Fortifying the Castle

Over this long weekend... and let's be honest... for almost 9 months now, we have been working on many the home improvement project.Our priority up to this point has been the kitchen. We had to strip the kitchen to bare studs, rewire and replumb so that our space would be more usable and start rebuilding once again. Since my husband and I have done all the work ourselves it is a long process. We also are not contractors or anything like that so, we do take some extra time to learn how to do just about everything. Drywall was a learning process but it turned out okay. From this to this... in "just" 3 weeks!

Of course we also had to study and then follow building code. Some books really helped keep us on task. One of our favorites is the "Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual." It keeps you on task, has good illustrations and cautions you when necessary. Of course you can also google just about anything and find some online video that will show you how to do it... step by step. Believe me, that little trick can save you big money on a professional consultation. (Of course it doesn't hurt either that my best friend is a plumber and my Dad has done carpentry for many years... free,personal assistance. How can you beat that?) But most importantly, for the past week, we have been trying to get the cabinets hung.

And why the rush to get the cabinets in...? Well it's because they were on our screened in porch. But this weekend, my Dad... "Master of All Home Improvement," and the newly appointed "Biscuit King of Deerfield," came in to help us lay our BEAUTIFUL wood floors!

So... we had to move the cabinets, so we could move the furniture, so we could move the wood flooring (that has been piled in our living room for 7 months to "acclimatize") so we could install the flooring, that will also go in the kitchen and around the cabinets, where they are installed... WHEW! The floors were taken as beams from an old cotton mill in No. Georgia. (Interesting side note... my Great Grandmother once worked in that mill and most likely touched the very wood that we now walk on!) The wood is heart of Pine and was probably originally milled in the late 1800's. My Dad took it and planed it into boards, 5/8 thick finished. They are rough, still showing nail holes and variation in the grain which, is what I love the most about them. This weekend we have laid them using biscuit joints (hence the "Biscuit King" moniker,) and wood glue while securing them with small countersunk wood screws. It's gorgeous and might I say... very time consuming. My Dad and husband have sore knees and I am just trying to keep them fed. Here's a photo of my Dad's "redneck knee pads."

Stay tuned as we continue to transform our '70's "love shack" into a thing of beauty. Later this week we will be working on getting a sink in the kitchen! This has been a problem because, even though it is an apron sink and an apron sink stand... the sink doesn't fit the cabinet. Yikes... wish us luck!