Picking White Paints

The interior of this MCM house will be shades of white; common rooms a warm "Alabaster White" by Sherwin Williams (mixed in Benjamin Moore Regal Select Matte), and kitchen, master bedroom & bathrooms are modern BM "Decorators White"

The South facing studio walls now "Alabaster", matching the kitchen beams. I have also painted the dining room, living room, foyer, two hallways and family rrom this color which makes the interior expansive.

The hallway is no longer gray walls and dark wood doors. but is now white with bleached floors. The entry and living room have white walls and furniture

Kitchen with BM "Decorators White" walls - like the bathrooms and master bedroom.

Leif & Bill have prepped, made repairs and painted. Whew, two more rooms to go.

Wiring A Tesla Pedestal Charger

After wiring (see below).

We landscaped around the new Tesla pedestal charger here with gorgeous topsoil, grass seed and flagstones along the driveway. The tall rhododendrun behind it acts like an umbrella while blending it into it's new home.

We installed it on a 60 amp breaker on the house panel. The charger itself draws a maximum current of 48 amps. This charges the car much faster than the typical 15 amp circuit you can plug into on a regular outlet. It takes about 8 hours to charge the car from a low battery with this fast charger versus over 24 hours with a normal outlet!

The wire we used was a mix of 4 and 6 gauge THHN THWN wire that's rated for underground burial and wet conditions. The thicker 4 gauge wire carries the 2 hot wires (black and red) and the thinner 6 gauge (green) was used for the ground wire. We bought 80 feet of each color and used most of it, and had about 8 or so feet leftover of each.

Since the 42' route we wanted to run the line through was not totally straight, PVC ended up being the way to go. Schedule 60 PVC is what we went with - schedule 80 is thicker but not as easy to find or widely used nowadays.

It was an effort to run the cable bundle through 1.25" pipe and we routed it tightly to the circuit breaker through a number of conduit bodies. These are the 90 degree bend boxes you can use to pull cables through tight corners, most notably seen in the 90 degree bend into the breaker box for the terminal connection.

Leif Baumbach

Top Topsoil & Harvesting Hardwood

We have had 48 cu. yds. (8 truckloads) of the very best topsoil delivered and seeded here, which is turning the lawn enerald with rain this week. Lovely near the Swamp Cypress & Japanese Red Maple.

Seeded in front of the refurbished shed where I have moved 8 stepping stones as well.

Five of us split to burn four of the enormous dead trees Leif had taken down, one of which was oak we have shared for next winter. All split by the driveway entrance for easy access (my share 3 rows deep).

Saving A Vintage Shed

This shed got some rew T 1-11 siding, plywood & a metal roof besides 3 coats of  MoorGard  "Linen White" Low Lustre paint inside & "Cordovan" outside.

New T1 - 11, plywood on roof and painted inside.

Metal roof on...

Total cost was about $800. Painted exterior is house trim color...

We waited a week before installing floor carpets from Amazon and shed contents. So swell.

Painting A MCM House

Leif's house has been surrounded by trees growing near it for fifty years at least. We have cleared many to see the house more and are painting it to proudly join his lovely neighbors. We chose historic color cedar siding stain and a new blackish trim for this "Acorn Deck House" built in 1972.

The sun rises on this spot below the upper screened in porch and is a favorite place to sit outdoors & looking toward the creek. Two of Bill's beautiful garden tables sit here as well.

All cedar siding and exterior wood was sanded to original surfaces with some repairs made before two or three coats of solid BM Woodluxe stain was applied. Matching BM "Cordovan" MoorGlo paints were used spraying downspouts & painting poles.

October At Old Farm

October at Old Farm is still a good time for exterior repairs and Bill built an outdoor wood basement door this visit, while we had new garage doors installed. We put away outdoor deck furniture and restoned the circular drive.

Bill's beautiful garden seat & stone remain on the deck.

I emptied the garage some to clean toys & tools and vacuumed garage walls & floor. 

The Thrifts

The thrift stores near Old Farm are fun to visit for unexpected and small embellishments. European plates and napkins are my recent finds.

Dinner in front of a good movie.

September At Old Farm

This month's visit to Old Farm was gorgeous and relaxing weather, although we fit in a few chores like installing new chair covers and buying new garage doors, while mowing, weeding, planting & watering.

Bill painted the early bamboo style chairs, & I added upholstered seats, 24 carat gold leaf and silk seat covers I made.

The wall & floor boards here are original, very wide and hand planed. The smaller room upstairs was built for children to sleep.

Ironed & washed linens and no AC is needed now.

We have 3 vintage iron sprinklers painted John Deer Green; below is my favorite watering a newly planted large boxwood.

When all 3 sprinklers are hooked together here, they can water everything still blooming.

Painting A Victorian House

Our house is a Victorian two story home with an addition Bill designed and built with a general contractor. It was a tear down/rebuild he cedar shingled and still a challenge to paint with so many exposed rafters and very steep roof.

I designed the front porch using mostly pressure treated wood which looks like new still.

Alex built the porch swing while in high school.

All painting was done SUPERBLY by "Olympic Painters" 609 683 7522, and all with ladders as Bill did so many years ago. We highly endorse this superior painting company!

Side porch paint colors are Benjamin Moore "Peach Yogurt" 105 matching the outbuildings, with BM "Country Comfort" 305 for the trim. I have also used "Golden Light" & "Honey Burst" previously. BM Regal Soft-Gloss on trim & Low Lustre on wainscoting and outbuildings.

Porch Details

The newel post, handrail & stringer are all cut from solid pressure treated pieces of wood, hand carved & bevel cut.

The columns are solid 6" cedar wood, beveled, hand carved & trimmed out.