to keep renovations true to the nature of a 1961 house.

Here's a link to the Picasa photos of the house details.

On the oddities of old houses

Jim decided to start pulling up the carpet in the stairwell to the garage. The stairwell was starting to smell really bad. What was up with it? Turns out it was more old house weirdness.

Jim started taking up the carpet and the little platform at the bottom of the stairs. It was all wet underneath, and the carpet was wet. It has been fairly dry lately, so where the water is coming from is a wonderment. The weirdness doesn't stop there. It seems there is a small pipe going into a little hole under the wood step, right at the door into the garage. You can see it in the picture. 

Is that the source of the water? Or something else? We know the pipe isn't attached to the water input system, that's all been redone. We already know there's oddities with this house. Is this just one more that doesn't matter, or is it a small job that isn't.

Turns out the widow of the builder knew nothing about the hole in the floor. So it looks like a construction faux pas. The leak comes from the basement wall. So repair and sealing is in order. Nothing unexpected.

In the Beginning ...

We didn't know we wanted a mid century house. We thought we were going to put house hunting on hold. Stopping at an open house on a lovely fall day was our downfall, or our salvation.

The house had a great garage, or we wouldn't have stopped in the first place. But it also was a time-capsule of 1961 with a relaxing homey atmosphere and a good view. It had great access to everywhere we wanted to go. It needed some work.

This blog is a diary of our adventures buying, renovating and living in a 1961 time capsule home.

Join me on our journey!