A Family Affair

This past Saturday, both sets of parents offered a hand (eight, actually) at Wee House.  “The Parents” arrived shortly after Ryan and I returned from our favorite Saturday morning loop – the dump, to Home Depot, to Tedford’s because we forgot something, to home.  If we’d had cash, we probably would have added a trip to Marty’s Donuts (probably a good thing we didn’t).

“The Moms” and I got to painting and I’m thrilled to report the front room windows are ready for window treatments! After some Internet bargain shopping, I ordered some fabric swatch samples so stay tuned on that. After we finished up the windows, we also primed the built-in cabinet that’s been ignored since the exciting new mudroom project. Poor girl. We’ll get back to her.

Not to underplay the hours and hours of collective work my mom, mother-in-law and I have spent painting various finishes in the front room, but some Very Exciting things happened in the mudroom on Saturday, courtesy of Ryan and “The Dads.”

No sooner than we returned from the dump (and skipped Marty’s… still bitter about that), Ryan busted out the Sawzall, cut back more of the old roof and filled the truck up again. “The Dads” arrived on cue and then the last pieces of trim were added to the gable.

One of the reasons why we stopped at Tedford’s was to see if they had specialty shingles for the triangle, but no such luck. When Rick first said he’d make them on his own, I admit I was a bit dubious (sorry, Rick!). But I shouldn’t have worried. First, Rick cut down all the shingles to a uniform width. Then, he used a Dunkin’ Donuts cup to trace a curve. America and this renovation run on Dunkin’, so I thought it was very fitting. After tracing out the curve, Rick used the jigsaw to cut the shingles.

Here is the end result:

How great does that look!? And like we said, it was only fitting that like everything in this house, it was all custom.

While Rick was busy with that, Ryan and my dad did some structural work to reinforce the existing roof and to support the new gable. They used three cut down LVLs so that the roof is now nice and strong.  The LVLs will also provide the framing to build the interior wall – TO OUR CLOSET – off of.

While “The Dads” continued their work, us ladies headed out to the fabric store.  I was on the hunt for material to reupholster our pink barrel-backed chair, as well as fabric for curtains to flank the sheer I put up on our front door. 

I did love this Ikat fabric, but it was pricy and I wasn’t sure how much to buy for the chair.  I decided that I’d first speak with an upholsterer and get an exact fabric measurement before committing.

I did find this lovely grey on ivory silhouette print and have big plans for a front door curtain.  Wish me luck…

On Sunday, I continued with my painting (does it ever end!?) and Ryan continued with the mudroom.  He framed out the gable and added plywood to the exterior so that we could get to the main event… installing the door!

Once we were ready, Ryan lined the tray of the door with lead and added some silicone caulking before we hoisted the door in, spent 45 minutes or so getting the damn thing plumb and level, and nailed that sucker in.

Ta-Da!

As always, a Big Thanks to "The Parents" for their help. The mudroom is motoring along and I can't imagine where I'd be in the painting without all of Denise and my mother's help.

New neighbors

We have some sexy new neighbors in town…. don’t worry, the state of our marriage is Just Fine.

A few weeks ago I spotted Suzanne Crocker Contemporary Art on South Main Street on drive home.  I was tickled. Suzanne has dreamy pieces and I particularly love her barn series.

This piece is called “Irresistible Light” – love that.  I am slightly obsessed with low afternoon into early evening light and always point it out to Ryan. Couldn’t you just see a canvas in the Wee House…? Alas, according to the website, her pieces range from $3,500 - $12,000. Atta girl and too bad for me.

Suzanne is a local artist living in Hamilton and I’ve often admired her work on the walls of corporate offices I’ve visited for work. She’s far from a regional artist, though, and has sold pieces internationally.  I can also claim a very tenuous personal connection to Suzanne, as I happened to work for her father for two years! Small world. Her new storefront is both a gallery and working studio and I can’t wait to stop by and introduce myself. 

Next door to Suzanne Crocker Contemporary Art is Be Modern, a new furniture and accessories spot featuring Danish mid-century pieces. 

I enjoy these teak nesting tables (priced at $600). From what I understand, Ryan's Nana would have loved the collection at Be Modern.  Perhaps that's where Ryan gets his modernist sensibilities from.

While you will never see a mid-century modern room at the Wee House, I do like to mix it up.  I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of modern and traditional pieces and would argue that this, in fact, is contemporary design these days (versus the recreation of a mid-century room).  Take, for instance, our Eames modern recliner in the front room.

The unfinished fireplace also makes this space Very Cutting Edge.

Bravo to whatever landlord secured these two tenants! Alas, I will be a window shopper for now, but hopefully the customers at Be Modern and Suzanne Crocker Contemporary Art will cross-pollinate and they will both thrive in our town.

Like the Old Days

Ryan’s parents Rick and Denise came in with a major assist this weekend.  MAJOR.  I am always so amazed by how much more work you can get done when you double your workforce. Don’t know why – simple math, really. 

Ryan and Rick kicked up McBuilder’s for the weekend and did a silly amount of work. I’ll let the pictures tell the story because this isn’t my area of expertise and besides photo-documentation breaks, I was inside with Denise also getting silly amounts of work done.

Suffice it to say – wow. There was a whole lotta progress over two days and a big, big thank you to Rick for coming out of retirement for this one. It’s looking so good and I just love the new roofline. In terms of design, Ryan and I are still in search of the perfect corbels or brackets for either side of the roof.  We had bought some that were 12-inches tall and projected out 5 inches, but they looked rather pathetic when we held them up to the elevation. We’re going to need something more in the 18-inch by 18-inch range.  I’m excited about the triangle, which we’re going to use as an opportunity for a fun shingle detail, probably scalloped.

What’s left: a lot. Big things: finishing up the gambrel with a front fascia board, trimming it out, running wires for an outdoor light, putting in the door (no small feat), building a new deck and stairs to access said door, and finally walling in the old door and removing the old stairs. And then onto the inside finish work AKA our winter project. But thanks to Ryan and Rick’s hard work, the roof is weather tight and we are moving right along!

While McBuilder’s was tearing it up in the mudroom, Denise and I taped, primed and painted the interior window trim in the front room.  Goodbye, yellow windows!

The white trim looks great and this means we can start scoping out our options for window treatments. I’m thinking we’re going to keep it simple and do some honeycomb shades and see how that looks before adding any additional fabric.

At the end of day two, I also hung a double curtain rod. This will be my chance for drapery. I’m thinking two panels of some fun coordinating pattern to flank the sheer. Much more cost effective to switch out two panels if I want a change than 5 windows.

We got really lucky on Sunday because MTC decided to stop by and cook us Sunday dinner.  The McSheras were served a delicious pasta super with homemade meatballs and marinara.  Served just in time for us to watch the Pats game on DVR and celebrate a victory.  Thanks, MTC!

We’re so appreciative of all the hard work, Rick and Denise. Thank you!