A laborious Labor Day Weekend.

Hard to believe it’s Labor Day Weekend already. Our goal this summer was to do the mudroom and so it is fitting that the Friday of Labor Day Weekend, we started the mudroom. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.

Here’s a couple of Ryan’s fancy Auto-CAD drawings to give you a sneak peek of the plan:

This is how I like to plan things out:



But before we get to that… what the HECK have we been doing?

Well, we’ve enjoyed some summer weekends away (Acadia, NEK, Wareham); saw some friends get hitched; were "occupied" tent city style by some of our dearest bachelor friends for a four-day run; made it to a Phish show; had a fancy time at polo; and hosted Nick and Andrei for a sleepover one weekend.

We also worked on the yard a couple weekends... no major changes, but we did cut back the tall lilacs so hopefully we don’t have another situation like this:

We've also continued work on the sideboard/cabinet and it is very close to being done.





I’ve been enjoying my new toy, a palm sander (and kicking myself for not having bought one before now).



The remaining to-dos on this project are:

1. Finish the doors
2. Cut shelf
3. Paint cabinet, shelf and doors blue; paint columns white
4. Attach shelf
5. Attach doors and hardware (we have a fun plan for that!)
6. Attach top and edging
7. Stain and polyurethane top

We are very eager to finish up the cabinet, but the timeline on this is not impacted by the impending colder weather. Hate to be a downer and say winter’s coming, but last year we had our first snowstorm on Halloween! Once you factor in the weekends we have free… ticky tocky!

My high-priority item right now is getting the windows in shape for our Wedding Window Treatments (WWT). They need to be prepped and painted before it gets too cold since I’ll have to open the windows to paint one sash at a time. Anyone up for a painting party? :)

Regardless of the order of “my” projects, this frees Ryan up for the mudroom.



Our makeshift stair into the mudroom won’t survive another winter, so our hand is being forced a bit on this project, but then again, Deadline Driven Results are a good thing.

On Friday while I was at work, Ryan checked out the Building Supplies Outlet. WHY have we not gone to this miracle world sooner?! Live and learn.

This all-wood fir beauty came home with Ryan for a bargain basement price of $200.



Interwebs, meet our new front (side) door. Quite an upgrade from our current first impression.

Here are the before shots:

Our goal is to get the exterior envelope of the mudroom done before it gets cold and then complete the finish work inside over the winter. Ryan got a great start on things Friday and I managed to escape the majority of demo this time around (small blessings).

First thing Saturday, Ryan took a look under the house to figure out where the posts for the eventual deck would land. After locating our sewer line (don't want to mess with that!), we gave it a good 18-inch berth and determined that the deck would be 11-feet lengthwise by 4.5-feet deep.

Ryan then finished up demo and began closing in one window.  The other window will become part of our new entrance.

My project of the day was removing our lovely veggie garden, which has thrived these past few summers no thanks to me. For whatever reason, the garden (especially the tomatoes the Phantom Gardener planted, along with everything else) has loved the exposure.

I moved the basil, oregano, chives, and thyme into some pots and found a spot for them, and moved some of the creeping phlox over to the raised planter on the side of the house.  Happy to report that so far, it seems to have been a successful transplant.  

The rest of my day was spent moving earth bucket by bucket out of the planter.  Our wee yard swallowed it all up.  I moved a good portion to in front of the barn and along our fence we share with neighbors to the south. My dad had already transplanted some lilacs to that space and since I was feeling ambitious, I also transplanted a shoot in the new soil... fingers crossed!

I deposited the rest along the opposite fence, which borders our neighbors to the north, and slopes down  rather dramatically. More work on that to follow, but it was a spot that could absorb some additional soil.

We really got down to business on Sunday. Ryan started out the day by breaking down the raised bed (empty, thanks to MOI!), cutting an opening for the new door and building the frame for it. He also cut back the existing roof to accept the new gable end.

After securing the door frame, things really got fun.  Ryan framed out the gable on the ground, hoisted it up onto the existing roof and with my help (and blood, and sweat, and tears), my Dear Husband essentially rough framed our new entrance solo. The columns on either side of the gable are just temporary supports and are not a part of the final design.

A Very Eventful afternoon was capped off by the addition of a ridge to tie the new gable end back onto the roof and then a very welcome stop by from Frank and Cathleen to see our progress.

On our final laborious day of Labor Day Weekend, Ryan added box beams to either side of the gable and I got a crash course in rough framing and geometry (or trigonometry? not really sure) to determine the length of the beams. Later on, I had an education in rafter measurements and though I'd sworn I wouldn't get back on that roof, helped as best as I could (and by that I mean, held things and stayed out of the way) as Ryan added 6 rafters to the new gable entrance.

The final result will be a much smaller mudroom, but we’ll be gaining our first closet on the first floor. I’m particularly excited to have a home for our vacuum cleaner which for the past two-and-a-half years has been a bit of a nomad, roaming rather sadly from room-to-room.

Then there’s this, and my oft-threatened deadline of Christmas.

I’m pleased to report that we have selected our gas fireplace system and insert, have receive a quote and are just steeling ourselves to bite the bullet and place the order. The installation will pull Ryan away from the mudroom for a weekend (also weather deadline driven since it involves cutting a hole in the side of the house), but I will be primarily in charge of putting it all back together.

Current plan is to use some ceramic tiles that are a very convincing slate as the surround and hearth. The mantel needs to be prepped and painted – another “to do” before the cold. We will also add the final trim around the flat screen. And yes, it will be done by Christmas.

Photo Dump

Work continues - we swear!

Peonies from the yard!

Family portrait.

California Dreamin’

We spent the majority of our honeymoon in a town called Bolinas.  It’s about an hour north of San Francisco, on the coast between Stinson Beach and Point Reyes. 

Ryan had read about it the New York Times travel section and deserves full credit for finding the gem of a spot.  We’ve decided it’s the California version of West Glover, Vermont.  Lots of aged hippies, farms, dogs, organic food shops, a general store, art galleries and instead of mountain bikers, surfers.

While in Bolinas, we stayed in a little cottage we found on a website that Ryan’s aunt and uncle recommended to us – Vacation Rentals by Owner.  We also recommend it.  The owners of our cottage were highly responsive and the whole rental went off without a hitch.

Red Heron Cottage was the sweetest little spot, and I went a little bonkers with slight (okay major) tinges of jealousy/envy of the owners.  Very much our style, with a bit of California/Boho infused into it. I really admire the owner's mixture of patterns - I can appreciate in other's designs, but that I am still working on pattern layering myself.

Ryan overlooking the view from the upper terrace.

We got hitched!

… And I must admit that I’m suffering from a wee bit of post-wedding depression, a condition I pish-posh’ed when my married girlfriends warned me of it. I suspect it is a combination of the post-wedding let down, along with re-entry after a glorious week in Northern California (most of which we spent in the most darling seaside cottage ever – more to come on that).

Our wedding was… the most wonderful day ever – more to come on that, too.

That all said, we’re so excited to get back to work on the house!  Our washer has officially won the race to the finish line (read: leaks inexplicably every run, every load, small, medium, or large).  With the replacement of that rather essential appliance looming on the horizon (hooray?), we may shift around some projects (remember when we were just going to raise the ceiling height in the kitchen?).

And though a shiny new appliance is in our near future, A#1 priority remains finishing the front room and kitchen. We are so very close - painting trim, cabinet, one window replacement and the gas fireplace are all that stands in our way. And once the trim is done, we will be rewarded with window treatment upgrades, a wedding gift from my new in-laws. (Apparently single white sheets held up by pushpins doesn’t exactly scream “finished product.”) Nothing like a little incentivized motivation to kick you into shape!   

We're back!