Porch Renovation - No Place Like Home

Hi ya! Thanks so much for all your kind words regarding my kitchen remodel. I'm glad you enjoy the before and after photos and the journey.

Today I want to share our porch renovation. In April of 2017, when we moved in, the screened porch was in shabby shape. The wood framing was rotting and the screens were sagging and had holes. The concrete floor was a mess and ugly with those racing stripes. Not to mention, the door was warped and didn't shut. Thus, I shared my porch furniture with a variety of tree frogs, wasps, lizards and spiders. I even have a spider bite on my neck from 3 years ago that I received while taking a quick Sunday afternoon nap!

This is where we started.

So, in the summer of 2018 we decided to get an estimate to glass the whole thing in, which would add 100 square feet to our cottage taking it to a total of  1983 square feet and adding value to our home. The folks at Porch Conversions came out and gave us an estimate. Of course it was higher than I expected, (what isn't these days?) but we decided we would start saving. I always do better and am motivated if I have a goal to work towards.

Well, then hurricane Florence came and put an end to that as we had to spend a bunch of money on clearing downed trees, roof shingles, fence repair etc. We were grateful though as many friends and neighbors lost their homes entirely, so we weren't complaining one bit about what we had to deal with.

I am a tree hugger though and it broke my heart to lose so many of these giants.

Then, in the winter of 2019, we had another surprise. The crawl space foundation was falling on the right end of our cottage and the floor bounced so much that Sabrina kitty could actually make the dishes in the cabinet shake when she ran across the floor for her snack! I worked in custom home building for 12 years. For the life of me, I don't know how this floor system passed code. In fact, there are many things in this house that we have fixed that would never have passed code. Somebody must have been paying somebody to look the other way, just say'in. ;)

We ended up having to put 14 steal beams under the cottage to pick it all back up and stabilize it. Needless to say, the floor isn't going anywhere now and we are all sleeping a little more soundly knowing it isn't going to fall down.

So after saving again for another 8 months, we finally had enough pennies to start. The first thing they did was remove all the old screen and rotted wood framing.

Two days after they removed all of that, we got hit with Hurricane Dorian. Luckily, we only had a few tops of trees break off and various limbs and yard debris to deal with. Thank goodness!

We got the yard cleaned up again and I was grateful that the forest survived this storm as it took such a beating from Hurricane Florence the year prior. I count my blessings every day that I wake up and go to sleep to this view. The birds, squirrels, owls, deer, raccoons, opossum, turtles and various other creatures live there and it makes me so happy seeing them and having them in my very own wonderland right out my window.

The crew came back and added the new aluminum framing and slider windows. These windows can withstand 150 mph winds so unless it's a whopper hurricane, they should be fine. Of course, the roof could always rip off. Yikes! Don't think that, knock on wood that never happens. ;)

We have a really large deck area that David repaired after we moved in. Another thing that was falling apart. Call us crazy, but we work hard for every penny and we believe in taking care of the things we work hard for. It's amazing to us how many people don't care and let things rot and fall apart. Plus, we truly enjoy breathing new life into forgotten things and making them shine again.

After all the glass was installed, it was time to tackle that ugly floor. David put down a concrete leveling material to smooth out the crumbling floor and serve as a solid base for the new floor to lay on.

After a bunch of research and a recommendation from my dear friend, Captain, I decided to go with a Luxury Vinyl Plank. It's waterproof, Eco friendly and fit our frugal budget perfectly. David did all the work laying it down and installing new shoe moulding over the edges. Sabrina inspected his work and approved.

Next we cleaned off our teak furniture and oiled it, which brought the warm color back to it. I got that furniture 5 years ago during a Christmas clearance sale. Let's just say I practically stole it! LOL! It's solid teak and will last forever.

Next, David took on a huge project and installed a HVAC unit out there so we would have heat and air conditioning, which now makes the room qualify for square footage. We had an electrician run all the proper wires and outlets in the room and yes, it's all to code! LOL!! It's a very energy efficient unit and we saved almost $4000 doing it ourselves. Well, David doing it himself. I'm just the superintendent. hee,hee,hee.

Finally, I wanted to add some magical little twinkle lights around the top. I originally had these with brown wires as I thought they looked like branches, but I have since switched them out for twinkle lights on a white wires so they blend in. I may change out the ceiling fan one day, but for now it's fine and functional.

We also kept the ceiling the "Haint Blue" which is a Southern thing. Many porch ceilings are painted this color to keep bugs and other insects away, in addition to keeping birds from nesting in the eves. However, in the old Gullah tradition, it was also a way to keep evil spirits away, which is what it serves as now since the bugs and insects can no longer get in.

The tree of life iron piece is an original piece of art I purchased from Haiti. It's made from an old oil barrel and is hand cut. I purchased it from a company that helps artisans there earn a living wage to support their families.

The lights look so magical in the evening. It's a wonderful place to sit and chat with friends. Of course, it's also the perfect place for a Sunday afternoon nap now that I don't have to worry about spiders taking bites out of me or lizards and frogs pooping on the cushions. Ewwwwww...

I must say that this room turned out to be well worth the wait. It's the perfect addition to our little cottage and I'm so glad we did it. There really is no place like home.

See ya back here next week!

Hugs,
Michelle

Bayfield Cottage Kitchen Makeover

"I am excccccessively fond of a cottage." - Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Here's the photos of our kitchen from the previous owners. These were professional photos, so the kitchen actually looks better than it did in real life. Photoshop is an amazing tool. Just say'in. ;)

Again, previous owners when the house was for sale. Now, there is nothing wrong with this kitchen at all. It's functional and gets the job done, but it's just not us. Way to boring and not enough cozy cottage feel. We knew we wanted a white kitchen and after two and half years of living here, it was time.

Also, we never liked this area to the right of the fridge. It was awkward and frankly a waste of space. We like having a pantry. Not that we have tons of food, but we like all of our food items to be in one place and organized. I don't like wasting food and I feel if I can see what I have in one place then, I will use what I have and not waste.

So, I contacted the same people, Hollingsworth Cabinetry, who did our custom bookcase in the living room, which we really love.

They are true craftspeople and it shows in the quality of their work. I had them draw up a custom pantry to fit that awkward space.

We had to wait about a month for the cabinet to be built, which gave David plenty of time for demolition.

He found these pictures behind the cabinet. I think the older lady was the second owner of the house. We are the fourth owners.

Here's how it looked after demolition of the cabinets and tile. The hardwood is solid white oak, which was popular back in 2001 when it was built.

Even though the wall would be covered by the new pantry, David couldn't stand not making it perfect. ;)

Our pantry arrived right after Halloween.

Roll our shelves. Yaaaay!!

Next, starting on November 7th, David took down all the doors and sanded them and the cabinet frames. Yes, it was a large, giant, huge MESS even with plastic covering everything and blocking off rooms!

He then spent the next few weeks painting the doors and frames. I got new knobs and pulls and then, the weekend before Christmas, he removed the booger backsplash with the ugly grey grout. They had adhered it to the sheetrock and boy oh boy did that get destroyed taking the tile off. Yet again, another large MESS!

After a gazillion trips to the store for tile samples and not liking one single thing, I decided I was going to trust my gut and go "old school" with a simple beadboard backsplash. Plus, it only cost $54 for the entire thing instead of $2500. Yaaaay!

Our island already had beadboard around it and also the end of the lower cabinet near the sink. So, I had David add a piece of beadboard to the end of the upper cabinet to make it cohesive.

Next it was time to add some crown moulding to the top of the cabinets. This takes them from looking like boxes to looking like high end and custom.

David bought a special mitering tool and it worked great! Everything fit perfectly!

Hi honey! Looking good! :)

Then, I got another wild hare idea and decided that the end of the top cabinet looked a little boring. If you remember from the photos at the top, the previous owners had photos hanging there. Well, I decided we needed three little shelves instead to put some "what nots" on. hee,hee,hee. David did a great job building them and making the edges curve. Once everything was secure, he painted them the same white.

My next big idea was to address this sad looking window. It needed something to make it look more important instead of just a box.

So, I had David add a crown moulding shelf above the window.

It brings your eye up and makes the window look finished. Pretty huh?

Then, I really wanted a new stove. The one that was here was 18 years old and while it worked, it had some issues. Also, I'm a Vegetarian of 11 years and David is not. I love this stove because I can cook two different things that need different temperatures at the same time. Like roasted veggies with balsamic seasonings for me and chicken tenders for David (yes, he eats like a toddler). Plus, it's just the two of us and the little oven on top is perfect when we don't need to heat up an entire oven. :)

So after all my dreaming, pondering and designing and then all of David's incredible hard work to make it a reality (he really is amazing), I absolutely love how my little cottage kitchen turned out.

I would love to change out the countertops to a lighter, warm color, but the budget has to wait another few years for that. However, I did get some new stools and the warm texture they add and the fact that they slip under the counter, out of the way, was just a perfect finishing touch for now.

The leaf and bird piece on the island is handmade by my dear friend and talented artist, Natascha Rieper. It was a gift to myself this year, but David really likes it too.

This is actually a media cabinet from Pottery Barn, but it stores all our extra platters, place mats, etc. It breaks up the kitchen from being "all white cabinets." Sabrina even has her Italian pottery bowls in the kitchen. She deserves fancy dinnerware after all those years living outside and being homeless.

I like the element of a furniture piece mixed in with cabinetry.

Preparing food in there and eating it here"Sparks Joy."

Yes, I am truly fond of a cottage, especially my little Bayfield Cottage surrounded by trees and under Carolina blue skies. I count my blessings every single day.

See ya back here next week!

Light, Love and Hugs,
Michelle