New House--Some Before and After Pictures

JMJ

The new house was perfectly livable when we bought it.  It passed inspection with flying colors.  Multiple inspectors and work men commented on what a clean, well maintained little house and property it was.  I remember one saying, "It's a little slice of Heaven."  We did really like the house as it was, but there were a few things we wanted to do to make it out own. 

Our Friend, Chris, agreed to be our contractor.  He is very skilled and an artist t'boot, so we all worked really well together.  He had great ideas as we went along; we are so grateful for his skill, hard work, and prayers along the way.   

The kitchen.  Let's start there.  We loved the stained glass light fixtures, so those just stayed.  There was an opening between the kitchen and the dining room with a big pantry (the large section of wall before the opening).  It was, nice.  But I knew that not having access to the eating area directly from the kitchen and the central location of the pantry would drive me nuts.  So, we changed a few things.  I lost the storage space of the pantry, but it was well worth it!  We moved the dishwasher and cabinets that were next to the pantry against the wall with the windows and took the pantry completely out.  

We added an island made of custom cabinets we found in the Valley Trader.  We went through many combinations of these beautiful, but not-custom-for-us cabinets as the base for our island until we finally settled upon this.  It's perfect!  

Before

After

I wanted green in the kitchen, and not on the walls.  We decided to paint just the island cabinets and leave the rest white.  I didn't have time or energy for a good refinishing job (I was pregnant, after all).  So, we decided to chalk paint them.  It was so satisfying to transform these dated but sturdy, well made cabinets into something that completely suited our taste.  More on chalk paint later, but I used Lowes paint (so I could get just the color I wanted) and a chalk paint mix from B.B. Frosch.  I highly recommend it!  

We added a butcher block counter top and covered the beam in old barn wood--thanks to our friend Mike for installing and Strong Oaks Workshop for supplying the gorgeous barn wood!  We found a couple of white wall cabinets and a wrought iron pot rack to fill in the rest of the space.     

Before

After

The room below was the living room and behind it was the master bedroom.  We are upstairs-bedroom kind of people, and the two bedrooms upstairs were HUGE, so we decided to open up the back wall of the living room to create more living space.  If you can look past our clutter, you will see what I just love about this space--opening that wall made the living area so open and sunny.  Again, the light fixtures were already there.  The ceiling fans are invaluable for getting cool air to circulate; we don't like using AC anymore than we have to.  That fact that this one has stained glass accents is just a delightful little touch that we love about this house.  

Before

After

Next, let me introduce what Chris dubbed the "Super Hall" or the "German Cabinet Hall".  This hall was a normal width that led from the kitchen to the master bedroom.  The bathroom door and air intake vent were in this hall and it was carpeted along with the master bedroom.  Once we opened up the master bedroom wall to turn it into a living room, Craig had the idea to actually widen this hall.  We are going to put a woodstove in one of the living rooms, so his thought was it would greatly increase the flow of heat to the kitchen area.  The downstairs bathroom was huge, so we would be making it a little smaller and cutting into the master bedroom closet space.  Chris was all for it and even suggested that we could move the bathroom door and air intake around the corner so we could have one solid wall.  Well, he also moved the door to the remaining closet space into the hall to increase the wall space in the living area.  It was all brilliant.  We intended to make it a sort of butler's pantry and put in some shallow cabinets along one wall to increase our kitchen storage after taking out the pantry.  Then, I saw this gorgeous wall unit someone was selling.  They bought it when the husband was stationed in East Germany.  They brought it back here to the USA and moved it seven times!  They were downsizing and just didn't have room at their new place so they sold it to us.  It fits in the hall perfectly AND it's beauty delights us throughout the day as one of the focal pieces of our home.  As Chris was remodeling, he suggested track lighting to highlight it even more.  There too, I had just seen for sale a lovely set of stained glass track lights for $10.  I liked them, but thought to myself, "They would match perfectly, but where in that house would I put them?"  Chris said the right thing and the right time, and now they tie that hall into the the rest of the downstairs.   

Before

After

Widening this hall not only increased the airflow, it connected the living area to the kitchen.  I love that I can be working in the kitchen and still hear what Craig is reading to the kids in the living room.  

There was hardwood in two of the rooms (dining and living room), tile in some places, and carpet in the bedrooms and on the stairs and upstairs hall.  We despise carpet.  After pulling the carpet up ourselves at our first house-seeing what was under it!--we both agreed we would never live on carpet again.  Well, we did live on carpet in our rental house, and we survived, but at our OWN house, we wanted hardwood.  The stairs were the trickiest part, because they are meant to be carpeted.  Mike, once again, did a beautiful job on, not only laying the floors, but the steps, too.  

Carpet before

Wood after

The spindles of the railing had to be completely redone because our five-year-old could easily fit between them.  Craig worked long and hard, but the spindles are now a safe 4 inches apart.  Our children are safe and they look fabulous.  The bedrooms are hard to capture in a photo and I don't have any good shots of the kids two new rooms, yet.  But, as I've said before, both bedrooms upstairs were huge, so there was enough space to turn the kids room into a boys and girls room and also, to add a master bathroom and 2nd walk-in closet to the master bedroom.  

Looking into Master bedroom from stairs: Before

Looking into Master bedroom from stairs: After

Master bedroom before

Master bedroom after

Some master bathes are luxuriously large.  We did not have that option, but the one luxury and thought almost necessary for me was a deep tub.  If I can submerge in warm water once in a while, I've found I am a more loving and patient wife and mother.  So, I got my deep tub.  Chris is an excellent tile layer.  I love the tile in this bathroom.  I can hardly believe it is MY OWN bathroom and I'm not just at some fancy hotel.  I feel so spoiled!  

The new master bathroom

I could write a novel about each tiny little change we made and all the things I love about this house, but I will spare you.  :)  Just give me a call if you want me to talk you ear off about what we've done here.  Oh, and we haven't even begun to tackle the outdoors!  

The Dream Comes True

JMJ

So, here we are, the beginning of summer 2016.  I haven't posted anything in almost a year.  So sorry about that!  Let me see.  What has happened since then?  Well, we rented our house in town out to some lovely tenants.  Thank you, St. Therese, for working that out for us!  

In October, a friend in the area calls me and says she has a house in which we may be interested.  Sure enough, it's a Cape Cod on five acres.  I had seen it come up for auction, but when we looked into bidding on real estate at auctions, we realized we really need to be investors or have a lot of capital to tie up in the process in order to actually get into the house.  I remember thinking, "If only we knew someone who could buy the house for us. Then, we can buy it from them for a little bit more.  We'd get a great deal, and the other party would make some money.  Oh well, there will be other houses. . ."  

When this friend told me about the house, she said they had purchased it--sight unseen--intending to use it as a rental property.  When their family actually walked in and saw it for the first time, they all thought, "this house would be great for a family!"  So they began looking around the community for a family who was interested in a house on five acres . . . Well, that's us!  

Our new home

We went to see it.  We liked it.  We liked it more that we could admit to ourselves because we now know better than to get too excited about a house or property until it's a done deal.  It was a long process, but the sellers were wonderful people to work with and we had a LOT of help from friends.  It's amazing how God sends the grace (for us, usually through the charity of others) to surmount any obstetrical if we just let Him do it.  We closed in Jan.  We had plans to do "a little bit of work" on the place, and then move in by February.  

Our cat, Cutie, with her kittens that were supposed to be born at our new property.
This is on the deck of our rental house.  

The "just a little bit of work" turned into knocking down walls and adding a bathroom.  Jan. became February.  The Christmas season passed.  

Lent began.  It makes sense to move during Lent, right?  It is absolutely penitential to pack, clean, do projects at the new house, and keep living a somewhat ordered life with a family of eight. 

Then Holy Week came and we knew we would not be spending Easter Sunday at our new house. 

 The kids on Easter Sunday 2016 in the backyard of our rental house

We finally moved at the end of April.  The bedrooms weren't all finished, so all the kids slept in one room and Craig, Lucinda and I slept in the other.  All the extra furniture and boxes were stacked, floor to ceiling, in the two living areas downstairs.  The kitchen was a dream, though.  It was finished and made living like that completely bearable.  It was a long couple of weeks of trying to settle into the finished spaces at the new house while work was still being done and trying to clean and completely move out of the rental house.  Craig and I were tired.  The kids were fried.  But, once we were done with the rental, things got a bit easier.  Then the master bedroom was finished, and things got a little more comfortable.  Little by little, the guys finished major projects (God bless them for working so hard!!!) and Craig finished other projects (shelving, caulking, outlet covers, faucets, towel racks, etc.) and we now have a finished house!  Okay, well, it's never REALLY finished, right?  But we have come so far in such a short time. 

Cecily with one of our loads on "moving day"

Now, we are waiting for baby to come any day.  The house and the family are ready to welcome this new little life.  Ironically (or maybe not? You decide!) This baby and this house seemed to grow and develop together.  We discovered the good news of this baby in Oct., about the same time we first heard about the house.  Our intention was to be in the house LONG before baby came.  But as time passed and the renovations dragged on, we joked that we were "having a house, Spiering style." Which means that it seems like it's never going to happen.  Our babies usually come 2-3 weeks after their due dates.  The house just "came" 3-4 months after it's "due date".  In the whole scheme of things, it has been just like having a baby for us.  We couldn't be more in love with this place.  It was worth the work and the wait. 

Some of the kids standing in front of the new house.

God answered all of our prayers but on absolutely other terms than we had conceived.  Nothing about the way this house come to be ours was easy or how we planned.  But we have it.  We are grateful.  We love it.  

FOR SALE: 220 Orchard St., Front Royal, VA

JMJ

 We finally have our house on the market!  I can hardly believe it is finally for sale, but so much has happened to get us here that I guess it shouldn't surprise me.



As usual, I've been terrible about posting to this blog!  My apologies to those of you who check up on us once in awhile on here because I haven't updated in ages.  We are just about to have baby #6, we moved in Aug., we spent the whole summer and most of the fall and a lot of money getting the house fixed-up.  Craig's been busy with Spiering Photography (which is a huge blessing!).  Joseph started going to REAL school, Aine and Henry are learning to read.  There has hardly been a moment to enjoy life; and yet . . .

We DO enjoy life.  We've enjoyed having more space at this house.  We've spent time with friends and family.  We've enjoyed feast days and birthdays--Cecily turned 4 a few weeks ago!!!!  The kids have gotten into playing cards, drawing pictures, and writing their own stories.  Life is full to brimming.



Now, without further ado, here is the official like to the listing of our house.

http://220orchardstreet.utour.me/



Please check it out and spread the word!  It is a wonderful family home very near Historical Main St., Front Royal.  It is near to the heart of the town and the Heart of Jesus--just a little over a block from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.  It was faster for us to walk to mass, even in inclement weather, than to buckle everyone in and find parking.  What a blessing it was to walk to holy hours or daily Mass.

Blessed feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary!  She is a wonderful patron to have for our baby who will arrive very soon.

                               

House hunting . . .

JMJ

Well, we've been planning on moving.  When we moved into out house, we said we were on the 3-5 year plan for getting out.  Well, we've been on that plan for seven years now and it sure does seem like the time is ripe for moving out.  We've had several false starts, a few high hopes, but we're still here.

Right now the rental market here in Front Royal is booming, which is great for us because we want to rent this house out.  On the other hand, it's not so great, because we want to find to rental to live in while we gain rental income history so we can purchase something that we really want.  At this point, our mortgage payment is lower than the rent for every house that would be possible for us.  So, we are looking at buying something cheap.  The problem with that is then we own it!  We're not sure we want to own two houses that are not really the home we are looking for.

Please keep us in prayer as we search for the Spiering home (for a year or so) and look for people who will LOVE to rent this house.  It's great, if you like old houses with lots of garden beds to tend!  :)

On a completely different (sort of) topic, have you heard that the cause for G. K. Chesterton's sainthood is officially being sought?  I guess it's not OFFICIAL yet, but the local bishop has agreed to begin working for it.  You can read more about it here:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/2013/st-g-k-c-the-process-begins?fb_action_ids=606195042736592&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.UheksjrJyJo.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
How wonderful is that?  I was thinking of him, Chesterton that is, and the irony of the situation we are in.  In the middle of this conundrum, I hear about the movement for his cause!  I have begun praying for his help in this matter.  I am sure, if he's able, he will help this come out, not only right, but as a manifestation of God's Glory in a way that we had never dream.  I would assume he will get some converts along the way as well.  He's good at that; MUCH better than I am.

G. K. Chesterton, Pray for us!

JMJ

Just after Thanksgiving, Craig's father came out for a long over due visit (we hadn't seen him since the Thanksgiving after Cecily was born).  It was a wonderful visit, and he also gave us a gift that I can't ever thank him for enough: he finished the remodeling of our kitchen.  He put in a new floor, trim, the remaining counter top, and threshold on all the doorways.  It looks FANTASTIC!  He also put the trim in our upstairs bathroom which we have needed to do since we remodeled that bath in 2006.  Oh, and he patched a big hold in a wall, replaced a broken window, secured some loose drawers in one of our dressers, and finally helped us process our venison.  And that was just in the time he has leftover between playing with the kids and relaxing with Craig and I.  We are SO grateful to him.  I feel that we are so much closer to being ready to rent this house out now.  I wish I had a picture to post of the new floor in the kitchen; actually I before and after comparison is definitely coming!

While I'm at it, here are a few more pictures from the last year, having nothing to do with the fixing up of the house, but having everything to do with our beloved children.  I wish I knew how to place the photos in a more pleasing composition.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

 Good night and Merry Christmas to you, on the eve of Epiphany.

but he hasn't out-grown those dimples!  Thank goodness! 

Getting to be such a young man . . . 

The Boys

Doesn't he look all grown up and handsome?  

Aine was having too much fun to care that
her face was covered in dirt.  

I think the dirt makes her look older,
 what do you think?  

Cecily trying not to smile.

Cecily giving up the fight.

The "New" Kitchen

JMJ

We were fortunate enough to be given some wooden cabinets to replace our old decrepit ones in the kitchen. We have been storing them in the basement for about a year and we finally decided to take the plunge and install the new (to us) cabinets along with new counter tops. If anyone reading this has not been to our house before, let me explain a bit of the kitchen. The cabinets used to be white. I suppose, technically, they would still be called white, but they were so dingy that--even right after I had cleaned them--they still looked old. Though the cabinets were white, the counter tops were a creamy tan color, along with the appliances. I suppose if you had to get tan appliances and had white cabinets (or the reverse) the only way to unite them is to get tan counters? the floor is linoleum sticky tiles that look like fake green marble mosaic. Sooooo, even if everything was in good condition (which it wasn't) the color scheme was dated, to say the least. Oh, and the counter tops didn't completely cover the dishwasher, so we have been supplementing with a couple of boards. Oh, and the cabinets don't go completely to the wall, so it is good sized kitchen without adequate cabinets space. We had a shelf and a free standing cabinet against the wall, but by the time we had stuff on all those shelves the kitchen looked so cluttered that it actually gave me a headache if I thought about it too much. But there was hope: the cabinets in the basement. And finally that hope has become a reality.

Here is the kitchen before:

And Here is after the cabinets are all in--Please excuse the clutter on the counters; we hadn't fully moved back into the kitchen when this photo was taken:

I can't believe that that cabinets fit the kitchen like a glove, with a bit of finagling and A LOT of worry and mind crunching. We now have cabinets from wall to wall on two sides of the kitchen. There is still plenty to do. In fact, since the picture was taken, we have painted the walls, filled in the space above the stove, and reinstalled the light above the sink. We still have to stain the upper cabinet to the left of the sink, finish sanding a few spots and touch up the paint, paint the window frame, and add trim around the tops of the cabinets. Oh yes, and there is one more section of counter top to go in to the left of the frig; we thought it would be easier to paint without it installed because there is no cabinets going under it--we will stow the trash can and recycling under it. The floor still needs to be done, but that is a project for another day. For now, we have a fully functioning kitchen that does not give one a headache if you look at it too long! :) A HUGE thanks to our friend John who had the know-how to help us install these ourselves, and to Ron for helping with the installation. Craig, John and Ron pulled out all the old cabinets and installed the necessary lower cabinets and counters tops for us to have a functioning kitchen, all in one night!

It is amazing what gets covered in old houses. once the cabinets were out, you could see several layers of kitchen decor. The walls were a deep clover green at one time; I guess that explains the green flooring, though I don't think the greens actually match well.

And there are remnants of a hideous wall paper all in 70's browns that was a print of pastas, onions, and vegtables. I am SO glad that is not what was on the walls when we bought the house!

John came back another day to help with the upper cabinets. And a huge thank you to my Dad for spending a week with us and finishing a lot of the remaining work in the kitchen. Thank you to my Sister and Brother-in-Law for coming over and helping get all the painting done. Thanks to Ben especially for sacrificing his neck and painting the ceiling! I will post pictures of the new paint color soon.