Our Home: Pine Top Inn

I wanted to name our home. I love how people name cottages, or cabins, and give them a personality with a name. After muling it over for a time, the name, "Pine Top Inn," came to my mind, and made me giggle. This entire massive home remodel all began with the top of a pine tree falling in our home. We are also located on the top of a hill, surrounded by massive pine trees. We live surrounded by pine tree tops. So, "Pine Top Inn," just feels right. 

I do love the word "Inn" to describe a home. I know it is usually used for a vacation rental or something, but I like this definition of an Inn: An inn is a place to stay while you're on vacation or on the road. Inns are usually smaller and more charming than hotels, but they serve the same purpose: to give you a place to rest your weary head as you travel. 

That is how I feel about home... 

Home is a place to rest our weary heads, as we travel through this crazy life! 

Love it! 

I plan to clean up and seal the piece of the tree log that we saved, and I will attach the sign to it, and have it out front. 

I found a place on Etsy that makes customs signs. I have to say, I love it, I think it turned out great! I also love that it says "Est. 2020," because that is when we moved in, and, oh man... 2020... what a year! 

So, here is the latest remodeling update on our lovely Pine Top Inn... :) 

I think those skeletons should stop lounging around, and get to work, and start pulling their bony weight around here. 

 

The exterior and interior painting has begun! After waiting through all the big demolition and rebuilding, there are finally real visible changes taking place. It is such a crazy process remodeling such an old home. It feels weighted, and heavy, and like a sacred stewardship to get it right. 

Before moving into our home, we knew we loved it, but we didn't know what "it" was. We didn't know it was called a Craftsman style home. In the last year we have learned so much about the beauty of a Craftsman style home, and what "Craftsman style" means. It is also interesting that so many of the different  "Fixer Upper" shows, often feature Craftsman style homes. It is because they are truly pieces of art, when they are built well. 

We are trying to be true to the Craftsman style in structure, and building; but inside, we will deviate a little as we decorate. We are super excited about some of the things that are coming. For me, I am particularly excited about some of the handmade Craftsman tiles that we have picked out. We are not quite to the tile portion of the project, but it is getting closer! 

We just made it through the drywall process, which seemed to take forever. But now, the white primer is on the walls, and soon, all the vibrant colors will be next! 

WOOHOO! 

We are going crazy with color. We will be painting darkness on some of the walls, and the ceiling. One room, the front office/den, will be painted in the color called "Starless Night." The walls and the ceiling will be super dark. I am so excited to see what it will become. 

Here is a color visualizer rendering... 

When I talked to the painter about doing this color, he said a swear word, and then talked about how good it will look. :) 

I have learned that, for me, dark colors really calm me down. I wonder if it is because I am an introvert, and it kind of tones down my emotions, or something? 

The exterior painting has begun and the outside of our home is transforming from soft baby colors of blue and white, to deep and rich grown-up colors of dark moody greens, with highlights of the color "fiery brown." (A warm red color.) The fiery brown is not on the home yet, but I cannot wait to see it, especially on the corbels! It is coming soon! For now they have turned the painting attention to inside so we can get that done, and move the inside of the project along. 

The bathroom tiling is supposed to start next week. That should be amazing. 

This whole process has been insane. The amount of decisions we make on a daily basis is bonkers. And now it is really, really, GO TIME! 

YES! 

Let's just move onto the pictures, because, really, pictures are prettier than words. 

So this is just a rendering I quickly made on a paint visualizer... but the colors are the colors we are using. I can't wait to see it complete in real life! 

The colors are Sherwin Williams: Mountain Road, Rosemary, Shade Grown, and Fiery Brown. And also Rock Bottom on the cement. 

NOT THE ACTUAL FINISHED PRODUCT! Just a rendering... 

Here we have the white primer painted on the walls... 

This is the new hallway. 

This hallway didn't exist in our home before we created it. And I love it. I super, duper, love it. This hallway is going dark green (Foxhall Green) which is one of my new favorite colors! It is going on all the walls and the ceilings, and all the way down the stairwell too. This will be an art gallery full of family history pictures in brass colored frames. 

This stairwell is now SO HIGH. It used to be that you would knock your head into the low ceiling going down the stairs, but we knocked it all out and it is so amazingly high! The gross texture that was once on the stair walls is gone and now it is smooth as fresh Nutella. We also added a light, so you can see and not die in the darkness. 

Let's peek back at what it was... during demo... yikes! Look at that weird texturing! I really did NOT like it. 

We decided to go with smooth textured walls, because the lath and plaster that was there before was pretty darn smooth (besides the major cracks all over, which is lath and plaster typical.) Now the drywall is so creamy smooth, I just LOVE it. This is the baby's room, which will be a Tranquil Aqua. The entire room will be painted this color... walls, ceiling, trim, doors... everything. I know, crazy. But I think it will be crazy amazing! 

The baby's room is connected to our room by a little hallway. 

Our Master Bedroom will be painted in the color Redend Point. The walls, the ceiling, the everything... except the fireplace wall that will be painted in Foxhall Green. 

I just love seeing this massive space for the kitchen and dining. It is SO much better than it was. The kitchen was so sad before, and not conducive at all for family gathering. The kitchen/dining is going green... Jade Dragon Green. Our kitchen is being built with Craftsman style cabinetry. I can't even describe how excited I am to see what it will be. We found a craftsman who builds cabinets, and he was so much more affordable than other larger companies. 

We drilled holes, and wired for new lighting in the front entry. We found some beautiful Craftsman sconces, that are so awesome they remind me of Pirates of the Caribbean lights. 

Here is the kitchen/dining right after the drywallers finished their work. 

Walking around inspecting things... 

We have been trying to figure out what to do with our radiators. They were covered in thick paint. After some sandblasting, we discovered the original material is totally beautiful, and it shows all the ornate details. Our new plan is to clear coat them, instead of painting them. We were planning on a brass metallic color, but the original color is just too pretty to cover up. 

This is after some sandblasting... look at that detail! I love how people used to make functional items into fancy art. I also love how the source of heat in the home is a source of beauty; that just feels right somehow. 

This is after a pressure wash, and uncovering a few different layers of color. 

I often find David in positions like this... he has had his hand in many of the projects around the home. We have hired workers, but David's job is "quality control." He has a high level of expectation, and that works well when it comes to making sure things are done right. 

Here he is again fixing things, making sure the corbel is much stronger than before. 

One of my favorite feature of the home is the massive front porch. We have met so many people while sitting out there. It is kind of a perfect way to make friends, just sitting out there watching people go by, you can mingle a little and then go about your business. I look forward to making it super cozy when the remodel is finished. We added a fan which was super nice in the heat of the summer. 

New stairs. They are so much safer now. The old stairs were SCARY! 

The back balcony door. It will be stained a similar color as the front door. The balcony door used to be in the small laundry room, and now we moved it out into a place that makes way more senes, and adds more room to the laundry area. 

The house has just been in disarray for so long, I cannot wait to piece it back together. 

There are loads of details to paint on the exterior. We are trying to figure out how to best make the front door beautiful. There will be fiery brown around the window trim. 

I love the new green colors. 

Goodbye baby blue! Hello deep green! I love how much the house becomes grounded into the Earth, as it should look. 

What a project! We will wait to do the back deck next year, after saving some money! 

This will be David's office. A nice cozy little room. He works from home, and so having a space off the back of the house that is very private, will be great for everyone. 

A view of the stairs and new hallway. (Before being primed.) 

I love how it is now so open, there used to be a door at the top of the stairs. But now it just flows into a hallway, and then into the kitchen. 

I am loving the paint colors on the exterior! I love the green against the rock foundation colors. 

It is taking quite a while to paint this home, so many details! We opted to not paint the vertical trim, and the decision calms the house down so much! 

The first day of painting outside was so exciting! 

The house was happy that day. She was becoming a new creature, and you could feel her joy. 

Drywall going up. 

Trying to pick paint colors for our room. Our old room had a bright peach color, that I actually loved, but we thought it was probably best to tone it down just a little for our new space. But there is still a hint of peach in the new color. (The one on the far left.) 

This was our old bedroom color... I was shocked at how happy it made me feel! This room will now be the baby's room. Just looking at this picture makes me long for moving back upstairs and out of the basement! 

The old exterior paint colors... 

Making our backyard more beautiful so we could utilize it while living downstairs. But now, it is covered in painting materials... one day we will be able to really live in our home. 

Rainbows in the basement we are currently living in. :)  

My rainbow maker caught the very little bit of light that comes in through the basement windows. The windows are splattered with who knows what on the outside? 

Our stack of old doors. We had to replace them because they were all just a little wonky. It will be nice to have doors that actually close. 

A bag of pretty doorknobs. 

And key holes. 

We also had our driveway expanded a little. We have a shared driveway, and so expanding it makes it so much nicer for everyone. No more killing the grass, or worrying about running into the neighbors rock wall. 

It is so much better, for sure! 

To think it all started something like this... !!!

More to come... :) 

We are getting to the good stuff!!!