The Week Ahead

Christmas is a'comin' and the goose is getting fat . . . but who has time for holiday planning when all of this is scheduled to happen at noTTafarm this week? 

1. Monday or Tues - plumbing hook-up of hot water to Geothermal.
2. Monday - Wed. - second floor flooring delivery one of those days with installation to follow.
3. Monday - Wed. - alarm system extension hook-up.
4. Wednesday - Counter tops delivery and installation.
5. Thursday - Friday  - first-floor floor leveling.
6. Wood trim crew to return after floor leveling to install pantry door, east porch columns, colonnade columns, and misc. wood trim finish.

Each week, a few more tasks are checked off the list. We may not be "done" by Christmas but we're not too far off the mark. In the meantime, we have plenty of work to do including staining, staining, staining! 

While I painted the majority of the 1920 stairwell (a task made more difficult by the tight space,) Scott made good progress staining the windows and deck door in our new bedroom. We need to concentrate on the woodwork upstairs in anticipation of having floors installed later this week! After the bamboo debacle of last week, we re-selected the second floor flooring, settling on a beautiful solid Acacia wood. 

The flooring is similar to the illustration above, and will offer a nice transition to the heart pine flooring in the 1920 portion of the house.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

Floor Pattern Options: Vote for Your Favorite!

Scott and I are looking forward to maybe, possibly, someday soon having the opportunity to start installing the tile on the first floor (including dining and kitchen areas.) As a beginning step, Scott placed some of the gorgeous 12x24 porcelain tile on the dining room floor to get a feel for how it will lay out. He tried out two patterns:  herringbone and running bond. The difficulty now is deciding which to do!

 Herringbone

Running Bond

What do you think, dear reader?  This is your chance to help make noTTafarm history! Just vote in the Poll posted in the upper right corner of the blog's home page. By the end of the week, we should have a "winner!"

Stay Tuned for More Progress!

Taking Flight

After my grumpy post earlier today, I learned that the electrician was at noTTafarm installing light fixtures! Nothing gives you hope and lifts your spirits more than a little unexpected progress. And to top it off, Leo came home from Gramma's house tonight!

Leo checked out the newly-installed "Flight Ring" centered above the dining area. This 48"-wide stainless steel halo of light is absolutely gorgeous! A team of two from the electrical contractor completed the task of installation; the ring is suspended by 4 thin cables which had to be precisely attached in order for the fixture to hang correctly.

What a treat to walk into the house and find the warm glow of eight uplights illuminating the great room! These fixtures are just enough to create a cozy atmosphere. Four sconces are positioned on each of the east and west high walls.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by 

to bask in the noTTafarm glow!

Now that the cabinet staining/finishing is complete, Scott agreed that we could take down the final barrier between old and new portions of the house.

For the past several months, this has been the view to the north if you are standing in the south doorway. Layers of Tyvek and rigid insulation helped keep hot air out, tried to keep dust down, and offered some privacy from a string of contractors. 

Now with the temporary wall down, a full view of the kitchen and dining area from the south doorway is afforded. It won't be much longer (maybe a month?) until the floors are in and the parlor can be cleared of its status as our TV room.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

Deep Breathing

Be glad the internet hasn't figured out a way to send odors to your desk top . . . I would love to share the scent of the fumes we've been breathing this week!  Suffice to say that if your cabinet finisher offers to stain and clear coat your new cabinets on-site rather than back at his shop, insist on the "shop" option.  The good news is that the cabinets are nearly finished and look fantastic.  The bad news (aside from the dull pain I feel in my noggin) is that Leo has been at Gramma and Grampa Camp's house for two days to avoid the potentially-harmful chemicals; we've missed having him underfoot!

The final finish is pretty dark so it's hard for me to take a photo to show detail, especially with a work lamp as the only light source. The stain looks just as I had hoped!

The painters will be back today (Wednesday) to finish hanging the cabinet doors. They dropped one of the drawers yesterday and damaged it so they'll have a new drawer front fabricated and return it soon. Hopefully, they'll finish it at their shop! 

In other news. . . 

• We found out on Monday that not only is the hardwood flooring not being installed upstairs this week as scheduled, the flooring we selected hadn't even been ordered yet. We are now facing a 2-3 week delay in having flooring upstairs. (Ask me if I'm happy about this . . . I'll give you a colorful description of my thoughts on the topic.) Scott is scrambling to find a good substitute flooring, so stay tuned! 

• The electrician planned on installing light fixtures in the great room yesterday but had to leave when the painters began the clear coat process...too stinky even for a tough-guy electrician! 

• We had our first really, really cold day of the winter on Monday. Luckily, we have a wonderfully-insulated garage so my car was nice and toasty when I left for work. 

• Work continues on painting and staining woodwork - photos of progress to come!  

• I was granted a reprieve from work on Sunday so I could join Mom and Chelsie in Lincoln. We enjoyed a little shopping (of course!), a nice lunch (naturally!), and a tour of the Governor's Residence. The Governor and First Lady greeted visitors at the front door, and had the home open so the public could enjoy their Christmas decorations. Mom has worked on the Residence planning committee so was a wonderful tour guide for Chelsie and me. We especially enjoyed meeting the First Puppy, Snickers.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure! 

Rubble, Anyone?

A crew from T. Hurt returned Thursday to complete the transition between the 1920 and 2012 basements. Since early September, we've been cautiously passing between the two rooms through a roughly-cut opening. With the use of a hydraulic-powered wet saw, the crew was able to give us a "real" doorway by cutting through the 8"-thick wall.

The crew also left a nice pile of 92-year old concrete and bricks behind for us to take to the dumpster. Leo seemed intrigued but didn't offer to help with clean-up. 

Just another sign of progress at noTTafarm!

Cabinet Staining Begins!

On Thursday, December 6, Prestige Painting returned to noTTafarm to begin finish work on the cabinetry in the kitchen and master bath. A lot of attention was given to masking all of the cabinet boxes and prepping everything. By Thursday evening, about half of the kitchen cabinets have their first coat of stain. So far, it is lookin' good!  So nice to have progress in the room I have anticipated the most.

All of the doors and the drawers were taken into the dining area and great room for staining. 

Once again, a Sherwin-Williams product helps to make my house beautiful. This dark stain was created by mixing black, maroon, and gold tints. The finished product should replicate the tone of the wood floors we had installed last year in the library and parlor (and soon to be in the great room.)

Refrigerator wall 

Stay Tuned for More Progress!

Wood Trim: 95% Complete (For Now)

The wood trim crew finished up all that they could on Wednesday. All of the windows and all of the doors (except one) now have beautiful pine trim. It's amazing how "finished" a room looks with the trim in place.

The window on the west high wall of the connector was accessed with the help of a scaffold. The crew was kind enough to agree to let us keep the scaffold until we get everything stained and the light fixtures installed. This should be much easier (and safer!)

The doors to the linen closet and laundry closet

Barn Doors!

The master bath and master closet utilize sliding barn doors. We are so pleased with the sleek style and smooth operation.

The pantry door will also have this type of hardware. It is the only door that is not yet hung and trimmed. The floor in the kitchen must be leveled before the trim can be finalized. 

Stay tuned for our adventures with staining, sanding, and poly-coating all of the beautiful trim. And don't forget baseboards! They are ours to stain, sand, poly-coat AND install. 

More Progress To Come!