Apartment kitchen and bath...

It’s been a few weeks since my twisted ankle mishap and I’m pretty much good as new…but now my home’s a mess...but a good mess!

A few weeks ago my handyman, Dale, started the renovations on my 1-bedroom apartment and the building of a new laundry room. Here are some pictures a few days into the project:

My plan is to update the kitchen with new appliances, cabinets, counters, and floors. The bathroom will have a new shower and tiled walls around the tub.

Since the apartment's bathroom is huge, I'm having Dale build a wall down the middle of it to create a laundry room which will be accessible through both the main house and the apartment. He's also moving a wall in the hallway and setting the door on the house-side into the laundry room catty-corner to help open up the space.

I'm looking forward to the convenience of having my washer and dryer near my bedroom; it will definitely be better than having to lug clothes down to the first floor, through the kitchen, and down into the cellar, then back up again to the second floor...I'm also looking forward to having a tenant in the space.

It was great seeing the gradual changes in the apartment day-to-day. However, right now I’m away on business in Miami while Dale has still been going to the homestead every day, so I’m sure I’ll be amazed by the changes when I get back.

New chapter...

The Riverstone House is now officially mine and Sammy's new home!

My parents came to the Closing yesterday, which went smoothly, and afterwards we ran some errands in the area, moved a few things in, met with the home security system guys, and one of the neighbors. The Closing on my condominium isn't happening for another several weeks though so I'll be going back and forth and taking my time moving all of my things in.

Here are a few photos I took of the interior of my house:

Exposed stone wall in the common room

Enclosed front porch (and Sammy!)

Kitchen fireplace (one of four)

River view from my kitchen

It's been a hectic two days and I can't wait until I'm finally settled in. And then it will be more hectic times, I'm sure, what with the restorations and renovations I'll be starting. It's exciting and a bit intimidating when I think about the new chapter I'll be writing, not only in the story of my life, but also in the long history of the homestead, on my stewardship of the land...

Restoration vs. Renovation...

While the Riverstone House is quite livable on the inside, it is a fixer-upper in that I plan on either restoring or updating every single room. I love that many aspects of the interior are not just original to the home, but that there are also antique pieces within. For example, almost all the doors, counting both exterior as well as interior, are either original to the house or over 100 years old. The floors, woodwork, fireplaces, and most of the windows are all original. In the kitchen is a functioning antique gas and coal-burning stove and, in what I’m considering the ‘master bath’, there is a usable copper bathtub dating back to the Civil War:

I happen to absolutely love both of the above pieces, but I have to admit that after going through the model homes again yesterday with my parents, the modernized kitchens and updated baths do have their appeal:

Take the tub, for example. The thought of a whirlpool tub with a half-dozen massage jets soothing away my aches and pains – while I sip a nice glass of Jack’s Mountain Red and read some bubble-gum-for-the-brain historical romance novel – after a day of stripping wallpaper, spackling, painting, pulling up old carpeting, sanding and waxing wood floors, cleaning, gardening, running errands, sewing curtains, unpacking, feeding chickens, making time for Sammy, and focusing on my business so that I can actually afford to pay for a Jacuzzi tub…well, you get the idea.

Then again, would the loud cauldron-bubbling of the Jacuzzi take away from the simple ease that soft music (or even silence), a steamy bath, and a glass of wine can give? Would the mechanical hum of the tub’s motor distract the imagination from immersing itself in a good book?

Then there’s the kitchen where I’m already imagining cooking up a storm! I’ll have the room to prepare and serve big meals, something I haven’t done in years. And a professional grade stove with grill and griddle surfaces and an extra large oven – maybe even a convection oven or second conventional oven – would be wonderful. I could simultaneously prepare Cornish game hens, grilled fennel and Brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, venison stew, a thickly crusted loaf of rosemary bread, and a honey apple pie. Mmm…I can almost smell it!

Then again, a wise man once told me that a truly good cook can make a delicious meal over a campfire…and he’s actually a very good cook.

While I’m already pretty much set on which way to go with regards to renovation versus restoration – and it’s kind of a moot point right now since I think it will be a while before I have to decide on any major work in the kitchen or master bath anyway – it’s still always interesting and helpful to hear people's differing opinions on the subject.