Painting the town

The painting is done and it's glorious. The living room has gone from the multicolored crazy (yes, they painted around the corner cabinet):

To one color (parchment white, if you're into that sort of thing):

The foyer is crack-free and wonderful:

The kitchen is now all one color:

The bedroom had gone from this:

To an actual color:

I'm planning to take better pictures once we're somewhat unpacked. For now, we climb over boxes to try to get a decent angle on it all.

The heat is on!

Okay, the heat isn't really on, but it could be! Although poor Fred was stripped of his asbestos coat, he was still not up-to-date. Sadly, we needed to let him go. (Not so sadly, we also got to get rid of his associated oil tank.) We also got a new hot water heater, so toasty showers for all!

Look at how lovely the new pipes are:

We miss Fred, though. He will be remembered fondly.

What's going on?

This is my office. And we haven't even moved the stuff from the apartment.

Sigh. But we're getting there.

Sparks!

Or, hopefully, spark prevention. As mentioned previously, the knob-and-tube was replaced with brand new wiring! Here's what we started out with:

Here's what we ended up with:

What's more interesting are the bits of knobs that are still around:

Notice the weird lever. Very Frankenstein's monster!

We're so modern now!

A New Fred

After being inspected and cleaned, we had to let Fred go. You've seen the before:

And now the after:

You may notice that there is also a new hot water tank and that the oil tank is also gone! I have to say, there's a tear in my eye for Fred leaving, but I know the new guys will be giving us years of great service. And I do not miss the nasty tank of oil.

We don't need no water...

It should come as no surprise that the Enchanted Cottage needed a new roof. We're not sure how old the roof was. We were told it was "maybe 18 years old," to which our home inspector gave me a look of, "...and I'm Brad Pitt." Who knows how many times the flashing around the chimneys were replaced.

While there were no obvious leaks in the house, the garage roof was more of a net than an actual roof. As we planned to actually use the garage to store some things, now was the time to replace the roof.

The new roof may not be the most exciting project, but it is lovely. And I won't be in a panic every time it rains. (This photo was by HWM, overlooking the garage.)

(Title reference is here: Bad '80s rapping. I actually listened to the song. It's pretty awful.)

The Ivy League

Many years ago, ivy was planted by The Enchanted Cottage, which sounds lovely, but the reality was that it was taking over the house and garage. Soooo much ivy. It was so overgrown, it was adult phase ivy in some places. Adult phase ivy looks different from what you normally think of when you think of ivy. Here's an example:

While it was biologically interesting, it was a monster. There were places it was literally growing into the house. Plus: critters. It had to go. The before and after is pretty amazing. 

Side of the house:

Back of the house (note - this is the second floor):

The Sun Room (or, as HWM calls it - The Florida Room) is actually getting sun again!

We found a door. Let's just say it again - we found a door. HWM says it's a portal, a la H.P. Lovecraft:

It's still amazing me, the difference the removal made. The house can breathe again! 

Stripping

The kitchen is actually not too bad. A bit dated, but good space. Plenty of storage and the cabinets are in decent shape, so no hurry on a major upgrade needed soon. But something was off.

After a few visits, I figured it out: there was way too much going on. Yellow and blue on the walls, with a flower border and a brick wall and tiles with little plants on them and blue countertops. Plus the light. Well, see for yourself:

The brick wall, which we actually like:

I decided to go for the low-hanging fruit. I would remove the border, change the light, and paint the room in a neutral color. The first two have been completed:

Here's a better picture of the removal:

And a better picture of the light:

Stay tuned for the painting!

Knob and tube

The house came with knob and tube wiring. While not exactly illegal, it's not ideal. If you have knob and tube wiring, you have to get special (a/k/a more expensive) home owner's insurance, plus it really isn't appropriate for modern electronics.

This is a labor- and time-intensive task, upgrading the system. The good news is that this gave us an opportunity to add some extra outlets. (Anyone who's ever lived in an older house knows there are never enough outlets.) Another bonus: they switched out some lights for us. The foyer went from this:

To this:

And the dining room went from this:

To this:

Plus we added an extra light by the hall closet, which makes a huge difference, as that area was always so dark. We can see again!

HWM was in charge of overseeing so much of this work, and I am so grateful. It's even more than we even knew. Most of this work was behind the scenes, but we are happy for our awesome electric guy!  More pictures of lights to come.

First Upgrade: Asbestos removal

A long time ago, asbestos was It. It was a great insulator, it was fireproof, it was cheap. What's not to love? Oh, yeah, it causes cancer!

The Enchanted Cottage came with an out-of-date heating system and the added bonus of an asbestos cover.

Obviously, this needed to be removed. By professionals. (Asbestos removal is not a DIY.)

Here's the after:

It really is impressive. HWM thinks it looks like Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet), although we call him Fred. We wish there was something clever we could do with it (some people have suggested making it into a planter in the yard), but we'd be afraid that a kid would climb into it or hurt himself/herself.

It may not be the most exciting project, but it's our first one, and I am thrilled!! 

Welcome to the Enchanted Cottage

This is our enchanted cottage. We fell in love and we made it ours. Built in 1909, we feel like it has been waiting for us. Although it has been loved through the years, it's needed a bit more love than it has gotten lately. Here is where I will tell you about some of the changes we are making. We plan to keep the spirit of the house but still make it our own. Here we go!