Lots of Happenings

There is a lot that goes on in the life of houses. Most are not physical changes that you can see, so I thought that I would fill you in on what we have been up to this last week. Its been a little busy...

• The kitchen sink and bathtub for the master bath at St. Andrews were chosen by me and ordered by Ryan. ( I like to take credit but really its mostly Ryan)
• We have looked at another potential house to renovate, but it smelled so bad that I had to leave. Ryan sent in an offer, but ours wasn't the best.
• There was a closing yesterday on a house that some of our close friends bought. Ryan has been dealing with that and getting all the details in order. 
• Ryan had an open house on Sunday at his parent's house. He had a nice turnout, so hopefully there will be continued interest.
• We went to Somerville and met with the cabinet maker that we use. We finalized layouts and made selections on all of the cabinets that will be used at St. Andrews.  This includes the kitchen, all the bathrooms, the laundry room and the butler's pantry. 
• We picked out all of the tile last weekend and it has been ordered.
• Ryan is currently negotiating on another house that we may decide to move in ourselves. If it works out we'll be looking for nice owners for our current home.
• There has also been a good bit of activity at St. Andrews as we get closer to installing finishes. Ryan and Chris run a pretty tight ship over there and really push to keep everything on schedule, which is not an easy task.

On a personal note duck season is over so Ryan is very sad and I am not so sad, just kidding, kind of.

Brick

Just before we took possession of our house I made Ryan take this photo. He wasn't very happy about it, but since we knew the house was empty, he reluctantly agreed...

When we bought our house it had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Our house now has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, but I will do another post on that soon.



Another view of our house when we bought it.



This is a picture of our house now, or actually in the spring.  Ryan dug up the monkey grass around the trees which we think gives it a nice clean look. There is also a new roof, a new driveway, new gutters and a new wood fence on the right hand side. You can also see the carport we added in the back. This must be an old picture because our gate had not been installed. I will try to get another picture with our gate because I love it!

I show you all these pics to discuss our brick. We have painted the exterior brick of all of the houses we have renovated, so I do realize how painting brick can transform a house, but I just can't bring myself to paint ours.


We love the brick on our house! It is a dark brick with a good bit of variation and flush mortar joints. Unfortunately many of the houses we buy do not have such a good looking brick. We feel that you should always paint brick if it is a weird color and/or if it has a funny texture. You'll be amazed how it change the entire feel of a home.


Maybe someday we'll change our mind and paint the house, but until then I would just like to have our front porch repainted or stained. Can you tell how bad the paint is peeling?? The first time we looked at this house I pointed out how bad the porch needed to be painted. Ryan said and I quote, "That is such an easy fix." 

Well here we are almost five years later and have done a ton of work to our house - except paint the front porch. I complain about it from time to time and beg Ryan to fix it. I even started to complain, saying you do all this work on other people's houses but you won't fix our front porch. So I was promised after he sold the first house he renovated that he would have the porch painted. Well.... I am still waiting.

Our Kitchen

Not much visually is going on over at St. Andrews so I wanted to show you a little more of the work we have done on our house.

Here is what our kitchen looked like the day we took possession. Please excuse my purse and the cleaning materials left by the former owners. You can also see the food processor below that they left on the counter... I still have it but I've never used it. I feel bad about throwing it out b/c it works but I feel weird about using it b/c its not really mine... such a dilemma.

Back to the real discussion here - our kitchen and the changes we made. There were green laminate countertops, green linoleum flooring and white appliances with an especially old stove. Not a terrible kitchen, but certainly not great either.
I never actually used that stove because someone was convinced it was leaking gas even though the mlgw guy that came out to check said it wasn't. So that was replaced immediately while the rest of it wasn't changed until about two years later.

Here is a picture of the kitchen in its current state. A big change was the relocation of the back door that used to be in the kitchen, which you can see in the first picture. When we did the addition we pushed out that wall. Now there's a cased opening that leads to a hall that contains the laundry closet, a half bath and the back door. The washer and dryer used to be in that closet in the kitchen. We kept the closet but now use it as a big pantry with lots of storage.

With a tight budget in mind, we kept the cabinets the same. They are in a really good layout and have been hand painted with a glazed finish on them. We installed this rust color tile that is throughout the kitchen and the hall leading to the back door. 

We now have all GE stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.  If we could have replaced the cabinets we probably would have gone a whole different direction with the color scheme but we think it actually turned out pretty well.

This picture is taken at an angle from the den. I couldn't get the lighting just right, but oh well. 


You can see the pot rack which was here when we bought the house. People always comment on it and ask me where I got it but unfortunately I don't know. We also kept the paint color the same. When we bought the house the living room, sunroom and kitchen were all painted this color. It is Farrell Calhoun Poppyseed  and I actually really like it. Now the kitchen, back hall and den are this color. 

You can kind of see in this picture how open our kitchen is to our den. Its not fully open but enough that I don't feel isolated when I am in the kitchen.  I also wanted to show the cabinets along this wall. Once again these were here when we moved in and I love them. They offer so much storage, get the microwave out of the way and allow for a little personalization with pictures and such.

I really enjoy this kitchen and that's good since I am the one that spends the most time in there. Two years ago for Christmas my parents got me an under the counter TV that is mounted under the cabinet next to the frig. It is perfect b/c I can work at the island and watch NCIS or Law & Order and try to forget that I am actually cooking.

The only thing I would change is the bar stools, which are hand me downs that we are glad to have. The other bar stools I always pick out are too expensive so we still have these. I would also like built in shelving in the closet/pantry..... maybe some day.

I think our kitchen is a great example of how you can work with the elements of an existing kitchen, and with very little money, make some nice changes. New appliances, builder grade granite, and cheap tile have created a big visual difference. Not a dream kitchen, but there's always our next house for that...

Exterior Update

I am getting really excited about what is going on at St. Andrews. In about two weeks the inside of the house will really start to develop. The drywall is going to start going up and the rooms will really start to take shape. 

This means I need to get busy and finalize my decisions about finishes and fixtures. I have so many ideas but not many definitive decisions have been made. 

While there is still much to do on the outside, there have been some big changes over the last few weeks, so I will leave you with some pictures of the exterior.

Most of the roof has been installed and the eyebrow dormer has been framed in. Now that it is installed the remainder of the roof can be finished and copper will be put on top of the dormer. I am really excited about the gables on either side of the entry. They will be a prominent architectural feature with copper flashing running from the cornice to custom louvers that will be placed within each gable.

The fence in the backyard is finished and looks really good. It is 8ft tall and provides lots of privacy. 

All of the siding has been installed and we are waiting on the brick to be installed around the master addition on the left. 

All of the windows have been installed and the french doors to the center of the family room will be installed later in the project in order to avoid any damage.


Things should really be looking good in the next couple of weeks and I can't wait to share it with all of you.

From Our Home to Yours

Merry Christmas
from
The Andersons

Addie, Carrie, Ryan, & Stella

Our Christmas is always very busy. My whole life my family has gone to at least 3 different family functions if not more. So, this is what I expect and I love it!!! To me it doesn't feel like Christmas if I am not bouncing from house to house seeing everyone. 


We will be driving to Fulton, Kentucky for my Dad's family Christmas lunch on Christmas Eve. Then we will drive back to have dinner with Ryan's family. On Christmas day we will open our gifts to each other that morning and then meet up with my Mom's family for lunch. Then we will go to my parent's house to exchange gifts with my immediate family. Then we will go to Ryan's parents for dinner that night. A busy two days...


Christmas night we will get to hang out with one of my very best friends, Chelsy Hall!! Chelsy now lives in New York and I love any time that I get to spend with her!! 


I love this time of year! Celebrating the birth of Christ and spending time with family!!


We hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

St. Andrews Update

I know I have been lacking on posts lately. Things have been very busy around our house. Working at a school during this time of year is a lot of fun. Children obviously love this time of year and their excitement is contagious but slightly exhausting. Also, duck season opened right before Thanksgiving and around my house that means lots of camo and early mornings.


Also, to be honest there has been framing, demo, and more demo at St. Andrews. Which is not a whole lot to look at but it's recently starting to take shape and is very exciting.

The front has two matching gables and a new front entry.

The back of the great room. It will have french doors in the middle and two large windows on each side.

The garage has new siding and is currently being used as storage for construction supplies.

The master bedroom wing is taking shape. The windows have been installed and you can see plumbing being installed in the bathroom.

The living room had its new front window installed yesterday and it lets in so much light!

This is the new upstairs playroom.

So, as you can see a whole lot has been happening. From this point on there should be a lot more to look at and share with everybody.

Ryan's Parent's House

Ryan's parents are building their dream house and have recently put their current home on the market. Ryan has the listing, so I thought I would share some information for anyone that may be interested. 

They have lived there for 30 years and have made many wonderful updates along the way. It is located in The Village, which is a wonderful family neighborhood in East Memphis. In fact they they love the neighborhood so much that they are building right around the corner.

Their current house is 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and has been meticulously maintained over the years. Some of the updates include a 2 car carport, driveway, finished upstairs, kitchen, copper gutters, roof and irrigation system. Their kitchen renovation included new tile, custom cabinets, and professional appliances. It is a wonderful house that would make a great home for any family.

Here is a link to the listing with more information and photos. Feel free to give Ryan a call if you have any questions.

http://ryananderson.crye-leike.com/detail.php?fldLogin=elna.naqrefba&mgrp=32&ln=1&tid=memphis&mlsnum=3234649


I will post photos of their new home when it is closer to completion. It is Menzer and McClure design that has a Tuscan farmhouse feel. Very cool...