27 Pleasant St. Remodels — the rockweed writer

Happy Spring, readers!

Regardless of COVID-19, Jake and I have been really feelin’ these warmer, sunny days. The sunlights pours in the north end of our house, and as of a week or so ago, he created a fully functioning kitchen in a “den” in a sunnier part of the house!

It has been a total game-changer during a time where many of us are relying on cooking 3+ meals a day, and now Zeke’s little toes won’t freeze on the uninsulated floor that was in the prior kitchen. Since we’ve been stuck in our home and putting some of our adventuring on hold, I thought it would be nice to share a little bit about how far our house has come since buying it in September 2018.

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With the cosigning help of my father, Jake and I bought our house when I was 8 months pregnant with Zeke. I was feeling desperate to create a little nest with our family and Jake was determined on purchasing—rather than renting—so, we took the plunge and bought 27 Pleasant St. in Bath.

We had our first showing with my friend Michael Princiotta with Keller Williams, and he told us that it had been under contract a few months earlier but fell out because of a dispute about installing a washer and dryer. Since Jake is a contractor, he’d be able to install them in our house in no time! So grateful.

So, it had been on the market for a little while. The charm was there but the layout of the home was… confusing. The kitchen was split into two rooms, and very dark and dungeon-y feeling. There were three “dens” that made me puzzled. Are they living rooms? Dining rooms? IDK. I was like, let’s tear these walls down Joanna Gaines style, shall we?

This is the back door entrance. Not sure what this room was supposed to be… but it ultimately became our new kitchen space! On the left side of the photo is the entrance to the old kitchen.

Definitely a funky layout. And although the pictures look warm and sunny, in the mid-winter this kitchen was very dark and cold. Not to mention, there are some seriously slanted floors

The wall separating these two rooms is what we wanted torn down.

The walls were a dark sage green, which I didn’t hate, but I didn’t love either. The floorboards were wide and worn; beautiful and rustic. The fireplace radiated coziness. When I saw the farmhouse sink I knew I wanted to give my baby baths in there. Jake and I were sold. This house was weird enough that it had potential to create equity, yet, had the charm and the bones that would make it so we wouldn’t have to start from scratch.

Once we closed and were moved in, Jake set to work installing a washer and dryer in what we deemed the laundry room, installed a dishwasher, and got a pallet of pellets to keep us warm in our new home for the coming winter.

We had 22 people at our house for a family get-together after Thanksgiving and we knew we had to have the wall between the living room and dining room taken down as soon as possible The party felt so divided!

The Great Room

I gave Jake a deadline of Easter, and he got it down just in time for us to have another family gathering. He also installed recessed lighting which brightened the whole space so much, and made it so I didn’t have to turn all my lamps on and off throughout the rooms.

With a new baby in the house, we had to be extremely cautious of any dust that would come from taking down the walls. I highly recommend renovating BEFORE having children.

The next question was what color we were going to paint the whole room. We had some leftover grayish-white paint leftover from painting some rooms in our house in Farmington, so we used that to brighten things up even more, and then added new curtain rods above the windows with billowy linen striped curtains.

Here is Jake finishing up the last of the curtain install. Also, LOTS of furniture replacing/rearranging.

We also ended up ditching the pellet stove. It had super awkward placement in the room and, honestly, pellet stoves are such finicky heat sources! We had to unclog the pellets from the auger so many times. Instead, we bought energy efficient heat pumps and installed a wood stove in our fireplace. It made such a huge difference throughout the winter.

I can’t wait to splurge on a soft jute rug for a more coastal/neutral look!

The “great room” has really come along! I think about rearranging the furniture all the time but for the time being I’m happy with the sofas being cozied up next to the fireplace. Jake will be wrapping the upper beam with stained wood and next we’re adding crown moulding around the ceiling.

The New Kitchen

The kitchen was a biiiiig project! Luckily there was never a time where we had to be without a kitchen, but operating out of the cold, dungeon kitchen was not ideal—especially while raising a baby/toddler. But, hey! We made it work for a year and half.

In the “future kitchen” as we called it, Jake installed a beautiful new window looking towards the yard. I had ordered beautiful cabinets and a farm sink from Wayfair before I left! I was so excited for Jake to install them! But, Jake had many things to accomplish before we could put them in. The list included: The window, electrical, plumbing, taking down the ceiling beams, installing recessed lighting, re-sheetrocking, mudding over, painting the walls, and then finally, building the cabinets!

This was a “catch all” room for quite a while.

Jake also found a large Coca Cola tin sign in the wall, an old chimney, old newspaper, and an old rat’s nest. Yuck.

But after LOTS of work, Jake made the kitchen happen for us!! Hooray! Peek the photos below to see our new space.

Jake’s plan is to make a custom island and shelving here instead, but it works great so far!

Because Jake is a perfectionist, he probably won’t be happy that I posted before he finished the kitchen completely, but I’m just so excited to share! He still has to trim out the window and the baseboards, create shelving, a custom island, and add backsplash tile and a hood vent. Stay tuned for more posts and pictures! Join my email list to hear more.