Wall Space - ReStore Art

Hi, friends and family. To kick off my spring break, I thought I would share a project I did almost a year ago. Yep, catching you right up on the action around here.

Do any of you have design differences with your spouse? Well, Paul and I usually have different ideas about what we want around us. I tend toward a minimalist/rustic/natural aesthetic and Paul likes a traditional feel to furnishings. Needless to say, our home is a compromise.

The walls in our living room were bare for the first year and half after we moved in. I wasn't in a hurry to fill them (minimalist, remember?), but when Paul and I stumbled across these images at our local ReStore, we decided to go for it.

We bought five prints - four small and one large (only the four smaller prints are featured in this post). To me, they look very traditional. Paul loved that about them. The outdoor scenes give them a natural component. More importantly, they have horses in them. I've been horse crazy since I was a kid. I've learned to reign in the obsession, but it's still there.

I've even started riding again, which makes me feel like I'm thirteen.



The frames were in terrible condition. Maybe a dog chewed on them? I bought some wax crayons to try to fill in the scratches, but I did it in haste and in a who-cares-anything-will-look-better-than-this approach. Next, I covered the glass and sprayed the frames with this stuff.

I don't think of myself as liking "glamour," but there's something about this gold finish that makes me smile. Who would guess that underneath is cheap wood laminate all scratched to pieces?

One wall isn't empty anymore. Sometimes compromise works out better than I expected.

Elgin Architectural Rehabilitation Grant

Paul and I bought our house knowing it needed major work. The most pressing concern was a roof with - I kid you not - seven layers of shingles. Combine an ancient roof with non-working gutters and you get a rotten porch. Here's the original version.

Our neighbor happens to be in the business of restoring old houses. His house is absolutely perfect - which makes ours look even a bit more dilapidated. We had talked to him about our plans to fix up the exterior, and he encouraged us to apply for a 50/50 grant through the City of Elgin. We filled out the paperwork back in 2013, got several quotes (including one from our neighbor) and submitted our proposal - new roof, new porch and gutters. Total cost = $40,000.00

We learned at the end of 2013 that our house had "ranked." I don't know all the details, but my understanding is that the grant committee reviews all the submissions and applies a ranking system to determine which houses are most in need of the grant money. This my friends, is a picture of one of those winners.  

Now there are conditions on the 50/50 grant money. The first - and most important - is that the homeowner pays all the money up front. Ouch! Once we found out we were awarded a grant, we had to start another round of paperwork to get a loan for the repairs. The second - and which later became a big deal - is that your exterior must be code compliant before any funds will be released. More on that for another post.

I didn't do a good job taking progress photos. Paul and Edy painted the front of the house after our neighbor had already ripped off the old porch and re-built the base. You can see the new gutters along the roof-line of the porch. The railing hasn't been installed yet at this stage. The first picture is the patched and primed version.

Now look down. The last photo is the finished porch.

Isn't it pretty? Notice the tiny pieces of wood at the top of the beam painted the amber color? That's an architectural detail called dental. I'm guessing it got that name because it looks like teeth. Watching Paul and Edy prep, paint and install those teeth reminded me how fussy Victorian architecture is. It's eye-catching, but oh, so labor-intensive. Also, please admire the beautiful railing that our neighbor created, painted and installed.

The ground is frozen and covered in snow right now. It's refreshing to look back on these summer photos and think about enjoying this new porch in a few more months.

Some have asked about the painting plans for the rest of the house. The plan is to eliminate the pink at the top and finish the house out in this paint color scheme. For now, only the lower front of the house is "finished." We've had some issues with the paint bubbling - so we might end up having to re-do the painting. But I'm not going to think about that right now. Instead, I'm going to look at this photo and think about summer. 

Unfinished Spaces

A friend recently asked me how the house was coming along. A fair question since it has a long way to go. Winter is the perfect time to work on indoor projects. But projects require time and money, neither of which we have lots of at the moment. We have several large indoor projects to do. Two spaces in our home have been completely gutted. We tore them out almost as soon as we moved in.

The first space is the attic. It was knob and tubing electric, so Paul and his dad worked on updating that. Paul  put the sawzall to work and found a tiny alcove at the top of the stairs that used to be hidden behind a wall. Perhaps a future reading nook? That's always my first thought for any space. That?! That space would be perfect for - reading! Then I explain where the bookcase needs to go and what kind of comfy seating I'm envisioning. I want to live in a library. That's my vision of home.  

This is Paul's dad. When I say there is no one else like him, I mean it on many, many levels. He has a sense of humor all his own, loves to talk - about anything and everything, has the strongest work ethic imaginable, and is happiest working on a project and drinking a beer. We have what it takes to keep him happy. And it makes us happy to have his help. 

The second gutted space is the upstairs bathroom. When we purchased the home, it was already quite ripped up. Paul and his dad just finished the job. I've been dreaming up floor plans for that space ever since. 

To show you how long the bathroom has been sitting in its naked, bare-boned state, take a look at this picture of Caleb and Butch. We took this picture the weekend the bathroom was demoed. Baby cheeks! Entering into years now. That's how long it has been, almost two years. 

Why have we left it looking like this? How can we manage without a second bathroom? I know, I ask myself that question occasionally too. We borrowed money to do the major repairs - which I don't think I've blogged about yet - and while to some people, this may qualify as a major repair - there were others that were more pressing. You may not know this about me, but I am so anti-debt it borders the land of insanity. Taking out the mortgage for the big project was a major step outside of my comfort zone, so knowing that these projects can wait until we save up cash to pay for them the old fashion way actually makes me happy, not stressed. 

No amount of glistening subway tile and new fixtures would make me feel happy about paying interest on money that I spent that I didn't have. So until then, things inside are going to keep looking like this.

Christmas Up North

For the friends I met during my college years in the South, Christmas up north meant coming home to Elgin, Illinois. I still do Christmas up north now that I live in Elgin again, only now up north means Cedarville, Michigan - just a short drive from the international bridge to Canada.

Caleb's latest obsession is geography. He's memorized all of the U.S. states and their capitals and is moving on to world geography. "Mom, did you know that Burkina Faso is next to Niger?" What starts these obsessions? Youtube. Here are the two I've heard a million times.

But I digress, the connection I was going to make was that traveling for long distances in a car with a three year old is greatly improved when that child has an obsession with geography. During our drive north, Caleb literally watched the GPS for seven hours straight, making comments about various city names and rivers. When we reached the Mackinaw bridge, "Hey, I see Lake Michigan on one side and Lake Huron on the other!"

We had a great time visiting family in Cedarville. Paul's younger sister and her family moved back to the area last year, joining his older sister and her family, so going to Michigan = cousin time. Caleb had fun running around with the girls. They were very sweet to him - even when he was running in circles naming African countries. Oh, to raise such gracious children.

We brought friends with us this trip - our housemate for the past year and his almost 13 year old daughter. The Christmas tradition up north includes a Christmas Eve gathering with extended family at Paul's cousin's house. He and his precious wife opened up their home to a very large extended family. The spread of food was amazing. Beverly is quite the hostess. She's one of those people who makes food look beautiful. She even had goody bags for each of the little kids, which kept them busy while the adults chatted, ate, and drank (I mean, it was a Haske gathering after all).

Christmas morning was an intimate event as we opted to have Christmas morning with our little immediate family. The young ones opened gifts and we made breakfast together.

Then it was off to Aunt Dani's to hang out with cousins.

Our trip was a great blend of visiting and relaxing. This place has a special place in my heart.

It's the hunting camp where we stayed. My father-in-law even brought the four-wheelers out so we could zoom around the woods. It was beautiful. As beautiful as the north woods are in the fall, I almost like them best in the winter. Snow-laden trees, protection from the wind, and absolute silence.

Going north for us northerners will always mean going to Cedarville, Michigan. It's a place I've come to love - like the rest of my family.