Wonderful Window Seats

Christian's old farmhouse has two wonderful window seats built into just the right places. They are part of solid vintage construction built on original old floor boards. Here you can sit, read, put on shoes, or just look out the window awhile.

The dressing room window seat has a new cushion I covered with a yard of thick velvet tapestry-like fabric. I added cording to the top edges without making a seam, which gives it better form. Both window seats lift up for extra storage. Nice. The closet space here is also deluxe, and...

 
I finally have found a lovely spot for the velvet pillow cases I made with Bakelite buttons.

Saving A Sculpture

Bill spent many years working in clay with Toshiko Takaezu's tutelage and mentoring. Her ceramic sculptures and work are known world-wide, and Bill is lucky to still work in her "legacy" studio. This large black "Moon Pot" by Toshiko, was a Mother's Day gift to me many years ago and in need of structural repairs which Bill could do. 

 Before & After...

This sculpture was always outside, and Bill is repairing it now that it has become extremely delicate. With many structural cracks and several holes, he has used two densities of expanding foam; poured inside of it to solidify the entire form. Satin (bottom) and gloss (top) black paints were hand applied afterward, and the piece is amazing again. Thank you Toshiko Takaezu and Bill! 

Old Floors Like New

The old floors in this 1780 farmhouse were barely sanded before and suffered water damage when the pipes burst in an abandoned state. We felt it was appropriate to have them sanded and sealed by an experienced professional. Duvan's Hardwood Flooring has made these old pine floorboards like new again! Duvan and his colleague did this work in one week for $2.50 sq. ft., and with four coats of semi-gloss polyurethane they will last our lifetime. Here are the rooms...

Sanding The Floors

Although we have tried to do most of the work on Christian's farmhouse ourselves, sanding the old pine floors and sealing them is being done by Duvan's Hardwood Flooring. They are a family business which specializes in restoring and refinishing floors, with much experience and willingness to please. Here are some rooms after one day of sanding.

I have 10 gallons of Bona Woodline Semi Gloss Polyurethane which has an amber tint and is highly endorsed, to seal the floor boards. It's a Swedish product I ordered through Amazon.

We feel lucky that all of the water stains are removed and many interesting large knots and boards
are obvious now.

Christian and Leif worked hard this weekend finishing the floor preparations.

Floor Fixes

All of the holes in the floors of this farmhouse have been refurbished with patches of the same antique pine boards. Bill and Christian have used some of the old dining room floor boards which had to be removed, for patches, since the floor was not salvageable. They "free hand" cut circles for the AC holes not needed, fit new tongue and groove boards for the largest holes, and chiseled to fit other splintered boards.

Here, the opening required moving the AC hook up from the outside condenser to the basement wall below it for the new HVAC unit there.  A PVC pipe was installed in the basement wall for future hook up.

Below, a missing transom was made using the same salvaged old pine. It has all been tedious work, but soon the floor refinishers come to sand and seal these old floors for us. Hooray!

Refinishing Floors

In the past, Bill laid new oak floors in our house and we both applied three coats of tinted oil based polyurethane to them, which has warmed in color over the past 30 years. We also installed wide, recently harvested and cured boards our neighbor grew and milled in a newer outbuilding. These were bleached with lye, stained with white oil, and polished.

In this 1717 Cape house, we restored and re-painted the oldest floor boards that survived with the house. They are beautiful with and without furniture I think.

One room has original spatter paint I refurbished, which is now protected with an area rug some.

As we begin to refinish Christian's farmhouse floors, some of our past efforts will have a big influence. The new floors to be laid may be oak or hickory and the old pine floors will be sanded with four coats of oil based polyurethane applied to them all. The step-down master bedroom floor will be painted white.

Below is Christian's library which was sanded previously and looks very nice to us this lighter color. Soon it will be slightly darker, warmer in color, and well protected.

Stripping in the Dressing Room

The dressing room off the master bedroom here, has four closets with six doors that are now stripped along with two windows and a built-in window seat. Hooray. This room will have "Benjamin Moore White" walls, trim, shelves, window seat and doors; with polished chrome knobs. The side wall right of the tall window, will be a built-in mirror. The floor will be bleached before sealing.

The two larger closets here are lined with cedar. Nice. Below is the view into the master bath.

The previous owner who created all of these closets for such an old farmhouse is my hero. Less furniture is needed now because of it, and living will feel large.

Stripping Doors...

I am now finished stripping twenty-seven doors of all sorts upstairs at Christian's old farmhouse, and most of the trim. This means we can consider having the old floors sanded and refinished before Christian and Leif move into the bedrooms here. The doors will be stored in the master bedroom (this floor will be painted white) while the work is done.