I have finished day three on Salem House's kitchen. Demo is finished, and now into re-creating a kitchen space. But, I'm keeping it to myself until it is done. Isn't that the joy of "before and afters"?
But, I do so love them, I thought I should periodically share some other "b & a" moments.
I chose to start with "Bluebells". I should say, here, that my parents introduced me to the idea of naming houses. I grew up at Puckihuddle. They now live at Wing and Wing. With several houses in between. I find it easier to name the houses than to try and identify them by other means. When I talk about "Bluebells", my family can orient themselves to my thought. Now, y'all can too.
This is the front of Bluebells a day or two after the big move. We had relocated from Oklahoma. I had three days to buy a house. This called for help from my Mother- you couldn't ask for better assistance in something like a crunch-time house buy. I chose this one because it had good bones, was affordable, and ripe for a remodel. It was located in an area, called Bexley, which has incredible resale, and fairly resistant to economic downturns. This house was vacant, having been lived in since its building in the 1940's by the Bell family. (Thus part of the reason for the name, Bluebells. The other part was that the backyard was chock full of the flower!) Although it was out of date, it had been meticulously cared for by the Bells for 60 years. Mrs. Bell, at age 90, decided to move to the retirement village so she could travel more. Can you tell she is one of my heroes?
Before
On the steps are two of the kiddos. The third was still with me. Cooking.
There is a great oak tree, and nice symmetry to the home. But, it is boring. Needs a new roof, tamed landscaping, and interest. It's kind of flat. And the roof is not peaked enough to be truly "right".
The back of the house was again, a bit boring. the outside space was not a "living space". The backyard was shaded with dappled areas of sunlight. There were gardens already- although a bit in need of attention. But they had daylillies, and bluebells and forget-me-nots, occasional jack-in-the-pulpit, and masses of mayapples. And, the sunroom addition with 8 sliders was a selling point for me. Indoor-outdoor living.
A cement walkway led to a detached garage and the alley.
After
So, the house got a new, darker roof, a "Naarden green" shutter color (this was a color seen in the town of Naarden, Holland where my sister, Elizabeth and her husband lived for several years). Then, to give the house dimension, I put a rose arbor up over the front door, getting rid of the metal railings, and allowing the house to be a bit more, well, grand.
The front walk remained, as I enjoyed the symmetry of the straight walk, but I added brick to it to enlarge the walk and give it character. A walk should be able to have two people walk side-by-side. (My Dad's sage advice).
The front yard had the excellent tree in the north half, and the only sunny spot on the property on the south half. So, I took advantage of the south lawn, and made it a garden.
This is how it looked in it's second season. To make the project more manageable (I did have three littles!) I divided the project into two steps. You can see the more established plantings that went in the first season. The the rest of the circle was done in the second season. In this photo you can also see the walk with the brick lining it. This is a fairly inexpensive way to get a more expensive look.
This is the second spring of the front garden. You can see how quickly it is becoming established and lush.
The backyard needed tidying, charm and living space.
The back walkway of cement became a "stone walk". I basically just creamed it with a sledge hammer into chunks, then placed the chunks in a more random pattern to look like stone. The thin cement pad next to the sunroom got a new brick patio to augment it's size, and then some tidy boxwoods to create a "room".
I'm not covering the inside redo in this blog, but you can see the large aluminum window at the back of the house has been removed, and in it's place are french doors that open to the new master suite and change the flow of the house. Bring the outside in!
There was an enormous (HEAVY) woodstove in the house, non-functioning. It came outside to be the patio fireplace.
I kept the plantings next to the french doors a bit overblown and wild to make more privacy for the master suite, and to keep the area from looking too new. Plus, they conceal my secret garden.
The fragrant hostas along the sunroom wall stayed, but the walkway moved to create this roughly triangular garden beyond the sunroom. Because of the less formal, blousy feel of the backyard, I was able to use bricks that were piled by the driveway.They were somewhat disreputable. I loved them. You can see in the background the new wall of cedar that has gone up where the window once stood.
The side yard was not a yard, atall. It was a jungle. But, I love small mysteries and secret paths (who doesn't want to discover a secret garden!?) . So, I judiciously hacked away, here and there to plant this meandering path that is only found when you peek around the forsythia bushes.
My neighbor and I replaced the old metal fencing with this more attractive version that raised up to give privacy to the porch/patios of both back yards.
I had a fine time creating a charming gate under a fragrant bower that leads to the secret garden. It became a favorite spot for Hannah to watch the world go by.
The view from the house of the garage also required a bit of charm.
I divided up the garden by terracing it a bit using the discarded brick and what stones were around. Then augmented what was there with some plants, bulbs and a focal point. The garage door got a coat of bluebell colored paint, and a flower box under the window. A whiskey barrel of spring bulbs, then summer color softened the space.
And, because I had three little kids, I built them a house of their own.
Forget-me-not Hill (I told you we named our houses?) started because I still had a bunch of disreputable brick. So, I laid out a 10X10 floor. Obviously, it needed walls. And a roof..... a dutch door with a little door in the door, a stair case to a loft with little windows in the gable ends, a tiny kitchen, a cedar-shake roof and a dovecote. Who could resist it's petite charm?
I can't wait for you to see the inside of Bluebells! It will tide me over while I wait to show you the B&A of Salem House.
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