too many projects Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

Building a Home, Coldspring, JJ Lane, Providence Acres, Ranch House Overhaul

Why I Changed my Mind About Board and Batten

April 19, 2021April 20, 2021 Karen

When we started the Guest House I was dead set on board and batten siding. You can see my vision board below.

It is a very popular look right now and liked it because it is a clean look and is something that is commonly seen on old farm cottages around our area. But I won’t be using it for our guest house. While I love the look, and think it would be beautiful, it isn’t for us because of red wasps. Yep, a bug is changing my mind. They love, love, love our guest house which is conveniently located next to our garden where they have a food source- all those bugs that want to eat our hard work.

The view from the guest house looking at the garden.

Every open space in the walls, and there were a lot- like a whole lot- has either wasp nests or spider eggs jammed in. I cannot describe the condition and won’t bore or disgust you with the details, but the picture below is a wasp apartment complex we found included five connected nests. We found over fifty nests in the corrugated exterior.

Now I know this sounds crazy, but I don’t want all wasps eliminated from our property, in fact I am glad to see them in our garden where we don’t use pesticides, I just don’t want them living with us. They are aggressive when protecting the nest and they sting. I want them to keep eating the aphids and other bugs that eat our garden, but living in the wooded area behind the garden so we need to make it more difficult for them to move in.

Our garden today. Green beans, purple hull peas, speckled butter beans, cucumbers, squash, corn, tomatoes, peppers, and watermelon.

Board and batten leaves a void between every board that is covered by a smaller board called a batten, and that will be difficult to totally seal up. Those wasps find the tiniest little crack to get in so I want something more solid.

We are going with our contractor Thursday to look at options. It is going to be something that is a solid panel that can be caulked and sealed. I want it to look like 12 inch planks and he assures me there are options I will like. Fingers crossed.

Also I learned a term from our daughter and used that term this last week. Project creep. It is the “While you are here, could you also…” sentence that apparently happens a lot.

We are adding on the aluminum siding removal around our house and adding new siding to the eaves and soffits. We started the project with the carport, deck and porches but this will finish off the house. I am so excited! We could do it ourselves but it would mean days on a ladder.

Woo hoo! I am so excited to get this projects done. They will be painting the house and guest house too which has me giddy.

Great things are ahead.

We love hearing from you.

Blessings,

Karen

Coldspring, guest house, JJ Lane, Providence Acres

Week 2 Update

April 16, 2021April 16, 2021 Karen

Y’all, I can tell you that we made real progress this week.

First of all, there are no blue tarps on the building. We now have OSB and house wrap on almost all the building. Hooray!

Also, there are windows installed. We have six new super cool windows that Mr. Math spotted on clearance at Home Depot. I am so happy with how they look. They are dark frames which is going to look nice with our light paint.

We got all the nasty, disgusting insulation that was filled with wasp nests, spider eggs, and just general grossness. Even better a friend gave us enough brand new insulation to do the house. Life is good.

I got busy on the sink I bought way back when for two dollars at a garage sale. I was happy to see that under all the grime, oil, and calcium deposits the sink is not in bad shape. That was a good surprise. Now to get it and the claw foot tub refinished.

Finally. The electrical is getting put in. My husband wasn’t excited about what was already in place so everything got ripped out and five new circuits are getting installed.

We have to have all our part done by next Thursday because Friday our contractor starts on the siding and sheet rock. It is going to be glorious! Seriously we are excited to see the progress we have made but a crew will make it so fast.

In spite of everything going on in the building we got 1/2 the garden weeded. Mr. Math did a lot but I put in some hours too. Next week the other half.

Green beans, cucumbers, purple hull peas, corn, squash, watermelon,and tomatoes are going strong.

We are loving this cool April weather!

We love hearing from you!

Blessings,

Karen

Coldspring, Country living, JJ Lane, Providence Acres, Ranch House Overhaul

Progress on the House

June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 Karen

Right now, Mr. Math is on summer break from teaching so that means it is house renovation time at Providence Acres.

This is the third summer we have been in the house and we have made some real headway into turning the 1982 ranch house into our vision of a warm and welcoming space for us, our family, and friends to enjoy.

Our first year we ripped up the carpet, installed vinyl plank flooring, painted most of the house, and put in a mudroom, and added recessed lighting throughout the main rooms.

Last summer it was a kitchen makeover that I love, love, love. We now have bright white cabinets, a quartz counter top, and a beautiful farmhouse sink. In order to have the kitchen out of commission, Mr. Math had to put in an outdoor sink, cabinets and a slate tile counter top. Add in electrical and a grill and we had an outdoor kitchen This chick will never do dishes in the bathtub again. He did all the work himself last year except installing the quartz counter top. It was rough.

This year we took on a new challenge, adding a carport, metal roof, and enlarging our front porch. It has already changed the look of home. Mr. Math started the process moving the attach aluminum carport. I promise that one day I will tell you about that process. We did something we rarely do, we hired a contractor to do the work.

First they had to remove the existing concrete.

They had to extend the pad to match the width of the house.

The construction has gone quickly.

The metal went on quickly. There was one small issue, they didn’t order enough metal for the porch.

The color is Mueller Charcoal

Adding a metal roof to a carport

Mueller metal roof

The progress on the underside is moving along. The cedar roof piece is done, electrical is run, cedar clad on the beams, and Hardy panels on the ceiling of the carport.

I am loving the underside of the front porch. Bead board is being installed and will be stained and sealed.

Bead board

The progress is amazing. I am crazy about the improvement to the look of the home. It is going to be great. We already have our first party scheduled. It is going to be a 50th anniversary for our buddies on the SJ River Ranch.

Thanks for following along on our journey.

Blessings,

Karen

Bead board ceiling

Behr Paint with Primer, DIY Projects, Dresser, recycled furniture, Thrifting

My Next Projects

September 14, 2014September 29, 2014 Karen

Disclaimer. This post is really my “to do” list. It will help me to stay on track and will offer you a tiny glimpse into my teeny tiny mind. I have ~~four~~ five projects that are hanging out waiting to go to homes. The projects are really bugging me because at this time of year my energy just about all goes to opening the school year and my creative side gets neglected.

Here are the five pieces I have planned, lined up and started:

The Mid Century Dresser– I will finish this week. Drawers are stripped and sanded, ready for stain and poly. Dresser needs to be sanded, primed, painted, and poly-ed.

The dresser is going to join the night stand and headboard I already have finished. My friend has been very patient.

This is my inspiration piece for the bedroom set.

Here is the night stand waiting for the dresser to join the party.

Beverage Station– we have the sewing machine out, the mechanism taken care of but we are struggling to find a sink that fits.

This one has been tricky. The machine has been removed, the hardware has been stabilized and we have a plan. It is going to be Happy Camper Green with oil rubbed bronze spray paint on the metal parts. This one needs lots of wood filler and outdoor poly to make it usable outside.

Sweet Little Girl Dresser– I got the hardware off, the dresser and drawers sanded. I am looking for two drawer pulls that match the original or we may have to re-think the pulls. It will be painted next weekend.

It is going to be Behr Gray Area with a whitewash over it.

The Funky Dresser

Here is my inspiration dresser. I have had this picture in the back of my mind every time I look for furniture. I wanted a flat front smallish dresser to create something fun.

The inspiration dresser will work great for the funky dresser. I have rounded up a lot of random hardware for the dresser. The dresser will be stripped and finished to look like Restoration Hardware weathered finish. I am going to try being creative with one of the long drawers to make it appear to be two smaller drawers.

Another bench- yes, I have another bench to make. It is going to be different from the others. No photos of this one.

Hutch

The final piece will be a hutch for the top of our sofa table so that I have a place to display my milk glass.

Here is the inspiration piece.

The hutch will sit on top of this buffet table and will look like one piece.

green sofa table

It is now sanded, holes are filled, and ready for priming. The twists will stay the wood color. The back is going to be one by four slats stained to match the wood on top of the buffet.

I am anxious to get started on the last two projects! They are going to be like dessert for me so I am motivated to finish the rest of the list.

I hope you have a wonderful week. I love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Karen

DIY Painting and Glazing Furniture, Dresser, glazing, Painted Furniture, The Garagemahal

Wrapping Up Projects

June 27, 2013 Karen

The Garagemahal is overflowing with projects right now. I mean seriously overflowing. The picture below was taken before the last load was put in there.

The riding lawnmower doesn’t fit in there right now! Hubby won’t be happy if this continues.

What that means is I have to get myself busy early in the mornings and late at night. Why you ask? Well it is currently 100 degrees during the middle of the day here in ~~the Sahara~~ Texas. Paint will not dry properly when above 80 degrees so I figure right now I have about three hours a day to work.

My shopping list for the weekend included some interesting items so that I can get busy.

Project number 1- finish these beautiful French Provencal end tables for my buddy, The Social Planner. She has been patiently waiting for them and I feel guilty every time I go over to her house. Her bedside lamps are literally sitting on the floor. I got one coat of paint on them during the week so another coat of paint, distressing, glazing and poly will end this one. They have beautiful marble tops waiting to go on them.

Project number 2- finish my china cabinet. My first attempt spray painting was a disaster. Hubby sanded it all back down for me and I get the opportunity to begin again. This time with a brush. Yippee. My sweet secretary is ready for all the stuff to be picked up off the floor in my office that I keep promising is going in the cabinet. Two coats of paint, distressing, glazing and poly should save it from the disaster it is right now.

Project number 3- The Social Planner’s entertainment center. This piece is a beast. 2 coats of paint, distressing, glazing, poly. There are two rounded shelves that go on either end of the piece too.

The good news is that project 1,2, and 3 are all going to be the same color. I can work on them together in stages. I hope I can get projects 1-3 done this week.

Also waiting in the wings is a French Provencal dresser for my guest room with a mirror and headboard. Still waiting for inspiration on this one. What color should they be? Help me!

I need to upholster the chairs for the dining room

this awesome fabric

and finish the sewing machine cabinet turned cooler for the back porch in a bright blue ( the picture below is my inspiration- but my blue will be deeper.)

before I start painting the armoire teal, making a burlap covered bench and turning a bed into a bench for the back porch. Oh and I have some end tables that need to be sanded, legs painted bright green and top stained too. Finally, I have this sad chair that my dad rescued. It is going to look so cool. I already have the perfect cushion for it.

We have a lot going on as you can see. Does anyone want to come and paint with me from 9:00 pm until midnight? I have bug spray and a fan!