Renovation Tapas- a "Before and After" small bite.

 This is a "Before and After Lite".

Just a small bite in this very large renovation pie.

But, when we gave the kitchen it's new face, there was that last bit, the last wall and back hallway with the two walk-in pantries left unfinished when the holidays began. When Youngest and I got back to work after the New Year, we started on the snug, a large project, and I kept this one aside for a day when we were at a waiting point on the bigger effort. 

We picked up the floor for the snug from the sawmill, HeartPine Company in Amherst, VA and it is in the  snug in piles, getting acclimated to humidity and temperature in the space before we lay it down. 

So, the perfect opportunity thus presented, time for that last bit. 

A reminder of where we began.

The Foxcroft kitchen at close. The "last wall" in question in this Before and After, is the one on the right with the old-timey phone on it and the cranberry colored wallpaper at the bottom. Plus the short hall behind it that leads past the pantries to the boot room. 

The phone was functional at one time. Not a real antique, but certainly a statement. It sticks out pretty far into the space to the left side of the awkwardly placed stove. The room behind the phone was once the laundry room, but is now another storage pantry.
 And, yes, there is a border. This one of cross-stitch alphabet, hearts and houses. 

Since we are still in a pandemic, this is a cosmetic renovation of the kitchen only, until we can do a more comprehensive one. But, I now enjoy being in the kitchen at Foxcroft. 

The wall of toleware trays was something I've wanted to do for years. The most spectacular one, the large round tray was painted by my grandmother, Betty. It fairly glows. Four of the others are from an auction, painted in the 1960s by "EHP".  The other two are from a Goodwill and a wonderful shop- a new local favorite: Circa. The blue and white plate is a place holder until I find just the right black toleware tray for that space.

The dark indigo blue is chalkboard. I will undoubtedly start writing on it sometime, but for now, I like it's crisp officiousness. It feels very Americana, preppy and grown up. 




My chalkboard wall in the back hall at Cowfeathers was a personal favorite that I enjoyed adding to whenever the mood struck.  Is Foxcroft too grown up for doodling? 


I'll let you know after the mood strikes! 

Winter at Foxcroft: four stars.

 Winter at Foxcroft Yelp review :

Four stars**** 

Withholding one star, as we are still in a pandemic,  12 rooms still have stalactite ceiling treatment and the oven is on the fritz. 

This is our first winter outside of Ohio since the last century. Currently, it is in single digits to negative ones in Ohio, and I am not sad to miss it. The struggle to care for the animals in this weather is all consuming, and well remembered. So, for all my beloved friends in Ohio, I feel for you!

In Charlottesville, we have been enjoying an Ohio style February, with snow and ice. But, the temperature hovers around freezing, instead of well below, and we more frequently have sunshine. These are some of the solid reasons we had for relocating! I don't have my traditional winter miseries of swollen hands, feet, tongue and lips. The neuropathy is mitigated, I can feel my fingers and toes almost all the time. They are rarely gray. We can spend so much time outside, enjoyably. It is wonderful.

Still snowing on the Southwest Mountains. 

Pearl and Jules making fresh tracks. There are tracks to the left of a cheeky fox that is still hoping for chicken this winter. 

The main barn stays pretty cosy. 

Thus far everything has been working well,

 except a few pasture outlets for trough heaters that have not worked. 

Home sweet home! 

Foxcroft Farm- before and after: The Family Bath

 So, I've been holding out on you! I have neglected to post a before and after that has been done for some time now. 

As I was finishing up the cosmetic facelift of my master bath's sink room, Youngest was at loose ends while I mucked about painting the floor like the Ava Grace wine bottle label. (There is a whole lot of pandemic influences in that sentence!)

Anyway, I told him to pick something and get started- no shortage of opportunities! He began peeling the wallpaper off in the "family bath". This is the bathroom accessed from the main upstairs hall. It serves four of the bedrooms (but one of those bedrooms is "the room before the room"- a bedroom that you walk through to enter the master, so currently not very useful as a bedroom). 

The family bath is a tidy space. Tub/shower, toilet, sink. But it also has a nice sized closet that can store quite a lot of bathroom essentials- helloooooo Costco toilet paper! 

The room was a bit dark, yet there is a window overlooking the back of the house to the barns. Yes, the wallpaper was dated, but the biggest issue in the utility of this room was the sink was perfectly designed height for children- exactly what this house once had! For adults, it meant doing yoga prior to washing up to loosen up the hamstrings. The wash basin was positioned about mid-thigh, and the mirror above showed your torso. The light above the mirror was centered on your nose. Perhaps it was my nagging Youngest to shave that made him choose this room as our next project. 

                                                      

                                                            The family bath from the hallway.- Before.

The little sink. You may be able to gauge its height by the reflection in the mirror of the handle on the closet door behind. It has the old wall mount toothbrush and cup holder on one side and the wall mount soap dish on the other. What it does not have is a place for a hand towel. 

Toilet and tub/shower.  The toilet is fairly new, and nice. It ran a lot, so we replaced the innards. The tub/shower was fine, just needed a clean. Interesting- note the stubby little base boards. They are actually about 1.5 inches taller, but the original linoleum floor was then covered by backer board and then tile on the top-without removing the base boards. 

                                                       Nice light comes in the window. 

But the pineapple wallpaper, the green wallpaper, the dark green racing shower curtain, the mustard yellow trim, the brick red door and the vanity, Hollywood light and floor all come together to make the room feel tired. 

Of course, the ceiling suffered from the same stalactite stucco treatment in most of the house. So, Youngest started with steam to remove the wallpaper and the ceiling. 

The toilet was to be reused, and we decided to reuse the tub/shower. But the vanity was on the redo list. So, came the day for him to remove the vanity. I was working on something else, and his progress was rather slow. So, I asked him what the delay was. He said he couldn't get the sink out. 

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know why." he replies. 

"You just yank it off the vanity." I say.

"It doesn't yank." he claims.

"That's ridiculous." I state.

So, I go to investigate. I tell him to yank. He yanks. It doesn't budge. Yank harder. Nope. So, I get on my surgeon hat and start cutting to find the problem. 

The issue is the solid surface sink and countertop that measures 42" wide is not 42" wide. It is more like 45 inches. So, to "make it fit", the drywall was cut out in the "L" shape of the sink. in fact, the wall studs were cut into to get the vanity top in place. The sink top is essentially part of the wall. 

"How do we get it out?" asks my partner in destruction.

"Well, we can cut out more wall and pull out the sink, or we could..." at which point I whacked the counter top with a hammer and broke off a huge chunk. This was a method he could get behind, and soon the sink was gone. 

                                                                            Destruction fun. 

                          Some of my remodeling aphorisms:" It always gets worse before it gets better"; "Mysteries are inevitable."

The plan is simple: rip out everything but the tub.

Re- tile the floor.

A little custom carpentry to wainscot the walls. Fresh coat of paint for everything.

 Move the electrics, so the vanity light fixture is high enough in the wall. Replace the plugs with GFCI ones, and the light switch needs a dimmer. 

Get the new vanity top marble cut and delivered- this was an unexpectedly difficult endeavor- and build the sink. 

Finishing touches- new light fixture, new ceiling vent, build in the old mirror turned 90 degrees as the "new" mirror, repurpose the old Hollywood light in a way that feels softer. 

The family bath from the hallway- after. 

The new sink. Tall enough for adults. Sized for the space available. 

Now the light from the window makes the bathroom have a lovely glow. 

Along with giving a view down to our green stables.

I think Youngest did a great job on this room, with just a little bit of help from his design partner Mom. 

 Next reveal will be "the snug"- the cozy room that is to be Huz' office space, and shaping up to be one of my favorite spots at Foxcroft Farm.