We’ve been at this so long, I have to look to the blog to figure out what week we’re on! This was an exciting week filled with highs and lows. This process is an emotional roller coaster at times but like I’ve said, so, so worth it. I mean, just check out those big beautiful leaves. Gorgeous. You don’t get over 100 year old trees at any ol’ home. I just wish I could ask the trees a few questions about the house. 🙂
One of the highs and lows this week was the chimney. I had taken off the plaster to reveal the bricks underneath a few weeks ago. And while I really liked the look, we decided to tuck point it. Tuck pointing means grinding out the mortar so you can re-do it.
Here’s what it looked like after our mason grinded out the mortar. It was VERY messy. This led to probably my first breakdown and low point of the week. Sometimes it feels like groundhog day around here. You clean up only to find more mess. This week was non-stop. So after picking up my kids super late one night after an event, I walked into the house to find a MESS. I would never, ever recommend doing this kind of project if you weren’t already in a project like ours.
I cried. The mortar dust was EVERYWHERE in the house. It was so much dust that it was an inch thick in places. It really wasn’t the mess that caused my breakdown, it was my shear exhaustion and how overwhelmed with all I have to be doing right now with not enough time to do it. It all just came together in terms of the dust – and I was done.
My dad and husband ended up at the house until after close to midnight to clean it up before the next day of workers arrived. My family is amazing.
However, it was worth it. The new mortar is in and it is lookin’ good. They are not done with the process, but already I’m glad we did it. Now that we’re past the messy stage, of course.
And then the next day they started sanding the plaster so you know, it’s all covered in massive amounts of dust again. But today, I’m okay with it. I had my good cry and I’m ready to move on.
On Friday, the floor to the bathroom started to take shape. Right now, it’s just being laid out but I love the pattern! We’re going to put in a darker grout to really make it stand out.
Speaking of grout, I had no idea how many colors there are. How does one even begin to think of picking out grout colors? This probably led to my breakdown as well. I had three colors of grout for three different places that I had to pick out earlier in the week. I totally get why people hire designers. This is also why ALL the walls in the house are being painted one single color. I cannot make more one more decision right now.
The sink! The most exciting part of the week was installing the kitchen cabinets! Whooo hoo! The entire design resolved around this sink. This grungy, dirty and rusty sink I just fell in love with.
You may not have picked her out if you remember the before picture of our laundry room. We pulled her out and in the barn she has lived for these past 16 weeks. I cleaned her up as best I could before installation this week.
And there the sink is! I love how it looks. I still have some more rust to get off of her, but I just love how well the cabinets fit. Unfortunately, we waited until the day of the installation to try to get the drain and faucets out. The drain will not budge. So we had the installers install the sink for measurement of the countertops. This week our goal is to get the dang drain out.
The sink was cast in 1949 according to the cast iron underneath it. It’s in great shape, most likely because it was in the laundry room and never put into the kitchen.
We spent, what I would consider, a fortune on our cabinets. We really wrestled with it. In the end we decided that we wanted quality and we didn’t want to ever design a kitchen again. This is our forever home. After looking at many different cheaper non-custom options we realized they really weren’t that much less than custom for what you get in quality. We are fitting new cabinets into an old and odd space. We decided on an Amish built cabinet company in Northeast Ohio.
My kitchen was designed with two things in mind. The first was the sink, which I mentioned. The second was that I wanted latch knobs like an antique hutch. Those haven’t been installed yet, but I chose inset cabinets so that I could get the knobs/latches I wanted. I tend to hyper-focus on something I really want and design all around it.
There are a lot of ways we’ve saved money on our farmhouse by doing the work ourselves. We splurged on the cabinets. It all evens out. I think they fit the home really well and feel like they’ve always been there, in a 2016 meets 1860 kind of way. The company we used was excellent and I plan to share all that info when we finish. They measured the countertops after they were put in, and the countertops should go in, in late November. Exciting, right!
All in all, a great week. All the plaster sanding from the skimming should be finished on Monday. The entire downstairs should be fully painted by the end of next week.
This week we hope to accomplish:
Tile in the kitchen
Tile in the bathroom
Paint in the downstairs
Comments & Reviews
Chris says
I am in love with the bathroom floor pattern and the farm sink. Two thumbs up on that. 🙂
Lynette says
Thanks Chris! I love it too. It’s always good to get something installed and still love it. 🙂
Hallie Moor says
In love with the cabinets! I think the inset cabinets go well in the old farmhouse. I can’t wait to see what they look like with the hardware!
Lynette says
Thanks Hallie! I should have pictures to share next week.
Amanda says
I have recently discovered your blog and really look forward to reading your post on Mondays! Thank you for sharing and being so realistic. My husband and I are considering buying a 4000sqf 1918 farmhouse to flip. Your post gives a real idea of what to expect. Keep calm you have really accomplished so much!