When we first moved to the farm, a row of forsythia bushes beside the driveshed were covered in blooms at the beginning of April. Since then, I’ve measured the progress of spring by the forsythia.
The forsythia flowers arrived last week–the most flowers we’ve had in years. Unfortunately, right after they arrived, snow returned. So I’m not sure that forsythia is my best measure of spring this year.
Here are some other things that caught my attention this month.
I went waaaay back in my recipe archives to make this pasta last week, and it was so good. (I omitted the pepper and added tomatoes, artichokes and spinach to up the veggie quotient).
Mudroom inspiration for coloured cabinets and large-scale rough stone tiles.
We’re finishing off April by picking the mudroom tile and paying taxes (worse than snow in the spring). We have a bunch of outdoor projects underway here, so I’m hoping that warm, sunny days return soon.
How was April for you? What signs of spring have you been seeing? Are you cooking any retro recipes?
Soooo much progress was made on the garage last week. In fact, we have an actual garage now.
There’s more work to be done, of course. But it looks like a garage rather than a pool. In fact, Ellie and I drove the car in over the weekend.
We are 17 days into construction.
The exterior walls are all framed. The walls turned out to be our first hiccup because our contractor wasn’t happy with how the bottom plate of the existing walls was positioned in relation to the pool deck.
It looks like the plate had been set in place and then the concrete of the pool deck had been poured up against the wood. He wanted the plate higher up, so he reverse engineered footings all the way around the garage.
He braced the ceiling, so that the roof didn’t fall down. Then cut out the original plate and about 6 inches off the studs. Then he put in a new (floating) bottom plate, squeezed forms in underneath and poured new footings.
This has been our biggest (not so big) surprise so far, so not tragic.
For the side wall on the new addition, he decided to reuse the existing wall (which I’m grateful for since lumber is so expen$ive these days). After a lot of figuring, bracing and some extra help, they hopped the wall (all 20 feet long with the windows still in place) out 10 feet.
I love construction, so it’s neat to see the problem-solving, planning and building process up close.
The doors are all framed in as well. Seeing the garage openings made it feel much more real. It was also an opportunity to validate some of my planning. I am really happy with the dimensions and position (there’s a good amount of space to tuck recycling boxes along the side and still get out of the car).
They also mapped out the mudroom for me, so I could check the height of the floor, location of the doors and size of the landing. I really appreciate how conscientious and inclusive they are being.
And finally, FINALLY we have no pool. The excavator returned last Wednesday and gravel trucks started showing up a few minutes later. The excavator dumped bucketfuls of gravel into the pool and our contractor compacted it. It took most of the day, but by 5pm the pool was full.
The excavator returned the next day to finish backfilling all of the foundation, lay the driveway and take care of a bunch of other jobs that I had. Low spots were filled in, bumpy spots were leveled, rocks were moved, stumps were extracted. Soooo many things were crossed off my wishlist.
Though it felt like an expensive two days, having the excavator, two machines, our contracting crew and about 15 truckloads (250 tonnes) of gravel.
Ontario is under a whole bunch of new restrictions due to a huge wave of COVID infections, but residential construction that is already in progress is allowed to continue. So next on the agenda is framing the roof of the extension and the mudroom and pouring the garage floor.
Anyone else in the middle of a construction project (big or small)? Have you had any expensive days recently? Anyone else crossing things off your to-do list that have been on there for a long time?
Last week I was talking about the exterior of the garage. Today I’m moving inside to talk about the mudroom. Specifically the floor.
In my original plans, we were going to do a concrete floor. I liked the idea of colouring and stamping it to look like tile. But I liked that it would be one solid surface with no grout to clean.
Our contractor and I both called a bunch of concrete installers, and we couldn’t find anyone to do the mudroom floor. The space is too small, and there would be extra charges for a partial load of concrete. Heating the floor wasn’t going to be as straightforward as I thought.
Change of plans. We’re going with tile, grey grout and a really, really, really good sealer.
Now I have to pick a tile.
My mudroom plan is to plank the walls and ceiling. The walls will be painted a light greige, taupe colour. Fairly neutral. Not white. Hide dirt.
The first mudroom by Sarah Richardson appeals to me the most. The floor is light, but close to the colour of dirt. I’d go with a grey grout over the white because… dirt. The tile looks a bit peachy in the picture, but I like the idea of something more brown-toned rather than grey. I’m worried grey tile might clash with the taupe walls. The tiles are a mix of sizes and the rough edges feel rustic.
In the second photo, we see slate, a common choice for mudrooms. For me, it feels a bit dark. Our mudroom will have a window in the door and that is the only natural light that will come into the room.
The other common material choice is brick. It feels a bit trendy these days, though some would say it’s timeless. It’s definitely rustic and durable. For me, I feel like the brick would start to feel too busy. There would be a lot of grout lines and tones of red. I’ve learned that I get tired of strong colours and patterns eventually. And I don’t want to get tired of this floor. Though a non-red brick might be an option.
Foundations are in for the garage and mudroom. I’m hoping everything will be backfilled this week–and maybe the pool finally filled as well.
I’m trying to do my part of keeping the renovation moving by making decisions about what I want.
After thinking about and planning for this renovation for so long, I thought I knew exactly what I’d choose. But now that it’s real, I’m finding out that sometimes my mental picture isn’t as clear as I thought it was.
I’d appreciate your input on a couple of things.
Garage doors
A carriage door style feels appropriate for a farm. These doors have fake handles and hinges that make them look like old-fashioned swinging doors.
However, the carriage doors I like the most are all overlay doors. In an overlay, the panels or strips are applied by hand. This translates to more expensive. As well, there are sometimes issues with getting the overlays to line up between each section of the garage door.
I can get the carriage door look (hinges and handles) in a pressed door. In this profile, the design is pressed into the steel and there are no applied pieces. However, the profiles that I like the best (the two-panel or Zed above) are not available. I’d go with a simple shaker style panel to get as close as possible.
I’ve spent a lot of time gawking at garage doors, trying to figure out if I dislike the pressed profiles enough to go for an overlay door.
What would you do?
Lighting
Lighting is still a while away, but wiring will happen soon. So I’m thinking about how many lights we need and what they should look like. We could have as many as six lights (if we stretch all the way over to the living room patio door) or we could go with three, or somewhere in between.
They could all be the same, or we could switch up the style.
I’m leaning toward a lantern style light on either side of the garage. This graphic from Farmhouse Facelift shows two options that appeal to me: a traditional lantern and rustic wood design that I haven’t seen before.
I’m also considering goose neck barn style lights (though their trendiness makes me want to avoid them). We drive past a house that has used them beside the garage doors, rather than above (which we won’t have room for).
Home on 129 Acres 