It’s frigid in the Old Lady this morning. The snow is falling outside, and it’s beautiful. But I’m inside, huddled around a space heater, waiting for the delivery of my plumbing fixtures sometime between 7am-10am. (*eyeroll*)

It’s quiet and still, other than the white noise of the space heater; a perfect time for reflection.

She’s come a long way, this Old Lady. She’s got all new electrical and plumbing, soon to have new HVAC. Her guts are shiny and new (and safe!) and we’ve added insulation where we can (fun fact: the animal hair/wood pulp “insulation” is very cool and very rare, but can’t hold a candle to today’s insulation).

And now she has walls again. It feels like a real house again, and after months of having workers coming in and out, disrupting every room and most of the walls, we’re both sighing with the quiet. She feels like she’s mine again.

Don’t get me wrong, there is still a LOT of work to do. Painting, cabinets, electrical and plumbing fixtures, tile, flooring, and more. And that’ll all bring in another army of people to complete the work. But right now, in this moment, she’s mine. And she feels like a house again.

My anxiety over the past few weeks has been intense. This house is rarely far from the front of my mind, and when I wake up in the middle of the night my mind immediately starts racing with all the decisions, choices, planning, expense, and myriad things that are involved in this project.

So finding this peace, here and now, is balm for my nerves, and reminds me why I started this monster project in the first place.

Shortly, there will be things to do. My foot is already tapping with impatience as I think of all the things I should be doing. But for now, I’m enjoying the peace and the knowledge that the Old Lady is mine again.

Stripping paint can be meditative. It doesn’t require a whole lot of active brainpower, so my mind is free to wander while my hands are busy with the repetitive motions of heat, scrape…heat, scrape…heat, scrape.

Usually the house is quiet. Sometimes I pop in AirPods and listen to podcasts or music (it’s really the only chance I have to listen to Hamilton in its entirety), sometimes I just listen to the sound of the heat gun and the ambient noise of an old house.

Then, after several hours have gone by, and my body is sore, I get to step back and look at my work.

And…guys…it looks like I barely made a dent.

Stripping paint can SUCK.

So, yeah, I’ve made progress. But then I look around and see how much more there is to do. And my tired body and mind just. can’t. even. And yet, the project keeps bringing me back because it’s nothing but possibility. Each scrape brings me closer to my vision.

So, yeah, I’ll be working on this for the rest of my days. But here are some pics of the before and during.

Wow, guys. It’s been a minute. Or a couple of months. It’s not that things aren’t happening at the Old Lady; it’s just that the things are kinda boring.

Things like plumbing. Electrical. Not HVAC, cuz those people won’t show up. All very necessary, just not super-compelling.

But she’s coming along. I can see how the new areas are going to lay out. I get a sense of how furniture will fit, how we’ll use the spaces, and I’m excited.

Electrical was particularly disruptive. But, hey, now the house won’t burn down when we flip on a light switch.

The upstairs bathroom is taking shape too!

And, of course, there is still wood being stripped.

And, although we can’t live in her yet, that doesn’t stop us from wine and cheese parties in the yard.

And, every once in awhile, I find a fun little surprise.

This one’s for you, Megan. 🙂

I was gently reminded that I haven’t done a great job of giving an overview of how much the house had already changed. I’ve shown bits and pieces, but not large, full house pictures. So thanks, Meg, for the reminder that while I see all that has to be done, we’ve already accomplished quite a bit.

I will say I’ve felt some guilt at changing the interiors. There is a conservationist in me that says to keep everything as it is. But the rational part of me knows that A. Lots of things have been changed over the years, so it’s not like I’m altering 120 year old interiors, B. I am bringing a lot of elements back to what they were and C. Houses won’t last long if they aren’t adapted to current styles and standards.

There was little we could do to replace the systems – mechanical, electrical and plumbing – without moving some walls. And if we didn’t get the systems updated, the chances of losing the Old Lady to a fire or water damage was too great. So…there’s all sorts of justification. But there are also times it hurts my heart a bit. I just want to get that out there.

But now…here are before and now pictures. 🙂

Next time I’ll show the upstairs progress!

Of all the things I thought would delay this renovation, a global pandemic and subsequent quarantine was not on my radar.

Yet, here we are.

First and foremost, the health and safety of our community will always and forever take priority over things like home renovations, though my heart goes out to those that have lost jobs in the construction industry (and every other industry) as a result of the lockdown.

It’s difficult to imagine what the world will look like once COVID19 is behind us. I hope we learn important lessons about the importance of community and family, of supporting and helping those less fortunate, and I hope we never again take for granted the ability to move about freely about our lives without fear and worry of a deadly virus.

The Old Lady has seen her share of pandemics, wars, economic depressions, and pretty much everything else. And she’s still here. A bit worse for wear, but with 120 years of history behind her that seems like a small price to pay.

I’m looking forward to getting back to work on her, to prepare her for the next 120 years when humanity will no doubt experience periods of difficulty and uncertainty, but will remain standing on the other side.

In the meantime, stay well friends. ❤️

To be honest, the front of the Old Lady was always a bit…off. Those upper front windows are just…wrong.

I assumed it was because the aluminum storm windows are ugly. But also necessary due to the, um, loose fit of the casement windows behind them.

But then demo happened. And…

That’s exterior soffit. Just inside those ugly windows.

So, yeah. That was a balcony. And it will be again.

The treasure hunt continues…

I’ll admit, the “office” has been the most underwhelming room in the house thus far. I mean, it’s perfectly pleasant, light and bright. But it had so obviously been altered, and not well, that it was just kind of “blah.”

So “blah” that I don’t even have a before pic. Oops.

But the room needed some materials removed, and in doing so, the walls reveled layer upon layer of wallpaper history.

The wonderful experience of working on an old house is the mystery of never knowing what you’re going to find. Throughout the demo, I’ve loathed the feeling that I’m missing things. But we’ve also found a lot of surprises along the way (more on that soon) and the lowly office is just one example.

After weeks and weeks of small projects, wonderful discoveries, structural adjustments, and lots of planning, the renovation officially started this week with professional (read: contractor-led and -performed) demolition!

Nathan and crew have been busy this week! Not only with the fun stuff (demo) but he’s also getting in bids for all the house “guts” – mechanical, plumbing, and electrical – as well as windows, paint and all the other myriad things the house needs.

Wandering up to the house on Thursday was both really exciting and also a bit stomach-churning. Both feelings stemming from the fact “THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING” and there’s no turning back now. Plus, there’s a huge hole in the wall. It’s…jarring.

But, wow, the porch is going to be amazing. I’m already excited to put furniture out there and watch thunderstorms. And other things too, but mostly thunderstorms. 🙂

But that’s not all Nathan and his crew accomplished. They also started interior demo. We’re taking out the closet under the stairs in order to open up what will be the kitchen to the rest of the house.

He also marked all the walls and other items that need demo, knowing full well I’m going in this weekend to bash on some things and he wanted to make sure I take out the *right* things. I appreciate him.

Though I’m so excited to see the progress, it’s also terrifying. This is my life now. I haven’t been living up to the “wine” aspect of my blog, I know, but now that things are ramping up so quickly I am feeling the need for a drink. 😜

In other news…I bought this amazing old lamp for (wait for it) 50 cents (!!!!) at a garage sale. Like everything in my life right now, it too requires renovation.

But I love it.

But they like it!

Handing children demo tools seems like it could be a recipe for disaster. But when disaster is what you’re looking for…why not? So my niece, nephew and son wielded a sledgehammer, crowbar, and hammer to bash and smash their way through the back deck. Which is a disaster and must be removed.

And you know what? The LOVED it. We have so few opportunities to let our kids “have at it.” But this house keeps giving us these opportunities.

Since buying this old lady, I’ve been so happy when Asher’s friends and cousins come over, because they fill the house with laughter, screams and so much joy. There’s something about an old, empty house and big, open yard that sparks creativity and draws the kids in. And I love it. They run rampant through the house and yard and love coming over to play.

I hope we will keep having these fun play dates, even when we’re past the sledgehammer days. I hope so. It does seem as though the Old Lady’s magic works equally effectively on the kiddos as it does on me.