Finally. Finally. I’d reached the point where I could start putting this old farmhouse back together. Because it was an old farmhouse, I wanted it to feel like an old farmhouse.

The first order of business was to get the cabinets ordered because it would take a couple of weeks for them to arrive. I ordered Shaker White kitchen cabinets from RTAcabinetstore.com.

RTA stand for “ready to assemble” and means that the cabinet parts would come in a flat box and require assembly. The assembly process is relatively quick and easy and can result in significant savings. I assembled these in my living room, while hanging out with the girls and watching tv!

Next, I ordered the flooring because again, it would take time to arrive. I chose a hand- scraped, birch, engineered hardwood from Build Direct. Because this was an investment property, I needed to stay mindful of the budget, regardless of whether I kept the property or sold it. The engineered product allowed me to stay within budget, without sacrificing beauty and style, and would be installed after the painting was complete.

Then … the walls. These were a mess! Several were damaged and would need new drywall, as would the new walls we’d constructed.

The kitchen ceiling had one of those drop down systems. You know the kind. The typical office ceiling with the metal frame and the rectangular panels, complete with built-in fluorescent lights. This definitely didn’t fit with the farmhouse motif!

So, down came the ceiling. I was expecting some damage,  but I wasn’t prepared for what we found. The ceiling was simply the bottom side of the attic floor boards, 2 feet higher than the old ceiling and covered with a thin, painted fabric. It was torn and sagging in places and some of it had remnants of old wall paper.

I was thrilled with the higher ceiling, but it desperately needed a new finish! Rather than drywall, I opted for bead board. This was consistent with the breakfast nook ceiling and really, nothing is more quintessentially farmhouse than bead board.

When it came to the actual bead board, I had several options. Solid bead board planks with a tongue and groove is a nice product but costly.

MDF paneling is  economical but flimsy. It would have been fine for walls, but because it’s thin, I worried about it sagging over time if used on the ceiling. Who wants to go to all of this work only to have it droop and sag down the road?

Plywood bead board, on the other hand, is economical, quick to install, and thick enough to prevent sagging. At nearly 3/8” thick, it’s sturdy enough for a ceiling and the end result is virtually indistinguishable from the costlier solid planks.

The kitchen ceiling, bathroom ceiling and pantry walls all received this material.  In order to really tie things together, I used it to wrap the kitchen island as well.

The remaining walls and the living room ceiling received new drywall. With the drywall hung and taped, I decided to apply a skip trowel finish to all of the walls. This was time consuming, and I’ll admit, my shoulder ached a bit by the time I was finished, but a knock down finish just didn’t fit with the house. This finish made the walls look and feel as if they’d always been there.

Now it was time for paint. I purchased over half a dozen color samples and painted swatches on the walls in all of the different rooms. I had a couple of different shades of white and of course, some variations of greige. Greige is that trendy color that falls somewhere between grey and beige.

In the end I chose Dove White by Benjamin Moore for the wall color. I love this white because it’s warm, with just a tiny hint of cream so it doesn’t feel stark and cold. For the trim I used Simply White, also by Benjamin Moore and I decided to carry these colors throughout the house.

My parents and aunt and uncle graciously offered to help with the paining and boy was I thankful! Many hands really do make light work and besides, these people are just fun! Tell me that doesn’t look like fun!!

For the countertops, I used solid birch tops from Ikea. Sadly, they no longer carry this product … a sad fact I discovered when trying to buy it again for my latest renovation.

I did consider granite. Granite is, of course, beautiful and durable and for many years it, along with marble and quartz have been among the most sought after countertop materials.

But, I’m partial to wood counters. I’ve been using them for nearly fifteen years, long before you could even buy them. (Back then I had to make my own.)

It’s not that I’m opposed to those other materials.  I once bought a truck load of old Carrera marble slabs that had been removed from the walls of an old bank in Dayton, Ohio. The marble was covered with drywall mud and paint, but under all of that was pure beauty. Granite, quartz, marble and even laminate have their place. It’s just that in this old farmhouse, wood simply fit better.

Ikea didn’t have the birch tops wide enough to accommodate the island so I purchased two pieces, used my biscuit joiner and glued them together. When they were dry I sanded them, cut them down to size, cut the opening for the stainless steel, under-mount sink and stained them a light warm, brown. I finished them off with hard wax oil.

I’ll introduce you to hard wax oil in a future post. For now, suffice to say, it’s durable, easy to apply, easy to maintain, environmentally friendly and simply beautiful. It doesn’t get any better than that!

The addition of a new island light fixture and stainless steel appliances finished off the kitchen!

For the bathroom vanity, I purchased an antique sideboard and fitted it with a sink and faucet. This economical alternative to a pre-made vanity gave the bathroom unique character and beauty. New lighting, a new cast iron tub, subway tiles for the shower surround, new toilet, and the bathroom was checked off of my punch list.

With everything else nearly done, I needed to think about doors for the closet in the entry porch and a door for the panty. Using plywood and wood salvaged from the demo, I created a barn style pantry door. I painted the top half with chalk board paint, creating convenient and fun place to write a grocery list then, I created similar barn style doors for the entry.

The house was staged using items scavenged from my garage and Voila! It was done! Four months after closing, the renovation was complete. The house sold quickly, with multiple full price offers.

When I signed the closing documents and handed over the keys, it was with mixed emotions. I left the title company and climbed into my car. And I sat there. Just sort of numb. You aren’t supposed to get attached to the houses you renovated.

But, I bought this one thinking I’d like to keep it. I could see my parents there, or one of my children some day. It took a while to adjust to the reality that it was no longer mine.

I’d drive home at night, after darkness had settled, and I’d see a light in the window. And my eyes would strain and my heart would race with concern. Who was at my house? What were they doing?

Eventually, I grew used to seeing life and light and activity there. But when I pull into my drive and see the Greenhorn Farmhouse, nestled among it’s trees and surrounded by the grassy mountain pastures, deer grazing on it’s richness, or sleeping in it’s shade, I smile still.

 

With much of the exterior work at Greenhorn Farmhouse completed, it was time to tackle the interior. Sometimes a house has a great layout, and in those cases, I can jump right in with cabinets, paint, tile, and flooring, etc. But sometimes, there are repairs that need to made and a house might even benefit from some reconfiguration. Addressing these types of issues creates a good framework for adding all of the finishing touches.

This old farmhouse would undergo 7 such foundational changes and repairs.

1. Sub-floors

During demo, the house had been emptied of debris and personal items. Then kitchen cabinets, a couple of old brick chimneys, the bathtub, bathroom vanity and toilet were all removed.

In the now vacant rooms, it became readily apparent that the living room floor sloped drastically in the corner, as did one of the bedroom floors. The kitchen floor had a pretty severe sag as well. I decided that the best thing to do would be to pull up the subfloor and have a look.

I found that the existing joists were not attached to the exterior foundation at all. While they were attached in the center of the room, on the exterior side they were free floating. No wonder the floor was un-level. This was not something I’d anticipated and I was glad I’d built a buffer into my budget.

Eventually, my crew would need to install new joists, joist hangers and subfloor to insure the floor was level and structurally sound. But before we did that, I’d need to address the wall dividing the living and dining rooms.

2. Living Room Wall

I’ve never completely bought into the open plan concept. Years ago, I was actually opposed to it. I liked having separate living spaces. I think this preference was heavily influenced by the presence of five small children in the home. Having separate spaces allowed me to contain the inevitable mess and chaos more effectively. In recent years the open concept has grown on me, though I’m still not that girl who is always in favor of taking down walls.

None-the-less, in this house, it was the right decision. The living area immediately felt twice as large.

3. Bedroom wall

Sometimes, a space can benefit from simply moving a wall. Remember, this is an old farmhouse, and as is often the case, the bedrooms were all small. There wasn’t a lot I could do about this, short of building an addition. However, there was something I could do.

The master bedroom had a small jog in the wall it shared with the living room. By pushing that wall out, I was able to gain a few feet in the master bedroom. The actual area gained was relatively small, but the impact was huge. This had the added benefit of eliminating a strange and unnecessary jog in the living room.

4. Laundry Room

The next task was to build a new laundry room closet. The existing laundry room was too narrow to really function well. There just wasn’t enough room between the front of the appliances and the opposing wall.

If the room were just a little bit wider, the appliances could have been placed on the adjacent wall. As this was not a viable option, I decided to convert the former laundry room into a spacious pantry, and create a new laundry room closet.

I incorporated a pocket door system into the new framing to provide a way to close the pantry without sacrificing floor space. Later, I would build a barn-style door for this purpose.

5. Relocate bathroom door

Before we put away the framing nailer, there was one more issue to address. In old homes, it’s very common to find bathroom access directly off of the kitchen. In an era where adding plumbing was expensive and even considered a luxury, it made sense to locate all the plumbing as close together as possible. As a result, bathrooms were often located right next to kitchens and this house was no exception.

The bathroom door was right in the middle of the kitchen wall. While this could function perfectly well, I really disliked it. So I closed up the door between the kitchen and bathroom then relocated it to the end of the bathroom, near the new laundry room.

Eventually, the stove would sit just about where that door had been.

6. Bathroom layout

This was the first step in reconfiguring the bathroom layout. The tub and vanity remained in the same locations, but the toilet was relocated to the area where there door had been previously.

7. Kitchen Layout

Finally, I needed to create a new kitchen layout. When working with floor plans, I still like to start with good old-fashioned pencil and graph paper. Eventually, the design makes it’s way into Home Designer, the 3D design program I use.

Creating a design in 3 dimensions is not only a lot of fun, but it helps highlight any design elements that might not work well. My clients love it too. It helps them see what I see in my mind’s eye.

This design morphed several times before I settled on a layout that I loved. Unfortunately, it involved closing up another window.

This particular window was really more of a pass through between the kitchen and the front entry area and didn’t make much sense anyway. Closing it also provided some wall space in the entry where one could hang coat hooks or place a bench.

With the new framework in place, it was finally time to focus on the finishes. Next week I’ll talk about finishes, paint color, tile, cabinetry, flooring, and more.

The February morning was clear and crisp and the sun was slowing making it’s climb in the eastern sky, promising another unseasonably warm day. Fiery shades of orange blended with pink hues and cast their colors over the land and the buildings.

A 30 yard rolloff dumpster, what would be the first of many, sat in front of the garage and my 6 man crew would soon arrive to start filling it. I unlocked doors, walked through the house taking inventory and starting to form a mental rehab plan.

It had taken months, but finally, the papers were signed, I held the keys in my hand and the house was mine.

The first thing we needed to do was clear out the debris. There was quite a bit of stuff to remove and because the house had sat vacant for so long, dust had collected on everything. This would be a dirty job.

This is what I found inside the house that day:

While the crew worked on the cleaning and demo, I was checking the lights, water and furnace.  The furnace fired right up. That was good news. All of the lights worked. More good news. Then I discovered the first unexpected issue.

This house sits on 2 acres at the base of a mountain. Because of it’s rural location, it has a well that provides the water and the well pump was bad. It would have to be replaced before we could have water. So now I had a decision to make. Should I put in a cheap pump from Lowes or should I spend the $500 for something that would last.

I decided to install the quality pump. If I ended up keeping the house I’d be glad, and if I sold the house I could take pride in knowing I had not shortcut the new owners.

When you’re rehabbing a flip, it’s tempting to focus on the “bling”, all the stuff people see. Because it’s hard for buyers to get excited about well pumps, furnaces, and roofs, too many rehabbers shortcut these essential systems in favor of pretty tile or granite. And too many buyers make purchase decisions based on paint colors.

This is where a good realtor is invaluable. A good realtor will help buyers see past the relatively inexpensive finishes. They’ll help a buyer consider the less exciting, less visible components of the house. There’s nothing wrong with pretty finishes. I work hard to create a beautiful space but if that’s all you consider, it could cost you a whole lot of money.

In the end, I ordered the better pump. It would mean we wouldn’t have water for a couple of weeks, but regardless of whether I kept the house or sold it, I was committed to quality.

After removing the contents of the house, half of the crew worked to remove the multi-colored carpet “wall paper” that covered some of the living room walls. The other half removed some of the exterior overgrowth.

Already the house was improving! Still, we had a long way to go! Here’s a sneak preview of the final product!