Inspiring ideas for the handmade home.
Short blog article this week. Great milestone to report. The house has passed the preliminary inspections, insulation has been added and now we on the path to adding the plank walls (where needed) and trim work. This is where it is going to get fun.
Master Bedroom.
Former Garage, now a bedroom.
Stair way.
Fireplace
Kitchen
Master bedroom.
Master Bedroom Ceiling
I was pretty sure last week was a wash as far as renovation progress went. The weather last week was unforgiving and unyielding, so I assumed nothing had been done at the house.
Just for grins and because I am an eternal optimist, I went over to the house this weekend to see if any progress had been made. Much to my surprise, there was substantial progress. To call me happy as a lark would be an understatement.
It was a lot to take in, mostly because I wasn’t expecting it. But it made me happy and that makes today a good day.
Pictures below.
I hope you find some inspiration.
xoxo
Cindy
Exterior fireplace. The cladding and trim work is complete.
Although the flash didn’t engage, hopefully you can see the old side light window in the master bedroom. The bed will go under this window.
Just a picture to show what a bit of a war zone the house is right now. It’s the ugly before the pretty.
Zero clearance fire place set up and framed in.
Duct work, duct work and more duct work.
Ah…sweet relief. My old HVAC system a source of great consternation and funds depletion. A total new system and I am a happy camper.
Progress is satisfying. Every visit to the house yields something on the punch list complete. Framing is 95% completed. Plumbing is complete and electrical was being worked on this weekend and should be complete. Once these three things are done, all three will need inspections from the city. Once inspections are completed, then onto insulation and then we can begin closing the walls and trim work.
The exterior of the house is being closed in as well. I am hoping that we’ll be able to paint the exteriors at some point soon. Although I haven’t picked the colors, I am shooting for a grey exterior with bright white trim. But that is getting ahead. Let’s stick to the inside.
A variety of pictures to show this week’s progress.
I hope your find some inspiration.
Always,
Cindy
-- Download The Physicality of the Space as PDF --
The physical feel of each room is starting to take shape. This is meaningful because we are working with the existing foot print to carve out additional rooms; not by adding square footage to the foot print.
You can look at scaled drawings and imagine it in your mind, but neither of those things give you a real sense of the space. Walls are going up, windows are being added and storage is being built in and all of these thing are starting to help me understand the physicality of each room.
It’s fair to say, this will be a cozy cottage with small but well appointed rooms. Every room is getting a closet, plus some additional built in storage squired away because I am losing my garage for storage and I have to make up for it somewhere else.
Nothing illustrates this more than the master suite. We have a bedroom, sitting area, bathroom, dressing area, closet and some generic storage.
Since the master area occupies the entire second story, it will become a true retreat. I made the decision to build out an additional 120 square feet, the question becomes what is the best way to use the space. They did some additional framing, but before we can do more, I need to decide what the configuration should be. With some guidance from my contractor, I have settled on using it for closet space, storage space and a dressing area. Picture and diagram below. Other framing updates follow.
I hope you find some inspiration.
Cindy
xoxo
Always
This gem will be used in found condition. With the exception of glazing; there will be no treatments of the surface; it will be installed as is.
For the renovation, I have been searching for architectural pieces that I can use in found condition that will reinforce the age of the house. With all the new construction, I have made careful design decisions that will keep the old cottage feeling old.
One piece I came across from one of my favorite downtown McKinney antique dealers, is the old French Farmhouse window. It will have a place of prominence in the house. It is in the direct line of sight as soon as you walk in the front door. It will be set, with its current worn finish against a wall of white plank boards in the kitchen, above the kitchen sink.
The kitchen sink, by the way, will be an old zinc trough. I believe the pairing of the old window and trough sink will be lovely reminders of the age of the house. I have seen them at a number of dealers at Round Top, so I’ll add it to my list of things to get:
The cherry on the sundae will be an old brass wall mounted sink faucet…if I can find one.
As I was looking on the Houzz website this weekend, an old French farm house kitchen caught my eye. When I clicked on the link and saw pictures of the entire house, I spied a window very similar to mine. I am in heaven.
I hope you find some inspiration.
Always,
Cindy
xoxo
Beautiful French farm house bedroom. I love the stone floors and the architectural salvage bed. But mostly, my eye was drawn to the window above the door.
The window looks very similar to the one I bought from Chase Hall in downtown McKinney, pictured above the post.
I had about sixteen feet of unused attic space. Part of that space is allocated for the HVAC unit. That would leave about ten feet where I was just going to throw down some plywood and use as attic storage. Then I had this thought, since we are doing all this other work, why not just build out the space? It wasn’t structural, so (I thought) why not just add the insulation, some electrical, sheetrock and bippity boppity boo…I have additional square footage. How much more money could it be?
Fast forward…things are not that simple. Some engineering is required, the electrical is a bit more complicated, add duct work and we’ll need some additional hardwood flooring. So my incredible contractor (who really is a great guy) got the numbers together and to build out this additional 120 square feet, it will come to about 45 per square foot. But it would appraise much higher per square foot handing over some instant equity.
We had some windfall monies from parts of the renovation that we over budgeted, so those monies will fund the build out of the 120 square feet of attic space, keeping us within budget.
Bippity Boppity Boo is right.
Updated pictures from the progress from this week.
I hope you find some inspiration.
Always.
Cindy
xoxo 
-- Download I am being framed...finally as PDF --
I went by this weekend and got some additional photos and took some measurements. As the various spaces are being framed in, it gives me a better sense of the size of the rooms once the renovation is completed.
It’s not much to look at…but it’s progress. The ugly way, way before the pretty.
I hope you find some inspiration.
xoxo
Cindy
I’m not quite ready to start the countdown clock for the Round Top Antiques Show; it’s too soon. But I supposed there is no harm in posting pictures from my last trip there.
Round Top is a small (very small, population 93 on a normal day) town in the Hill Country of Texas. A coveted place to live, acreage is quite pricey. I am told by my sister that Governor Perry is building a home in Round Top.
In the spring, the fields along the highways and byways are saturated with the color from the wild flowers, the blue of the bluebonnet or the poppy color from indian paint. Long Horn’s gracefully graze as if it’s summer and the architecture of the old farm houses remind you of the German influence that settled in much of the Hill Country.
Twice a year, this sleepy little town completely transforms into an antique mecca. Dealers from all over the world, with price points that range from reasonable to ridiculous attract over 3 million people. My sister and I go and make a weekend of it. We stay in Belleville which is about 20 minutes away. All the more coveted B & B’s have legacy bookings, with the same people booking every show, so it’s difficult to get something closer to Round Top unless blind luck steps in.
Here are a few shots. Trust me when I tell you it doesn’t even begin to capture the sheer volume one can expect to see at each show, in the spring and fall.
I’ll be posting some updates for the renovation next week. We’ll have some major framing completed this week, so the pictures can show the progress.
I hope you find some inspiration.
Always,
Cindy
xoxo
Back of the restaurant. I love the large table with the rope light installation.
Went to a new restaurant in Downtown McKinney named Harvest. It is a farm-to-table restaurant owned by Rick Wells of Rick’s Chophouse, also in Downtown McKinney.
I am deeply enamored with its design. It is one of my favorite styles, pairing the rustic with the refined. Old, original exposed brick, barn wood, industrial light fixtures, filament bulbs, burlap and teal velvet. They use simple cotton, waffle pattern dish rags for napkins. They present your check to you rolled up in a wood cube along with a card that can be ripped in half and planted to yield flowers. A lot of really unique and earthy touches that are in keeping with it’s concept. You’ll feel warm and toasty the minute you walk in the door.
This may give me some ideas for my own renovation. Hmmm…we’ll see.
I hope you find some inspiration.
Always,
Cindy
Barn wood, industrial light fixture, filament bulbs along with these really fabulous teal velvet tufted wing chairs.
Scaffolding planks, cast iron piping and mason jars with vegetables artfully displayed greet you at the door.
All the finishes work together to create a really warm vibe.
A light fixture that is stunningly simple.
The front porch has these terrific swinging settees with the teal velvet cushions (although they have added tables, great for nice weather dining or drinks outside)
Great little drift wood lamps adorn the 4 top booths.
