Welcome

Welcome to our old farmhouse. Over the past year I have learned so much history of this house and the people who lived here. Ninety six years of love, loss, hopes and dreams. Preservation continues and there is always a repair to be done. We are trying to be purest in our preservation as much as we possibly can. I hope you follow along and each week I will try to give you a little history of the house as well as the first owners of the house. I've been lucky enough to find a journal from a Granddaughter who talks about the house as well as her Grandparents. So come follow along and learn about this old house as well as the occupants, old and new.

Monday, December 9, 2013

I Also Just Want Brick


Question, do you ever watch the DIY shows and feel empowered to get your hammer, pry bar and start ripping stuff apart?  I love to watch Nicole Curtis  from the Rehab Addict, start ripping into years of modern additions to the older homes she recues. Do you remember how she always wants brick? Well me to! This is the guest bathroom, now the green carpet is still there, and this is how the fireplace looked until a few weeks ago. Nice and clean, freshly painted and sealed, (the carpet is going to be removed this summer, there is heart pine flooring under it).

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And my first look at the house, this is the way it looked.

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And now. The original wood burning fireplace for this bedroom. I had allot of cleanup to do on this old girl. The bottom of the fireplace was built with concrete, rock I guess just anything they could build it with and since it looked as though the wood had been burned without a grate, I had a mess. I removed all the old concrete, rocks, and pieces of brick, two buckets of sand and wood ashes. After a good cleaning poured concrete then laid pavers for gas logs to sit on. So now she is presentable and after the holidays the bricks will get a coat of sealer, gas will be hooked up and guest will have a very cozy little room!

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The end irons were bought at auction many years ago, got them for  $5.00. That was a Happy Dance!

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Of  course I had to do a little Christmas decorating! I went a little glitzy in the front of the house but for the most part I wanted things simple. The wreath is church yard sale find last summer, I got 12 for .50 each and a bag of garland for .50, which I made garland for five fireplaces. The red ribbon I already had. The mirror in this room I also found at an estate sale many years ago, the lamp belonged to my Great Grandmother.

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I know the garland is not made of several kinds of greenery and all fluffy and full, but this is what I think you may have found in this house 100 years ago. A little simple greenery and a few pinecones.

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Every artist signs their work!

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The brass bed warmer I bought at an estate sale this summer.

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I hope you enjoyed my little rehab attempt. I have to put my hammer away until the holidays are over, but you will be happy to know I found more brick in the kitchen. Yes I did I found the original cook stove chimney. So since we are doing a rehab in the kitchen this year, I get to tear open that as well. To date I have opened all five fireplaces, three of them were coal burners, not as much work as the two bedroom wood fireplaces, just lots of dirt and coal to deal with.
See you soon,
Sandy
Linking to: We Call It Olde
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4 comments:

Unknown said...

How wonderful! I've walked in your shoes so I know how exciting it is to open a fireplace. I found original ceramic tiles from the late 1800's beneath the garbage and I did the happy dance also. Are all your mantels original? Five of ours were and I bought one at an Archectural Salvage shop to replace the missing one. Sending you much luck and good wishes as you continue to uncover treasures. Vicki in Louisville KY

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh my word, you are amazing, I love this. Such a fabulous fireplace. I can't believe you tackled this, but well done. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

Anonymous said...

Oh Sandy, that is just beautiful! SO much better now that it's all opened up and you can see that gorgeous brick. Your Christmas decorations are lovely, too. You get some really good deals! It's gonna be great with the wood floors later on. Thanks so much for sharing this at We Call It Olde, pinning to the featured board on Pinterest :) - Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

Got My Reservations said...

This is such an exciting and rewarding project and your room looks beautiful! I'm visiting today from We Call It Junkin'.