Hello Old Friends!
This summer was likely the longest summer of my life. As you know, my father passed away in May. A few weeks later I had a severe allergic reaction to medicine that required a hospital stay. I was exposed to the flu in the hospital...which developed into pneumonia...first in one lung, then both.
No fun
I have had fun before and it was nothing like that.
I am finally back in good health and spirits! My energy levels are not as high as usual but it's coming along!
We had a great deal of catching up to do as far as family summer adventures are concerned, so the house had to wait.
We did get a beautiful new fence this year. The dogs are so happy!
I will post photos soon.
In the meantime, I am tackling small things, like painting doors and cabinets and adding better quality hardware, knobs, faucets, etc.
I was going to pull out the builder's grade oak cabinet but am glad I painted it instead. I absolutely love it! I added antique French hardware and painted it with sample paints fromHome Depot. I still have to add the legs after I find a way to shorten them.
Cabinet before
It was a real challenge to photograph the entire cabinet in this tiny powder room. McGillicuddy the Big, Orange Cat also had to be in the room with me. When I say "with me", I mean "on me" and on the camera. It took about an hour to get this shot, while balancing precariously on one foot, camera pushed up against the door and one hand on the cat.
I do suffer for my art!
You can see a glimpse of the new bronze faucet. I have not installed it yet. It's a little intimidating.
Antique French bronze escutcheons applied to faux drawers.
Another set of antique French escutcheons. This time with serpents.
Painting the front door. I also painted the sidelight. Ha! No more looky-loos! It also balances the door and adds much needed symmetry.
I bought knobs and a deadbolt for the door. Then I learned that the term "standard door" really has no meaning. The hardware I bought is for a 2 3/8" backset and my doors are 2 3/4" backset (the measurement between the edge of the door and the center of the hole where the doorknob goes).
I ordered a universal latch set. It wasn't as universal as they claimed.
So far, I have invested $150 dollars in a set that normally costs $500. I may order brass push plates to cover the offset holes...more on this as it develops. :)
We finally bought high gloss black and white paint to do the interior doors and trim. I am really excited to begin!
You may have noticed that I have not finished one single task, but am mired in approximately 20. Is that how you work or do you do one thing at a time?
xo
Andie
No, I'm like you with many things going at once. I'm not sure it is the best way, but as long as it gets done. In my art, it keeps things interesting. So sorry about your Dad and get that Prevnar vaccine for different pneumonias. You must be just getting some energy back. That bathroom cabinet is stunning; love the new job on it. Glad to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are feeling better! 3 years into my apartment and I still have yet to do some things - a home is a PROCESS :) once it's 'done' you'll be so bored anyway you will want to move. I'm having my floors refinished in two weeks and I am SO excited! No more orangey oak (you know how I hate that). Having them done as pale as naturally possible without bleaching.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear how sick you've been and glad you're getting better. I can't believe summer is almost over. Now, I love your cabinet you painted. Looks so nice and the hardware is lovely! You painted the skylight? I can't even see it! You're good.
ReplyDeleteBe a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Glad to hear why you were away from blogging for so long and glad to hear you are on your way to a full recovery from all your illness.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a treat to see what you have been painting and buying for your home.
I knew your dad had passed away from a previous post, and that always is hard to accept , its just hard without our parents
Looking forward to more of your updates, like your new dogie fench
Andie your changes are looking divine, so sorry to hear about your health issues. I can totally relate. Be well, be happy and enjoy your home enhancements that grace your family.
ReplyDeletexx,
Vera
Hi Andie! I'm so happy that you're regaining your energy and getting back to fun family and home décor activities! Always love hearing about and seeing what you're up to! Enjoy! Hugs, Leena
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for your loss and your illness, but so glad you are better. It is always a treat when you share your "divine theatre" with us.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfectly normal to have so many projects in process ... I find that I am frightened by folks who work on and complete one thing at a time. They can't be normal. What you have done since we last 'saw' you looks divine! I may now be suitably motivated and inspired to take a paintbrush to my own tired oak vanity.
ReplyDeleteHave missed your posts. So sorry to hear you were ill. Friends with pneumonia report that it's truly awful.
ReplyDeleteMissing your dad might have made you susceptible to whatever was going around. My doc usually asks what has upset me to make me get whatever health problem I'm dealing with. It will get better with time.
Oh, and if I did one thing at a time i wouldn't have the pile of halftone projects to move when I sell my house. No time now to work on them and If i had, there would be some nice painted pieces for the sale. I learn the hard way.
You have shown me the light on bathroom cabinets! Paint that dreadful thing!!!!
And I need a front door so info on the hardware is vey timely, though my place is a cottage and not a dream house, as yours is, I still need hardware info...and it's just in time as I'm shopping this weekend!
You are right on time with what helps me and I thank you for sharing your life and work.
Hang in there and don't push too hard before you're ready.
As to undone projects. If I finished what i started before going on to the next piece, I'd not have to paint a dining room table and do the 6 chairs over again; finish the big round coffee table and little tripod table, finish the blue end table and the metal and wood plant stand, and complete the little projects that keep me from seeing the top of my workbench......before I move to new place. Lucky Ive not started the 4 drawer chest and three piece set of cane backed sofa and chairs that crowd the garage......or the end table...and so on and so forth.....Next life...I do one thing at a time and do it right. At least then I could sell them for more in house sale....
Always glad to see you when you make one of your all-too-rare-but-always-distinctive appearances, Andie.
ReplyDeleteAwfully sorry you got ill. Please take it as a warning not to take on too much at once in the future. We all love you, and want you to live a good long time so you eventually will be able to savor all your achievements at leisure.
One of your friends above suggested you'd be "bored" if your house ever got "finished." Perhaps so at this stage of your life, but I am here to tell you, –– as I approach age 75 ––, there comes a time when you will realize "Enough is ENOUGH, and too much really is TOO MUCH."
At that point you should be able to step back, look at all you've accomplished with pride and joy, then go into MAINTENANCE MODE doing a bit of "fine tuning," perhaps even removing a piece now and then, but adding very little (mostly small items) and making only minute changes such as rearranging your knick knacks once in a great while.
We may never achieve "perfection," because that could happen only in heaven, but we CAN –– and SHOULD –– reach the point where we can honestly say to ourselves, "I'm SATISFIED."
Of course, if you're anything like me, you will then start to search for another house to "do" to satisfying the craving to exercise your creativity.
I still think your best bet might be to go into the business of buying and selling antiques and good used furniture while operating an interior decoration service, and offering your services as a landscaping and home renovation consultant.
I love your blog (is this a blog?) Anyway, I love reading your posts. I've been following for two or three years and every week is a new and gorgeous trip. This week I especially liked your bathroom cabinet. Could you give a little more detail on how you did it?
ReplyDeleteYour summer sounds horrible, I can see why the cat didn't want to leave you alone, that one missed you! I am glad you are better and sending wishes for a full and fast recovery.
OH my dear Andie...it's terrible news you had a hospital stay but so very glad you're well now. Please keep on in that direction...smile. As to the cat on top of you...how well I know...if I'm seated, the dogs and cats vie for my attention and can be, almost, rude in their attempts.
ReplyDeleteAndie, I've never commented before, by the way, so happy to hear that you are well. I think we sometimes take good health for granted. I somehow found you through ArchitectDesign at least 4 yrs ago. I thought what an interesting blog, and person for that matter. It was right around the time you shared a post of your childhood. That was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI found this house a bit of an odd choice for you. It doesn't seem to speak your language. I am continually amazed at how you create a very different vision for yourself in what seems a neighborhood of sameness. Truly, you are an amazing designer. You have a knack for what works. FreeThinke is on target. Listen. And as a tangent, I am so drawn to the work you do as an animal advocate. All of my animals have been rescues. I just wish I was home more. Down to one cat, because of a long commute. Hope to have more rescues once that commute is resolved. Best wishes from huge fan. Post more!
Oh Andie, I'm like you…20 things going on at once, never one at a time. I love the bathroom cabinet makeover. Hope you continue to feel even better! Hugs, Nancy
ReplyDeleteI like what you've done to minimize the architectural defects of your front door, Andie, but "someday" you're going to have bite the bullet, tear it all out, and reconstruct the entrance using a new, properly-centered solid wood raised panel door with that splendid fanlight properly installed above. An expensive proposition, I'm sure, but a project well worth doing, and a MUST if you're ever going to realize your house's full potential.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the historic places I renovated years ago, when money was extremely scarce, I lived without a kitchen for nearly four years in favor of rebuilding the two fireplaces, installing proper mantelpieces in keeping with the age and style of the house (mid-1700's) and adding chair rails, dentiled crown molding, raised panel doors and building in two matched backless corner cabinets I found for a mere FIFTY bucks for the PAIR.
Cooking with only a crummy old formica table, and chair with tubular chrome legs and as torn leatherette seat, a hot plate and a tiny second-hand fridge was not much fun, but BEAUTY has always been far more important to me than "function," "convenience," or even "comfort," but then, I was still young and didn't have a family to raise. That makes a big difference. ;-)
I don't know about you, but I HATE the current ideas about what constitutes an "acceptable" kitchen or a BATHROOM for that matter. The last things I'd ever want to see in any house of mine would be dark wood cabinets with hideous oversized hardware, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances and one of those busy looking backsplashes. UGH!
The crazy notion that everything in kitchens and baths must be "up to date" has ruined the period charm of many a sweet old house. Expensive Bad Taste is the curse of modern domestic architecture.
PS: I love what you've done with the bathroom cabinet, of course. Didn't mean to leave that out. Tasteful new hardware along with an imaginative refinishing can work wonders, as you've demonstrated time and time again.
DeleteTell me, have you ever considered decorating a room in as many different shades and variations of a SINGLE COLOR as you could find? It's an old trick, but has been own to have a memorably beautiful effect when done by the hand of a master. I think you could do it marvelously if the idea appeals.
Syrie Maugham (Mrs. William Somerset-Maugham), a highly regarded decorator to the Upper Classes in her day, was famous for her ALL WHITE rooms. There are literally hundreds of different shades of white. The effect might not have been practical for family living, but her white rooms were really stunning.
So glad to hear you are on the mend after that very tough Summer of Trials and Tribulations my Friend! And your Transformations, as always, are so Inspiring. With now living in our New Home there is much I want to do to Personalize it and put my Stamp upon it... slowly but surely I shall... for now I'm concentrating all my efforts... well, some of my efforts anyway... into clearing out the Old Homestead and getting it ready to put on the Market to Sell... bittersweet... like saying Good-Bye to an Old Friend you know you'll never get to see again... but like you, I've always got a slew of Projects going on all at once... I shall have to live several Lifetimes and become an Immortal to complete them all I think? *winks*... Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
ReplyDeleteTODAY is the FOURTEENTH ANNIVERSARY of 911 –– AN EVENT WE MUST NEVER ALLOW OURSELVES to FORGET
ReplyDelete______ A Wry Memorial ______
The Swarthy Ones took over;
And made weapons of four planes.
The riders had no cover;
They suffered dreadful pains
That ended once their deathtraps
Burst into roaring fires
Turning instantly to mere scraps ––
Cinders –– made of former flyers.
The burning towers crumpled,
And fell into the street.
New York was more than rumpled;
It briefly knew defeat.
The nation drew together;
We felt collective grief.
Anger broke its tether;
To express it gave relief.
But just a short time hence
We were at each other's throats;
And built ourselves a fence
Over which the Devil gloats.
We've failed to give the orders
To build a proper wall
Sealing off our borders
To the fiends who’d make us fall.
Instead, we've made division,
Went to war against ourselves,
Became mired in derision
Sparked by partisan elves,
Who forget this blessed land
In pursuit of powers lost
In close elections manned
By fraud. So, tempest-tossed
The country’s now in turmoil.
The Enemy's our own.
He said ‘twas all for Big Oil,
And then usurped the Throne.
The heap of twisted rubble
Raising toxic fumes for weeks
No longer gives us trouble
Because of media leaks
Designed to throw us off the scent
Of whom we need to blame
And encourage ruinous dissent
That hopes to break the frame
That holds us all together
And preserves our liberty,
So many now doubt whether
We really should be free.
And each rabble rousing louse
Should 'neath these words be pinned:
"He who troubleth his own house
Shall inherit ––– the wind."
~ FreeThinke
This is beautiful, my friend. I am speechless. I know you won't mind if I share it.
ReplyDeletexo
Andie, I hadn't seen this when you posted. I'm sorry to hear of your loss and your health issues. I'm glad you are better. Take care. I know the loss of a parent is a long road of grief. Be kind to yourself.
ReplyDelete