Beanie - Crazy Acres is the place to be!

[Beanie]

Love the open beams and stained glass window! Beautiful room, I am envious

I saw you posted the carrot cake jam that Britesea asked for and I was wondering if you'd post the caramel apple butter recipe too? Both sound so good!

Sure thing!

 

[Marianne]

Pics look great! You're many steps ahead of us, I still have a hillbilly kitchen, but I think we're ordering kitchen cabinets this weekend. We put radiant heat under the bulk of the floor on the first story, so lots of ceramic tile to put down. Crazy thing is that because ele is so high here and loss of power during the winter, we ended up buying two wood burners and haul wood all winter long. I'm thinking 'all that work for nuthin'????' But, the few times we have used the radiant heat, it was so nice! We elected not to use it much until we had more tile installed so it'd be more efficient. :/ I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get this house done.

But right now, I'm so sick of having drywall dust on everything that I own. And I miss my 'stuff', you too, huh. Funny how all those little things really help define who we are.

Are your kitchen cabinets a laminate product or actual granite? I'm leaning towards laminate as I cook a lot and don't want to mess with sealing, etc.

 

[Beanie]

Pics look great! You're many steps ahead of us, I still have a hillbilly kitchen, but I think we're ordering kitchen cabinets this weekend. We put radiant heat under the bulk of the floor on the first story, so lots of ceramic tile to put down. Crazy thing is that because ele is so high here and loss of power during the winter, we ended up buying two wood burners and haul wood all winter long. I'm thinking 'all that work for nuthin'????' But, the few times we have used the radiant heat, it was so nice! We elected not to use it much until we had more tile installed so it'd be more efficient. :/ I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get this house done.

But right now, I'm so sick of having drywall dust on everything that I own. And I miss my 'stuff', you too, huh. Funny how all those little things really help define who we are.

Are your kitchen cabinets a laminate product or actual granite? I'm leaning towards laminate as I cook a lot and don't want to mess with sealing, etc.

DRYWALL DUST is my nemesis!!!!!!!! It took me a week to wash it all off the kitchen and everything in it. ( I've even blown it outta my nose)
I love looking at the kitchen...but it's the only room we have that's livable. HAHAH!! 7 long months...

The countertops are laminate. We couldn't afford solid counters. The DH learned how to do it and how to rout the edges and I think it turned out great. You can't see it in the before pics but the counters all around the sinks were rotten from water leaking. DH rebuilt most of them. It took him a week to do the tile backsplash. DH and DS ripped up the decking boards that was the floor and found critters and ants living in the rot....ewwwww! The kitchen was added to the original house. The previous owners left the full original kitchen so I have two kitchens! LOL! Actually I'll use the original kit as a laundry room. The original house was built in 1945.

 

[Marianne]

7 months doesn't sound long to me!! We have lived in here for 5 years now!!! We do have the second story almost completed, and one bath and dining room on the first level done. Whatever possessed us to build a huge, two story house eludes me.... (Actually, this was the ONLY plan that DH liked out of the 100 or so I showed him. I was so desperate at that point, I would have agreed to building a hotel.)

Ours is new construction. Almost everything DH and I did by ourselves, including mixing concrete in a mixer for the foundation. We build a huge slip form and basically poured big, interlocking blocks...probably used 4 times the rebar that's used in standard construction. We did get some help to put up roof trusses, guttering, roofing, all the high stuff. Should have just hired a crew, ya know? Would have been so much faster!

We worked usually three days a week depending on the weather, driving 35 miles each way, loading up the pickup with lumber and supplies each time we came out. It took us 3-1/2 months just to do the foundation, another 9 months before we got the house enclosed and moved into one room.

Take heart, you are saving a bundle of money by DIY!!! I hit the clearance aisles every time we went to Lowe's. Bought tons of stuff, light fixtures, the fancy front door, huge fancy ceiling fan and light, other ceiling fans, bathroom vanities, ceramic tile, etc for cheap. The last time I checked, we were still under $30 a square foot.

But right now, I am so sick of having to wash drywall dust off most the kitchen stuff before I even use it. Munch, munch. And we still don't even have all the drywall hung down here. *sigh* And we aren't kids anymore.

I should add that plumbing (we did a maniblock system), HVAC and ductwork has been the bane of my existance!!!!

 

[Javamama]

Nice work on the kitchen!

 

[Beanie]

7 months doesn't sound long to me!! We have lived in here for 5 years now!!! We do have the second story almost completed, and one bath and dining room on the first level done. Whatever possessed us to build a huge, two story house eludes me.... (Actually, this was the ONLY plan that DH liked out of the 100 or so I showed him. I was so desperate at that point, I would have agreed to building a hotel.)

Ours is new construction. Almost everything DH and I did by ourselves, including mixing concrete in a mixer for the foundation. We build a huge slip form and basically poured big, interlocking blocks...probably used 4 times the rebar that's used in standard construction. We did get some help to put up roof trusses, guttering, roofing, all the high stuff. Should have just hired a crew, ya know? Would have been so much faster!

We worked usually three days a week depending on the weather, driving 35 miles each way, loading up the pickup with lumber and supplies each time we came out. It took us 3-1/2 months just to do the foundation, another 9 months before we got the house enclosed and moved into one room.

Take heart, you are saving a bundle of money by DIY!!! I hit the clearance aisles every time we went to Lowe's. Bought tons of stuff, light fixtures, the fancy front door, huge fancy ceiling fan and light, other ceiling fans, bathroom vanities, ceramic tile, etc for cheap. The last time I checked, we were still under $30 a square foot.

But right now, I am so sick of having to wash drywall dust off most the kitchen stuff before I even use it. Munch, munch. And we still don't even have all the drywall hung down here. *sigh* And we aren't kids anymore.

I should add that plumbing (we did a maniblock system), HVAC and ductwork has been the bane of my existance!!!!

5 YEARS!?!?!?!?!?!!
I hereby dub thee Queen of Endurance!!!!!

 

[Beanie]

Nice work on the kitchen!

TY!

 

[Marianne]

It's been a while since I was crying about it.. The last couple times I was just flat out mean about it.

DH is gone a lot with his jobs (sales and crop adjusting). Unfortunately, there are so many things that require his attention before we continue on, you know? We also decided that after we moved in we'd have a life again. PLUS, I have to accept some responsibility. I was paralyzed by choice a few times. I'm pretty artistic, didn't want what everyone else considers 'normal'. So I have done a lot of plaster stenciling and hand plastering (upteen coats of paint blended together, rubbed half off to look really old) and layered trim. My favorite wall has two 18' tall plaster stenciled trees - it's the tall wall at the bottom of the stairs. We ducked under scaffolding for three months on that deal. :/

We built a coop with an arched enclosed run, decent sized garden, work shop in the old milk barn. Took forever to get 4" of dried, compacted manure off the floor. Planted tons of trees, most of them died or were broken off by wind or deer, mowed off by 'someone' who was going too fast , got to plant them again....water, water, water...dragging garden hoses from tree to tree.

This was an old, neglected dairy farm when we bought it. Got it cheap because it was so trashy. So, in spite of how much we have left to do, it's a lot better than what it was. Apparently the county agrees and our last tax statement shows it.

Edited because I can't spell today.

 

[Beanie]

I'm getting a floor in the den today!!!

DS is helping DH put down the floor in the den. I'm so excited!

The original floor was crumbling concrete board, with piles of ants living under it, with particle board on top of that. The owners had painted it Grape Purple. (I have pictures to prove it) So after a month of gutting, exterminating and replacing the sleeper boards....the fruits of their labors are about to come to fruition.

so happy....

 

[Marianne]

Cool Beans!