What Happens Next

Road Trip

Did I mention this little four-day extravaganza of girl bonding and creative bliss??

Because, wow, zero minus forty-eight hours and SO EXCITED!!! 

Just wish I was also packed and prepared in possession of any form of winter clothing, since it all seems to be sitting on moving vans until November 28th. Love it when a plan comes together...

However, our offerings for the Vendor Faire are resting comfortably in their boxes, awaiting the nine hour drive. Wait...what?!? That's right, road trip straight in to Winter with a seriously gestating Daughter.

Pray for me.

Thank you.

Lofty Ambitions

There is one floor of the church that is finished and functioning.

It looks very much like a loft, and has been called "lofty" more than once. But contrary to a tradional loft, It is actually on the bottom floor, at about 20 percent "below grade", with windows all around. Does that make it a basement?

I'm not sure...    

It has a definite urban vibe. It was built out as a completely separate unit, and is a pretty vast space at just over 5,000 square feet, so we kept it simple. Clean lines, minimal fuss. 

Here it is on the day of our first walk-through. This floor just exuded charm. How could we resist?

The dropped panel ceilings with florescent lighting was particularly compelling. As was the lovely paneling.

Finally, some clean lines and minimal fuss. But, I need to know who on earth picks out that precise color of green paint. I see it everywhere in buildings of a "certain age", and I feel queasy every time. However, I love the pinky-peach folding chair, sitting there all alone...

I couldn't ever figure out the floor plan in this space. I was forever getting turned around. I suppose in over ninety years of the building's history, there were plenty of opportunities to rearrange and put up random walls. Places to hide the clutter. 

Pay particularly close attention to the linoleum floor tiles. They will be important later. 

This area was used for the actual church services, at the end. The congregation had dwindled down to a mere handful, and using the sanctuary for services seemed inappropriate. So they moved downstairs to a more intimate setting.

I will note at this point that there is another church of this denomination less than two miles from here. So, these parishioners were not left without a church home, they merely transitioned to the new one. 

Here is the original kitchen, probably added in the sixties, where I imagine many a church supper was prepared. It cracked me up that the wastebasket was still here, with a clean bag in it. And the dishcloth casually drying on the sink, like someone would be right back to finish cleaning up.

In actuality, the building had been vacant for many years before they unloaded it on us we bought it.

So here we are after a little over a year of demolition and reconfiguring. All the dropped ceilings were removed and recessed lights were added. Superfluous walls were taken down, which added to the "loft" feeling.

Minimal.

The new kitchen is still somewhat of a work in progress. The upper cabinets were a result of measure once, and then order. And then order again, seemingly without measuring at all.

It will ultimately get corrected, but for the time being, we moved on.

The backsplash and island top will also be getting a makeover at some point. 

Again, moving on.

But this... this is the piece-de-resistance. A favorite trick of Daughter's. Order two separate refrigerated units. One regular fridge, and one freezer. Put them side by side, and get the trim kit that finishes them off as one unit. Voila! Fifty-four cubic feet of space for a fraction of the price of SubZero™.

Genius. And I love the JennAir™ cooktop, too.

There is a small area right off the kitchen that was once used as the coal room for the heating system. We wanted to keep it intact, sooty bricks and all, so we had these wine storage units built to slide into the spaces that were left after removing the old bins.

The plumber will be cutting that pipe off at some point. So I hear.

And "someone" will make a new window. Details, details...

Remember those linoleum tiles? Well, here's what we found when we had them scraped up. First we found out that 90 year old tiles are extremely hard to scrape up. Second, we found that whatever they used for glue back in the day was formidable to say the least.

But the other thing we found was that a very cool pattern was left when the tiles were finally gone. Kind of like a crocodile print.

We had the floors sanded a couple of times to remove the residual glue, then three coats of concrete stain were applied in a warm tobacco color. Finally they were sanded again and sealed. And because there is so much floor exposed in this space, it is the first thing everyone asks about. 

And then they ask why no one lives here.

That's right, this space is not being used as a residential unit at the moment. It is being used by all of us as office and creative work space, and often by The Boy as a place to race office chairs on the polished floors. And sometimes we watch movies and eat dinner here just because there is so much room, and a calm and serenity about the whole place. Not to mention cool and dark, which has come in very handy in the Texas summer.

And during the day, the construction guys upstairs know they can find one of us down here. Then they drag us up two flights of stairs to ask yet another convoluted technical question that make my eyes absolutely glaze over. Okay, so that's just me. Daughter always has the answer. I often wonder exactly when she got so smart. And so construction savvy...

So that is why we can move on at the moment from finishing out the kitchen the way we really want to. 

We do have bedrooms, though. Three of them, and three baths. They remind me of a nice hotel room, except there's not much generic art. Or any, really... but that's because, hello, no one lives here.

My sister and I did stay here for a few days a couple of weeks ago, and we would like to report that the beds are super comfy and the coffee maker rocks!

Four and a half stars! We had to deduct points for the lack of room service...

For those of you worrying that we weren't accomplishing much on our behemoth project, rest assured. It is coming along, and it is beautiful.

Altar-ations

If you have been astute enough to notice that progress is grinding to a halt awfully slow on our massive restoration project...

Well, um, er.....*cough*. (Yeah, I've got nothin'.)

It's been painfully slow. Painfully. We're WAY behind schedule. Everyone is beyond ready to be finished. Please send help.

And yet, beauty is still forthcoming. The original pieces that were removed from the church altar have been restored and are being re-purposed as part of the kitchen.  Stripping and sanding off ninety-some-odd years of paint was no easy feat, and luckily that job fell to someone who took it on with much enthusiasm. And then he quit.

Needless to say, that person was not me. But it could have been.

Some pieces were cut short to fit on the sides of the island.

On this side, a spot was left open for an ice machine. Hey, it gets H.O.T. in Texas!

Other pieces were left longer to trim out the front of the counter that runs along the perimeter of the kitchen.

This counter will allow for seating on the main floor, and it steps up to serving height from the kitchen side.

The design runs in a graceful arc that replicates the original curve of the altar.

As luck would have it, we have exactly one piece left over. Divine provenance?

This gives a birds-eye view of what is happening in the space. Notice my workshop that is visible through the opening above the kitchen. I'm taking this photo from the loft completely on the other side of the building, about as far away from being hard at work as possible.

Did I mention that we are behind schedule?

And yes, the "living room" still looks like this.

Thanks for asking.

Bent, But Not Broken

 

Today ~ It was the best of days. It was the worst of days.

A truly joyous beginning. At last, at long last, more windows being installed into their frames. Ready to be put back in place. One step closer to the finish line. Hallelujah!

 

I have thirty-seven windows ready to be installed. This is in addition to the twenty that are already back in their places, hiding behind a plywood shield, waiting...waiting for the day of the ultimate window reveal. That day I am sure that the angels will be singing. Bluebirds of happiness will fly out of places only spoken of in whispered tones.  All of heaven will be smiling down, I'm just sure of it.

But the journey to that ultimate goal continues to be long. Did I mention that some of these "new" windows are indeed new for the second time? No? Darn, that must have slipped my mind.

Deep breath...okay, so there was the day in November when a stray pit bull pit bull got into the church, came up to the third floor studio, and managed to get tangled up in a group of windows leaning against the end of a work table, crashing six of them to the ground right-in-front-of-my-face. Nice Doggy.

I had to take a moment, people. Maybe I had to take a week. I don't remember.

I also probably didn't mention the time this Spring that I came back from a trip to find two more windows badly broken and four completely missing. I guess I figured since no one had any information on what happened, there really wasn't much of a story to tell. My bad.

The bottom line on all of this pillage and plunder is that I have spent the past ten weeks repairing and replacing that which had already been done. Now I am at a total of sixty-nine windows with only fifty-seven to show for it. Man, I hate "fuzzy" math.

So the good part of today? New guys with 20+ years of experience coming to handle these windows...professionals who have contracted with some of the largest and most beautiful churches in town. Are the angels singing yet?

Not yet. First we had to have a discussion on how the glazing would be handled, because "Thanks, but we won't be using silicone to hold these in place. Even if you do it all the time. No, really. But thanks". If The Boy would someday need to have one of them removed for a repair, I would hate to think that he would need to have it pretty much smashed around the edges to get it out. But hey, that's just me...I'm funny like that.

So, no problem, glazing compound it is. Old school. Time-honored. Whew.

 

They got two windows put in the frames today, in a little over an hour. Impressive. The glazing around the edges looks beautiful. It's obvious they've done this many, many times. I'm feeling really relieved.

Until I walk up close, while they are leaning in the light, and see that one is broken at the top. I'm sure from one of the metal glazing "points" that are used under the putty, to hold the glass firmly against the wood. One of two windows. Broken. Again. It's only one piece, but the whole thing is going to have to be removed (again) from the frame to be carefully replaced. It's one of the long curved green pieces at the top above the "shield", so it won't be easy to get out. Or put back in, for that matter. The fact that I remained calm when faced with this discovery should have in all fairness caused my head to explode. Instead I left to take another moment. Or maybe it was an hour.  I don't remember.

When I returned, the professionals were gone.

What happens next? I'm not sure, but I won't be the least bit surprised if I never see these guys again. Meanwhile, I'll just keep building, and someday "they" will come. I hope they hurry.

Amen.

 

Hey, thanks for coming to my pity-party. You are all such good friends. Be sure to pick up your party favors on the way out. :)

Sketchy

Design of any kind usually begins with a sketch. Or, most likely, a series of sketches. It is the way designers and clients communicate ideas and refine their visions.

These are the sketches that Kevin began the kitchen with. Well, he began with these, and ended with them as well. They were that good.

 

This is the "big picture". From the back wall, moving forward to the island where the drawers are visible from this elevation, and forward again to the curved eating counter that separates the kitchen from the rest of the sanctuary. A very nice beginning. The carved pieces on the front of the counter were salvaged from the back of the altar during demo and will be also be used on the sides of the island.

 

Never able to resist making a complicated endeavor positively monumental, we added a "Juliet" balcony to the space above the kitchen, offering easy communication between the second and third floors. It is a vast space up there on that wall, in need of a point of interest, and it offers the added benefit of more natural light to both areas.

And at this point in the festivities, I would just like to ask..."Wherefore in-the-heck art thou, Romeo??"... Oh, sorry, where was I again?...

 

This is a detail sketch of one of the cabinets that flank the back wall. These bad boys are 10-and-a-half feet tall. I have no idea how I will ever know what is in the top cabinets, but they really needed to be tall to fit the scale of the space. Maybe we could run a sliding "library ladder" around the perimeter?

The door on the bottom left, (with the handle on the top), is an old-fashioned potato/onion bin, that will pivot forward when pulled. Kevin loves to add these unexpected features. I don't really eat potatoes all that often, but I'm all about the onions. Although it will probably take about forty pounds of them to fill this up!

 

Here, on the opposite side of the room, is the cabinet that will house the double ovens and the warming drawer. Love, love, love having double ovens, and this will be my first time having a warming drawer. These bad boys are 36" wide, commercial size, so I am envisioning quite a bit of cooking going on in here when it is all said and done. Mostly because there will be no money left for eating in restaurants. I'd better start visiting here every day, and not just for the pretty pictures.

Thanksgiving at the church, anyone?

 

So here is where we are. Sigh. A million miles from where we began, yet still a few hundred miles from where we need to be.

This week the templates are being taken for the stone countertops. The appliances will be installed in about two weeks, as will all the doors and drawers. Painting/staining the whole thing will take place somewhere in the middle of all that. There is electrical that still needs to be finished. The copper sink is being manufactured as we speak.

The final design of the forged iron railings for the balcony is still "up in the air". See, I have managed to maintain my sense of humor through this process. (But don't tell my family I said that, cause they would probably beg to differ.)

I am dreaming of creating a fantastic glass mosaic for the backsplash above the sink. Because I am a glutton for punishment like that. Pray for me.

Amen.

I'm Floored

Alas, there is major progress afoot!
(Underfoot??)

Anyway, floors are being tended to, and that usually signals the beginning of the excruciatingly long end!!

Notice the serious nature of the nearly century-old grime on these floors! They could not have been in any worse shape without involving either a box of matches or an act of God. The issues did, however, include a rather large flock of pigeons. You can thank me for sparing you a close-up.

Here we have a test area, trying out the sander. (And by "we", I mean definitely not me.)

Okay, that's better! There really are beautiful wood floors under all that....um, dirt!

This was after sanding the area three times.

At this point the upper platforms have also been sanded and conditioned, and the stain is being applied. In these smaller areas, they prefer to do it by hand, with rags. (And by "they", I still mean not me.) Because this is really, really hard work.

In the light of day, it is decided that the color is a bit too red...

So it is darkened, and thankfully now it is just right!

This room is on the third floor of the building, and was originally used for choir practice. It's about 1500 square feet, including the large new bathroom in the far corner. That room was a sort of secret, non-functional office/storage room, and is undergoing quite the transformation. Stay tuned for that reveal on the forthcoming "Parade of Bathrooms"!

The "steps" around the perimeter could not be removed, as they are hiding some interesting construction quirks, such as the tops of the vaulted ceilings from the floor below! Weird.

The "risers" for these steps are an odd assortment of wood, so instead of being stained, they will be painted, probably to match the new crown molding, which is still white in these photos.

This area will most likely be used in the way that a "bonus" room is used in most homes. Some gym equipment, a pool table...

And definitely some roller skates! Woot!

 

The One Where I Finally Come Up For Air

Okay, okay, you can call off the search party. I've been right here the whole time. Just hunkered down in my workshop 60-70 hours a week for the past three weeks.

Let's just say that my hair has looked better, but it's getting harder to remember when.

Trying to keep my head above water here, people. Seems like I'm hitting the old proverbial wall on this project, so I have to drop a shoulder and just push through it.

Sixty windows completed at this point, and "I-don't-want-to-count-how-many-are-left-thank-you-very-much".

This is a nice, simple design. It almost doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out with a soldering iron that I've had to make fifteen of this exact same one. Three more to go. Ack.

But I do love my tools. Isn't this the coolest hammer ever? Rubber on one side so you can tap the glass in position, and hard on the other side for the nails. And dudes, these are horseshoe nails, which for some strange reason makes me happy. See how little it takes these days??

Regardless, there has been an awful lot of hammering lately, and some of it has been unnecessarily loud.

Just sayin.

A Beautiful Mess

Don't you just hate it when your living room looks like this?

For over a year a very long time? 

Yeah, me too.

Stand-Up Guy

This is the guy who always stood up straight and proud for the class photo.

Middle row, big smile, no horsing around. You remember him.

Actually, his name is Luis, and I just couldn't get a candid shot from him. After asking if I could take his photo while he was working (big mistake), he proceeded to stop working and pose every time the camera came up. Can't you just see the big smile under the mask? It's there...you know it is.

I just love watching these guys walking around on their stilts. They are using them to put up the sheetrock, and all that it entails, without having to use ladders. Genius. I'm thinking of getting a pair so that I can reach the very top shelf in my closet.

So I tried sneaking up behind him in another room. But he was ready for me. Always with the pose, this one. Only this time I don't see the smile...

Meanwhile, his friend in red can't get away fast enough.

One last try, and this time they are both getting away. I might be imagining this, but I swear Luis is pausing with his right foot and glancing back for one final shot.

I think he's glad that I left him alone to work, but I wonder if he would like a copy of the first photo for his mom?

Seeing The Light

There is something so praise-worthy about a day when the electrician shows up!

These beautiful carriage lights have been patiently waiting in their boxes for about eight months now. Have I ever told you about the construction version of the law of diminishing returns? No? Well, it goes a little something like this...

The longer a job goes on (and on) (and on) is directly proportionate to the diminishing number of times that a tradesman will return when they say they will. Which of course doesn't help with the whole "trying-desperately-to-get-finished" thing. But what can you do...apparently it's the law. And when your project has gone on for more than a year and a half, well let's just say that you spend a lot of time rounding up the troops.

But yesterday the prodigal electrician returned, and the lovely fixtures came out of their boxes and went to live in the sanctuary. First one side...

And then the other. Ten beautiful lights in all, dropping down about twenty feet from the ceiling. What a difference they make! And they really look like they have always been there, don't you think?

Wouldn't you know that the morning after Bossy and the Dallas-area bloggers hung out in the building, the very next morning, the restored stained glass windows began to get put back in place! Sorry girls, I wish we hadn't had to climb into the attic to see them on Monday night!

And no, not all of the windows are finished. Not even close, if I'm being honest. I  also seem to be a perpetrator victim of that pesky law of diminishing returns. Sigh.

Next we will have to address the three chandeliers that were added to the building in the 1960s by the ladies auxiliary, as part of a very ambitious fundraising effort. These fixtures have quite a bit of damage to their amber glass panels, which will be replaced with mica, cut to fit from huge sheets. That should be quite the project, alright, and to tell you the truth... I'm afraid.

Meanwhile, doesn't the ceiling look pretty?