Lower level painted -- A shoutout to On Point Painters

Many thanks to Ernesto and On Point Painters. They got the whole lower level done in a day and a half, flawlessly done, tidy and efficient. They will come back to do the upper level in August and will do any touch-ups needed downstairs when they return, but so far I'm not seeing anything that needs touching up. A really professional company I can highly recommend. 

Golden brown in the rec room and a sunny yellow in the kitchen. Hard to see right now because we don't have much light in there yet. Electricians coming back soon to rectify that.

The drywallers had made an awful mess of the old carpet, but we can't afford to replace it yet, so we spent two or three days cleaning it like crazy, so it's got some life in it for a while longer. The blue will be replaced eventually, never fear.

All of the pillars used to be round little poles like the one below, but we boxed them in to allow us to bring the heat ducts down to the floor.

The big brown box in the photo below is the old insulated cupboard where food was kept warm for big church suppers. We are going to use it as a cheese-curing cupboard.

The old kitchen sink cupboards will be refurbished and become a buffet/sidebar between two of the pillars, between the "living room" area and the "dining room" area. The other long cabinet you can see on the right will be cleaned up and used back in the kitchen.

Looking from kitchen to rec room. 

A better view of the colour in the rec room.

 

The Shower's In!

Shower installed and septic hooked up. Plumbers now have to go away again until after the painter does his thing, then they'll come back to install bathroom fixtures and kitchen sink. Then the electrician has to come again to install an outlet, because the one we thought would work for the pump won't, and to finish the receptacles and lights downstairs, and then do the upper floors that are only roughed in. Then an inspector has to come give the nod of approval on everything thus far. Then we have to decide if we're doing the new septic this year or next.

The flooring will wait for a year or two. The kitchen will consist of roughed-in or homemade units until we can afford something permanent. No dishwasher or freezer in the budget. But hey, it's starting to look like a home!

Paint!

We're finally to the fun part of renovating---choosing paint colours. We are keen on earth-tones and will go for browns and golds in the basement apartment, to keep it cosy and grounded. Upstairs, we want the room to be light and airy, so will go for a pale ivory in the vestibule leading into a light gold for the sanctuary.

Doesn't that sound easy? Shouldn't it be a breeze to swan into Sherwin-Williams and select those colours? Think again. Do you know how many kinds of light gold there are? A month of debating, and I'm now convinced I'm completely colour-blind, because what I call gold, my husband calls peach, and what he calls gold, I call greeny-yellow, and we're about to come to blows over what pale ivory means. 

In the end, I will let him make the final decision, because a) I no longer trust my own judgment, and b) it really doesn't matter in the end, and c) he deserves to win this one after the heroic days he has put into drywalling. He didn't want a reno project, and he got the biggest of all reno projects. He wanted to spend his retirement playing his bagpipes and relaxing, and instead he's spending it up a ladder. Whatever we end up with, it will be lovely, because this building has good bones. It isn't the colour, really, that matters, so much as the feel of the place, and that will---hopefully, after the dust settles---be tranquil.

Figuring out the book sale

I plan to throw the book sale on the same weekend as Watford's 150th anniversary celebration, June 23-24. The trick will be figuring out where to do it. If I set up outside, it may rain. If I set up in the basement, it means scrambling to get the drywall mess cleaned up in time, and people having to go down steep stairs. If I set up in the sanctuary, people will get a good eyeball of the unfinished projects, wood piles, stained glass, tool tables, etc. and might be exposed to random jutting nails...but then again, they'll see where their money is being spent.

There's no alternative. I'll just have to finish the renovations in the next three weeks! :)

A ramble through the woods

I took today off work and got some things done at the church, did some writing, then took a long walk through the conservation area with Brio. Crisp, cold air and brilliant sunlight. Hot-orange Baltimore Orioles in the trees. Wild strawberries blooming. Two geese with five goslings on the lake. Birds of some sort - swallows or swifts, perhaps - darting above the surface of the lake, catching whatever it was that must have been hatching (Mosquitoes? Mayflies? My sister the biologist would know these things). Clever snugs made of piled tree branches hidden in the woods, looking like the ideal play place for children. The delicious sound of trickling water, and the scent of new-mown grass.

Then back to the church to curl up with a book for a while, and watch some Downton Abbey, which I haven't watched before and which I'm becoming fond of. I'm writing an Edwardian novel right now, so I tell myself it's research. Another walk before bedtime to watch people playing ball at the park. Someone was out harvesting rhubarb already. My patch back in the city won't be ripe for another few weeks.

All in all, a perfect day.

Used Book Sale June 23-24

Save the date! June 23 and 24 we will be holding a big used book sale at the church, 9:00-6:00. It's timed to coincide with the anniversary celebrations going on in Watford. All sorts of books, fiction and non-fiction, for $2 a book right across the board. All proceeds will go toward renovations. Picture it as a big garage sale, but with only books, and without a garage. My lovely son has offered to come help me with it, which will make it a happy weekend even if not a single book sells. (If anyone has extra folding tables they're not using, I'd love to borrow a few more for that weekend!)

All leftover books will eventually go into a book exchange I'm setting up in the cloakroom on a permanent basis. 

Lots happening at the church this month

Drywalling continuing. Plumbers trenching through the cement floor to install pipes for kitchen, laundry, and new washroom. Electricians to follow so we'll have actual overhead lights and functioning outlets (so exciting!). The noise and mess are epic, but it's great to finally see progress!