Fencing in the Yard

One of the biggest projects we have been wanting to do since we moved in is installing the wrought iron fence that we purchased last spring.  We bought it second hand, for $25 a panel. What a deal!

We initially planned on installing it last summer, right after we moved in.  It didn't take us long to realize, however, that the old retaining wall where we wanted to put it wasn't in the best shape.

We hadn't originally planned on doing anything to this wall, but we knew that before we could begin any other projects in this part of the yard, it would have to be replaced.  We spent a lot of time looking at other people's retaining walls, and checking out different types of rock, both natural and man made.  After much consideration we finally settled on the Quebec bluestone that we had installed last fall.

So with a proper retaining wall in place, we were finally ready to install our fence.  Using our hammer drill and a masonry bit, we drilled into the rock and used wedge anchors to anchor the fence down.

With the fence up, we were then able to start building the arbour and lattice privacy panels to fill in the space between the wall and our house.  As always, we went to Pinterest in search of some design inspiration. We found two arbours that we really liked and used aspects of both of them in our design.

www.town-n-country-living.com

www.houzz.com

So after a week of fence installing and arbour building, here is our (mostly) finished project:

We still have a few things left to do, like cut off the fence posts and install caps, landscape in front of the lattice screen and stain it all black to match the fence.  But we are thrilled with how it has turned out, and the dog is enjoying some freedom in the yard now that he doesn't have to be tied up.

 

With Some Spring in Our Step

Now that spring has finally arrived, we've been busy trying to keep up with the weeds, flowers and shrubs that are all coming out in full force.  This is our first spring in this house, and although we came to wander through the yard a few times last year, it was amazing to watch as all of the bulbs and the Magnolias came out in full bloom.

This weekend, the crab apples have been putting on a spectacular show for us while we've been working in almost every section of the yard.  We've been pulling our more overgrown shrubs and filling in some spots where we removed gardens last year.  I also started another rock project in the front garden, to make the front match the side wall that we had installed last fall.  

We have a pretty long list of projects that we'd like to accomplish this summer, with the front porch and car port being at the top of the list.  It will be a big job, but once it's done, it will really change the look of the house.  

After months of looking, we also found some antique shutters that are the perfect size for our windows.  We will hopefully have them within a few weeks, at which time we will be able to replace some of the broken and mis-matched shutters that are currently on the house.  

But for now, we are going to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation tomorrow after working hard this weekend. Happy Victoria Day!

A Piece of History Uncovered

Last summer I posted a few pictures of the Courtice & Jeffrey Harness Shop that was located on Queen Street in Port Perry.  You can read that post here. 

We recently found an even better picture of the factory that was owned by the man who built our house back in 1883.  I don't know what year the photo was taken, but I love how it takes me back to the time when Port Perry would have looked much different.

Dining Room Transformation: From Disaster to Delight

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 months now since we started this project.  This room was so dark and heavy feeling.  I know that's in keeping with Victorian style, but it's not the type of feeling we are going for. As a quick reminder, here's what we started with:

Our first step was removing the spindles and carpet.  We also took out the old bookshelf that was hiding an original door frame.

Then, down came the wallpaper and fake crown moulding.

After much debate, we ended up drywalling the top half of the room (ok, my brother drywalled the top half of the room for us!)

And then we started painting...and painting...and painting some more.

Finally, the new crown moulding went up, the drapes were hung and furniture was moved back in. Today I spent some time recovering the dining room chairs.  We had purchased the fabric back in the fall, but were waiting until the room was done to actually recover them.  It felt great to finally get this task done!

We still have a few small bits left to do like hem the curtains, paint the doors and stain some patches in the floor, but those will all be rainy day projects.  For now, this room is ready to be lived in again, and we love it!

  

"Decorations Still Up" In March? You Bet!

Our decorations, Dec 2014.

How would you feel if you came across a picture of your house that somebody else had posted on the internet?  What if it was posted in a negative context?

Yesterday as I was checking out some pictures of homes in Port Perry, I came across a shot of our house that was posted here.  It was posted a few weeks ago, and talks about how some of our Christmas decorations were still up in March.

I was horrified as I read through the post and comments.  A few of the commenters called us "lazy, lazy, lazy" and said that they "would hate to live across the street from us".

We have done nothing but work since we moved into this house seven months ago.  In fact, in the past seven months we have thrown a great wedding, had the house rewired, cleared out a jungle of gardens, renovated our bathroom, walk in closet, living room and dining room, and started the process of adopting our first child.
I don't think that's being lazy.

Fortunately, once the ground thawed, those decorations came down.  It's finally spring and we've already been outside gardening.

Unfortunately, I'm a sensitive person who takes everything to heart.  This will haunt me for a long time to come!

Crowning the Dining Room

After a few busy weeks, we finally managed to get some more work done in the dining room this weekend.  The next thing on our to-do list was installing the crown moulding.  Jeremy and I have installed crown moulding many times before, and it's definitely not one of our favourite tasks.  It can be so hard to wrap your head around working upside down and backwards.  We also knew that our corners and ceiling would be way off.  They are 130 years old, after all!

See how the ceiling in the photo above slants up in the right corner?  This was not going to be easy!

Fortunately the crown moulding we wanted was on clearance at our local DIY store.  Unfortunately they didn't have enough in stock and we had to drive to another location 1.5 hours away to get more.  We went with a 5" crown that has a very detailed profile.  It matches all of our original trim really well, so the drive was worth it.  We are hoping to have enough left over to do the front hall as well (YAY! More crown moulding...).

The first thing we did was read and print off instructions from this blog which we found on Pinterest.  She gives very clear templates for cutting inside and outside corners and how the moulding should sit on the saw for each different one.  In the past we have tried to stand the moulding up to cut the angle, but with her instructions you lay the moulding flat on the saw.  It was so much easier!  We also purchased a handy angle measurer and printed off a list of mitre cuts for every angle imaginable. So with our angle measurer and the new mitre saw we got for Christmas, we were ready to go!

   

Installing crown moulding takes a lot of patience and precision. We literally were measuring twice and cutting once.  We also always cut our pieces a little on the large side, because you can take more off but you can't put it back on.  

So we're about 3/4 of the way through the room right now.  We still have the bay window to do, which has some very interesting angles in it.  Hopefully that goes ok!

Dining Room Update

It's been a while.  Sorry about that!  We got caught up in drywall dust and paint.  We also decided to take a break from our dining room project for a few weeks.  Sometimes living in the midst of a reno just gets to be too much.

When I last posted, we had just uncovered 100 year old wallpaper after making the decision to drywall over the cracked plaster.  We are both so glad that we made that decision when we did!  My brother spent a few days working on the drywall for us and he did such a great job.  We used 1/4" which is the thinnest drywall you can get.  It matched up with the moulding and trim beautifully which was my biggest concern.

Once the drywalling was done, we were able to begin wallpapering the squares inside the wainscoting to cover the cracks and smooth out the old plaster.  Some of them were in very rough shape! We also added a small moulding to the perimeter of each of the squares to finish them off.  We always felt like they were lacking that final detail. Then the priming began.

The trim and new drywall all needed to be primed before we could do three coats of Dove White.  There's a whole lotta trim in this room!  We're actually still not done it all yet, but we couldn't wait to see the Revere Pewter (the same colour that we did in the living room) on the top half.  So this is where we are today, almost three months after we started this project:

Our to-do list is still pretty long.  We have to:

-install trim around the patio door

-finish all of the painting

-paint both doors black

-order and install the new medallion

-order and install the crown moulding

-hang the drapes

-paint and recover the dining room chairs

It seems like a lot, but when I look at how far we have come, it's not really that much.  Some of it will wait until a rainy day (like painting the chairs) so hopefully soon I will have a reveal post to write!