What to do, what to do? Some answers, finally!

Dear friends,

Ever since we bought this house over two years ago, I've pondered exactly how I'll use the little cottage in the backyard. It's hard to know how you'll use a space until you've actually used it.  Make sense?  LOL.  I knew I needed a space for garden stuff--all those piles of tools, rakes, shovels, hand tools, pots etc.

I decided to tackle the little room that used to be a laundry facility for the Two Sisters who lived here before. It's where the claw foot bathtub used to sit.   After more pondering and lots of note-taking, I decided that it would be the Garden Room and the other part of the building will be a workshop for ME, studio space, and quiet room where I can go to write (hopefully) without interruptions of an Internet nature.  (I'll get back to you on that. LOL)

So, first order of business was to get the room cleaned up and some paint on the walls.  I decided to go with white for now, something I've never done.  In this photo, you can see the Big Mess of tools and such that I have to deal with.

And here's all the other "stuff" that's in the room now.

Some of it can go into the wonderful little cabinets that hang on the wall to the left, including a 1950s medicine cabinet that hangs by the front door.

But mostly, it will go into the big cabinet that I'm planning to build all along the back wall, using old doors we removed from the house.  That will be a big project--the largest I've tackled, and I want to do most of it myself.  Right now I'm measuring, doing sketches, and want to use up as much scrap wood as possible.

Although the house was mostly empty, two things that got left behind were antique ironing boards, made of wood.  The base on one was broken, but the other one is in really good shape.  After removing the FILTHY covers on them (three layers), I was surprised to find some amazing antique pine.

I love how this one has been repaired over and over.  There must be two dozen screws, nuts and bolts in this.

The second one, believe it or not, is our future coffee table for the living room--after some sanding, that is.  I've been looking for a long narrow table for years without any luck.  It seems that most tables are made for McMansions these days, or are square.  The Two Sisters were hoarders of broom handles, too, and left behind an array of different colors---red, turquoise, green, etc.  Those will be the legs of the table.  But that's a project for Another Day. :-)

One of my favorite projects so far is my garden hand tool storage door.  This old door once lead into the garage.  Now it's screwed shut and caulked to keep the varmints out.  I used cup hooks, screwed them into the door and hung my trowels, etc. from them.  The garden gloves (which I can NEVER find) are on a binder clip hanging from a cup hook.  The big loppers at the top are there temporarily.  Eventually there will be a shelf across there for small pots.

 A bunch of fresh cut rosemary helps de-stinkify this old room.

And I FINALLY was able to unpack and hang my collection of cement and ceramic sunfaces and garden plaques.  I actually forgot I had this Greenman one.  I think he fits, don't you?

 

 Until next time,

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

The back is done!

Mostly done.  All I need to do is finish the back door, which will be a totally different color.  Or not. LOL.

Before. . .

And After!

1930 Texas cottage remodel, in progress.

Stay tuned for more adventures in remodeling!

bobbi c.

Making progress with painting

Dear friends,

I've been busy working on projects inside for the Taylor Artist Guild shows coming up in the next few months, so haven't had much time to post.  Husband Rudy has continued his work on the outside painting, with a short vacation for the flu.  Ugh.  We decided on a muted, Tuscany yellow for the base color, and perhaps a nice green, barn red, or pumpkin orange for some of the trim.  I thought I'd post a pic so you can see we haven't been slacking.  LOL.

One of these days, I'll write that book.  You know the one.  How NOT to Buy an Old House. 

Happy Trails from Texas!

bobbi c.

Colors, we have colors!

My husband is a monkey! Or is pretending to be one, on the 21-foot ladder.  Somebody remind me that I said we'd NEVER buy a house taller than a story again.  We seem to have forgotten that vow...

Here are a few photos from our ongoing bungalow/cottage remodeling project.  After a two-year process, we can finally put some color on the outside of the house.  So it doesn't get to be too depressing, we're doing the back, then the front first, and will start on the sides next spring, working on it as we can during the winter.

The color choices seem to be "Sweet Annie" and "Braided Raffia" unless I change my mind tomorrow when I take a second look at them in different light.  You folks who've painted things green know what I'm talking about.

The house is actually 1 1/2 stories, but the upper half is all attic.  I assume when they built these, they needed storage space, or it was to be future living space.  Who knows?  In any case, ours is filled up with insulation.

 This is a general idea of the color scheme.  The green is Olympic Premium "Sweet Annie" green and the trim is "Braided Raffia."  I use this paint a lot because it's one of the lowest VOCs on the market and easy to find at Lowe's.  This is only one coat.  The second coat made it much nicer and a bit richer.   The trim isn't quite that orange in real life.  He has to hold me back, because once I start painting swatches, I Go. to. Town.!

And another photo of my painting monkey! 

Like his new hat? :-)

Happy trails from Two Tired Texans!

bobbi c.