Sometimes It Can Take A While...

I have been waiting to show pictures of this project for quite some time now. Gorg began working on these bathroom cabinets back in July. In a perfect world they would have been installed months ago, but as anyone who has remodeled their home could tell you, it typically turns into a textbook case of Murphy's Law. You never know what you are going to run into once walls start to come down, plumbing and electrical are re-routed, and new fixtures begin to go in; and that can become exponentially more complicated with the age of the house. What starts out as a simple, 'Let's replace the kitchen counter top and sink. We can have it knocked out by this weekend,' can quickly turn into months of doing dishes in the bathtub and cooking over a camp stove while new plumbing is run, a new sub-floor is put down, and the wait for back-ordered cabinets drags on; all because of a little mold problem that was discovered once the light of day reached the deep dark recesses under the sink. You are left questioning your sanity and vow never to 'fix' anything ever again (Unless you are a glutton for punishment like Gorg and I, who actually work on this kind of thing extremely well together.) until you finally see the beautiful finished product and the days of 'kitchen' being a 4 letter word are but a foggy memory.

This particular renovation dragged on for several months and the homeowners have my deepest sympathy. However, the cabinets turned out beautifully. They are solid Poplar with beaded face frames and finished with a paint/glaze technique for a tone-on-tone look. I hope that they have many years of enjoyment ahead of them.

Medicine Cabinet

 

Electrical Box Cover

Double Sink Cabinet

Linen Cabinet

 

Linen Cabinet Base

A Table Too Short...

We recently picked up a couple of dining tables for restoration work. One was in need of a refinished top while the other was a bit more complicated. It was a large, extremely heavy, oak extension table which sagged badly in the center when it was fully extended. It was also very low and therefore uncomfortable to sit around for dinner. After all, who wants to sit at a table where they can't actually slide their chair in for fear of bruised knees?

The solution that Gorg came up with was to design an addition to the legs which would give it a few more inches of clearance, thereby allowing chairs and knees to safely 'tuck in' without fear of turning painful shades of black and blue, while looking as though they were an original part of the table. The rest of the table was also stabilized so as to drastically reduce the center sagging.

Leg Before

The Extensions

After

Before

All in all, both tables turned out beautifully and now have renewed life to be the center of many more family gatherings to come while still preserving cherished memories of the past.

Reproducing an 1800's French Gothic Revival Bench

We have a good friend, Tripp Johnston, who is starting up his own business, Johnston Woodworks, as well. He recently graduated from the American College of Building Arts in Charleston, SC with a degree in timber framing. He and Gorg have been collaborating on a lot of projects recently. The latest involved reproducing an 1800's French Gothic Revival bench from an old railroad depot. Tripp had the lead on this one with Gorg knocking out the turned spindles and legs. The reproduction is made of White Oak with a Teak oil finish. It was agreed to leave the trim off of the outside frame for the sake of the customer's budget. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any 'in progress' photos, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The original...

  The reproduction...

Original

Reproduction

  

Original

Reproduction

Reproduction

Original

Original

Reproduction

Original

Reproduction

Original

Reproduction

 

Tripp Johnston - Johnston Woodwork

Update

Well, it's been a bit longer than I'd planned between posts, but honestly, it can be difficult to find the time to actually sit down and compose a coherent composition. I've begun many in my head, but they just never made it to fruition. I find it much easier to write when the kids are in bed, or at the very least, occupied by something that doesn't require my constant attention. Those opportunities are rather rare, to say the least. 

Spring is always an extremely busy time for me. There is so much work to be done around our property and it's just easier to do it before the weather becomes miserably hot and the bugs begin to make their presence known. Since our home is a constant work-in-progress, I feel as though I am always behind. I know that people who can't see our vision have got to think that we are out of our minds. We've been working on the outside of our home for several years now, trying to find the best way to counteract all of the dreaded 'deferred maintenance' from the previous owner's neglect. I think we've finally found our way and so I've been caulking, priming, and painting like mad with every break in the spring rains. I'm at a standstill for now, until Gorg has a few hours to spare. Even so, our house is beginning to look like a home again. 

(To the vast relief of our neighbors, I'm sure, who were probably wondering what in the world we were doing. My deepest apologies to any of you who might happen to be reading. I assure you that we are doing our best to make this house look good despite the constant set backs of other maintenance issues that can't be seen.)

The kids and I have also been trying to clean up more of the back yard. It's so much easier to clear brush and wisteria before it gets too leafy. Unfortunately, the ticks have also arrived so we are back on the nightly tick checks. On the positive side, all of the wisteria that we cleared and sprayed last year seems to be dead. It's no small miracle and one that I am extremely thankful for since we still have a long way to go and it puts me that much closer to my orchard. This is also the first spring that I can finally begin to see a change in our home's curb appeal. My flowerbeds have really begun to take off and I think I'm getting to the point where I don't have to constantly watch and water to keep them alive. I'm also reaching the point where I can't add much more until we finish more hardscaping. Quite honestly, I don't see that happening for a year or so; at least not until the shop is up and running smoothly. I'm trying to content myself with just enjoying and maintaining what I already have and using the down time to plan the future beds.

I've also had a lot of time taken up in preparing for a couple of shows over the last couple of months. We had the second round of the Starving Artist Expo in March and then a smaller one for the Medical Alliance in April. To be perfectly honest, I think I'm finished with shows for awhile. Now that Gorg is spending every minute setting up the shop, I just have too much on my plate to allow for that level of time investment. Gorg needs my help a good bit and the dates themselves always seem to end up a logistical nightmare. It's one of the sacrifices that has to be made, I'm afraid. My apologies to anyone who might be thinking that we are being anti-social. The honest truth is that something always seems to come up at the last minute to make any planned outing a huge inconvenience if not downright impossible. Spontaneity is the best way for us to get any time out with family or friends these days.

As for the shop, well...I would love to post some photos of the work going on, but Gorg would prefer that I wait until it is complete. Suffice it to say that God has provided a space that is perfect for his needs. It's an old, brick storefront from the 30's. It has a ton of outside potential and the inside is so much bigger than what he's had for years. It's taking a lot of work to get it ready since it was once a condemned building. We've replaced rotten floor joists and flooring, repaired a leaking roof, torn out two dropped ceilings, and sanded the heart-pine floors. He still has windows to repair, new doors to install, and, well...a lot of work. However, he's moving into the shop as we speak in order to build an extremely large bookcase that would never have fit in our basement. And maybe someday soon I can actually get into the shop to paint!

We've also been blessed to have found the perfect work van. That may not sound like a big deal, but it is so nice to have been able to clean our family van and to know that it will actually stay reasonably clean for a while. 

We've been living with sawdust and wood shavings in every aspect of our life for years. To have that removed to a separate space is such a relief. I'm cleaning out the basement right now, as the tools are being cleared out, with a light heart. I know that I'm going to have to spring clean all over again once they are all out. There is just no way to keep that dust in the basement; especially when I'm knocking it out of every nook and cranny. The relief that comes from knowing that there will not be this level of dust in my house again is immense. I am also looking forward to having a place to store my tools and the kids' outdoor things. It drives me crazy to see that kind of stuff cluttering up the yard, but we've just not had a good place to keep it out of sight. They boys are looking forward to being able to have their own work space too.

Since I can't post pictures of the shop, I'll leave you with some photos of my landscaping before and in-progress :)

Front yard before

Spring bed in early spring with Hyacinths blooming

Spring bed with daffodils starting to bloom

Spring bed with Irises and Daylillies coming up

Front before

New front view

Irises down at the wall with Forsythia and Flowering Quince

'Fairy path' with new Azaleas (I'm still fighting an erosion issue that won't be permanently resolved for a while.)

My double pink roses

Azaleas, red carpet rose, pink Crepe Myrtle, Daylillies, Sedum, and Irises

Front bed with new house colors going up

Front bed

Weeping Cherry bed with new Iris, Purple Heart, and Daylilly additions

Weeping Cherry in bloom

My irises have really taken off this year

Clematis that will be trained up the front porch pillar

 There is even more in bloom right now, but the latest batch of storms sported some rather intense hail. I'm afraid everything looks a bit battered at the moment! It is so nice to see flowers here. My Daylillies, wild Butterfly Bushes, and Ellaeagnus along the driveway are coming along nicely too. And I have got to find a place for the Rose of Sharon bushes that I started as seedlings. They are now about 5-6ft tall and crying to be out of pots!

Happy Spring Everyone!!