2013 Project Retrospective

Wow, it's hard to believe that 2013 is coming to a close so quickly.  It was a quiet year for the blog.  Our lives have been so full with day jobs and our newly adopted project on the water that it seems that there isn't enough time to document everything.  It was still a rather accomplished year.  The leaves have now changed, and so it is time to close the books on the 2013 projects and start a new chapter.











Garden

I'm going to start this years retrospective with sites and smells (you'll have to improvise from the pictures) from the garden.  It was a rather productive year in the garden.  The backyard botanicals have grown in an amazing amount, and our potager garden was quite productive.

It all started with a very colorful and vibrant Spring:

Snowball tree and Rhododendron in full bloom

Dogwood in full bloom

Cherry tree bursting with blooms

Greenhouse starts

Native Goatsbeard showing off

Oregon Iris in boom

Potager veg/flower garden

A bee bathing in Allium bloom

Old ladder we found in the attic being used to trellis cucumbers

New "Fire-Patio" fresh after installation

Colorful and shiny new deck chairs.  Oh so comfortable!

Garden from above in full glory

A large bounty of tomatoes!

Chrysanthemum blossom harvest.  Makes a tasty tea

Dogwood showing off in the fall

Crabapple tree showing off it's bounty

With fall comes rain.  With rain comes interesting mushrooms.

Back Patio

 This year we put a lot of work into finishing up the "fire-patio".  This was one of the last major projects that was part of the garden master plan we drew up when we purchased the property in 2007.  This patio is in the far back corner of the backyard and is hidden from the house by a panel of trees and shrubs.  This gives the patio a secluded and more intimate feel.  Long-term, the plan is to build a raised fire pit so that we can enjoy warmth during chilly Pacific Northwest evenings.




Studio

We spent more than six years dreaming about this project.  There is something about discrete and
separate spaces that set the mood for different tasks.  We long wanted a multi-use studio space that could serve for our many hobbies.  We wanted a place where we could cook, read, paint, and display artwork that was separate from our home.  To do so, we converted out 800+ square foot garage into a studio and workshop.  One-third of the space is studio and the rest workshop.  We wanted the exterior of the space to complement our house and bring forward some of the craftsman characteristics that were just missing with the more modern construction of the building.  We think it is coming along quite nicely.

Exterior Upgrades:

Before the old garage door was removed

Building the patio using recycled brick

Exterior after removing garage door and completing patio 

Exterior after installing new siding

Interior Space:

Desk/countertop side of studio

Table on rolling casters for ease of movement

Bedroom

We completed a majority of the buildout of the upper bedroom space on our 1/2 story upstairs.  For our bedroom, we installed a set of recycled french doors, we lofted the space and installed box beams, and installed an opening skylight to allow for additional air flow and light.  Altogether, we have really enjoyed this space.  Even during the heat of the summer, it was completely tolerable to us.

Before picture

Wallpaper

Library Honeysuckle print

 We had the upper wallpaper installed in both our living room, dining room and library.  It is hard to understand where we are going with this project by just looking at these photos, but both areas will be finished off with wainscot installed below, and a simple wood crown molding at the top.  Eventually, it won't look like these papers are so lost on the wall.  More to follow on this project in the coming months.

Living room Willow leaf print

Library

 We made really good progress on the library.  In late 2012/early 2013, we finished up the drywall and painting of this room.  This room had fallen victim to numerous hack job remodels over the years, and so little was salvageable.  At one point, even the window in the room had been removed.  Since we purchased the house, we replaced the aluminum sliding door with the nine-light french doors, and re-installed a window in the room that was repurposed from the kitchen.  The original window that was in this room was nowhere to be found.  Somewhere down the road, we will be designing custom cabinetry to replace our current bookshelves.  The cabinetry will be built-in to the wall, which is why we added the bump out that you can see in the picture below.

Library with new bump out above bookshelves and with the windows reinstalled

Boat

Just when you think you have enough projects, you buy a boat!  We became the owners of a 1967 Fairliner boat that was manufactured right here in the Puget Sound.  Needless to say, it needs some work, and that has required some of our time.  It's been fun exploring the waters of Puget Sound.  Next year we hope to have more pictures and memories to share with this project.

Finishing Up the Fire Patio

Finished fire patio.

Since day one, our landscape plans included a patio with a fire pit.  Here we are seven years later, and we have realized this dream.

This patio started out with large 6x12 pressure treated timbers we picked up at a second hand store.  Then, we used the wooden structure as a garbage dump for old bricks, concrete chunks, and miscellaneous other bits and bobs.  Once we got it filled up, we topped it off with sand and laid down pavers.  The process from start to finish was relatively easy.

We constructed a temporary fire pit using fire brick and a fire grate.  Long term, we'll revisit the fire pit itself and hopefully build something more permanent in nature, but this seems to be working well for now.

Patio after leveling with sand, and laying weed barrier.

Laying pavers.

Potager Garden 2013

Select photos of the Potager Garden 2013:

Tomato plants.

Attempt to trellis cucumbers up ladder.

A bees paradise.

Kale

Apples on the vine.

Artichoke preparing to bloom.

Marigolds, Nasturtiums, Tomatoes and Green Beans.

Drying Chrysanthemum and Lavender.

Harvesting Chrysanthemum blossoms.

Other 2013 garden photos:

Workshop Nearing Completion

We've been absent from the blog for awhile now.  Consider it a blog vacation.  Rest assured, we've been busy on home projects.

Before remodel.

We recently completed the installation of siding on our workshop.  We used the same wide-skinny-skinny siding pattern as found on our house.  We found an excellent deal on siding at our local mill outlet, but unfortunately it did not come in the two sizes.  We were able to easily rip the siding down into the smaller size on the tablesaw.

After remodel.

We completed the drywall in the studio space.  The studio is meant to be a mixed use area that can be used for art projects, craft projects, plus cooking and canning.  We also intend to build a countertop/desk area as a small home office.  Since finishing this space, we have found ourselves using it quite a lot.  We found the
space particularly useful during our annual summer/garden party.

Inside studio finished space.

We will be posting additional pictures as we finish the space, install trim, complete the floor, etc.  Additional blog entires will follow that show some of our garden outdoor space projects.

Master Bedroom Suite

We're nearly finished with the upstairs master suite bedroom.  Truth is, we finished up this project a month or two ago, but haven't gotten around to posting an update.  The following are some before and after pictures:

Before

 This was a small dark space.  The roof flattened out and made the space feel very claustrophobic.  The paint job was, well, HORRIBLE!

The first thing we did was remove the flat portion of the ceiling.  We installed a dividing wall and a set of french doors we found in the garbage down the street.

After

This picture is looking into the remodeled space from the french door entry.  Here you can see the open ceiling, the box beams we constructed, and the installation of a skylight over the bed to open the space and bring in light.

Here you can see the new skylight.  We trimmed it out to match the trim style of the windows and door  in our house.  The skylight cranks open to let in fresh air.

For lighting we installed two light sconses we picked up at Second use in Seattle.  We have yet to install the surround door trim.

Coming Up

This project is about 85% finished.  We still need to install wood floors and baseboards.  We decided to wait on this until we finish the other half of the upstairs space so that we can floor the entire thing at once.

The other half of the upstairs space will receive similar treatment.  We plan to take out the flat part of the ceiling to open it up and install a skylight for additional light.  In this space we will build a closet, and have a reading area. 

There was wisdom to be gained from this project.  Living in a house while also trying to remodel it is a true test of patience.  Would we do it again?  Hmmm..... let me think on that one.